"A Golden Repair”

Many generations ago, the Japanese invented an artful craft of repair knownas kintsugi. Kintsugi is a Japanese word that is literally translated as “golden joinery.” The art of kintsugi is a Japanese method of repairing pottery using gold or silver to fill the cracks of a broken piece. The pieces are considered more beautiful and valuable than before because of their brokenness and careful mending. Kintsugi is much more than a repair method; it is an art itself. Put simply, kintsugi involves tracing cracks or ceramic splits with liquid golden resin. The end result is that the ceramic is once again usable, sealed, and now encrusted with elegant golden lines and streaks that glimmer and catch the light. It takes something broken and makes it beautiful.

There are several lessons we can learn from the art of kintsugi…

1. That which is flawed is still valuable. In our lives, a flaw is (1) a lesson. Some of our flaws are simply part of our humanness, our sin nature. We cannot hope to be perfect, but these flaws are learning opportunities where we can depend on Christ to mend the cracks and make us usable. Some of our flaws are the results of either our sinful choices or the fallout from another’s choices. We need repentance and forgiveness to fill in the broken area. In both cases, Christ is the Healer. A flaw is also (2) a reminder. Think back to the repaired piece of pottery. After the object is restored to usefulness, there remains the reminder of the work of the Master Potter and His great love in restoring us and binding up our wounds.
2. We are not meant to be merely ornamental, allowing fear of failure or brokenness (or worse yet, indifference and laziness) to keep us from being useful or functional. There is a sad irony to the fact that sometimes our most beautiful pieces are treasured to excess. They often go unused for fear of breaking. God designed us for service, for usefulness. This does not mean we are without value and of no regard. Rather, the scratches and scars that come from living a life well-pleasing to the Master make us an object of great price in His eyes. Don’t the scars that mark our Savior render His sacrifice beautiful in our sight?
3. God chooses to use us despite our flaws. It is thought that the idea of using a golden lacquer for repairing cracked and chipped ceramics dates to the 15^th century in Japan, born from the feeling of regret when something is wasted. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Waste not, want not.” We are imperfect people in an imperfect world. Perfection cannot precede service.
4. Great patience and care are needed to make repairs. The Bible speaks often to the renewing and transforming work that God the Father does in our lives. Beginning with salvation, 2 Cor. 5:17 tells us, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God’s work of sanctification continues in our lives as we read in Romans 12:1-2, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Repair requires our time and submission to the process, and the Holy Spirit’s miraculous power.
5. Brokenness, in one form or another, enters every life. Psalm 31:12b says, “I am like a broken vessel.” We encounter brokenness from things like broken dishes and broken bones, to broken dreams, broken hearts, and broken spirits (Job 17:11). But our Father lovingly “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory” Eph. 1:11-12. Psalm 147:3 assures us that our Father heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. There is another Japanese term relating to the process of kintsugi. It is yatsusu, which can mean to dress-up or beautify. This reminds me of God’s promise to the children of Israel (and by application to us as His children) to give “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, (and) the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” Isaiah 61:2-3. Our God (Whose body was broken for us) has a special place in His heart for broken things. This is known as the Great Exchange. We give Him…

Our sins… for His forgiveness;

Our failures… for His new beginnings;

Our weaknesses… for His strength;

Our sadness… for His joy;

Our pain… for His healing;

Our disappointments… for His love.

The practice of “golden joinery” is, in the end, simply the work of men’s hands; however, “the trial of your faith (is) much more precious than of gold that perisheth” 1 Pet. 1:7. Or as Job put it, “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” ~V.K.S.