Hear The Words Of The Potter

Jeremiah 18:1-6 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Intro: The Lord told Jeremiah in verse 2 that He would speak to Him at the potter's house. In verse 6, He told him that He desired to be the Potter and for Israel (God's people) to be the clay.

I. The clay MUST be in God's will.

V. 3c he wrought a work on the wheels

As I talked with the potter, I asked this question, "how important is it for the clay to be in the center of the wheel?"

His response was immediate, "OH! THAT'S PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL!!!!" THIS WHEEL IS THE WILL OF GOD

One question that comes to mind here is do you have to use the wheel.

Hand forms don't look as nice or polished as wheel forms. God isn't in the business of making imperfect vessels. He desires to make of you and I vessels that glorify Him. For Him to do that, we must remain in His will.

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I. He has a design in mind for the clay.

V. 3c he wrought a work on the wheels

As I stood listening to the potter, he picked up a ball of clay and made this statement.

"THERE IS A CUP INSIDE THIS BALL OF CLAY. YOU JUST HAVE TO GO FIND IT!"

PERFECT FIT TUMBLERS

Each one of these tumblers are completely unique in color and in shape. They are thrown on the potter's wheel with randomness in mind. We wanted them to be as one of a kind as the people using them. Please pick up and test out many of these cups and decide which one is destined to be your

PERFECT FIT TUMBLER

The potter designed this vessel to be one of a kind. There is not another one in the world that is exactly like it. Some of the ones I saw were similar. They all had certain characteristics in common. Some were a little taller, some shorter. Some were bigger, some smaller. Some were of similar color, and some were completely different. BUT THEY ALL WERE MADE FOR ONE PURPOSE AND ONE PURPOSE ALONE. TO FIT THE NEED OF WHOEVER USED THEM!

If you turn it over, the potter signed his name to it. He is saying, "this is my work, and mine alone!"

II. The clay MUST be workable.

V. 3c-4 he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Sometimes even the best clay will have issues. That is where the water comes in.

As I watched the potter work, the question was asked, "What is the water for."

The potter responded, "it keeps the clay pliable."

Ephesians 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

As I watched the potter work, he had made four or five of the coffee mugs he was making. Each one of them, he would get to the place it needed to be, pick it up from the wheel, and set it behind him on a shelf to begin the curing process.

Then, as he took one off, I noticed that one side began to bulge and drop lower. He kind of looked at it set it on the shelf, stepped back, looked again, and began to shake the shelf. As he did so, all the others held fast to their shape, but on this one as the agitation came, the flaw began to worsen and become more evident. The potter picked it up, put it right back on the same wheel he had just taken it from, put a little more water on it and tenderly, and lovingly applied a little more pressure and a little more direction to the clay. As he did so, it regained its shape. Then, again, he took it from the wheel, held it up, examined it very closely, said, "yep!" put it back on the shelf for curing, and resumed his work with the other vessels.

My pottery teacher told me that the pressure applied is very important. If you don't use enough pressure the clay will not grow, or have enough strength. If you use too much you will "tear or damage” the clay.

III. Sometimes we just need to feel the breath of the Potter.

I asked the potter, "what are you thinking when you are working with the clay?" The Potter said when he is working on the wheel, he is thinking, "BREATH."

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Closing: I want to say two things in closing.

I. The work of the Potter is not a work that we can rush. It must be done in His time, not ours. Sometimes we want it slower, and most of the time, we want it faster. Only the potter knows how long it needs to take.

It takes about 1 week for the clay to dry.

Then 1,800°F to take bake the clay.

Then 2,400°F to glaze or finish the clay

By the time everything is done, it takes about 2 weeks to go from the wheel to the sales floor.

II. Just because you have flaws in your life does not mean you are a throw-away. I went back to the pottery store in Tennessee late one evening, a few years later. Although there were no potters there, just the salespeople, I walked around for a little while and found a room I had never seen before. It was a small room but was filled with beautiful pottery. As I looked around, I quickly realized that all the pieces in this room had one thing in common. They were all flawed in some way. On some, you could easily see where they were cracked or chipped. On others, you had to look closely to find the problem, but each and every one was labeled NSF (Not Food Safe). As I browsed these pieces, I noticed a little salsa bowl. It was a very nice piece, but those three letters, NSF, were written on the bottom in sharpie. If you were to inspect it closely, you would realize that the glaze was cracked just a little bit, which meant it was flawed. The potter knew it would not be deemed worthy by someone who expected perfection, but the potter also knew someone would come along and see it as useful despite its lack of perfection.

I carried it to the counter to pay for it, and the cashier looked at it and said, "Oh, this one is marked "not safe for food," are you ok with that? I mean, you just want it for decoration, right?" In other words, "You just want to look at it, right?" Sometimes in this world, people need to see that although we have flaws, although we aren't perfect, although some would deem us as "unfit" that the Potter still has a use for us, and He knows someone will find us useful, FLAWS AND ALL!