"In the Potter's Hands"

 

"Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, "Can I not do with you, house of Israel, as this potter does? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel."

 

            Today we read a brilliant and clear image in Jeremiah concerning what it means to be held and formed by God for a purpose: the image of the potter and the clay. Last week we talked about how our lives can become disconnected from God. Today we begin to look at a series of words and pictures concerning God's response to a disconnected people. The potter and the clay is perhaps the simplest and most direct one. We are formed and re-formed by God as we go through life. We are in God's hands, never distant, both securely held but also pushed and prodded into a shape that has lasting usefulness in his kingdom. This picture of the potter also says that we actively participate in what God will form out of our lives.

            The Lord tells Jeremiah to go to the potter's house and observe. He does not see anything out of the ordinary or miraculous. He sees a potter working with clay, and as the potter forms the clay on the wheel he realizes that the clay is not of the quality he needs in order to make the object he intended. The clay has impurities in it, perhaps sand or some dirt that got mixed in, and so it will not hold the shape of the beautiful vessel the potter desired. He will have to form it into something else, something of more common use.

            So Jeremiah is watching, and then the Word of the Lord comes to him. Israel is like wet clay in the hand of the Lord. They had begun to think they were a finished product, separate from the Lord, independent, free to do whatever they pleased, yet always thinking the Lord would preserve them.

            But now, the Lord says, they are still wet clay, and they are in the hands of the Lord. He can make of them something very special in his service, or he can make of them something less noble. J.A. Thompson writes, "The quality of the clay determined what the potter could do with it. The clay could thus frustrate the potter's original intention and cause him to change it. In Israel, the Lord the potter was dealing with clay that was resistant to his purpose. They could not be fashioned into the noble shape the potter had intended."

            Israel had allowed many ungodly influences into the very constitution of their national life. They welcomed idols into their land, even into the temple. They lost their trust in the Lord and placed it in the armies of the surrounding nations. They became immoral, forgetting the law of God and following the ways of the world. If Israel is pictured as clay on the potter's wheel, it is no longer pure clay, it is clay mixed with many invasive substances.

            Could God still make of them what he intended them to be? The first answer is "no": "I am preparing a disaster for you." The clay would have to be rejected, would have to endure punishment, exile.

            But the second answer was "yes." They could still be what God intended them to be if they would take the way of repentance, a turning back to God. "I will relent," the Lord says, "if the nation repents of its evil." It is in repentance and returning to God that the clay becomes better clay, fit for its highest use.

            How can we apply this image of potter and clay to our own lives? First we agree that we are wet clay in God's hands, we are still being formed. To think of yourself that way gives a sense of security, assurance and hope. You are in God's hands. God is working in your life, shaping and forming you. Our theme of reconnecting does not lead us to search for God who is far way, but to agree with God who hold and forms us. That is our starting point. So if you feel alone, or if you are keenly aware of a past that has hurt you deeply, or if you are wondering if there is purpose to your life, you are still soft clay in God's hands. You are being formed.

            This takes place at all stages of our lives. Even in old age God forms and uses his people for new places of usefulness in his kingdom service. In the middle-age years when you might begin to feel lost, or you might feel tired or depleted because of all your responsibilities, God is still forming you, working on you. There might be a new place of service, a renewed sense of love for God and others. I think of JoEllen Reeves, Covenant Missionary in Mexico. She tells how she was in her 50's, divorced and a single parent, and searching for what might be next in life. She was not thinking of herself as a missionary. That seemed most unlikely, but God led her to Mexico for short-term service and that has led to very significant service in Oaxaca. No matter what our age or station in life, we are soft clay in God's hands, and he makes of us vessels for his service.

            There is also a caution in this image. What God will make of your life is a combination of his intention and design and also the quality of your life, of the clay God holds. What type of clay does God desire to work with as he forms vessels of service? We are tempted to think first of knowledge, status, competence or experience. But I think the clay of our lives is much more a matter of the heart. It is the good clay of trust, of faith, of repentance, of obedience and of commitment. These are the aspects of our lives that God can form to use according to his intention. Jesus talks in a parable about the Good soil. When we cleanse the things that we have let into our lives that undermine trust in God, then we become good soil to bear fruit, or good clay to be formed for God's service. It is usually things that are associated with fear that creep into us and compromise our lives. Repentance moves us away from fear.

            Finally, what is it that God intends for us? He desires that we be vessels of his choosing. The potter and clay work together for a clear purpose. The Lord is the potter, and the verb form of that word can also mean "create" "fashion" or "shape." We are the clay. Genesis speaks of God forming human beings out of the ground, out of clay. The creator and the creation work together for a definite purpose.

            On our trip to Alaska, Kathy and I had some extra time in Anchorage, so we rented a car and drove to Palmer, a town located in the Matanuska Valley. There we found a visitor center and a small museum where we learned the history of the Matanuska Valley Colony. During the Depression, one of the federal projects to help people who were without work was to begin a farm cooperative in Alaska. Two hundred families from Upper Michigan and northern Minnesota were moved to this location in Alaska, where they were given a piece of land, a house, and $3000. The work load of constructing a town, clearing land and developing productive farms was staggering. They faced enormous problems, and many had to leave. But eventually they overcame all the challenges and developed productive farms. It was only then that the project as a whole failed. Why? Because those who planned the project did not take into account that there was not a big enough market in Alaska for all the produce that 200 family farms could produce. The plan was good, but it did not have a good end to it. They did not complete their planning all the way to knowing who would buy all the produce.

            When we think about God holding us in his hand and forming us into vessels fit for his kingdom service, we may wonder about the end result. But God sees the end from the beginning. His purpose for you is sure. We may worry about the economy in or country, or about where our communities are headed or about many other things in the future. But no matter what challenges and griefs we must face in life, it is always good to allow God to make of our lives vessels useful in his kingdom. That is why we sing "Have thine own way, Lord, Have thine own way." The Lord's way is the way that leads to life eternal. We can be sure about that.

            Amen.