Sunday
09/04/22 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The Potter’s House”
Old Testament Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-11
New Testament Scripture: Philemon 1-21
Gospel Lesson: Luke 14:25-33
One of the trades that I have long
been fascinated with and have long admired is that of being a potter. I mean
think about it, you take clay, and from that clay you make amazing works of
art. I have always love watching a potter’s wheel spin as they mold and shape
whatever they are making. Their hands are always wet and clay covered. They
then put their creation, usually in a kiln to cook/dry. You can make bowls,
mugs, sculptures, etc. All this from a hunk a clay. Taking something very
simple that is from the earth, and making things that are extraordinary. Or in
the case of some us, not so extraordinary!
A pastor that has a church in Dallas, Texas
that I used to watch periodically is TD Jakes. He has, or had, a small weekly worship
attendance of 17,000! Bishop Jakes, as he calls himself, heads a non-denominational
church, and it is called “The Potter’s House”. Why would someone name a church “The
Potter’s House” though? I mean I do not think that there are any pottery wheels
in the church. The reason the church is called “The Potter’s House” though, is scriptures
like the one we have this morning from Jeremiah 18:1-11. Like a potter who
molds, shapes, and works with clay, our Book of Jeremiah reading for this
morning, once again, tell us that ultimate potter is God.
In fact, this is what our reading from
Jeremiah 18:1-11 says once again, starting in 18:1:
18 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 (Jer.
18:1-4, NRSV).
So, the word of God comes to Jeremiah,
and tells him to go down to the potter’s house. Jeremiah sees this potter, who
makes pots working at his wheel. Unfortunately, the pot that this potter was
working on was not coming out too good. As a result, the potter squashed the
bad pot back into a piece of clay. The potter then made a new, and a good pot. This
is an analogy for God wanting to fix and reshape the people of Israel, but it
has taken on an even broader meaning. This broader meaning, is that God is the
potter. This is why Pastor, or Bishop TD Jakes’s church in Dallas, Texas is
called “The Potter’s House”. In the way God was reshaping Israel, God is like a
potter, reshaping us all.
In fact, this scripture and other
scriptures in the bible compare God to a potter, and us to the clay. This reality
reminds me a song I used to sing in the Christian group I was in, in college.
This song is called “Change My Heart O God,” by Eddie Espinosa, and this song also
happens to be in our “The Faith We Sing” hymnal number, 2152. It is a very
short song, but let me read the lyrics of this song to you:
Change my heart oh God, make it ever true Change
my heart oh God, may I be like You - You are the potter, I am the clay
Mold me and make me, this is what I pray (https://unlimitedworship.org/songs/detail/923/Change-My-Heart-Oh-God).
So,
while in some cases the analogy of the potter, is sometimes seen as God reshaping
Israel, God is the potter of us all. Do we allow God to reshape and remold us
though, that we might be more and more perfected into God’s image? Or do we
resist God, and resist God’s will on our lives?
In
continuing on in our reading for this morning from the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah
gets another word or message from God. Picking up in 18:5 it says:
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 (Jer. 18:5-11, NRSV).
God has the power to change evil to good,
and to mold and fashion us, as a potter molds and fashions clay. God wants to
mold us into vessels of love, compassion, faith, mercy, holiness, and
righteousness. As the song says of God, “You are the potter, I am the clay”.
To be molded by God, to be changed by
Christ, and to be filled and led by the Holy Spirit, is to be gradually made
and molded into a beautiful, holy, and righteous piece of pottery. The Apostle
Paul tells his friend Philemon this morning once again in 1:4-7:
4 When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank
my God 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith
toward the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective
when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7 I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your
love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my
brother (Phil. 1:4-7, NRSV).
God is the potter, we are the clay, and we
are hopefully being made more and more into the image of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
In looking at our gospel of Luke 14:25-33 reading for this
morning Jesus tells us the cost of discipleship. If we are really going to be
molded by God to be more in Jesus Christ, then have to daily seek after Christ.
Our gospel lesson from Luke 14:25-33, picks up once again in Luke 14:25 saying
of Jesus:
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Lk. 14:25-27, NRSV).
I don’t think that Jesus is literally telling us to hate
our families or life itself per se, instead I think that Jesus is telling us
how closely that we need to be focused on him. We need to surrender to God, and
we need to allow God to mold and to shape our lives. If we will truly let the potter
mold us and fashion us into the image of Christ, then we need to submit fully
to God. If there are barriers between us and Christ, then those are barriers to
God further molding us in his image. We need to realize that following Christ
is great, but it takes our focus, our commitment, and it has a cost. Jesus
compares this to building a tower and war. Jesus says picking up in Like 14:8:
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
If we surrender our lives, our possessions,
our wealth, and everything to God, God can then further mold us into the image
of Christ. This does mean that we won’t have possessions or some wealth, it
simply means that it is no longer ours. What do I mean by this? I mean that
everything we have we do not own, but rather we are caretakers of what we have
and own for God. Everything we have and possess is God’s, and when surrender
our lives and all that we have to God, then we can further be molded and shaped
into God’s image. Jesus is telling us in our gospel of Luke reading for this
morning how important it is for us to be fully surrendered to God.
Certain religious orders within the Christian faith, call
people to literally give up all of there wealth and possessions as a measure of
their specific calling. This would include monks, nuns, etc. Most of us
therefore, are called to surrender everything have to God. This do not mean
have nothing, but it does mean that whatever we have is God’s, and we are
caretakers of what God has given us. The master potter of us all has given us
what we have, so that we can live, serve, give, and bless others. It is not ours;
we are but managers of what God has given us. As grow closer to Christ, as we
molded and fashioned by the potter, God will lead us to do what he has called
to do with all that he has given us.
When we look at our faith this way, when we follow after
God, seeking to be more like Christ, we more fully allow the potter to mold and
shape us. It is hard for a potter to work, mold, and shape a piece of clay
though, if pieces of the clay are missing. These missing places of clay symbolize
in our lives areas that we have not fully surrendered to God. If there are parts
of our lives that do not belong to the potter, then how will God shape those
missing parts? God will do what God will do, but Christ wants all of us. God
wants to shape us and mold us, to bless us, and to see us become made into the full
image of his son. This my friends, is why God called Jeremiah to go to “The
Potter’s House” this morning. God wanted to show Jeremiah what he could do with
people that turn to him, that trust him, and that love him fully. This is also
why God invites all of us to come him, the master potter, so that we might be molded
and fashioned until the image of his son Jesus Christ. Today and always, may we
go to “The Potter’s House”. Amen.
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