Have a Little Faith in Me
Have a Little Faith in Me! OR As Clay in the Potter’s Hands!
Jeremiah 18: 1-6
Some of the greatest insights humanity ever received have come through common place experiences. After all, what could be more common place and familiar than a shepherd with his sheep, than a father dealing with his sons, or than a mother having a baby? Pottery too was common everywhere in the ancient world, so much so that it's the stock in trade of archeologist as they study the past.
Out text today says that the Lord told Jeremiah to go down to the potter's house and that there God would speak to him -- God would give him a revelation, an insight. It’s not like Jeremiah hadn’t been there before. He had. -- in fact many times. He’d seen the two large circular stones, one above the other, joined through the middle with an axle. He’d seen the potter using his foot to turn the lower stone, the wheel spinning around. He’d seen the potter mold, the moist plastic clay, on the upper stone with his strong, toughened hands.
But this time it meant something different to him. Because as he watched, something went wrong. The potter stopped the wheel, looked at the vessel shaping before him, and shook his head. Jeremiah watched closely as the potter proceeded to seize the clay in his hands and smash it. What was he going to do? Would he throw it away? NO... He didn’t even set it aside. What he did was --while it was still pliable, he kneaded it into a shapeless lump. Then he put it back on the wheel and started it turning all over again.
Up until this time, Jeremiah had really been worrying, almost even despairing about Israel. Israel and their ways. What was God going to do? Now, all of a sudden he saw the light. Israel was like the clay in that potter's hand. And God, the Master Potter, wasn't going to fail or grow discouraged with this raw clay, this stubborn, sometimes even defiant clay. NO – God wasn’t going to have to throw it away or destroy it, though He certainly had the right to. All God would have to do was to rework it a bit, refashion it -- using His implements --the wheel, the file, the furnace. God would just keep at it until His purpose was fulfilled, His design complete.
Now I’m not going to try to push this analogy any farther than it was meant to go, because if I did, it would result in some bad theology. After all, the clay doesn't possess free will -- we do. Clay can’t consciously oppose the craftsman's design -- we can. Oh, it may seem to the potter that the clay has a mind of its own, but it doesn’t. We, however, do have minds --and hearts --of our own. We’re free moral creatures. And our troublesome free-will adds a whole new dimension -- a complicating factor to this parable. Also, the clay isn’t aware of the potter's hands -- we are.
But having acknowledged these limits to this metaphor, I want to say that Jeremiah has given us one of the most meaningful insights ever. The story of the Potter and the Clay starts by symbolizing our utter dependence upon God. God is our creator, we are God’s creatures –this is one of the very 1st learnings from the Book of Genesis. God is the potter. We are the clay. Nothing in our modern world, not science, not technology, NOTHING, has changed this basic truth. "There is a divinity that shapes our ends..” said the poet.
You can go to the Bible and on every page you read it. We’re dependent on God for every breath. We’re not the Creators, the redeemers of this world: God is. "It is He who has made us and not we ourselves..." We’re the raw material, the clay in the potter's hands.
"Have thine own way, Lord; Have thine own way” goes the hymn...
"Hold o'er my being absolute sway
Power, all power surely is Thine
Mold me and make me, Master divine."
But in contrast stands human pride and self-sufficiency. It stands as the basic sin in whatever form it takes -- a nation over- trusting in its power & rightness; a scientific humanism by which we’re all influenced today, whose final confidence is in itself; a self-righteous person who trusts his or her own good deeds and satisfaction with themselves and their own personal conduct to justify them, and see them through, or to elevate themselves, however subtly, above others.
The basic sin, the Mother of all sins, is PRIDE, & pride denies the lesson taught by the potter and the clay. There are many different forms Pride can take. I don’t want to go into that today, but regardless of the form, the Bible doesn't mince any words about it. It says, as clearly as you can say it, human self-righteousness is a worthless rag. And we are dependent on God for every breath. Yes -- the story of the Potter and the Clay speaks to us of our dependence. It also tells us that God has a purpose and design for every life, every person.
Horace Bushnell, whose book, Christian Nurture, dominated the field of Christian Ed. for over 100 years, preached a sermon almost 150 years ago entitled, "Every Man's Life a Plan of God,” referring, I’m sure, to both men & women alike. "Every human soul”, he said, “has a complete and perfect plan, cherished for it in the heart of God -- a divine biography marked out, which it enters into life to live. This life, rightly unfolded will be a complete and beautiful whole, an experience led on by god and unfolded by his secret nurture..."
"To this end I was born" declared Jesus, "And for this purpose I came into the world." But Jesus isn’t the only one who came into this world for a purpose. Do any of you remember Katie Couric a few years ago interviewing the young man who sawed off his arm to free himself during a hiking accident? -- my goodness, has it been that long ago already?-- He talked about what all went through his heart & mind as he was up on that mountain expecting to die. He said one of the things that kept him going was the belief that God had a plan for his life. And although he made a video tape saying goodbye to his friends & family while up there, he couldn’t believe that plan included his dying on that mountain. I too believe that there’s a purpose for every human life. God has a plan. We may not always sense or understand that plan. And we certainly might not always follow it. But God has an ultimate plan.
And God sees eternal possibilities in our lives possibilities in every situation. What we need is to trust God better. Because God knows what God is doing with our lives. There’s an old saying we used to quote when I was back in seminary. “God don’t make no junk.” In other words, God knows what God’s doing. God knows what God is doing in our individual lives. God knows what God doing with this world. God knows what God is doing with this church. And what God is doing is working out an ultimate design, in which we can be an instrument of peace.
Which leads me 3rdly to another truth in this story of the potter and the clay-- the method, the discipline by which God accomplishes His purpose and design. You know, in our society, we've basically made God out to be not much more than a doting old grandfather who indulges the kids when they come to visit, pretty much letting them do as they like. But Jeremiah didn’t understand God or how God works this way.
If pottery is ever really going to amount to anything, the potter has to use all the instruments available-- the whirling wheel, the file, the chisel, the furnace with its scorching fire – all of them. Likewise, when God sets out to form a character, whether it be in a man, in a woman, in a community, or in a nation, there has to be some discipline, some hardship involved.
Have any of you ever seen a live potter work at the wheel? If you have, you know that fashioning pottery can be very strenuous exercise. Potters don’t make pots genteelly. They “throw the pot” as they put it. The clay is actually thrown on the wheel, pounded, whirled, shaped by the artisan’s hands and fingers, until it finally takes the form that the potter wishes for it.
Well, acc. to our text this morning, so it was for Israel & so it is for us too! God the Potter is fashioning us into the people God wants us to be. And sometimes it may seem as if that potter is working rather strenuously with us– turning us about from some direction we have taken, pounding us with adversity, shaping us by the ups and downs of our daily life until we become the people He wants us to be. But it’s all for the purpose of making us into cups that contain a drink of cold water or into earthen vessels that can hold the treasures of the gospel.
“Those whom the Lord loves” the Bible says, "He chastens" Paul, no doubt, would’ve agreed. You may remember, Paul had some handicap-a " thorn in the flesh" he called it. He asked God to take it away. "I prayed to the Lord three times" he said, "But He said to me ‘It is enough that you have my grace.’” Had it been removed in the twinkling of an eye, he probably would have said, "It was the grace of God." But it didn’t happen that way. Just like the adversities we pray to be removed often don’t just disappear. Paul came to understand that the providence of God was actually in the NON- REMOVING his thorn, that God used it as raw material to shape his character. People learn lessons in adversity by dealing with adversity. We overcome our fears by facing them. We grow in to being people of character & integrity only by wrestling with our demons & by facing the adversities set before us in life.
Which leads me to my final point: God’s inexhaustible determination. You know, that potter could well have said: "This clay is no good. I need new clay." But instead he pressed that clay back in to a lump, kneaded it and threw it right back on the wheel, absolutely determined to make something out of it.
And that's how God is with us. Why didn't God cast Jacob out in the scrap heap for his warped and twisted ways? Why wasn't David disowned for his shameful, sensuous deeds? Why was Saul of Tarsus -- blasphemer, persecutor and hater of Christ -- why wasn’t he blotted out of the Book of Life forever? It was because of the stubborn, persistent, and unfaltering will and grace of God that is determined to save us.
And where would any of us be without it? After all, we do ALL frustrate God’s purpose at times. But that just slows God down a bit, because God never gives up on us. God can take and use anything: our mistakes; our defeats, our poor choices and wrong attitudes, our mismanaged lives, even our shameful deeds, -- and God will weave it all into something wonderful in the end.
But our choices & attitudes – our wills & our pliability DO affect the plans. Whether we’re rough or smooth, malleable of stiff, flecked with impurities or deeply flawed throughout make a difference in the way God has to work with us. The question is: are we willing to TRUST God with all our flecks & flaws, our foibles & failures? Can we really believe that the Master Potter is making a beauty out of the beast?
That can happen, you know, if we’ll just allow the Potter to do the single one most important part of creating a work of beauty -- centering the clay on the wheel. If the clay isn’t centered, the centrifugal forces will cause the clay to explode and splatter in a wide circle of clammy chaos. TRUST IS THE ISSUE -- Trusting God is to pay attention to what is happening around us and in us, which enables God to center us, it allows God to take the raw material we provide & slowly fashion us into containers of usefulness & beauty.
So -- do you have faith that God is able & willing & trying to do just that with your life? Do you have faith that God is able & willing & trying to do just that with this community, with this pain filled, confused, tormented world? And how about with this church?????????
Friends, during this uncertain time in the life of this congregation, it’s the perfect time for us to throw ourselves on that wheel, to cast our very selves on the wheel of the Potter. -- Just a little bit of TRUST will do the trick! God is able to do so much with our lives, with our loved ones, with our church, indeed, with our everything! But we need to trust!
There was a song a few years ago - “Have a Little Faith in Me” - by the pop artist Jewel, when our younger daughter was a teenager – the one that just got married. It was a popularized in the movie Phenomenon. She played it over and over and over again in her room and it still runs through my head every now and then. In the movie the song was a message between two people in love. But sometimes I hear the words in my head when I think of the love of God’s love for us. I’ll spare you the tune, but here are some of the words:
When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see…
When the tears you cry
Are all you can believe…
When your backs against the wall
Just turn around, (&) you will see
I’ll catch ya, I will catch your fall…
- \\ Just have a little faith in me…*
I’ve been loving you for such a long, long time baby
Expecting nothing in return
Just for you to have a little faith in me…
You see time, time is our friend *for you and me*
Cause for us there is no end
All you gotta do is have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Friends, our scripture today reminds us that...
When the road is dark and we don’t see our way…
When we’re fretting and stewing and certain things can’t - or aren’t going to - work out for the best…
When we’re just downright scared that of what the future may hold…
What we need to do is to TRUST the Master Potter…
“Have a little faith in me” says our God. “Just have a little faith.”
Jeremiah 18:1-11
18:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
18:2 "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words."
18:3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.
18:4 The 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.
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
18:6 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
18:8 but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.
18:9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,
18:10 but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.
18:11 Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
The Pastoral Prayer:
We long for your presence, Loving God. Like weary travelers in the desert, our thirsty souls reach out for you. God of hope and new life, we set our hearts on your goodness, confident that we will be satisfied.
We are grateful for your church, O God, and for opportunities that nurture and inspire us, that challenge and stretch us, that call us to service and shared ministry. As we celebrate the start of a new program year very soon, we look to you for guidance and we open our lives to new possibilities.
In the quiet of this moment, we bring before you the complexities of our lives. Change and uncertainty remind us that our plans are not perfect. We ask questions but find no answers. Within us run currents of both joy and sorrow, calm and chaos, struggle and surrender, pleasure and pain. Somehow your love wraps around all that we are and holds us in the embrace of your compassion and care. We look to you, O God, and cling to the promise of your presence and the assurance of your hope. Even in the midst of doubt and fear, it is enough for us to know that you are with us. Your mercy and compassion tend to our worries and our wounds. You don’t take away our burdens and brokenness, but there is solace nonetheless. You are our hope. Your song sings within us, even as you fashion us, like a potter working with clay, into the form you would have us be.
We pray today not only for ourselves but we remember others in their various struggles. Especially we lift up to you the family and friends of John Church Sr., whose spirit now rests with you. We sorrow across this world in the loss of both Pavarotti and Madeleine L’Engle - two of your very special children, geniuses, though in very different ways, who have influenced so many. They will be sorely missed. WE pray also for those starting school once again for the year, for teachers and leaders of all sorts who begin learning activities everywhere. We pray for the church, your church, as it begins its new season and for your children everywhere to be committed and excited by being a part of your ministries wherever they are and wherever they serve.
O God w as we gather now, we lean upon your welcome, and we rest in the hospitality of your love and grace. Grant us your peace: peace which is not the absence of trouble, but the awareness of your loving presence in all that we do, through Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
We come before you today, God of all Creation, to offer our thanks for the wonder and the beauty of the world around us. We see, once again, the changing seasons. The evidence is all around us. Birds are flying south. Insects are less numerous. The leaves on the trees are just starting to be clothed in colors of red, orange & yellow. The days are getting shorter and the nights cooler. Thank you, dear God, that you are in the changes. Thank you that are with us in all transformations of life. How blessed we are to have you by our sides every moment of every day. When we feel alone, remind us of your presence. When we need assurance, speak to us in soft whispers of love. When we need comfort, touch us with your healing balm of forgiveness and salvation.
We look forward this morning to a new season of activities around the church, O God. The children have resumed their learning activities. The search committee is beginning its process. Fall opportunities for growth, fellowship and worship are now falling into place. Yes, step by step the church is focusing forward -- getting a new sense of your calling. As we begin to get back into the swing of the season, we ask that you would encourage us all to seek new opportunities for our spiritual living. May each of us, during this interim time, find meaningful ways to participate in the life of this congregation. Give us a clear sense of how important it is that we each do our part as we move into the future -- through participation in its programs, its studies, its music, its worship, through our faithful attendance and stewardship. Enable us to break free from any confines of our own making and help us to explore new possibilities that exist all around us.
We pray this day for those who are sick – either at home or in hospital. We remember especially those whom we have mentioned earlier this day by name or in the silence of our hearts. We pray for any who have been affected by the devastation of the recent hurricanes and storms. We pray also for those who mourn – especially those who may mourn deaths which are the result of terrorist acts across this world. We pray for healing and wholeness. Most of all we pray for justice and peace.
Into your hands, O God, we commend all for whom and about which we pray, trusting in your mercy; through your son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…” Amen.
BENEDICTION
May the love of God shape you.
May the peace of Christ make you anew.
And may the fellowship of the Holy Spirit keep you from evil this day and all the days to come. Amen.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
With joy and gladness we dedicate our treasure and our hearts to celebrate your reign within us and in the community of your faithful people. Reshape us in your image and use us, we pray, to extend your love to all we meet, and to sisters and brothers we will never know.
Leader: Loving God, you created all things and said that they were good.
People: Shape us, O God, and make us new.
Leader: You created us in your image, and said that we were good, too.
People: Shape us, O God, and make us new.
Leader: Even when we do not turn out the way you want, you do not throw us away.
People: Shape us, O God, and make us new.
Leader: Remake us, God, into people who reflect your goodness in all they do.
People: Shape us, O God, and make us new.
O God, Creator of the Universe, we come to worship you and praise your holy name. We come to be molded and shaped by
your hands just like clay by the potter. We come because we wish to be built up into the people you would have us be. Grant us the peace of Christ, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and your life-changing love. In the name of Jesus we pray saying, “Our Father who art in heaven...” Amen.
HYMNS
Have Thine Own Way, Lord