June 2, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Repairing our cracks"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
June 2, 2024 Based on 2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Whenever I go backpacking, there is always one item I am sure to take with me. Duct tape.
If something breaks, rips, or needs mending when you are miles away from civilization, Duct tape is most likely to get the job done.
What do you do if the rainfly on your tent has a tear on the seam and it’s about to rain? Or your water bladder has a leak. Or critters tear into your food bag. Or a strap on your backpack breaks. Or you break a bone and need a splint.
You get the idea.
It won’t be pretty, but if its torn, ripped, or broken and in need of repair, Duct tape will get the job done.
When I was kid, one of my all-time favorite shows to watch with my parents was by a Canadian comedian named Steve Smith. But he was better known by the character the show was named after… Red Green. He was a backwoods everyman and a strong DIYer which was often the topic of the show… whatever Red Green was working on. And the running gag on the show was almost every project or repair Red Green would do… involved Duct tape.
So whether he was replacing a car windshield, turning a car into a Zamboni for a hockey rink, or building a boat, the job was almost certainly going to involve the generous use of duct tape, which he would always refer to as the handyman’s secret weapon.
This show always made me laugh, but it also clearly had at impact, because just like Red Green, I always have some duct tape around, just in case. I even have a duct tape stole that I wear for baptisms, I love it not just for its comedic effect but also for its symbolism.
It serves as a reminder that God can heal and repair all things even us, and that if something as utilitarian and ugly as duct tape can be turned into something beautiful, like this stole, maybe the ugly parts of our life can be turned beautiful too.
Though it’s this last bit that even I have to concede is a bit of a stretch, because I know, there is nothing beautiful about duct tape. It’s a functional sort of thing. When you put duct tape on something it’s obvious that its broken, it’s on its last leg, and you aren’t worried about aesthetics, only about finding a temporary fix to try to stretch it to last a little longer.
So here’s another image to consider.
I invite you to look at your bulletin cover. What you are looking at is called Kintsugi. It is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold. This centuries old art form treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. There is no attempt to hide the brokenness of the object – instead the brokenness is highlighted and turned into something objectively beautiful. Repairing something in this way is a slow, slow process and it doesn’t always work. Sometimes there are too many pieces or the resin simply cannot hold the broken pieces together.
This, I think, is a much better way of thinking about how God is at work in us. God takes the broken pieces of our lives and mends them so that they work again, but that’s not enough, God shapes the broken pieces into something beautiful.
It’s kind of how the apostle Paul describes humanity and I love the way The Message frames it: It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light. But If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness.” He says “We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at, and sure we have seen trouble, sure we’ve been surrounded and beaten and thrown down but God hasn’t left our side; we haven’t broken.
When I hear these words I picture kintsugi more than I picture duct tape. [slide] I picture us as vessels that through God’s mending are not just repaired to a place where they are function again, but fully repaired in a new way that is beautiful and unique. Not by hiding our faults and flaws but by allowing God to shine through them.
Our cracks? Our struggles? They aren’t something to be ashamed of in God’s eyes, They're part of our story, and through them, Christ’s light can shine even brighter.
Maybe you're feeling broken this morning. Maybe life has chipped away at your spirit, left you feeling fragile and empty. But here's the good news: God sees the treasure within you, even when you can't. God sees the potential for wholeness, for beauty, for light to shine through.
That's what God's grace does for us, friends. We come to God broken, burdened by our mess, by our mistakes, by the cracks in our lives. And God, in infinite love, doesn't throw us away. Instead God picks up the pieces and with grace, forgiveness, and infinite love mends us. And guess what? Those cracks, those broken places – they become a testament to God’s handiwork. They become a reminder of God’s love that holds us and this world together, even when we fall apart.
So let's not be afraid of our rips and tears, let’s not be ashamed of our brokenness, but let’s bring them to God and allow God to mend us. Let’s embrace the idea that we are all works in progress, and that our cracks and brokenness are a part of our story. Let us heal, and share our story.
When we live like this, broken vessels in the hands of our artist God. We are put back together and made radiant, allowed to shine with golden light into the world, made into a beautiful testament to the transforming and creative power of divine love.
Who knows, maybe our broken places will become our greatest invitation to share divine love and healing with a world full of other cracked vessels. Maybe allowing others to see our brokenness will help their own brokenness to heal.
At least, I hope so.
Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “Come, Follow Me” Samuel McBurney, arr. Anne Britt
INTROIT “This is The Day” Children’s Choir
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: The God who has searched us and knows us, who is acquainted with all our ways, that God calls us each by name.
All: Speak, Holy One, your servants are listening!
One: The God who liberated slaves from Egypt, the Lord of the Sabbath who bids us rest, that God empowers us to make Jesus’ life visible in our very bodies.
All: Speak, Holy One, your servants are listening!
One: Let us sing aloud to God, our strength, and shout for joy to the God of Jacob. All: Let us Worship God
*HYMN 288 “Spirit of the Living God” LIVING GOD
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Mike Ayers
All: Faithful God, We grieve with those who feel abandoned and lonely,
One: marginalized because of who they are, poverty-stricken or unhoused,
left behind by systems of privilege and power.
All: We lament our attempts to make you in our image
rather than seeking to reflect your love.
One: We confess forgetting that we are all your beloved children.
All: We confess looking elsewhere for the security that can come only from you,
One: and in so doing, causing others to face physical, spiritual, and emotional violence.
All: We confess maintaining structures and systems because they are convenient or we are tired.
One: May we find our identity in you,
All: and in that identity, find solidarity with all those you love, O God. Amen
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 243 “Be Not Afraid” BE NOT AFRAID
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “When In Our Music God is Glorified” Charles Villiers Stanford arr. Harriet Ziegenhals PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE 2 Corinthians 4:5-12
We don’t preach about ourselves. Instead, we preach about Jesus Christ as Lord, and we describe ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. God said that light should shine out of the darkness. He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out.
We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies. We who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies that are dying. So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Dorothy Kyle
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN 695 “Change My Heart” CHANGE MY HEART
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “Peace Within” Lindy Kerby
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
GREAT PRAYER
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP 710 “We Are an Offering” OFFERING
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
O crafter of creation, You know us better than we know ourselves. You formed our inward parts, and have molded us into your people. At your table, you have mended us and healed us. Here, you have revealed your grace and mercy in the face of Jesus Christ, who above all else, cared for, healed, and fed his people. As those who have been repaired by your hand, may we go out into the world to work towards its reparation. Until all cracks might shine with your glory, Amen.
*HYMN 795 “Healer of our Every Ill” HEALER OF OUR EVERY ILL
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “I Am Resolved” James F. Filmore, arr. Jenifer Cook
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452