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Home > SERMONS

CLAY IN THE POTTER'S HAND

(!!! Draft - This article is not currently published !!!)

· Life is Tough

R. Scott Pricer, Th. D.

Clay in the Potter’s Hands

Jeremiah 18:1-11

There is hardly a memorial or funeral service which goes by that I don’t mention the Old Testament scripture, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and earth to earth.” The Old testament is full of reminders that we come form the earth and some day will return to it.

In the second chapter of Genesis, as the writers were attempting to explain the beginnings of mankind, we read in verse seven: “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

The idea of coming from the clay of the earth has always been a Jewish theme throughout the Old Testament, and even into the New Testament. It is very clear that God is the potter and we are the clay. God forms us and makes us. A potter is one who takes the most common, seemingly worthless element of the earth itself, the clay itself, and transforms it into something functional with value, even beautiful. The fashioning of pottery is one of the oldest achievements of the human culture and pottery is one of the first cultural materials used for artistic expression.

Sometimes the potter will work on a lump of clay, molding it to make a beautiful bowl, plate or cup, and in the process of turning it on the wheel, squeezing the clay and molding it, there will be an imperfection noted. This will cause the potter to start again with the same clay, but this time make something different. But if God is the potter and we are the clay, you can be assured the end product will be beautiful.

A number of years ago, a seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where they were eating breakfast in a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished-looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.”

But sure enough, the man did approach their table. “Where are you folks from?” he asked in a friendly voice.

“Oklahoma,” they answered.

“Great to have you here in Tennessee,” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”

“I teach at a seminary,” the professor replied.

“Oh, you teach preachers how to preach? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

“See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ‘Hey boy, who’s your daddy?’ Whether he was in school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ He would hide from other students at recess and lunchtime. He would avoid going into stores because the question hurt him so bad.

“When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, who’s your daddy?’

The whole church got quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. By now, everyone knew the answer to the question. This new preacher though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to the scared little boy. ‘Wait a minute!’ he said. ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.’ With that, he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.’

“With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ he would tell them, ‘I’m a child of God.’”

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, “Isn’t that a great story? You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me I was one of God’s children, I probably would never have amounted to anything!” And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, “Do you know who that man was who just left our table?”

The waitress grinned and said, “Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former Governor of Tennessee.”

God makes no junk. Sometimes we have to be molded and remolded, but if there is a desire to serve him, God will mold us into useful servants of his.

In our story today, Jeremiah is distressed because the people of Israel have all but forsaken God’s will. They have abandoned the Sabbath day and no longer make it a holy time. They are more interested in making money and having a good time and Jeremiah wonders what is going to happen to these people. Is God going to destroy them because of their disobedience?

People are asking that same question today. We seem to have forgotten our Maker. We have come to believe we are the creator of all that we have. Hardships are not tolerated very much anymore. We are constantly asking for more and willing to give less. I am sure if Jeremiah were alive today he would be asking God what can be done for God’s people who have forgotten their creator.

God tells Jeremiah to “Go down to the potter’s house and there I will give you my message.” So Jeremiah goes to the potter’s house and watches him work at the potter’s wheel. In verse four we read, “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.”

The verb that is used to describe the ruined vessel is shachat, which means “to be ruined, marred or spoiled.” But can also mean “to be corrupted or perverted.” How easy it is for us to be corrupted or perverted by the things this world says are important. And when we don’t have them, we lust for them. It is no secret there are close to two million bankruptcies filed each year. Many of those filings are by young people in their 30’s and 40’s, because they had to have so much and tried to purchase it with so little. Our wants so often will corrupt us, and apparently the people of Israel had become people more interested in their bank accounts than what was in their spiritual account. It will destroy you if you are not careful.

The Last Supper was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci and it took him seven years to complete. The figures of the twelve apostles and Christ himself, were painted from living persons. The life-model for the figure of Jesus was chosen first. When it was decided that Da Vinci would paint this great picture, hundreds and hundreds of young men were carefully viewed in an endeavor to find a face and personality exhibiting innocence and beauty, free from the scars and signs of dissipation caused by sin. Finally, after weeks of searching, a young man, nineteen years of age, was selected as the model. For six months, Da Vinci worked on the production of this leading character of his famous painting.

During the next six years, Da Vinci continued his labors on this work of art. Finally, he needed to find a person to represent Judas Iscariot. For weeks, Da Vinci searched for a man with a hard, callous face, marked by scars of deceit, hypocrisy and crime, a face which would betray his best friend. After many discouraging attempts at searching for the type of person required to represent Judas, word came to Da Vinci that a man had been found in a dungeon in Rome sentenced to die for a life of crime and murder.

By special permission from the king, this prisoner was carried to Milan where the picture was being painted, and for months he sat before Da Vinci at appointed hours. When Da Vinci finished the picture representing the traitor and betrayer of our Savior, he turned to the guards and said, “I have finished. You may take the prisoner away.” As the guards were leading the prisoner out, he suddenly broke loose from their grasp and rushed up to Da Vinci, crying as he did so. “Oh, Da Vinci, look at me! Do you now know who I am?”

“No, I have never seen you in my life until you were brought before me out of the dungeon in Rome,” replied Da Vinci.

Then, lifting his eyes toward heaven, the prisoner said, “Oh God, have I fallen so low?” Then, turning his face to the painter, he cried, “Leonardo Da Vinci! Look at me again for I am the same man you painted just seven years ago as the figure of Christ.”

When we give in to the sins of this world, we become scared and twisted. When we spend our days looking for what is wrong with others and making that our focus in life, we become clay which is blemished. The redeeming quality of this scripture is that God will remold us and make us into vessels He can use if we will allow Him to do so. But we must keep our eyes on Him and not be swayed by what the world says is important.

The message Jeremiah receives from God is the same message we have from Him. In Verse 11, God instructs Jeremiah to tell the people of Israel: “This is what the Lord says, ‘Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you and reform your ways and your actions.’”

The next time you feel bad or useless and are too far from God to do any good, just remember…

Noah was a drunk

Abraham was too old;

Isaac was a daydreamer;

Jacob was a liar;

Leah was ugly;

Joseph was abused;

Moses had a stuttering
problem;

Gideon was afraid;

Sampson had long hair and
was a womanizer;

Rahab was a prostitute;

Jeremiah and Timothy were
too young;

David had an affair and was a
murderer;

Elijah was suicidal;

Isaiah preached naked;

Jonah ran from God;

Naomi was a widow:

Job went bankrupt;

John the Baptist ate bugs;

Peter denied Christ;

The disciples fell asleep while
praying;

Martha worried about
everything;

The Samaritan woman was
divorced, more than once;

Zaccheus was too small;

Paul was too religious;

Timothy had an ulcer;\

And Lazarus was DEAD!

No more excuses. God can use you to your full potential.

Adelaide Pollard heard a public prayer which prompted her to write the words to our closing hymn. She recalled God’s words to Jeremiah, “Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” And so she wrote. “Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way! Thou are the potter, I am the clay.”

This week let us allow God to use us to witness the wonderful power of the Cross.

AND FINALLY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS

by Charles L. Woodall

AND FINALLY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS

A Sermon on Paul's Final Greetings

TEXT: "Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord." -Philippians 3:1

SCRIPTURE READING: Philippians 3:1b - 8a