Please turn in your Bibles this Resurrection morning 2003 to Matthew chapter 27 as we are going to be looking at what I like to call the “Field of Cracked Pots!”  As you are turning there listen to this true story from Patsy Clairmont that is taken from her book God Uses Cracked Pots.  She said:

            I remember the day well.  It was one of those times when everything goes right.  I took a shower and fixed my hair. It went just the way I wanted it to, as it so seldom does.  I pulled on my new pink sweater, giving me added color, since I need all the help I can get.  I pulled on my gray slacks and my taupe heels.  [Or light brown for us men who have no idea what that means].

            Since it was a cool Michigan day, I slipped on my gray trench coat with pink on the lapels. I was color-coded from head to toe.

            When I arrived in downtown Brighton, where I intended to take care of some errands, I was surprised to find heavy traffic. Brighton is a small town, but it has a large health food store. Usually, I can park right in front and run in.

            But today business was so brisk I had to park two blocks away.  When your attitude is right, and it’s a great day, however, inconveniences and interruptions are no big deal.

            I thought, I’ll just bounce down the street in time to the sunshine. 

            I got out of the car, bounced down the street, crossed the road and entered the store.

            As I headed toward the back of the store, I caught my reflection in the glass doors of the refrigeration system.  It reaffirmed I was lookin’ good.  While enjoying my mirrored self, I noticed something was following me.  I turned and realized it was my panty hose!

            I remembered the night before when I had done a little Wonder Woman act and taken panty hose and slacks off in one fell swoop.  This morning I put on new panty hose and must have pushed the old hose through when I pulled on my slacks.

            I believe they made their emergence as I bounced down the street in time to the sunshine.  I remembered the truck driver who stopped his truck to let me cross.  As I looked up, he was laughing, and I thought, Oh, look!  The whole world is happy today.

            So I waved.  Little did I realize how much I was waving.

            I assumed I had reached some amount of maturity by this time in my life, but I can honestly say that when I looked back and saw that . . . that . . . dangling participle, the thought that crossed my mind was I am going to die!

            I knew they were my panty hose because the right foot was securely wrapped around my right ankle.  I knew it was secure because I tried to shake the thing off and pretend I had picked it up in the street.

            It’s amazing to me that we gals buy these things in flat little packages, we wear them once, and they grow. Now I had a mammoth handful of panty hose and no place to pitch them. The shelves were crowded with groceries, and my purse was too small and full, so I stuffed them in my coat pocket. They became a protruding hump on my right hip.

            I decided to never leave that store. I knew all the store owners in town, and I figured that by now they would have all their employees at the windows waiting for a return parade.

            I glanced cautiously around the store and noticed it was Senior Citizen’s Day. They were having their blood pressures read, so I got in line to avoid having to leave the store. 

            The bad news was no one noticed I didn’t belong in line. The good news was I had an elevated blood pressure reading.  Usually nurses take mine and say, “I’m sorry but you died two days ago.”  Today I registered well up the scale.

            Finally I realized I’d have to leave.  I slipped out the door, down the street, into my car and off for home.

            All the way home I said, “I’ll never tell anyone this, I’ll never tell anyone I did this, I’LL NEVER TELL ANYONE I DID THIS!”

            I made it home and got out of the car.  My husband was in the yard raking.

            I screamed, “Do you now what I did?!”

            He was so proud to know his wife had gone through town dragging her underwear.  I told him I thought we should move – to another state – in the night. He thought that was extreme and suggested instead that for a while I could walk ten feet behind him.  After thinking that through, we decided it should be ten feet in front of him so he could check me out.

            If you have ever done anything to embarrass yourself, you know that the more you try not to think about it, the more it comes to you in living color.  As I walked through my house, the replay of what I did came to me again and again.

            At last I cried out to the Lord, “You take ashes and create beauty, but can You do anything with panty hose?”

            Almost immediately I realized that I had dragged a lot worse things through my life than panty hose.  I dragged guilt, anger, fear and shame.  I was reminded by the Lord that those were far more unattractive and distracting than my hose, for they prevented others from seeing His presence and His power in my life.  I needed to resolve the pain in my past that I might live more fully today and look forward to my tomorrows.

                                                            - Patsy Clairmont, God Uses Cracked Pots, pp. 3-5

            Now some of you may still be wondering “Where in the world is he going with this on this Easter morning?”  Let me say this, we all have things hanging from our lives, our vessels are cracked, it is called sin and we will see that in our text this morning and expound on that and what Christ has done to restore the cracked pots, to restore us again. With that said, let’s begin reading in Matthew chapter 27, beginning in verse 3 as Judas has plotted the arrest of Jesus with some of the religious leaders and now is having trouble with the decision he made.

            As Judas saw the beaten and bloodied body of Jesus after His three religious trials, before He was handed over to Pilate, he had remorse. Please understand that the Greek word that Matthew uses for remorse is METAMELLOMAI which means sorrow, regret, it was an emotional response but it did not move him, it did not change his heart over the situation.  You see, Matthew could have used another Greek word for remorse, METANOE which means a change of mind which changes a person’s action. He just felt guilty and he wanted nothing to do with the money he received for turning Jesus in so he threw it into the temple, to an area where only the priests were allowed!

               Judas wanted that 30 pieces of silver so badly that he betrayed the Lord, an innocent man to get it, and that which he thought would bring him so much pleasure, so much joy, only left him tormented over what he had done.  That is how sin is in our life, we think it is great, it will bring joy, and it may for a time but in the end we get burned, we are tormented by it!

            Thus, for Judas, still not relieved from the wickedness he did, and not seeing his need for a Savior, for Jesus, he does the only thing he sees left in his mind, he goes out and hangs himself!  Folks, self-punishment will not free you from sin and death does not relieve the guilt, it only makes it more permanent and the pain, the torment is beyond comprehension.  In fact the Scriptures tell us that this eternal punishment is not good, which seems obvious, and yet some don’t believe it.  In II Thessalonians 1:9 we are told, “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”  And Mark tells us that those in the Lake of Fire are aware of the things that are happening to them, as he says it is a place “where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’”  Mark 9:44.

            Now the religious leaders took the money that Judas threw into the temple and bought a potter’s field with it.  What is a potter’s field?  Some say it was the place where the potter would come to get his clay to make his pottery, which is possible. Then, after time, the field would not be good any longer and it was sold to bury the dead who had no place to be buried because they were poor or criminals.

            I tend to lean more towards the idea that the potter’s field was the place where the potter would throw his cracked pots, his marred pottery, his broken vessels, the pottery that was of no value any longer. Thus, you could imagine what this land looked like after a period of time with all these broken pieces of pottery thrown all over the place. It was good for nothing except to bury the dead and thus, it became the Field of Blood.

            How does that relate to us today?  Don’t be offended but we are all a bunch of cracked pots! Now I didn’t say crack-pots, but cracked pots, broken vessels, marred pottery you might say.  You see, like pottery the Bible tells us “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”  Genesis 2:7.  In other words, we are made up of the dust of the earth, clay you might say, like what pottery is made of!

            Now how did these vessels of ours become broken?  When sin entered this world through Adam as he transgressed the Words of God and that sin has now been passed on to all of us, that blemish or inherited sin we all have as we are born into this world. And we all have spots or acquired sin, sin we have done on our own.

            It is as Paul said in Romans 5:12-15, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned -- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” 

            Here is the problem we have, sin has separated us from God, we have all that garbage hanging off of our lives and we think we look good!  We have all that garbage hanging off of our lives and we think we smell good!  But God says we don’t, we are not good, we are sinners, and because we are descendants of Adam, we are born in sin and if we remain in sin, then we will die in our sins, eternally separated from God.

            But, through Jesus Christ we can be forgiven of all our sins, these marred vessels; these cracked pots can be restored if we would only receive that free gift into our lives. The problem comes when we act like Judas; sorry about the situation we may be in but not a sorrow that leads to repentance.  Paul points out the difference of the two kinds of sorrow in II Corinthians 7:9-11, where he says “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.  For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” 

            Notice the two types of sorrow Paul is speaking of. One sorrow leads to repentance, a change in a person’s life, a return to God.  The other brings about no change in the person, they may be sorry that they got caught but it has not impacted their life in such a way that they have repented of their sin and returned to God!

            And let me say this, as we keep sinning, as we keep doing things that are wrong, guilt begins to grow in our lives. For some, they become physically sick over their condition.  For others, they become mentally sick over their condition. And for others, they short-circuit their consciousness and they can do the most heinous crimes and not feel any sorrow, any guilt!

            Let me illustrate what I mean by this true story, it goes like this:

            I was once conducting a rap session with high school teenagers. I told them that they could ask me any question on any subject, and I would try to answer it. Their questions were typical of ones I had received in similar session’s scores of times before. As the session drew to a close, one girl toward the back, who had not said anything, raised her hand. I nodded, and she said, “The Bible says that God loves everybody. Then it says that God sends people to hell. How can a loving God do that?” I gave her my answer, and she came back to me with arguments. I answered her arguments, and she answered my answers. The conversation quickly degenerated into an argument. I did not convince her, nor did she convince me. After a few more questions I dismissed the session. After the session I approached her and said, “I owe you an apology. I really should not have allowed our discussion to become so argumentative.”  Then I asked, “May I share something with you?”  She said, “Yes.”  So I took her through a basic presentation of the gospel. When I got to Romans 3:23 and suggested that all of us were sinners she began to cry. It was then that this high school senior admitted she had been having an affair with a married man. The one thing she needed was forgiveness. When I finished the presentation of the gospel, she trusted Christ. The reason she did not believe in hell was because she was going there. In her heart she knew she had sinned.  Her conscience condemned her, but rather than face the fact of her guilt, she simply denied any future judgment or future hell.

                        - M. Cocoris, Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 163

            Wherever you are at this morning, Jesus came and died for your sins, paying in full the penalty for your sins. In fact, the penalty for your sins was a sacrifice, for, as Paul said “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”  Hebrews 9:22.  Thus, God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, to become flesh, to dwell among us with the soul purpose of paying in full the penalty for our sins so these cracked pots, these broken vessels can be restored into vessels of honor for the King to use! 

            How does He do that? First of all He purchased the field, this world with His life, He purchased us by His blood, we have been redeemed by the blood!  It is as Paul said in Ephesians 1:7-12, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”  And in Romans 3:24-25 we read, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”  We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus! 

            Next, after we are saved, He uses the heat of trials in our lives to expose those flaws so they can be removed.  Peter tells us in I Peter 1:6-9, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of your souls.”  And Job tells us “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”  Job 23:10.  So the heat of trials exposes our flaws so the Master Potter can remove them from our lives!

            And lastly, He uses the water of the Holy Spirit to keep us soft, pliable, so the Master Potter can reshape these vessels, to restore these broken vessels and as I have said, make us into vessels of honor for the King.  It is as Ezekiel said as he was speaking to the nation of Israel but I think it also applies to us, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”  Ezekiel 36:25-27. 

            And in Hebrews 10:19-23 we are told, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”  The refreshing water of the Holy Spirit keeps our heart soft to God!

            When you think about it, God has painted for us a beautiful picture of who He is and who we are, what He does and what we are to do.  Isaiah 64:8 puts it this way, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.” 

            Now I am not an artist nor do I pretend to be.  I have seen the pottery that Leeann has made, in fact we have a couple of her pottery pots in our house, and they are beautiful.  I am not sure what mine would look like if I tried to make one, it would definitively be classified as modern art, it would be out of this world because no one else would want it!  But God, the Master Potter, sees these broken vessels thrown out into the garbage, the world, and He purchases us back and then He takes these cracked pots, you and me, and begins to mold and shape them, He begins to fix the cracks, He takes out the imperfections, and, as I have said, makes us into vessels of honor.

            The problem comes when we as these clay pots begin to complain to the Master Potter, telling Him what to do instead of submitting to His loving care. You see, it all begins with a proper understanding of God.  If you believe He is a God of love, then you need to obey Him and allow Him to work in your life.  Yes, at times it does hurt but it is what is needed at that given time for us to grow, for us to mature in the Lord, as He is making us more like Him each and every day!

            On this Resurrection morning 2003 I want you to know the Good News, that Jesus is not dead, He is risen, the tomb is empty, won’t you come and see?  And not just see, but receive what He has for you, whatever that may be this morning.  Maybe it is to come to Him as Lord and Savior, to become a child of God. What a great day for you to do that, on Resurrection Sunday!  Maybe you are not sure, let me help you.  I don’t know if you heard this story before, but it goes like this:

            A little boy [was] visiting his grandparents and given his first slingshot.  He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

            After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today.  Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.

            Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.”  Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of.  Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.”  Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug.  “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

                                                                                                                        - Steven Cole

            God knows all your sins and the question is, “How long are you going to let Satan make you a slave to sin?” You see, you can receive that forgiveness by coming to Jesus and asking Him to be Lord and Savior of your life, and He will!

            For those of you who are saved, and yet you are carrying around all kinds of garbage in your life, like bitterness, anger, un-forgiveness, and-so-on, Jesus wants you to come to Him and repent and get right with Him.  He doesn’t want you to remain in that condition.  In fact, when you think about it, God loves you just the way you are but He loves you too much to leave you just the way you are! 

            God wants to take these broken vessels and use them for His glory as He restores them.  Paul put it this way as he said in II Timothy 2:20-21, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.  Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”  The choice is yours to make what kind of vessel you want to be.

            As I begin to rap this up this morning, I want you to see what God does with us, broken, useless vessels in the world’s eyes and yet God sees us as precious and He will complete the work He started in us.   This is actually from a song that is titled, The Touch of the Masters Hand, and you may have heard this before, but it is beautiful and it drives home the point. The song goes like this:

            It was battered and scarred, the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his wild, to spend much time in with the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. What am I bid, good folk he cried, who will start the bidding for me? A dollar once and who’ll make it two, two dollars and who’ll make it three?  Three dollars once three dollars twice and going and gone but no!  From the room far back a gray haired man came forward and picked up the bow. And wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the string’s he played a melody pure and sweet as sweet as an angel sings.  The music ceased and the auctioneer in a voice that was quite and low said what am I bid for the old violin and he held it up with the bow.  A thousand dollars and who’ll make it two, two thousand and who’ll make it three, three thousand once, three thousand twice and going and gone said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried we do not quite understand what changed its worth? The man replied “It was the touch of the Master’s Hand.”

            And many a man with life out of tune and battered and scared by sin is auctioned cheep by the foolish crowd, much like the old violin.  A mess of pottage, a glass of wine, a game and he travels on, he’s going once, he’s going twice, he’s going and almost gone. But the Master comes in and the foolish crowd could never quite understand, the worth of a soul or the change that is wrought by the touch of the Masters Hand.

                                                                                    - The Touch of the Masters Hand

            That is what God desires to do in each of you this morning, if you would only let Him.  Our lives have been beaten, they have been battered, some are scared, some are broken, but the Master Potter can do the impossible, He can restore us with the touch of His Hand if we would only let Him!  So this morning, don’t leave here without being touched by the Masters Hand and see what He can do in your life, making you into a vessel of honor instead of remaining a cracked pot!