Cracked Pots

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what theLord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turnfrom your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’

During the course of last week, I heard someone say that they felt like God was not as involved in our lives as we would like to think.  This person went on to say that our bodies are made up of billions of cells and there is no way that God could control which one could eventually turn into cancer.  They went even further and said that God could not possibly be so deeply involved in a world where there is so much hate and violence.  If God was that involved, millions upon millions of people would not be starving and living in such dire conditions.  The merciful and loving God we know and worship would not allow these kind of things to happen if He truly had control over the events of this world.  When I heard all of this being said, I could not help but to think that this person grossly underestimates God’s power.  I wish I would have said something but I was in a room full of people who believed just as this person did and I felt that I could not change their minds.  In hindsight, I wish I would have said something to this room full of Christians but I bit my tongue.  Our scripture this morning shows us just how involved God is in our lives.  God is the potter who sits at the wheel, constantly changing, molding and starting over with His clay.  We are the clay in God’s hands.  God has set the perfect mold, the piece of pottery that every other piece should be modeled after.  And God’s perfection is found in our Lord, Jesus Christ.  

It is not as common of a practice as it used to be, but apprenticeships used to be a very common thing.  Families would send their children to be trained and educated by someone who practiced a particular set of skills.  And like these apprentices, we too are apprentices of God.  When I read this scripture, I envision God sitting at that pottery wheel, spinning the clay and molding into perfection.  All the while we are the apprentice, watching and learning from the master, trying to imitate the way God molds His clay.  The clay that we are constantly working on is our faith.  We are always changing our faith, sometimes if falls apart and we must start over.  After many hours of practice, the apprentice would think they finally have gotten it right, that they have perfected their ability to mold their clay but when it seems that we have perfected our faith, God humbles us and tells us that we must keep improving, just as the master tells the apprentice.   We are all apprentices of God, striving to make the mold of our faith as perfect as God made Christ.  

It is my belief that our scripture this morning shows us that God may sometimes use “tough love” to help us grow in our faith.  As parents, there are many times when  we must tell our children no because we are doing our best to protect and raise them.  It is difficult for a child to understand this sometimes and can be very upsetting for them.  Ultimately, we have the best interest of our children in mind even if they do not think so.  Our relationship with God is no different.  It is difficult for us to know and understand that God has our best interests in mind.  We will encounter situations in this life that do not seem fair, when it seems that there is no way God could be in control if He allows these things to happen.  We do not, and will not fully understand God and His workings in our lives and I don’t think we are supposed to.  If we knew exactly what God was doing, His work would be done... Humanity would be perfect, as it was intended in the Garden of Eden.  Through sin, we have disrupted God plans.  His intention was perfection in this life but because of sin, we now must only reach that perfection in the next life through the repentance of our sins.  

Verse 4 says, “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”  This scripture can have two very different meanings.  On one hand, it can be a scripture of hope.  It shows us that no matter how we, the clay, turn out, God can start over and reshape us yet again.  On the other hand, it can be a scripture of judgement.  It shows us that we are here to serve God, not the other way around.  Just as the clay has no control over the potter, we too have no control over God.  To understand that God is the potter, and acknowledge the fact God may have made a mistake while He is sitting at the pottery wheel and had to start over can lead to some questioning God’s power.  If God makes us in His image, then why would He have to start over with us?  When the potter sits down at the wheel and starts molding this blob of clay, he has no idea what the consistency of clay may be.  There may be dirt or little pebbles somewhere within the clay that can destroy the integrity of the pot.  The potter must respond to these variables.  The potter may have to start over, not because of the mistake he made, but because he had to react to the inconsistency of the clay.  When God molded us, it was perfection.  The reason God has to sometimes start over with us is based on how we respond to Him.  You all have heard my story several times but I think it may help us understand this analogy.  At the age of 16 I was called into the ministry and God started to mold me for ministry.  As a free-willed follower of Christ,  I made decisions that caused problems with God’s mold of me, just as pebbles or dirt would affect the clay.  The potter, God, had to respond to those decisions.  He never stopped shaping me for ministry, He never gave up and kept molding me even as I kept throwing dirt into His piece of pottery.  He is still shaping me as I stand before you this morning.  In the example of my life, God did not make a mistake.  It was my response to Him that caused Him to have to start over.      
Once the potter was done with the pottery, it would be used to carry or hold something.  Whether it was food or water, the contents of the pot were used to sustain life.  Because of the quality of the clay, the pots rarely turned out perfect, yet they still were able to serve their purpose of bringing life to those who used them.  And if we see ourselves as the pots that God has made, we too serve the same purpose.  We too carry with us the ability to sustain life by carrying with us the Gospel and good news of Jesus Christ.  As imperfect as we are, we too serve the purpose of bringing God’s saving grace and love to those we are in need.  Even though the person who I talked about at the beginning and I disagree on the theology behind God’s involvement in our lives, we both carry with us the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Neither one of us is perfect, they understand God to much different than my understanding of Him.  Yet, there is common ground.  The way God has molded them is much different than the way He molded me but we still carry with us the expectation that we are to share God’s message with the world.  As we sit here today, none of us represent God as perfection but we worship the One who does.  We are thankful that God sent His most perfect pottery to Earth for us to eat and drink from so we could live.  If you are sitting here today, wanting to be remolded, reshaped in the likeness of Christ you can do so by first accepting God’s love and grace.  The title of our hymn of invitation is called “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and as we are worshiping, allow God to mold you so you too can walk closer with God so we can carry life sustaining materials out into the world.  Amen.    

Benediction:  As you leave here this morning I want you to remember two things.  First, I heard a quote this week that I think applies to our scripture this morning: “The difference between "Grace" and "Mercy" is that Grace is getting what you don't deserve (gift, leniency, forgiveness), while Mercy is not getting what you do deserve (punishment).”  And lastly, since the materials were so crude, the pottery that was made during the times when the scripture was written often times cracked.  In our imperfections and impurities we too may become cracked so we can think of ourselves as cracked pots for God.  Even though the pots were cracked, they were still able to function as sustainers and givers of life and we too carry the expectation to do exactly that: sustain and give life.  As you leave here, carry with you gift of life, love and grace.  Amen.