We recently held our Youth Sunday service. I swear it almost gave me an ulcer. Due to the timing of Lent, we had to do it early this year. Smack dab at the end of retreat season, as I like to call the insanity that is January and February. After a four-night ski trip and a 30-Hour Famine, I wasn’t ready to lead anybody, much less lead worship.
We began preparing for the service two months ahead of time. We started with a few ideas based on our theme for the year at youth group. We held several brainstorming sessions, which ended up in La-La Land and a skit that began in outer space—seriously! A few of the ideas seemed promising, but I was getting a little worried. “OK, people—we only have three weeks left. We don’t know what the sermon will be about!”
At the end—final two weeks (as I was simultaneously planning for the 30-Hour Famine—it began to come together. The theme continued to evolve, and after a recent suicide in the local high school, we settled on the theme of emptiness. We explored the idea of each person as a jar that is empty but can be filled with God’s grace and love. We expanded the metaphor to talk about our cracks. We realized we all have them and that although we are cracked and flawed, God still can use us. In fact, our cracks actually make it possible for more of God’s light to shine through us.
As I was helping edit the sermon written by one of our seniors, I came across a passage that left me speechless: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 from The Message:
“If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do…”
This passage perfectly described our journey to Youth Sunday. I personally felt battered by trouble from every side, from trying to include all the youth to editing their work to suggestions and criticisms from our pastors to my own insecurities. I felt very much as if I were a cracked clay pot. (Perhaps a smashed clay pot after several critical emails!) However, I kept hope that in the end it would all be worth it. As Paul said, “We’re not sure what to do, but we know God knows what to do.”
In the end, it did turn out all right, better than all right actually. We received many compliments from church members, including a few who said it was the best service they had attended. In those moments, I smiled and pointed to God because it wasn’t all about me, my leadership or our students; it was all about Him. I had allowed Him to use this cracked vessel as a means for His light to shine through, and shine it did.
