A Lesson from the Cracked Pot | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A Lesson from the Cracked Pot | Previous Challenge Entry
By Shanta Richard
05/09/12
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I am an avid reader and I am always interested when an author views an incident from an angle that is different from my own. Consider the story of Martha and Mary in the Bible. My focus was on Martha and her enthusiasm in fixing a sumptuous meal for, in her opinion, a hungry Jesus. Mary on the other hand did not seem concerned about how tired and weary Jesus was and was just sitting at His feet talking. Jesus, however, commended Mary. I failed to understand the truth of this story until I read Brennan Manning’s interpretation of it in his book, Ruthless Faith.

Manning wrote that the focus of the story should be on Jesus. Martha was assuming that Jesus was hungry and focused on preparing a feast for Him. She was concentrating on her cooking. Mary, on the other hand was concentrating on Jesus. She saw in His face the anxiety for the future of His ministry, the worry about the trials His followers would have to face, His anticipation of the suffering He would have to endure. Her heart full of compassion she sat at His feet trying to offer understanding and comfort.

In order to explain this view, Manning mentioned a story about an Indian water- bearer. This man was employed to fetch water from the stream for the master’s household. For this purpose he used two big pots hanging from opposite ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One pot was perfect but the other had a crack allowing drops of water to trickle out. Every time the man filled the pots and walked the long path to the house, the cracked pot lost half of its water. The perfect pot was proud of its achievement and the cracked pot was ashamed of his poor performance.

Finally, unable to bear his shame anymore the cracked pot confessed to the man, his failure to measure up to the perfection of the other pot and asked for his forgiveness. The man replied, “ As I walk home have you seen the flowers on your side of the path?”
“Oh, yes, I see they are very pretty,” said the cracked pot.
“Do you know that I decorate our master’s table with those flowers? And do you know that I planted those seeds and that the drops from you crack watered them and helped them grow? I knew all along that the water was dripping and I used it to cheer a lonely path.”

The cracked pot had no clue that his brokenness was part of God’s plan to bring joy to someone else. He was concerned only of his failure and was feeding his own sense of unworthiness and becoming weary and dispirited in the process. He was comparing himself to the perfect pot and setting up a standard he was not supposed to attain. He was focusing only on his ability and his goal for his life. Nothing he could ever do would make him succeed in that endeavor. He would end up tired, fatigued, weary and exhausted. He had to shift his focus and look at things the way Jesus looked at them. Then he would know the joy that comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus.

If Martha had felt the pain and sorrow of Jesus, she would have prepared a quick simple meal for Him and then joined her sister at His feet to share His pain and offer her love.

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