When we were younger and could only afford older model cars, I spent a lot of time in auto junk yards looking for parts to repurpose, reclaim and keep them running….
Winnie loves to watch the cooking program “Chopped”. So guess who else watches it whether he wants to or not…..? I said, it’s a cooking program, but it has a twist to it. Each contestant is giving bazaar ingredients from the mystery basket, to combine in order to make something tasty, appealing and judged worthy of winning. The central objective is how well they reconstitute these normally non-compatible ingredients…. And the one who does it best will come out the winner….
As I was considering these words “Repurposed and Reclaimed” which the Holy Spirit dropped into my spirit applied, I came across the following scripture….
Jeremiah 18: 1 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, v2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” v3 so I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. v4 The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good unto him. v5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, v7 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand….”
Entire depressed areas of cities are revitalized to become bustling market places…. An empty warehouse was repurposed to be an artsy restaurant… We have repurposed this School auditorium as a sanctuary…..An unused loft becomes and extra bedroom…. The entire land area of Key West was a tangled jungle off the beaten path used only for a water stop, until John W. Simonton, saw it’s potential as a deep water port and bought it for $2,000.00 in January of 1822. He lobbied Washington to establish a Naval base here to bring law and order to the island and succeeded in 1832, and the rest is history!
Creative minds not only see what a plot of land, a piece of furniture, or a building used to be, but also what it can become. They can take something that is broken, discarded, and forgotten and adapt it for a different purpose in order to show its hidden, unrealized value and usefulness.
When you hear the parables of Jesus, He takes the ordinary, everyday elements of our world and re-purposes them to tell us something about the extraordinary Kingdom of God and He opens a spiritual truth in all this…. It might be sowing seed, keeping sheep, baking bread, drawing water from the well, vine grafting, harvesting wheat and grapes, and different types of soil…..
Certainly our God, the creator Himself, can see not only what He created, but is able to bring forth it’s unrealized value and potential, when it becomes broken, worn out, overlooked or discarded….. He gives ordinary things a new reality…. He is showing some of us a new reality for our lives in this place we are at in our lives….
One night in 1935, Mayor LaGuardia of New York, showed up at a night court in the poorest ward of the city. The judge of that district had a reputation for being insensitive and harsh in his sentences. If you went before him you know you would get the maximum sentence the law allowed.
On this particular occasion, Mayor La Guardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. In his first case, the officer brought before him a very poor and needy older woman who was caught stealing bread and milk to feed her grandchildren. After she pleaded guilty to the crime, The Mayor said “I have to punish you, so it’s 25 dollars or ten days in jail.” It was obvious she couldn’t pay the fine and that she would go to jail.
So the judge out of his own pocket paid the fine for her. He then fined everyone in the courtroom 5 dollars for living in a city “where no one cares enough that a person has to steal bread and milk so that her grandchildren can eat.” The hat was passed around, and the woman left the courtroom with her fine paid and an additional $100.00 in her purse.
The truth is that we’ve all come up short at some points in our life….How many of us have thought about things in our past that we wished we had another chance to do it over again much differently….
This woman came to the point of brokenness before she could get help….
The power of brokenness is often the pathway to change…..There are miracles in the breaking andthere is power in the broken pieces…..The storm that was sent to break you will be used by God to make you…..We may not like to hear it but we can’t be used for God’s greater purposes until we are broken. We don’t like to hear it, because in our brokenness some of us think we are ruined, unworthy, and no longer desirable or useful.Certainly we all need to feel viable, contributing, valued members of the family, our jobs, our community and society…..
Yet, what if the breaking process is part of God’s plan to repurpose you, reclaim you and bless youabundantly? And then through you to bless othersbecause of the brokenness, not merely in spite of it. Listen to what David says to us about this….
Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices which God requires are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will never despise”.
If you were to give a child a glow stick, they are very disappointed with the plain, drab stick until it is broken. Then they become very excited and take great pleasure in the glow which lights up the object that they did not appreciate before. How much like the glow stick are we. As we begin to glow through the process of our brokenness, there comes a greater appreciation and deeper insight concerning what has value and worth in our lives. Our joy begins to spring from a deeper source….
We need to Re-Focus…..Soon after the dawn of creation, humankind made a colossal, costly, and fatal shift. We disregarded God’s purposes back in that ancient garden. Adam and Eve and those after them, lost their purpose because they lost their focus… Someone has said that sometimes I have to let go of what we are in order to become what we can be…..
The apostle John puts it this way…. 1 John3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. v3 And every man that has this hope in him examines himself”…….
Yogi Berra, the well-known catcher for the New York Yankees, was known for his banter that was about distracting the hitter. Hank Aaron, was the chief power hitter for the Milwaukee Braves.Aaron was at bat and Yogi was trying to distract him by saying stuff like, "Henry, your shoes are untied…. Henry, you’re on the plate….Henry, you're holding the bat wrong. You're supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark." Aaron didn't say anything, but when the next pitch camehe hit it into the left-field bleachers. After rounding the bases and tagging up at home plate, Aaron looked at Yogi Berra and said, "I’ll let you read the bats, while I hit the balls”… (You’ve got to know your purpose and not get distracted)
In the garden of Gethsemane we are told that when Jesus needed his disciples most – and he is in agony and struggling so intensely that his sweat became drops of blood… at that most critical hour of history, instead of watching and praying, they fell asleep: “Could you have not have stayed awake and prayed just one hour?” He asked them….. they got distracted….
Such is the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of the one, whom we learn in scripture, neither slumbers nor sleeps–a God who is awake to you and to me in all of our grief and brokenness.
Our chief Purpose is to get folks to look to Godand give Him the rightful place in their lives.
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost it’s saltiness (purpose), how shall it be salted? it is therefore good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. v14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. v15 Men do not light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light unto all that are in the house. v16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”.
I think of the man who went to the doctor and said, "Doc, you gotta check my leg. Something's really wrong. Just listen to my thigh, you'll hear it! "The doctor placed his stethoscope on the man's thigh, and he hears, "Gimme 50 bucks. I need 50 bucks." "I've never seen or heard anything like this before. How long has this been going on?" The doctor asked. "That's nothing Doc. Listen to my knee." The doctor listens the man's knee and heard it say, "Man, I really need 40 bucks. Please give me 40 bucks!!" "Sir, I really don't know what to tell you. I've never seen anything like this." "Wait Doc, that's not all. There's more, just listen to my ankle," The doctor listens to hear the ankle pleading, "Please, I just need 20 dollars. Lend me 20 bucks, please." "I have no idea what to tell you. There's like this in my medical books," and he frantically searched all his medical books. Finally he tells the patient… "Based on my life’s work and all my previous experience, I can tell you that your leg seems to be broke in three places." (Well, if you have God as your partner in life, you’re never really broke)
God only knows what could happen when the world really sees the dramatic difference that Hemakes in all human relationships, as a father, mother, daughter, son, worker and neighbor when we really discover our purpose….God’s people should be the holiest, happiest, healthiest, most peaceful, and most helpful people on the planet! It doesn’t mean we don’t have it hard, with challenges and difficulties like everyone else… but the difference is that we see the greater purpose in it all!
The bible tells us that on one occasion folks tore the roof off to get in the house where a Jesus gathering was taking place!!!
Titus 2:9-10 “The world cannot possibly begin to believe in the reality of an unseen God, extravagant in mercy, lavish in goodness, bent on redeeming and reconciling and restoring creation, until we ourselves are living object lessons of this very thing.”
Our heavenly Father is the greatest repurpose expert of all… (HE IS ABLE TO REPURPOSE NOTHING AND PRODUCE SOMETHING) So if you have nothing to work with, He has no problem starting with that!....He took nothing(because there was no material to start with) andmade the planets, the moons, and stars throughout the universe came from nothing. Out of dirt and clay He fashioned the first man’s body and then breathed life into him. He took a rib out of the first man and refashioned, or repurposed it, and brought forth the first woman.
He took all of us who were spiritually dead and doomed because of the fall, who were on our way to God’s spiritual garbage pit know as Hell, and He cleaned us up spiritually with the blood of Jesus, and He repurposed us and changed our eternal destination….
I mentioned earlier about having the right focus, and we read in …Colossians 3:1 where Paul wrote, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Give priority to things above, not to the things that are on the earth.”
President Kennedy gave a speech in 1961, declaring that by the end of the decade, the United States would land a man on the moon and bring him home safely, though he did not live to see ithappen in 1969. He wanted support from every American. He said in a speech, “In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon— it will be an entire nation. As he was touring the space center, he passed a man, and he asked him what he did at the center. The man said, Mr.President, I mop the floors around here, and I’m putting a man on the moon! He not only saw his role but he saw the greater purpose of the role he was fulfilling!
When we see the bigger picture connected to what we are doing as we serve Christ, it’s another way of repurposing our efforts and being part of something bigger than ourselves….. In all the things we do, in all the ways we do it, we’re ushering in the Kingdom of Heaven….
As we sing and worship, we’re ushering in the kingdom. As we give and serve, we’re ushering in the kingdom. As we simply love and care, we’re ushering in the kingdom!
King David had lost his purpose when he wrote Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God,and renew a right spirit within me. v11 Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me. v12 Restore (repurpose) unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free (Nawdeeb… willing, liberal, generous) spirit”.
There are individuals who create sculptures from junk metal…. Now If a metal sculpture made of old discarded, junk metal could take a look at itself, it might continue to see itself as just a pile of old scrap metal that has just been rearranged in a different form and shape. The sculpture may not see what the artist or others see and know how beautiful it now is because it still thinks of it’selfas junk.
Likewise, even now as Christians, we may look in the mirror and just see the same old person, not really seeing how we have been remade and repurposed by the Master redeemer Himself. We don’t usually see the work that God has done on the inside because we are distracted by the outside stuff…. On a spiritual level Father God has totally reworked us. So much so that Paul said that He has raised and elevated us and set us right up there with Jesus. We are now different than who we were before because we are already citizens of Heaven just waiting for Jesus to use us as He desires and for the purpose He has in His own plan.
The greatest re-purposing that history will ever record, is when God the creator, became a man who suffered as we do, was tempted in all manner as we are, then was subject to one of the cruelest forms of death by crucifixion that is possible, and rose to present the victory to the Father in our behalf…. Because of this He was able to send the Holy Spirit unto us to minister in His place, and a group of ordinary, unlikely fishermen, a tax collector, guerilla fighter (Judas), a physician and a tax collector became extra ordinary, as they were re-purposed by the power of the Holy Spirit! Fishermen became fishers of men, a tax collector began to see people’s true value, a physician was used to bring healing to the soul and spirit!!…..
He is still re-purposing ordinary folks today…. The College professor or Missionary is not above the taxi driver, the housewife, or the parking lotattendant in God’s sight. He sees us all according to our faithfulness and obedience to His word. God invites all of His Children to join Him in the great and noble vision that He has for the earth.
Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (re-purpose) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you”.
God paid the ultimate price to fix what was broken in us. Christ took our place so we no longer had to be diminished or displaced, and we could be repurposed as a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come with its re-affirmation of value, usefulness, inclusion, and beauty upon and within us. It is this good news that God sees what a Peter, a John, a Mark, a Matthew, a Paul, a Timothy, and what we ourselves can be and do as we allow the master potter to take the clay and put it back on the wheel from time to time, and release it’s full purpose and usefulness…..
Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: v4 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”.
The next time you’re out and about Key West, I trust you’ll think how it was until someone saw it’s potential and dedicated themselves to bringing forth it’s value and usefulness, and really, God has done the same thing with each of us. He has bought us with the ultimate price that He might bring forth our full potential….He has always planned an amazing future and a successful out come for us, and put an undying hope within us that is eternal….
I close today with 1Corinthians 6:19 “What? Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have fromGod, and you are not your own? v20 For you are bought (reclaimed, redeemed, repurposed) with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's”.
If we are bought with such a price as God has paid, then we are His, and not our own. We now live for His glory and His pleasure…. For it is by grace and not of ourselves, that all the credit and the honor, and the glory might be His….
Let’s declare the Closing Prayer together……
In the name of Jesus, we take possession and claim ownership to every God given promise. We declare breakthrough concerning freedom from regret, poor self-worth, and hopelessness. We declare that we shall be equipped, enabled, and prepared, in Jesus name. We dismiss and cancel out every thought, image, and toxic pattern of defeat and failure which we have allowed, that is anything less than total healing, restoration and what God has planned for us. We declare that there shall be no place in our lives and that we are not productive, valued and increased, in Jesus name.
Let every good thing devoured by the enemy be returned 40, 60 and 100 fold, now, in the name of Jesus. Let that which hinders us from the greatness You have planned for us, begin to be broken and gone, now, In the mighty name of Jesus. Let all imprisoned, misguided and misused potential begin to blossom, and come forth now, in the name of Jesus. We dismantle every assignment against our homes, our career, and our personal lives, and we rip out and destroy everything that Satan has tried to insert, that our children and their children to ten generations shall be free from the lies and deception concerning God’s purpose in and through them. We declare that the garments of reproach are removed, so that favor and honor may come.
We receive grace in place of judgment, mercy in place of penalties, generosity in place of greed and covetousness, and love and forgiveness in place of anger and blame. I ask that all You want to say to me, and be to me and do for me, will come to me without hindrance or distraction. Come into my heart with your kindness, goodness and righteousness that I might be the new creation You want me to be. Transform my thinking, my praying and my very being before You. Where there is pain, let me show mercy and compassion. Where there is self-doubting, let me bring a renewed confidence in Your grace and acceptance. Where there is error or misunderstanding, let me bring understanding, patience, and forgiveness. I ask for greater vision, and discernment to recognize the power and resources I have in You. Lord, May You be glorified in every situation and circumstance in my life, in Jesus' mighty and wonder working name. AMEN.
