A Crystal Goblet or a Cool Whip Bowl?

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, [and] prepared unto every good work. 2 Timothy 2:20,21

I've read those verses many, many times and heard them preached probably as many. In my reading I always assumed the vessels of honor were the gold and silver ones, and the wooden and earthen ones were the ones to dishonor.

The verse doesn't say which are to honor and which are to dishonor. The next verse goes on to say if a man will purge himself from "these" he will be a vessel unto honor. What are "these"? Well the preceding verses name two individuals who deny the resurrection, and the following verses list a more comprehensive list of sins to flee (the very next verse saying "flee also...").

It would appear that the emphasis isn't one the material the vessel is made with, but the contents the vessel carries. A very simple, but practical example would be to have two cups on a table. Both contain water, but one of them hasn't been washed well. (perhaps it still has a lipstick smudge, or a milk ring...you get the idea!) Which one will I choose to drink out of? If I'm smart, I will choose the clean cup. It's the one I'll choose to USE. I will set aside the dirty one because it needs further washing.

You may say, "But the dirty one is made of fine china! It's beautiful and expensive. The clean one is just a plain, mismatched cup someone found at a thrift store. Look at it! It even has a chip or two in it!" I would have to answer you this, "What you say is all true. Yet however beautiful the cup may be, it still contains filth that I can not use. The other cup is simple, not worth much, and a little chipped around the edges, but it's clean."

I would even take it a step further and say I prefer the "wooden and earthen vessel" to the gold or silver one. Why? Let's go to the average kitchen.

On one wall of the kitchen is a fine cabinet containing beautiful china and crystal. Everyone who enters the kitchen always find their eyes drawn to the finery on display. People always comment on their beauty.

"Look at me!" cries a china plate edged in gold, "I'm beautiful, expensive, and desirable! I am fit for display and show, I am something great!"

Perhaps a crystal goblet echoes, "Yes, I too am fit for display! Only reserved for special people to touch me. No sticky fingers of a child or careless hands of a passer-by can lay hold on me! I'm not like those in the DISH WASHER!"

And so we turn our attention to the dish washer. Opened up it might reveal a hodgepodge of dishes, cups, and bowls.

Perhaps they are a bit like the dishes I grew up using on a daily basis. Some of the "glasses" are just jelly jars saved for further use. The "bowls" were collected from the makers of Cool Whip, and the plates were found at various yard sales. There's nothing impressive about them. They are relatively inexpensive, some downright worthless. Some of the plates are chipped, and some of those Cool Whip bowls are a little faded. Yet here they all are, in the dishwasher. The very fact they are in the dishwasher testifies of their recent use. If they could speak what might they say?

"I'm just a worn out Cool Whip bowl, but the mother of the house used me to provide the most important meal of the day to her children this morning."

"I'm just a recycled jelly jar, yet Mama used me to give her toddler juice today."

"I'm a plastic plate. One time the kids couldn't find a Frisbee so they used me. The family dog got a hold on me, but Dad rescued me, Mom cleaned me up, and now even though I have a few teeth marks, I'm back."

"I'm just an old, chipped plate Mom found at Goodwill. I only cost her 10 cents, but I'm big and sturdy, and even though I'm chipped I've seen a lot of good years. She always serves her husband dinner on me, because I'm the biggest serving plate she has, and Dad loves a hearty meal."

Collectively they may chorus to us, "We don't match, aren't worth much, and aren't reserved for special occasions. But Anyone can use us, even little children, or clumsy hands. We don't break easily either. We can take the heat from the dishwasher and still keep going. We don't spend our time sitting on the shelf, but are used and washed constantly. We don't belong to a set or group of dishes; we are individuals, none of us are the same."

In other places in Scripture we find it said,

for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7b)

and also:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

God made all of us unique. According to Paul's epistles, He gave us spiritual gifts and those are not the same for each person. Some may be great, mighty, rich, intelligent, beautiful, accomplished (fill in the blank) and I'm not saying God can't use them, but according to the Bible, I think the majority of those God uses are weak, insignificant, unattractive, battered, foolish, base, and the ordinary.

God used a shepherd boy to become a king, a lowly prophet to rebuke a king, a barren woman to birth Samuel, a man that stuttered to free God's children, a sinful couple to parent the first family, a persecutor named Saul to become the Apostle Paul, a jailor to start a church in Phillipi, a fisherman to preach at Pentecost, etc...

And God also used Job (who was rich by the standards of his day)to suffer for the Lord, Artaxerxes the king who sent Nehemiah to rebuild the wall, Paul's converts among the household of Caesar, King Solomon in his wisdom and other great men and women from the Bible.

The important issue at hand isn't if you are made of gold or made of clay; the issue is, have you fled from the things listed in those verses. It doesn't matter if you're a Cool Whip bowl or an expensive crystal goblet, if you aren't clean, you aren't useable.

If you find that you are in need of a washing, well don't be discouraged! Every vessel has the be cleaned on occasion. You just have to be WILLING to be cleansed! Just like the verse up top says, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, [and] prepared unto every good work."