Vessels for Glory

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” ~ T. E. Lawrence

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” ~ MLK

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ~ Rumi

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:21

  1. The Co-Creators

    1. The Anthropocene Assignment

      "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" - Genesis 1:26-28

      "Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name." - Genesis 2:19

      1. Describes the authority given to humanity to participate in the ongoing creation of the world.

        1. Don’t forget the Spider-Man principle: with great power comes great responsibility.

          1. The world will look like humans choose to see it.

      2. Naming is not merely descriptive in the Hebrew context, it also assigns character and destiny.

      3. This power over the world and to exert influence over the character of the other creatures on it is never taken away.

        1. This leads to a scenario where creation lies in bondage to the still present but corrupted identity of humanity.

          "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." - Romans 8:18-23

          1. Creation subjected to futility by the confused identity of humanity.

            1. Humans only rule creation properly when they rule from the identity of co-heirs with Christ.

              1. Self-sacrificing, other empowering, connection working through love.

                "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." - Galatians 5:6

          2. The turning-point of the ages is the revelation of Jesus and the empowering of humanity to rule as they should have.

            1. Begun, but certainly not completed.

    2. Manifest Reality

      1. This is where we can get into entanglement, synchronization, and the degree to which “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” is an invitation into the reconstruction of reality through connection with God.

        1. Thinking God-thoughts.

        2. Manifesting God-presence.

        3. Harmonizing the dissonance.

  2. Shapers of Nations

    1. Throughout scripture God encounters individuals and empower them to build families that become nations that bless the world.

      1. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

        "Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."" - Genesis 12:1-3

        1. God makes it personal.

          1. Though there is no reason to think that Abraham is the only individual who had this kind of interaction, there is a personal promise and element to God’s interaction with him that cannot be avoided.

          2. This is the first in a repetition of similar encounters throughout scripture where God will choose to operate personally with an individual in order to bring about widespread/global change.

        2. God makes it relational.

          1. In the following verses God will speak with Abraham as a friend, hear his fears and patiently work through them with him, and continue to operate with an interest into Abraham’s experienced dilemma rather than some meta-national imperative.

          2. This is the first in a repetition of similar relationships throughout scripture where God will pause, risk, and even change God’s plan as God pursues the interests of the person that God is in relationship with.

        3. This makes it complicated.

          1. The promise to bless and curse is not contingent upon Abraham’s perfection, which means that God is put into several situations where He defends Abraham even though Abraham is morally compromised.

            1. The clearest being that time where Abraham was afraid of the Egyptian ruler so he said Sarah was his sister and let her be one of Pharaoh's wives. This resulted in God sending plagues against Pharaoh’s household. Pharaoh responds by asking Abraham why he lied and sending him away with Sarah (and an armed escort).

            2. There are several other examples where people and nations who have been blessed by god have supernatural protection and power that they use in immoral ways.

              1. Moses strikes the rock at Meribah, using the power he had from God instead of following what God said to do. Numbers 20.

                • Moses also draws attention to himself in this example, saying he will water the people, not God.

                • This costs him dearly, as it is the reason that he doesn’t get to go into the Promised Land.

              2. Elisha, fresh from receiving “double the spirit of Elijah”, curses a gang of young men who were harassing him and they are torn apart by two mother bears.

                • Though Elisha uses the name of the LORD, there is no commentary in the text indicating God’s opinion.

                • A “double portion” cannot reflect relationship with God – there’s no such thing as “double loved” – only the power that one has been entrusted with by God.

    2. The actions of a people determine the character of their nation.

      1. The Corporate blessing and curse for Israel.

        ""Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. "All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: ... "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. "So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you. ...

        "But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. ... "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you." - Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 9-10, 15-16, 47-48

        1. Part of this is the corporate effect of the Principle of Sowing and Reaping

          "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." - Galatians 6:7

          1. This is a reflection of action/conscience, not necessarily law.

          2. Like any harvesting, time delays need to be taken into account.

        2. Part of this is the impact of the relational nature of God.

          1. Obedience can be very shallow, but it’s still a form of love, connection, and value of the other, which is valuable.

          2. Disobedience doesn’t always break relationships, but it’s rare that it doesn’t do damage.

        3. Part of this is coaxing humanity into it’s collective vocation.

          1. If you will respond to your vocation appropriately, I AM the wind in your sails.

          2. If you will continue to do damage to your identity and the world you’ve been given, I AM the one who permits that damage to rebound to you.

  3. Vessels in the Potter’s Hands

    1. God determines vessels for honor and for dishonor…

      "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON." And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED." What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles." - Romans 9:6-24

      1. God hates Esau?!

        1. In both of the references that Paul is using Esau refers to the nation rather than the person.

          "The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger."" - Genesis 25:23

          1. Indicating that Esau, the person, was chosen to be the originator of “just another nation” through no fault of his own and that Jacob was chosen to continue the family blessing through no merit of his own.

          "The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness."" - Malachi 1:1-3

          1. God demonstrates his preferential treatment of the children of Israel over the children of Esau because of the covenant that God made.

          2. God is about to repent of that preferential treatment and bring swift judgment and destruction against the house of Jacob, but not a total destruction…

            ""For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'" - Malachi 3:6-7

      2. God is responsible for Pharaoh?!

        "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. "For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. "For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. "But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. "Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go." - Exodus 9:13-17

        1. God “knows” that Pharaoh will not let the people go, but still tells Moses to go before Pharaoh and ask (Exodus 3:18-20) and even indicates that He knows He will harden Pharoah’s heart (Exodus 4:21).

        2. Hardenings of Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus.

          1. Blood

            "But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh's heart became hard/strong, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house and he did not set his heart even to this." - Exodus 7:22-23

            1. became hard – חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

            2. Verse 23 indicates who is actually setting the heart. (Translated in some bibles as, “with no concern even for this”).

          2. Frogs

            "So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said." - Exodus 8:14-15

            1. hardened his heart – כבד – to make heavy (with either honor and glory or with burden and grief), to honor or to make dull, to grow fat (with wealth or with indolence).

            2. Pharaoh sees relief and makes his heart dull.

          3. Gnats/Lice

            "The magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard/strong, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said." - Exodus 8:18-19

            1. חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

          4. Flies

            "The LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go." - Exodus 8:31-32

            1. כבד – to make heavy (with either honor and glory or with burden and grief), to honor or to make dull, to grow fat (with wealth or with indolence).

          5. Death of cattle

            "So the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not let the people go." - Exodus 9:6-7

            1. כבד – to make heavy (with either honor and glory or with burden and grief), to honor or to make dull, to grow fat (with wealth or with indolence).

          6. Boils

            "The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians. And the LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses." - Exodus 9:11-12

            1. the LORD strengthened – חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

            2. This is the first instance where God is actually doing the hardening and it is in the sense of strengthening rather than putting weight upon.

            3. This is also where God indicates that God will use the stubbornness of Pharaoh's heart (I have allowed you to stand) to reveal God’s glory (v. 16).

          7. Hail

            "But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. Pharaoh's heart became hard/strong, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses." - Exodus 9:34-35

            1. he sinned again and hardened his heart – כבד – to make heavy (with either honor and glory or with burden and grief), to honor or to make dull, to grow fat (with wealth or with indolence).

              1. With the addition of “he sinned again” we see that this is likely self-glorification that is desensitizing his heart.

            2. became hard – חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

              1. This verse ties the strength of Pharaoh's heart towards the hardening of his own heart that he has been doing through self-glorification.

          8. Locusts

            "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, ... So the LORD shifted the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. But the LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go." - Exodus 10:1, 19-20

            1. I have hardened his heart – כבד – to make heavy (with either honor and glory or with burden and grief), to honor or to make dull, to grow fat (with wealth or with indolence).

              1. First time that God is using this verb.

            2. The LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart – חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

          9. Darkness

            "But the LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!" Moses said, "You are right; I shall never see your face again!"" - Exodus 10:27-29

            1. The LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart – חזק – To strengthen, prevail, withstand, grow strong, grow hard, be firm, be resolute, be sore.

          10. Death

            "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt." Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land." - Exodus 11:9-10

            1. A side note on this one… even though God anticipates this interaction in Exodus 4, it is Pharaoh himself who brings up the death of humans when he threatens to kill Moses.

            2. Some rabbis have even suggested that the reason the angel of death comes upon Egypt is because Pharaoh resorts to death at the height of his stubbornness.

      3. The Potter makes some vessels for honor and some for destruction?!

        1. That leads us into...

    2. God determines vessels for honor and for dishonor… based on how those nations respond to God.

      1. Clay in the Hands of the Potter (What Paul is referencing)

        "The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you." Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. "At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will repent/relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. "Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will repent/think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. "So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."' "But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'" - Jeremiah 18:1-12

        1. Oh, – נא – a primitive particle of incitement and entreaty used in submissive and modest request. Often translated as: oh, now, then, please, I pray, I beseech, I beg you.

          1. If you’re thinking of emotional pleading and begging, you’re reading the word properly.

          2. Maybe you’re starting to see why this word is often glossed over in cultures with a “stiff upper lip”.

        2. House of Israel – we are once again dealing with a national context, though the implications would likely carry down to individual families and groups.

        3. I will repent/relent concerning calamity.

          ""Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'" - Ezekiel 33:11

          1. It’s impossible to read this verse with too much emotion.

          2. Can God get more clear that He’s looking for any excuse to relent from calamity?

          3. But why won’t you come back to me? ~ God

        4. I will repent/think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.

          "Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 'I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 'Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'" - 2 Samuel 12:7-10

          1. This breaks God’s heart so much, this was the man who God wanted to set up as the beginning of the monarchic dynasty that worships the LORD and brings the glory of the LORD into all the earth. Instead, this family will barely survive it’s own violence.

        5. Turn back – the power of repentance.

          1. To heal the nation of Israel

            ""If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place." - 2 Chronicles 7:13-15

            1. This rarely happens, as the religious institution is usually only good at one or two of these instead of all four

              1. humble themselves – the Matthew 7 principle of seeking our own flaws first so that we may be of service. (this is the rarest, and also the first necessity in the “formula”)

              2. Pray – the Matthew 6 principle of going to the secret place, not using meaningless repetition, and engaging in all aspects of the Prayer of the Disciples.

              3. Seek My Face – seeking after a relational attachment rather than self-satisfaction.

              4. Turn from their wicked ways – relent from current fixations/pursuits and think better of what we had been worshiping.

Conditional Life
Kingdoms of Control