Break Your Jar

Lately, I have been reading and thinking a lot about the prophets in the Bible. Job and Jeremiah were sent to prophesy against the evil and idol worship in their city and were unbelievably persecuted for it. There comes a point in Job's lament where he curses the day he was born; thus, echoing Jeremiah's same cry for himself and the people he is interceding for. God sends Jeremiah to speak against the worship of false gods and the people do not want to hear this message. In a turn of events, the people that Jeremiah is praying for actually seek to take his life. They have now become his enemies.

But then, the most powerful part of this story climaxes when God tells Jeremiah to visit a potter. He tells him to purchase a clay jar, go to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and hold the pot while proclaiming the Lord's message to his people. Through some research on the Valley of Ben Hinnom, I learned that it was actually a graveyard outside the city walls. It was a custom not to bury the Jewish people inside the city walls but rather outside of them. Parents often sacrificed their first born children here to the gods. Jeremiah is called to break the jar in front of everyone. So, this place seems pretty significant in that, Jeremiah is standing (literally) on a place of death and delivering a message of healing. It is counteractive. In a way, he is standing in the gap, in the tension and being God's spokesperson to bring heaven to earth. Jeremiah is bringing people back to a place where death once reigned and is saying "no more". In a way, releasing that jar is like releasing all of the hurt, the child sacrifices, the blood, and the killings in order to make a way for something new. Jeremiah says:

"God will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired."

I can physically picture this event happening. Jeremiah takes some of the elders with him as he goes to proclaim this message. This kind of reminds me of people going to a rock concert to hear a musician sing and, instead of singing and music, are suddenly told some powerful news about the musician's life.

Today, I read a passage in the book I Once Was Lost, that referenced Moses holding up the Rod of God. When Moses let his arm down, the battle turned.

"Seems simple enough. But what happens to Moses? He grows weary. At first his friends bring a rock for him to sit on. But even a seemingly simple activity like holding up your arm while seated becomes fatiguing with time. Eventually Aaron and Hur have to come and help Moses hold up his arm.

We, too, need to intercede for our friends. And we, too, need to be reminded not to stop. Not to grow weary. It might not be a bad idea to get an Aaron and Hur of our own - enlisting other people to uphold us as we uphold others at this spiritually intense time."

Jeremiah did not break his clay jar as a spectacle. He was not like the Pharisees who stood on street corners loudly proclaiming Jesus and making a show out of it only to glorify themselves. He did this out of the Holy Spirit's leading, out of genuine humility. And with this, he probably experienced some sort of questioning about God's ability to change things. Haven't we all asked at one time, "Are you sure you know what you are doing? What if this isn't the right way? What if I take this step and it's not what you have called me to?" Yet, when we finally do take that step of risk and of vulnerability, we see God at work - even if the outcome changes.

So all of this makes me ask:

1) Who are my elders or my Aaron(s) and Hur(s)?

2) What does my clay jar represent? What's in it? How would it feel to lift it above my head and break it? If I dared to invite such change into my life, what would it be like?

3) What am I being called to?

I firmly believe that we are all called to something. We all have a greater purpose for being here. This process will probably take some time, discernment, and trusted friends to help you talk through your concerns, fear, and hopes. But in this, know that you are supported and are loved, even as you stand up in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and break your jar in front of everyone to see. This countercultural act may seem bizarre in our world today. Yes, it's true that following the Spirit's leading may bring you to some unheard of or even mundane and simple places. But, it's in this journey that I find myself growing closer to God and seeing things from his perspective as I seek to follow him more and more everyday.