Kintsugi: May God’s Love Repair and Restore


Kintsugi is a Japanese technique to repair broken vessels with genuine gold. It does not hide the break marks but repairs them and highlights them. Onesimus, a runaway slave, was useless to God, Philemon, and Paul. Paul met Onesimus in jail and led him to Christ. Paul loved him so much that he called himself Onesimus' father in the Lord. Paul interceded for Onesimus with Philemon and reconciled him to Philemon not as a slave but now as a grace-healed vessel of God, a brother in Christ. 

Moreover, God transformed Onesimus by his grace, and eventually, the church tradition says that Onesimus became a Bishop. The word Onesimus means "Useful." God's grace transformed a useless person into a very useful one. Life circumstances may have broken you. But God can do His Kintsugi work in you. His beautiful work in you will make a difference in the lives of those around you. Thus, for those who are hurt by challenges in life, a Kintsugi vessel symbolizes their resilience and transformation. The repair work does not remove the marks of suffering; instead, it highlights them, making them shine.

May God repair the social and cultural fabric of our society, disarrayed by hatred, strife, and violence by his love. May God's love be the glue to rejoin the broken areas and make them shine even brighter.

–An excerpt from Rev. V.T. Abraham's message in Malayalam, Assemblies of God Trinity Worship Centre, Kozhikode.

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