The Parable of the Coffee Pot

Jesus taught in parables, using subjects with which the people of His time were familiar, to paint word pictures for easier understanding of His message. This method of teaching is also available to us, and is useful in driving home a point that may not be understood as well with just passive attention to the ordinary spoken word.
Our family used to camp together, and occasionally I still run across the old coffee pot we used on our trips. It was nothing fancy, to be sure, but that aroma and taste of fresh coffee brewed on a camp stove was indescribable on a cool morning. I was inspired one day to notice a parallel between the preparation of coffee in that old pot, and the preparation of a soul for eternal life. (I must admit I allow my imagination to run a little, but please bear with me.) To begin, let us think of the coffee pot as the entire universe. We begin by filling the pot with water. Now, water is tasteless, odorless, and colorless; kind of plain and ordinary. Let's let the water represent people. After the pot is filled, we put in a tube, which stands on the bottom of the pot and reaches to the top. The tube might represent prayer. On top of the tube goes a basket, which has numerous tiny holes in it. The basket represents heaven. Coffee grounds are put into the basket, a cover goes on top, and finally the top of the coffee pot is put into place. Coffee has a rich color, a rich aroma, and a rich taste. Let's let the coffee represent God. We now place the coffee pot on a source of heat. The heat represents God's love for us. [cont.] Scientifically speaking, the applied heat causes the air in the tube inside the pot to rise out of the top. This would leave a vacuum, except that the space once filled with air is now filling with water. The water rushes to the top of the tube, up to the top of the pot, and drips back down through the coffee grounds and back to the bottom of the pot. It keeps recirculating until we decide our coffee is ready. The water has now turned a dark brown color, and we pour it out and call it "coffee." However, it isn't really coffee. The coffee is still in the basket. What has happened is that the water has come into contact with the coffee and has taken upon itself some of the characteristics of the coffee. The water now has a rich aroma, a rich color, and a rich taste. In the same way when we become aware of God's love for us, through prayer we come into contact with the living God, and as we learn to surrender ourselves to His touch, more and more we find that we take on some of His characteristics. We don't become God, but we begin a lifetime of becoming more and more as He is.
The application is this: You can have an ocean of water, and tons of coffee grounds, but you will never have drinkable coffee unless and until the water comes into contact with the coffee and is changed. In the same manner a person may go to church, may even join a church, may sing in the choir (which are all good things to do), and may even vow to live according to the Ten Commandments (although they usually can't name all of them), but the person will never become a Christian, saved, and justified, through "religiosity." We must desire to come into contact with the living God, be changed, and by yielding our own will to His, allow ourselves to become more and more like him.
Dale A. West
This article appeared in Vista Holy Living Digest November 2, 1997
Copyright Dale A. West