by Kathy Whited

Jeremiah 18:1-4

The Message:
¹ God told Jeremiah, 

² “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.” 

³ So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. 

⁴ Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot. 

NRSV:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Stained, sticky and full of gunk, my jelly roll pans were about to take a journey to the trash can. Truly, they were in no condition to donate. Pure elbow grease had not done the job of cleaning these pans, but the frugal side of me wondered if I might come up with another way to clean them. After some research, I discovered that a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide might just do the trick. So, I made a paste out of two ingredients and placed it on the gunk and let it set for about 45 minutes. No scrubbing required! It rinsed clean, and the pans look almost new. I couldn’t believe the change!

I make no claim to be a scientist, but from what I can tell, this worked so well, because of the relationship of the two compounds together. Hydrogen peroxide, as we know it in its aqueous solution for household use, is slightly acidic. Baking soda is a weak base, so when mixed with an acid, it liberates carbon dioxide gas, a reaction that is an important part of the leavening that takes place in baking. Separately, they make great cleaning agents, but combined together – wow!

Why am I writing about this stuff in a church newsletter? Well, consider a moment that we might be like the jelly roll pans that I was about to discard in the trash. Gunk on my jelly roll pans were from normal wear and tear. Our gunk is also the stuff of life (normal wear and tear) that alters our basic self, our true self the way that God intends. Even though the pan still functions, it may not work quite as well as it did when it was brand new – perhaps not as intended. For us, it might be like we’re surviving, but not thriving. The gunk may even make more things stick, thus creating more gunk. For us, bad stuff sometimes attracts more bad stuff.  The combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide gently, yet thoroughly, cleaned my jelly roll pans. The word “leaven” can be defined as permeating, modifying or transforming something for the better. What has a leavening effect on our souls?

Sometimes, especially in hindsight, we find that acidic life situations and personalities of others might have had a transformational effect on our souls. We may also experience transformation if we embrace this season of Lent by taking the time for self-examination. It is uncomfortable, perhaps even abrasive, to confront and confess our sins, to sacrifice, to fast.  At the end of Lent – with God’s grace – maybe we’ll come out as clean as my jelly roll pans.  Even though God is always making new things, he is also making things new (that would be us), so I’m really glad that we are saved by Christ and not thrown away with the dirty pots and pans.