1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 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.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 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. 7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 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. 9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 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. 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.
God invited Jeremiah to the potter’s house. Who here has thrown pottery? Who has learned the ancient art of turning clay into useful objects? I recently watched several potters throw clay and three things stood out to me. One the intimate nature between potter and clay, how every movement, the slightest pressure, transforms this slab into something new. Potter and clay dance together creating. Second, the wisdom found in the difference between perfect pressure and too much, thereby destroying the pot. One teacher said the goal of the first pottery class was to have the student destroy a pot, both for learning and to know when to start again. Third, the role water plays in creating, forming and transforming. Without water the clay cracks and dries.
As I imagine God as the potter seeing the firm, gentle care applied to the clay, I think of God forming a vessel that seems good to God. Harkening back to the second creation story when God first shapes clay and breathes life into Adam (Gen. 2:7). But Jeremiah is focused not a specific person, but the nation of Israel. Calling for repentance, change, to amend their ways as they move forward. It is unsettling to think that a community could be destroyed, like a piece of clay on the wheel. But this also is a promise that God responds to the community and their evil or faithful ways. No matter what has come before, God responds now to how the community shows up. God is the potter shaping our community, we are a community shaped by God.
St. Andrew is a community shaped by God. “As we too go down into the potter’s shed, we may learn the difference between clay that has been fired and clay that has not yet been fired. It is this: clay that has been fired dries, shrinks, and hardens into a permanent structure and shape. It is easy to break. Such clay, now dry ceramic, is often lovely and useful.
Clay that has not been fired is plastic. It may be shaped and reshaped infinitely. It is a material of possibility: mold-able, flexible, responsive.
Though God shaped humankind and breathed life into its nostrils, God did not fire the clay from which she made us. God is able to shape us and reshape us, and God labors tirelessly at the wheel on our behalf. God assesses our character, perceives our strengths and our weaknesses, builds on our strengths, and, when flaws are found in us, works diligently to remedy them. Just as we, the unfired clay, respond to the potter’s touch, to water, and to the wheel, so God responds to us.” (Anathea Portier-Young Working Preacher).
God also searches and knows us, according the Psalm. God searches and knows you. God knows the words before you speak, knows how you feel, is aware of how life is going. Comfort lives here, in the presence of God, in the knowing of God. We do not need to hide or feel embarrassed. God already knows. And yet God’s thoughts are vast, more than we can understand. God’s knowing speaks to the immanence of God and the vastness of God thoughts to God’s transcendence. We are blessed to have a God who offers both. Let me explain. Today we are going to be taking a congregational survey following the sermon. It is part of the Vital Congregations initiative we are doing. You will have a chance to share your thoughts about this church, worship, and your Christian life. I pray you will be honest. Remember that God already know your thoughts, God already knows what is happening here. God already knows the people of St. Andrew, who we are, how we feel, worship and live. So be honest. What we do not know is God’s plan for this church, the things beyond our knowing in the vastness of God. We are responsible for sharing where we are today so that we can be open to where God is leading us in the future.
Remember for a potter to throw clay three things are present:
- Intimacy between potter and clay and we create that in our prayer life with God.
- Sometimes clay projects get destroyed. That means we might need to take risks trying new things trusting God as the master craftsman to breath new life into us.
- Water is essential for a potter to create. For us it is the water of our baptism in Christ that shapes us into the person and congregation God is fashioning here. Lean into your baptism.
Sometimes it might feel like we behave like fired clay, established and set, but our artisan, creating God can reshape us and mold us anew. God is not done shaping St. Andrew. As the wheel spins and the water flows, what does the potter feel in this lump of clay? Only time will tell. I imagine God covered in clay gently shaping St. Andrew into new areas of ministry, into a vessel pleasing the God. Amen.
