The Broken Vessel

Jeremiah 18:1-6
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.  Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

I have considered recently, where were the people that had used and maybe even broken the vessel?  The potter asked no questions about how the vessel had been broken, how it had been misused, how it had been wasted, he only saw that it was once his masterpiece, now shattered.  In my mind, this scenario could have played out thusly.  A beautiful vessel, strong, new, useful, purposeful and purchased by someone who just did not know the value of such a masterpiece.  So it was used, possibly mishandled, loaned out for others to use, carelessly stored away, used for purposes other than for what it was intended, pushed around, knocked around, left out in the cold and wet, all the while being tarnished, becoming dull, becoming fragile until the day it was carelessly knocked down and broken.  Then, the one who had purchased it but never valued it, cast it aside for good.  To him, he saw no more use, he saw no more purpose.  Then the maker, the creator, happens to come along and sees his masterpiece laying among the garbage and the rubbish.  He recognizes it, though it's severely altered, because it's his.  It's his creation.  It's his masterpiece, and he could never forget it.  He gathers it carefully so as not to cause anymore damage, then carries it down to house.  And there, Jeremiah finds him, working on the wheel, recreating a vessel that had been marred.  The truth is, the one who used it only saw it's value from their own, selfish, purpose and once it was broken, he deemed it no more good.  But the one who created it, even in it's broken, dirty, shattered state, he still saw purpose.  He still had vision of the reason for it's creation. 

Isn't it just that way? The world, with it's cruel intentions and hard heart has taken and marred so many beautiful vessels.  The "pursuit" of happiness, riches, love, fame, acceptance, and so on, have caused so many "vessels" to sell themselves to the first bidder, at a low price.  And they were purchased, and used, and abused, and broken, then discarded.  Because after the world has robbed you of your essence, and used you up until you can no longer function, it has no more use for you, and has neither desire nor the know how to repair what it has broken.  And yet, there is one, who knew us from the very beginning. "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)".  The user looks at the broken vessel and sees trash, the creator looks at the broken vessel and sees purpose.