Meditation for March 21, 2007

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Jeremiah 18:1-11

 

Thoughts About Potters and Clay

 

1 "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 concering 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 ways, and amend your ways and your doings."

 

 

When I was in law school one of my housemates was getting his Masters in Fine Arts at CU.  He was a potter.  Since his name was Pete, we called him "Pete the Potter". (Quite clever of us, don't you think?)  He made beautiful and very functional stoneware pottery - plates, pitchers, bowls, mugs - things of that variety.  Once in a while I would go to his studio on campus and watch him casting pots, applying glazes, and then firing everything up in the kiln. It was quite fascinating, really.  Sometimes the clay would get "spoiled", and he would rework it into something else, as seemed good to him (verse 4).  Though there was a certain consistency in his style, no two pots were exactly alike, and when you threw in all the different decisions he could make concerning the glazes, there were a lot of ways that Pete's creativity could take him!

 

In this passage, God compares Himself to a potter, and says we are like the clay.  The analogy is not a perfect one, because - as is made clear in verses 7-10 - we can affect the Potter's actions and decisions.  (See also Genesis 18:22-33 for a wonderful exchange between Abraham and the Lord, as Abraham "negotiates" with God concerning the plight of any righteous people who might be found in Sodom.)  Let me say this again:  according to the Bible, we can influence God's actions.  Our actions can even lead God to change His mind!  I guess that makes sense when you think about how relationships work.  When you or I open up to another person, and that other person does the same - when there is that quality of mutuality present in a relationship - then we are open to the possibility that the other might influence my actions, might lead me to change my mind about something, might even do something that changes me - and vice versa.  Think of family members, friends, coaches, teachers, mentors, rivals - these people can and often do have a profound influence on us!  God, who chooses to be in relationship with us out of love, allows for the possibility that we might influence Him in some way.  He even allows for the possiblity that our actions might make Him change His mind.  (See also the book of Jonah, where Jonah gets angry when God repents of the destruction He had planned for Nineveh, when the king and all the people of Nineveh repent of their evil ways.) 

 

This, of course, means that we are a lot more interesting than a piece of clay.  Our decisions matter.  Our words matter.  Our actions matter.  And this is true for us as individuals, for us as a church, and for us as a nation.  We need to remember that throughout the Bible - in the Old Testament and the New Testatment - God gives His people SO MANY CHANCES!  Moses warns the people at times.  A whole succession of prophets are sent to warn the people when they start taking advantage of the poor and fogetting the other commandments of God.  John the Baptist and Jesus both begin their ministries by saying, "Repent!"  Today's lesson is one of many examples.  "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 ways, and amend your ways and your doings." (verse 11)

 

The God of mutuality engages with us, and sees what we do.  He pays attention to how we respond.  And depending on what we do, God might do something very different from what He initially planned to do.  May we see the loving kindness and forbearance and patience of God for what it is - an opportunity to receive God's grace, and an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God. 

 

We are a unique kind of clay. We are a clay that can influence the Potter. How will we choose to think and pray and act in our relationship with the Potter?