The painting shown above is one I created for a final
project while in seminary. It follows the story of a
poor widow in 2 Kings 4, who goes to her neighbors
and asks for containers for oil so she can sell it to pay
off her debt. We don’t know what each jar looks like,
but we know that each of those jars had a purpose: to
hold oil so that her neighbor’s oils could pay off the
debt. In my painting, I drew different types of
containers to represent the diversity of our seminary
class who were about to graduate. We all look
different on the outside, but like all containers, we
are not used for the same purposes. We have gifts
and talents that we can use to help our neighbors,
like the widow’s neighbors. There is something that
you have, a skill, a passion, a talent, that may sit
dormant, not realizing that your gift could be a
ministry. Our church is beginning a process to
examine those gifts for a new ministry. It starts by
recognizing “who has containers”, what parts of
ourselves can be filled with God’s Spirit to be the
hands and feet of Jesus. As we are engaging in this
season of Lent, I pray that we are discerning how we
can best be used as a vessel for God’s outpouring of
love. May we offer ourselves without hesitation to
the potter who forms us, molds us, and fills us.
With grace, Pastor Emily
Leave a Reply