The Potter's Wheel (Sept. 4, 2022) Jerermiah 18.1-11

As you know, we have been in the text of the prophet Jeremiah. Now Jeremiah is a long book, the only one longer in terms of pages of text is the book of the Psalms. There is reason for this. First, Jeremiah has a lot to say to the people of Judah. Second, there was a great deal going on in the world of Jeremiah that determined that he had a lot to say.

One of the first things that happened in the life and career of Jeremiah was that a new king had come to the throne of Judah, a man by the name of Josiah. Josiah was a good king in a line of bad kings. He did right in the eyes of the LORD. He went through the kingdom and began to tear down the high places of worship of other gods and even expanded this into the land that was the former nation of Israel. Josiah also began a renovation of the temple as it had fallen into disrepair. During this renovation, there was found in a wall a book of the law, which we know as Deuteronomy. The finding of this book began a series of further reforms that led to all the high places being destroyed and worship being located only at the Temple in Jerusalem where God was known to dwell.

There were other undertakings that were in the areas around Judah. The kingdom of Assyria whom the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah all preached against, was failing and in a short time would be destroyed by the up-and-coming Babylonians. The kingdom of Judah was experiencing a time of independence which was something new to them since the time of Solomon.

It was a time of great upheaval. Charles Dickens would say that “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” And indeed, they were. Judah was flexing its muscles as much as it could while being caught between the two giant empires of Babylonia and Egypt. They were trying to find their way in an amazingly complex world of tribute and independence. And into all of this comes Jeremiah.

As related in sermons before, Jeremiah is a prophet who did not want to be a prophet. He wanted out before he even got into the job. But God called him and told him what to say. He went and warned the people about following gods that were not gods, but rather were things that did not profit the people. He was at work during the reforms of Josiah and tried his best to bring the people back to God before the hammer of empires fell on the small nation that would be taken over by the larger and more powerful.

It is with this in mind that we turn to the text for today.

Jeremiah is told to go to a potter’s house and God will tell him what God’s words are. So, Jeremiah goes. He does not hesitate, he does not ask why, he does not negotiate. He goes. And there he sees a potter at work. Now if you have ever seen a potter at work, you know that it is a messy job. There is a wheel turning, there is clay at hand and there is water for the clay. After a while the potter is covered with the clay that is being worked. While the wheel is turning the potter slaps a lump of clay on the wheel and begin to work. The work can be simple or it can be complex with designs and shapes that make the work what it is. Then the potter will put the piece that was made into an oven to fire it and finish the project.

But there can also be something else that happens. Sometimes the vessel is too thin or too short or it is not straight. There may be impurities or grit in the clay that was not discovered until the work was begun. Then the potter must collapse what is being made back into a lump of clay and start over until satisfied with the finished product.

As Jeremiah is watching this fascinating process, God speaks to him. “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.”[1]God is declaring God’s sovereignty over the people and land of Israel, or Judah. They are like the clay in the hands of the potter. God can take them and make them a lump of clay that the potter will rework because the vessel is not pleasing or is spoiled. God can then rework them into the shape that is pleasing to God. God is making a point here. God is saying that the people are not as in charge of their own destiny as they believe that they are, nor are the gods to whom they turn. It is the LORD who is in charge and who will build up and tear down nations. It is the LORD who will make the people into what the LORD wants them to be. It the malleability of the people that is important. Are they willing to be cast in the mold that God wants them to be or are they going to be obstinate and stand against God?

But there is something that is different here. Verse 8 tells us that God is willing to change God’s mind about disaster that is coming to a nation. We have a vision of God as immutable, or unable to change. God’s words and actions are permanent and unchangeable. What God says and determines will happen, will happen. There is nothing that we can do about it. Or is there? The words that come to Jeremiah are this: “…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.”[2]God is willing and able to change God’s mind about what is going to happen to a people if only they turn, or repent, from the way they are going. The most well-known example of this is from the book of Jonah. There the people of Nineveh turn from their wickedness and God changes what is going to happen to them. Before, they were going to be wiped out. But God changes that to save the city that repented (which means to turn from the way one is going) and is going a new way. In fact, the only person who really does not repent in Jonah is …Jonah.

But then God says that God will build up a nation to plant it, referencing the potter metaphor once again. God is working with Judah to make it into the image that God wants it to be. But there is a down side to this. God says that if God can change and not bring evil but good, then God can do the same thing regarding both good. If the people do what is wrong, or evil, then God can change God’s mind. The good that was to be brought about would turn to evil.

God returns to the metaphor of the potter and states that God is a potter and is devising, or shaping, evil and planning against the nation of Judah. What will happen to them? There has already been an oracle that told the people that disaster was coming from the north, a clear indication that Babylon was on the march and would soon come upon the nation.

But there is hope in all of this. God is calling for the people to turn and come back. That if they do, then what is being devised will be changed and the people will experience what is good in the land and they will experience the goodness of God.

Reformed theology speaks a great deal about God’s sovereignty. We like to say that God predestined from before time what was going to happen in the world, who would be the elect and what things would be like. We say that God is unchangeable. And then we wonder if we have any freedom when it comes to our faith. If God is unchangeable then what is the point of even trying? We are like puppets on a string. But then we read the scripture for today or we read Jonah and realize that we do have the will to do what is right and what is good or we have the will to do what is wrong and evil in God’s sight. These texts tell us that God will change what will happen if only we do the right thing.

As disciples we have the power to do things for good and for evil. In our first reading, Jesus tells us that we can count the cost in following him. What do we do when we count the cost? Do we turn and follow or do we go our own way as Fleetwood Mac would say? Do we allow ourselves to be on the potter’s wheel and be shaped in the mold that God and Jesus want us to be or do they have to remold us? The good news is that God is willing to remold us like the nation of Judah. God is never done with us. We are constantly being reshaped. The potter will make us into the vessel that is imagined changing what is there when change is needed, taking out the impurities and the imperfections. We only need turn and be malleable. God is doing God’s work in us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.