03 4th Sunday of Epiphany Jeremiah 18. 1-11
The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the Potter’s house. There I will give you my message.” The prophet Jeremiah, didn’t simply have a way with words, but he had a way with images and pictures. He is the best when it comes to object lessons, for he frequently uses a picture to teach us something about God and how he works and what that means for us. It is really kind of cool. Different churches will do different things with this passage. I attended one church where they had a potter up front working with a piece of clay while this passage was being discussed. It is kind of neat, because it gives you a different sense for the words that are being spoken. But this evening I would like to do something a little different. I have brought some clay. And during this sermon I want you to play with the clay. Roll it around, get a feel for it.
In the Bible, the imagery of clay is a rather popular one. Clay often represents people and the frailty that we have. This ties to the first man being made out of the dust of the earth. Clay can be representative of not just individuals, but also of nations, and that is what we have here in our lesson from Jeremiah.
The clay that is being referenced here is the nation of Israel. You see this nation was called, set apart, chosen by God to be his representative in the world. They were blessed to be a blessing. They were there to live life differently than the way the rest of the world did, and in their lives then they would show the world what it was to live life in relationship with the God who created everything. They would show the blessing and joy of living this life.
Yet this is not what they chose. Instead of following God, they followed after false gods. Instead of showing the way they chose to go their after their own. They had not lived life the way that they were supposed to and so we have our object lesson.
Jeremiah writes, “I went to the potter’s house, and he was working at the wheel. Whenever a clay pot he was working on was ruined, he would rework it into a new clay pot the way he wanted to make it.” Now how does this sound to you? Is this good news? Or is it bad news? Well the answer is yes. It is good news in the sense that the potter is not giving up on the clay. Even though it is ruined, he does not throw it out, but he keeps that same piece of clay and he reworks it. It may be difficult for the clay, but it has not been abandoned, and that is certainly good news.
Jeremiah goes on to explain the analogy. The Lord spoke his word to me. The Lord asked, “Nation of Israel, can’t I do with you as the potter does with clay? Nation of Israel, you are like the clay in the potter’s hands. At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.” In other words, God can do what he wants, because he is God. He is the potter and the ways that he chooses to work with the clay are up to him. And that is what he is saying here. He can do what he wants.
Now how does that strike you? Is that scary, or is it comforting? Again, this one all depends on how you look at it. I mean, if God were anything but gracious and merciful, just, loving and forgiving, it would be scary. But he is those things, so he is going to do the best thing, even if that means tearing up and breaking down. Because through these things, the clay will be shaped into what the prophet wants it to be.
We see this in our next verses. “At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom. But suppose the nation that I threatened turns away from doing wrong. Then I will change my plans about the disaster I planned to do to it. “At another time I may promise to build and plant a nation or a kingdom. But suppose that nation does what I consider evil and doesn’t obey me. Then I will change my plans about the good that I promised to do to it. “Now say to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to prepare a disaster and make plans against you. Turn from your evil ways, change your lives, and do good.’
Here we see that our God is serious. When he says to do something or to be a certain way, he expects that that will happen and when it doesn’t, he offers a chance to repent, that is to change the way we think and act. This is awesome. This is amazing. Because this means that our God does not give up on us. No matter how we have lived, no matter what we have done, with him there is forgiveness.
So this is how the story continues beyond our verses. The potter reworks the clay, and he does this with the army from Babylon. The people are scattered and they come to their senses and about eighty years after the attacks they return home. Only now they have a renewed zeal for the Lord. So now the clay is finally ready. If you go back to the beginning this whole think is about the Lord making it possible for all the people of the world to know him and to be in relationship with him. Now the clay is finally ready. And so God does something absolutely amazing. He becomes a human being. It is as if the potter became clay. Our God became a human being in the man Jesus. As true God and true man, he would live the perfect life that we are incapable of living. He would suffer and die in our place on the cross. And he would rise victoriously from the grave. Assuring for us a place in God’s kingdom. Jesus was the vessel, and through this vessel the blessings of God would be poured out into the world.
Can you relate to the clay? Can you look back on your life and see how the hands of the potter have been there shaping working? Holding and moving with great care and love. Tearing up when tearing up needed to happen. Breaking down when breaking down was needed. And reworking when there was reworking needed. These are not necessarily the easiest of moments. The scars that they have left could be deep and painful. Yet in the midst of these things, our God uses them to shape us, to mold us. So the pain and suffering and hurt that we go through is not for nothing, but out of it God will make us into the people that he would have us to be. Just as he worked with the people from Jeremiah so he works with us and doesn’t give up on us. He will never, ever leave us, and he will never ever forsake us.
Listen to these words from Paul’ second letter to the Corinthians. “Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. In every way we’re troubled, but we aren’t crushed by our troubles. We’re frustrated, but we don’t give up. We’re persecuted, but we’re not abandoned. We’re captured, but we’re not killed. We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our bodies. While we are alive, we are constantly handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our mortal nature. Death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
We carry in us the Good News. We don’t carry it as perfect people who have all the right answers, and who have everything in order. But we carry it as jars of clay that are cracked sometimes, and fragile. But our God who loved enough to die for us, continues to fill us up. He fills us with his love and grace and forgiveness. He fills us with himself and his very presence. He fills us with the assurance of forgiveness and life. He fills us with hope and with the strength to show his life in our bodies.
Life can be hard, is hard and will be hard. But in the midst of all that we have a God, potter who is active in our lives. Even when we can’t understand what he is doing, or why he is allowing the things that he allows. We can take comfort and strength in knowing that he will not give up on us, but that he will continue to work with us. To shape us and mold us so that in those moments when we are troubled, we will not be crushed by our troubles. When we are frustrated, we will not give up. When we are persecuted we will not be abandoned. In these things the life of Jesus will be shown in our lives.
May his presence in your live be for you a constant source of hope, strength, and comfort as the life of Jesus is shown in your life. Amen.