LIFE IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER

Sermon Notes, September 4, 2016

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon Sunday was titled “Life in the Hands of the Potter.” and was based on Jeremiah 18:1-11.  This passage of scripture in Jeremiah tells about his visit to a potter.  Two things we’ll focus on: God’s people are like clay in the Potter’s hands.  And God’s people can be reshaped in the Potter’s hands.

God’s people are like clay in the Potter’s hands.  Self-determination and independence are two of the things our society prides itself on.  The ability to decide our own faith, choose our own path, is a source of great personal satisfaction.  The self-made man is the mold in which our society desires to be shaped.  But that is an illusion, a myth.  The reality is that we are only as valuable as we allow God to make us.  The talents and abilities that we possess are not of our own volition.  We are not successful because we determined it; we are successful because God determined it. The Lord says to Jeremiah, and through him to the nation of Israel, “Can I not do with you as this potter?  Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.”  There is nothing God’s people cannot be so long as they are being shaped by God’s hands.  If we want to be the most evangelistic, the most benevolent, the most influential church, then we must be willing, as the church, to allow God to mold us to fit into His plans and serve His needs!

God’s people can be reshaped in the Potter’s hands.  Let’s be honest: every human life is flawed.  The only problem is that some are unwilling to admit it.  Our lives are often broken by our own sin, mistakes and regrets.  Sometimes we may find ourselves shattered into tiny bits by the well-laid plans of a scheming enemy.  Our natural reaction when this happens is to throw it all away.  Countless amounts of good people, with God-given souls, have cast away all they could ever hope to be because of a flaw they are unable to find healing for.  They are broken beyond repair in their own minds, and deem themselves useless to God and everyone else.  This is nothing more than a lie from the prince of lies himself!  This mentality is tragic and unwarranted.  It destroys a life that could be of great service to God and mankind, and eliminates any chance of reconciliation and eternal salvation, which is above all, most important. 

As Jeremiah stood watching the potter work he noticed something that God intended to impact him greatly.  The potter was shaping a vessel with his hands when it all collapsed on him.  The shape did not take in the clay; it was literally ruined as Jeremiah recorded it.  But notice what happened next.  The potter did not throw the ruined piece in the corner of the shop, or into the trash.  He continued working with it, and reshaped it into another vessel which he deemed good to make.  In other words, he began again, from scratch, with the same clay and gave it a shape that was good and would hold its form.  Again, God has said to His people, “As the clay is in the potter’s hand so are you in my hand.”  When we are found flawed, God can reshape us!  When we fall apart at the seams, God can put us back together again!

The parables written here in Jeremiah were probably written during the early years of Jehoiakim’s reign.  They illustrate the sovereignty of God over the nation.  God has the power over Judah, the “clay,” and He continues to work with it to make it a USEFUL vessel.  However, Judah must soon repent or the clay will harden, break, and ultimately be destroyed.  As the potter molded and shaped a clay pot on the potter’s wheel, defects would often appear.  The potter has the power over the clay, to permit the defects to remain, or the reshape the pot altogether!  In the same way that God had the power to reshape a nation to conform to His purposes, He has the power to reshape us, to conform us to His purposes.

Our goal as followers of Christ isn’t to become mindless and passive, one aspect of clay, but to be ready, willing and receptive to God’s impact on our lives, allowing Him to reshape us into the vessels that He needs us to be.  As we yield to God He reshapes us into valuable vessels with purpose.  Never throw your live away, or count yourself worthless over a flaw, a mistake, or a sin. Never allow yourself to be broken and remain that way.  Remember that God can, and wants to, reshape you, heal you, and put you back together again.