20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for disposal of refuse. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Tim 2 (TNIV)
According to 2Tim 2:20-26- (Click here for a parallel view of several versions) we have the opportunity to become a transformed vessel! We can be transformed from a dirty pot full of “refuse”(TNIV), an “ignoble” (NIV) or “dishonorable” (NASB) vessel, to a “vessel fit for the master’s use”. Interesting how the master has both “in HIS house”. I think some people will choose to remain an unclean vessel their whole life and go to heaven that way. They are, after all, “in HIS house” according to the scriptures.
I have wondered if the unclean pot might be a bedpan or a chamber pot? Did they have those in NT times? “The Message” puts the pots in the kitchen:
“In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.” 2 Tim 2: 20-21 (the Message)
I’ve been in the process of having the uncleanness purged out of the vessel that is ME. The process is not easy, but it it GOOD!
Oh, LORD, please keep up the scrubbing until I am utterly and completely purged of all the garbage! I have an inkling that the junk is burned off too, through a process of fiery trials…
I found a wonderful Ray Stedman sermon “Fit to be Used” which quotes John Stott saying:
If the promise is to be inherited (‘he will be a vessel for noble use’), the condition must be fulfilled (‘if anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble’).
and this is Ray Stedman:
The great question, however, is to what end, for what purpose is he using you? Here the apostle is pointing out to Timothy that it is for one of two purposes. “In every house,” he says, “there are vessels.” That is true of all homes — we have “vessels for honor,” i.e., dishes we eat from, pots and pans we cook in, decorated vases, etc., are all vessels unto honor. They are not only useful but they are preserved, they are permanent, we want to keep them. But every house also has “vessels for dishonor” — we have garbage cans, slop buckets, bedpans, trash barrels, wastebaskets, etc. We do not display them. They are useful, but they are not presentable. We may even intend to dispose of them, sometimes after only one use. Those are vessels of dishonor.
