The Fixer of the Broken
One evening, as the story goes, the Smith family hosted the Johnson family for dinner in their home. While the parents settled into the kitchen to talk, their children dashed into the living room to play.
Mrs. Smith followed the children into the living room. She cautioned them, “Watch out for Great-Grandma’s bowl,” pointing to the beautiful pottery, a treasured family heirloom, residing on the mantel above the fireplace.
“We will,” said her daughter, Erica. As Mrs. Smith walked away, Erica mumbled, “I think Mom loves that bowl more than she loves us!”
Soon the adults heard a crescendo of laughter, a scream, and a crash coming from the living room. The children’s voices fell ominously silent.
The adults rushed in to survey the situation and quickly saw the damage. Mrs. Smith approached her panic-stricken daughter, whose shaking hands were bleeding as she clutched the shattered pieces of the heirloom.
The others breathlessly awaited Mrs. Smith’s reaction. Remembering her daughter’s earlier comment, Mrs. Smith held Erica’s hands, looked into her eyes, and said, “I would rather break this bowl myself than have you believe I loved it more than I love you.”
This anecdotal story wonderfully demonstrates how Jesus loves His children. In His mercy and grace, He finds us in our devastation. He sees our paralyzing fear. He understands our brokenness and our suffering. He takes all our turmoil and molds it like a potter, using it to advance the good work He is performing to make us like Himself (Phil. 1:6).
The Potter and the Clay
Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art form used to mend broken pottery. Kintsugi artists skillfully repair shattered items by gathering the scattered pieces and filling in the cracks with lacquer dusted with gold or silver. Instead of trying to mask or erase an item’s imperfections, these artisans fix them and refashion the pottery with brilliance and beauty that far surpass the original.
Such art testifies to the Lord God, the meticulous Artisan who repairs the brokenness in our lives and creates beauty from it. But instead of gold covering our cracks, the light of Jesus Christ, the great Physician of our souls, replaces our misery. He is the master Potter who crafted us and the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12) who shines through us and fills us with praise and gratitude. Like shattered jars of clay, we could never fix ourselves. Rather, “it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels [“jars of clay,” NIV], that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:6–7).
God knows who we are when He saves us. He knows we are vessels made of dust and easily broken. He knows we are filled with sin, choosing pride and disobedience in the pursuit of our own preeminence. He knows our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9), full of uncertainty and fear. Yet, He still chooses us.
We don’t like to see this unflattering self-portrait. We prefer to applaud our motivations and to see ourselves intelligent, creative, and morally upright. God sees our sin. But, as Romans 5:8 lovingly declares, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” His mercy delivers us, and His grace transfers us into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13). God’s amazing love is so high that we can’t comprehend it (Ps. 139:6).
The apostle Paul used a metaphor, describing believers as “vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles” (Rom. 9:23–24). Jesus’ precious blood is like the golden kintsugi lacquer that repairs the cracks in His vessels of mercy. He lavishly deluges us with mercy and grace, saving our souls and mending our breaks.
Mercy and Grace Together
Scripture glows with accounts of people basking in God’s mercy and grace. Dr. David Jeremiah illustrated how God demonstrates these attributes in tandem:
Mercy withholds [Abraham’s] knife from the heart of Isaac—Grace provides a lamb in the thicket [as sacrifice].
Mercy runs to forgive the prodigal son—Grace throws a party with a robe, a ring, and a fatted calf.
Mercy bandages the wounds of the man beaten by the robbers—Grace covers the cost of his full recovery.
Mercy hears the cry of the thief on the cross—Grace promises paradise that very day.
Mercy pays the penalty for our sin at the cross—Grace provides the righteousness of Christ in its place.
Mercy converts Paul on the road to Damascus—Grace calls him to be the great apostle.
Mercy keeps us out of hell—Grace takes us to heaven.
Mercy withholds from us what we deserve—Grace gives us what we do not deserve.¹
Oh, what truth and beauty these accounts reveal about the love of God in Christ! The Father and the Son work together and shower us with mercy and grace (Ps. 103:8; Jn. 1:14, 17; Acts 15:11; Eph. 2:4–9). The Holy Spirit empowers us with strength, hope, peace, and comfort; and the love of God is poured out in our hearts (Jn. 14:16–17; Rom. 5:5; 15:13; Eph. 3:16). God uses everything in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ. He takes what is sinful, sad, bitter, and broken and forms us into beautiful vessels that bring Him glory.
When I first recognized the distinction between mercy and grace, I began to perceive its work throughout my entire life. I could clearly see how God’s mercy saved me when I was a little girl. I was taught the truth of John 3:16 with clarity—that God loved the world, including me, so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to save me from my sin; and if I believed in Him, I would live with Him forever. I read John 1:12 and learned that if I received Him, I would be God’s child. As a young girl, I knew I was a sinner; and I loved Jesus because instead of having to die for my own sin, I knew Jesus died for me (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). His goodness led me to repentance (2:4); and my salvation came entirely by mercy and grace (3:24; Eph. 2:4–5).
God’s grace led me to study at a Christian college and marry my dear husband, Tom. The Father’s mercy saved our three children, and His grace provided their educations and loving spouses. His mercy protected us from poor career decisions, and His grace led us to love and serve in three different pastorates.
I resonate with the illustration of a mother’s grace in her daughter’s distress and with the metaphor of the kintsugi art. But I cherish the merciful love of Jesus Christ, whose golden light shines through the cracks and breaks in our lives and radiates the strength of His glorious, sufficient grace. He not only heals us but makes us new again and uses this process to cultivate His image in our brokenness. This experience is one of the many reasons I love Him. I pray He will help us as believers to prove our love for Him by extending His mercy and grace to all those He brings into our lives (Mt. 5:7; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12–13).
Thank you, dear Lord! “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (2 Th. 2:16–17).
ENDNOTE
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- WatermySoul, “Difference between Mercy and Grace,” YouTube, June 18, 2012 (tinyurl.com/Mercy-Grace-Jeremiah).
