As the prisoner Paul continues to encourage and instruct his son in the faith, he urges Timothy to keep teaching the brothers and sisters to hang on to their faith and live it out in a very obvious manner. At that time, doing so was not only risky but often a death sentence as in Paul's case and the tens of thousands of other Christians who were summarily executed for doing the very thing Paul is urging Timothy to do and teach. The vicious campaign by the Romans and the Jews to obliterate the words and life of Jesus from the earth was focused on the church all over the Empire. This caused many to turn away from following Jesus and the teaching of the Apostles. Hear Paul again -
"God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription, 'The Lord knows who are his', and 'Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.' In a large house there are articles of wood and clay; some for noble purposes and some ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." 2 Timothy 2:19-21 NIV
Which type of vessel/bowl am I? God knows! Am I honest enough with myself to actually know? I love the way this same thing is stated at Hebrews 2:1 -
"We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."
Drifting away is never an intentional result of faith. I've met a few people who went away from Jesus and his church by intention, they just became angry or disillusioned or whatever, and walked away. Maybe they never really were people of faith or maybe their lifestyle would not allow such a drastic shift as Jesus demands and they saw no reason to pretend. However, most of those I have met who went away from Jesus did so gradually. They drifted off a little at a time. Satan is really skilled at distracting us away from the life of faith. I cannot recall one person I ever talked with who is away from Jesus and his church who planned to be in that place from the beginning.
Maybe Peterson's interpretation will be helpful -
"In a well furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets - some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing." MSG
God's obvious intention for me is to use me to present his pure love, shown in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, to his human family wherever I go in life. He wants to make me into a silver platter on which to serve his feast.
I realize there are those who have interpreted Paul's statement to mean that you and I become either a silver platter (acceptable to God) or a trash can (rejected by God) by God's own purpose and design and we have no option either way. If someone chooses to believe that God creates both vessels and neither has a choice in the matter, that is their business and God will deal with it in his own way. But, to me that violates everything the gospel is designed to do. I believe we all are sinners in need of forgiveness and that is exactly what God offers to all of us through Jesus Christ. Paul is simply using common household items as an illustration of who God is and how he accomplishes his will in us.
So, am I functioning in God's kitchen as a beautiful serving platter or a trash can to hold the garbage?
Kinda makes you think don't it!
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