We human beings sure are proud, and we seem to measure our value to God by the good qualities we can offer or good things we can do. The fairy tale below is a reminder that God doesn't need our skills or resources. He knows what we are made of, He created us! When it comes to His service, the vessels He wants aren't perfect - they're earthen.
The Broken Teacup By Mary E. Bobo
Once upon a time, there was, in a tiny village in a far away land, a worker of porcelain. He was more than a potter, or fire worker. He was an artist of the highest skill. He worked not for his livelihood, but because he loved it so very, very much. The porcelain maker took such great care and had such an amazing talent, that nowhere else in the world could finer work be found than his. Kings and queens would travel from far off lands to visit his shop and purchase his fine products. He sold dolls and jewelry, and tea sets, which were truly the finest in the world. Even the works themselves seemed to know how incredibly beautiful they were, and sometimes, at night, after the shop was closed and all the people had left, you could almost hear their pride…
Inside the wooden cupboard, the lovely dolls were always first to admire one another’s beauty. Each one was different, but shaped and painted with the greatest of care. Their features were smooth and yet still so very lifelike. The dolls would compliment each other, telling themselves how lucky a little girl, perhaps a princess or maybe even a queen, would be to take them home. Then there were painted plates – far too beautiful for anyone to ever serve food upon. They would admire one another’s landscapes and scenes: the way the porcelain maker had created shades of light and detailed each lovely portrait. They wondered how long it would be, before they too, would be sold. It would not be very long, everyone agreed. But by far, the most beautiful and coveted pieces were the tea sets. The tea sets were sold every day, and to the most important and highest class of clientele. The porcelain maker took the greatest care of all with these, each pot and teacup, each sugar bowl and saucer was exquisite. All except one. In the darkest corner of the cabinet, where no one could ever see it – there was a broken teacup. Beautiful, seemingly, until it turned and a long crack could be seen. No one paid any attention to this teacup – it would never be sold. Who could use a broken teacup? He certainly could not hold tea – it would flow away from him just as quickly as it filled him up. The other pieces of the tea set ignored him, and he pushed himself into the farthest corner of the cupboard where he hoped to never be seen.
One such evening, as the works of porcelain were admiring each other, a breathtakingly beautiful jewelry box excitedly began to share some news that she had overheard while the porcelain maker was painting her. The master artist was working on a new project, something that he had never made before, that would be the most beautiful of all his works. He would use a few very special objects from the shop to complete his masterpiece, which would be revealed publicly the next week. All of the pieces wondered what the project could be and which lucky item of his already created works he would choose to help finish it. That week, unlike any other, none of the pieces wished to be sold – not to a peasant, a peddler, or even a king. No one wanted to lose the chance to be part of the porcelain maker’s masterpiece.
Finally, the time came that the porcelain maker would choose the piece he needed. Of course, none were surprised that he went to the cupboard where the lovely and incomparably beautiful tea sets resided. He took out each piece and examined it with the utmost care. He put each one back in its place, until that is, he reached into the farthest corner of the cupboard where the broken tea cup was hiding. The teacup didn’t want to see the porcelain maker’s unhappy face in regarding the large crack along his side, which he ashamedly admitted rendered him ugly and useless. But he could not escape the porcelain maker’s careful eyes. The master took the broken teacup and examined him very carefully. He smiled. “Perfect!” He proclaimed, carefully using a cloth to wipe away the dust that had collected inside the broken tea cup. “I have been looking for you everywhere!” The porcelain maker told the tea cup. He left the cupboard, and all the rest of the objects were astonished.
The teacup couldn’t imagine how the porcelain maker could possibly use him – cracked as he was, and he wondered why his creator hadn’t just thrown him away. The porcelain maker picked up the teacup and explained as he worked that he knew very well what he was doing. He also told his little friend that it was very silly for teacups to tell porcelain makers how to use them. The teacup was then quiet, until becoming very curious he was inclined to ask what the masterpiece would be when finished. The porcelain maker was only too happy to explain – “I am creating a fountain – a lovely fountain, where the water is clear and clean and cool, and never stops flowing.” The tea cup was confused. But how could he be of use in such a thing? The porcelain maker explained some more – “You will catch the water.” The teacup was very upset. He knew he could not hold any kind of liquid. Surely when the porcelain maker realized this, he would choose a different teacup. But the porcelain maker reminded the beloved object that it’s very silly for the creation to tell the Creator how he ought to be used. “As a simple teacup,” the master explained, “You have no function but to hold the tea. As part of a fountain, you do something much more important: you must fill up with the water, but it must overflow out of you as well. The crack on your side will only make it easier for the water to flow more bountifully from you.” He smiled as he continued. “The best way to be filled is to overflow, you know.”
The next day, the porcelain maker revealed his work. His fountain was spoken of all over, and kings and queens travelled from the farthest corners of the earth to gaze on its beauty. Many of them offered the porcelain maker a great price to buy the fountain and take it away to their kingdoms, but he refused them all. “Of the water that flows out of this little teacup, you may all partake freely, but the teacup is mine – and I cannot be parted from it.” He lovingly declared.
Today, all over the world, there might not be talking teacups or admiring porcelain dolls, chattering jewelry boxes, or arrogant tea sets and painted plates. But there are Christian hearts, who much like a broken teacup, cannot believe that their Master can use them in their flawed state. Just as the porcelain maker told his teacup – it’s very silly for the creation to tell the Creator how he ought to be used. God made us, and He knows our flaws. He doesn’t ask us to hold His Holy Spirit, but to allow Him to overflow in our hearts. It’s true that we are just earthern vessels, weak and many times broken. But remember, He knows just how to use us, and the more broken that we are – the more bountifully His Holy Spirit can overflow.
The End
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