Pottter's clay

September 4, 2016 The Potter’s clay Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139 A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house." Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there. This story is a wonderful summary of both of our lessons for today. God’s word is amazing, because as I approach my 50th birthday, I felt that this was a wonderful reflection for today. If you didn’t know, the psalm lesson of the day is always a response to the Hebrew bible lesson. And today they fit the occasion perfectly. Jeremiah reminds us that God is the potter of our lives and we are the clay. As the creator of all things, God knows what the clay is capable of creating, because God created the clay. God shapes and molds our lives, God gives us a sense of purpose and God continues to lead us into that purpose. But the reality is that we are all cracked pots. No matter how hard we try, we are not perfect. Something in life has affected all of us. Ernest Hemingway said the world breaks everyone, but some of us are strong at the broken places. We are all broken pots, but some of us are strong at the broken places. In the times of Jeremiah, when a pot was broken, it was repaired with wax, and of course, when you put something hot in the pot, the wax would melt and leak. The definition of the word sincere, is without wax, solid. Sin means without, cere means wax. The Japanese would actually look forward to pots becoming cracked, they would fill the cracks with gold and call it a special pot. Some say that God fills the cracks of our lives with gold – that gold is called grace. We strive to be perfect, but the truth is, many of us would never know God if it was not for the cracks in our lives. It is our times of tribulation that God comes to us, ministers to us and shapes us into faithful people. And yet even though the cracked pot is the one that is much stronger and does the most good, we still strive to be the perfect pot. I think that is where we get into trouble and even get into a life of sin. We think that somewhere out there, there is the perfect life for us. One pastor puts it this way People sometimes ask me: "Bill, do you think that God has designed our lives so that there is only one right call for us to answer…..one right college for us to attend….one right career for us to choose….one right person for us to marry….one right home for the living, church for the going, and destiny for the finding?" And I say: "No." Because I think that such a philosophy limits both the potential in the clay and the imagination in the potter. Go back to the text. Even in the hand of God, stuff spoils…..life spoils….best laid plans spoil…..best made people spoil…. because in that wonderful dance between potter and clay that we call creation, stuff sometimes goes awry. We get into trouble because we don’t like change. No matter how much we know we are on a dead end street, we don’t want to move. We don’t want things to be different, we don’t want to change course unless we absolutely have to. And yet the scripture tells us that life is not intended to be permanent. Life is like clay, it should be pliable and willing to be molded, and shaped by God. If God does not like the way the pot is turning out, God can tear it down and reshape it all over again. God has reshaped and remolded my life so many times. I can truly understand God is the potter and I am the clay. We should be willing to ask God to shape us to remold us, to straighten our lives out again. If we are willing to be pliable, and shaped, the master creater will make us into a useful pot. The problem is some of us are silly putty. I never played with silly putty very much. But I do know that it is cool and very versatile. You can roll it into a ball, and even bounce the ball. You can roll it over the comics and it will pick up a copy of whatever is on the paper. It is very versatile, the problem is it is too versatile. You can shape it unto form. Make a bowl or a pot. The problem with silly putty is that minutes after you make your creation, it will melt into a blob of silly putty once again. It is able to shape a form, but it does not stay that way. Some people are like that with their faith. They listen to God, they are faithful, but only for the moment. Eventually they are back to the life that they started with. And then there is play doh. Play doh is a wonderful invention, of water, salt and flour. When I was a child there were only 4 colors of play doh- white, red,green and blue. Over the years there are many colors. Play doh is a great substitute for real clay. It is cheaper, easier to play with. The problem with clay do, is that unlike silly putty with is too pliable, after awhile, play do is too rigid. There is nothing more heart breaking then opening up a container of play doh and finding that it is as hard as a rock. And once it gets hard, there is nothing that you can do to soften it up. You can make wonderful pots with play doh, but eventually not only does it get too hard, it cracks. Some of us in the church are good for awhile, but after awhile we are so stuck in our ways, that you cant do anything with us. Now clay is a natural material. Clay is just a little dirt and water mixed together. Clay is soft enough to be shaped into something useful. But clay hard enough that it will stay into anything shape that you put it in. Potters have been using clay for years to make useful things, because it is so easy to work with. But the scripture says that clay has its problems. Sometimes it want to resist being shaped, sometimes it goes the wrong way. Sometimes it even has a mind of its own- sound like someone you know? When it gets out of hand, the potter has to ball it back up and start all over again. Reshaping, remolding, correcting, and making it anew. That’s our message for today. Allow god to mold our loves, let god mold us into what he wants us to be. There is God’s judgement for when we do wrong, but when we are forgiven- there is hope that we can begin again. We should welcome God’s guidance in our lives in order to be what God wants us to be. SERMON ILLUSTRATION God Won't Repent for You God will take nine steps toward us, but he will not take the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but he cannot do our repenting for us. Thomas Edison was a great, great man. When he was 67 years of age, he had a horrendous fire that burned up everything he owned in New Jersey. Every asset he had which at that time in 1914 was worth about $2 million dollars was totally uninsured. All of his experiments, all of his records, all of his equipment, all of his work, and all of his labor had gone up in smoke. He had a 24 year old son that came out to where the fire was roaring and burning up his entire life's work. The two of them tried to stop the fire, but they couldn't do it. The son were going up in flames." He said, "My dad was out there. The wind was blowing in his hair. His face was all red from the flames. He was pouring sweat and I didn't know what he was going to say to me." I couldn't believe what I heard. He said, "Son, go get your mother quick. She has never seen anything like this!" He went to get his mother just so she could see the fire. Later on this son said, "My dad was out there the next morning kicking through the embers and he said to me, 'Son, there is something wonderful about a fire like this.'" The son looked at him in amazement and said, "Dad, what in the world could be so wonderful about a fire like this?" He said, "Son, it just kind of seems to burn up all of your mistakes and failures and give you a brand new fresh start." Three months later that company presented to the world the first phonograph, because here was a man who didn't see his problems as the end, but simply a new start and a fresh beginning. This potter has nailed scarred hands, who can turn your scars into stars, your tears into triumph, your midnights into mornings and your darkness into daybreak if you will just let Him. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all things he is the potter and I am the clay. My message on my 50th birthday is to bless god in all things. God knows me better than I know myself. God knows what lies ahead. God knows when I make a mistake, god knows best how to fix me and how to fix the situation. I am grateful for all that God has bought me through. I have learned to trust god totally with my life. Silly putty and play doh are fun to play with. But lord help me to be clay in your hands, shaped and formed to be useful to God. Amen. Children’s sermon – let the children play with play doh Other illustrations There is a Japanese word,kintsukuroi, that means "golden repair." It is the art of restoring broken pottery with gold so the fractures are literally illuminated—a kind of physical expression of its spirit. As a philosophy, kintsukuroicelebrates imperfection as an integral part of the story, not something to be disguised. The artists believe that when something has suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful. In kintsukuroi, the true life of an object (or a person) begins the moment it breaks and reveals that it is vulnerable. The gap between once pristine appearance and its visible imperfection deepens its appeal. Charlie Steinmetz had one of the greatest minds in the field of electricity that the world has ever known. In his day no one knew more than he. Steinmetz .. God, the Potter, Works in Mud In Nikos Kazantzakis's novel Christ Recrucified, there is a scene in which four village men confess their sins to one another in the presence of the Pope. One of the men, Michelis, cries out, "How can God let us live on the earth? Why doesn't he kill us to purify creation?" "Because, Michelis," the Pope answered, "God is a potter; he works in mud." Rick Ezell, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People (Kregel, 2003) [ read less ] SERMON ILLUSTRATION Creator Makes and Fixes Creations When we were missionaries in the Philippines, we vacationed in Baguio City in the mountains of Northern Luzon. While there, we visited the St. Louis Silver School, where silversmiths are trained. We admired exquisite workmanship in the workshop and gift shop, and took home a souvenir—a pure silver money clip embellished with a distinctive design. I carried that clip for the next 24 years. One day it finally broke as I slipped a few bills into it. I then took the two pieces of the money clip back to the silver school in Baguio. One workman, about my age, asked if he could help me. I explained my predicament and laid the pieces in his outstretched hand. After examining the pieces for a minute or so, he looked up at me and said, "I designed this clip. I was the only one to make this design. I made all of these that were ever made." I asked, "Can you fix it?" He said, "I designed it. I made it. Of course I can fix it!" Allen Dale Golding, La Mirada, California SERMON ILLUSTRATION Genius Knew Where to Tinker Charlie Steinmetz had one of the greatest minds in the field of electricity that the world has ever known. In his day no one knew more than he. Steinmetz built the great generators for Henry Ford in his first plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Once everything was in place, the assembly line worked like clockwork. Thanks to the electrical genius, cars began to roll off the production line, and the profits began to pour into Ford's pockets. Things ran along smoothly for months. Suddenly, without warning, everything ground to a halt. Ford Motor Company went dark. One mechanic after another was unable to locate the problem, much to Ford's frustration. They were losing money. Finally, he contacted the brain behind the system. Steinmetz showed up and immediately went to work. He fiddled around with some switches and a gauge or two. He tinkered with this motor and that one, pushed a few buttons and messed with some wires. He then threw the master switch, and lights blinked on, engines began to whirl, and things were back to normal. A few days later Henry Ford received a bill from Steinmetz for $10,000. Although Ford was a rich man, he couldn't believe it. Paying such an exorbitant amount of money was out of the question, especially for what appeared to be such a small amount of work. He returned the bill with a note: "Charlie, isn't this bill just a little high for a few hours of tinkering around with a few wires and switches?" Steinmetz rewrote the bill and sent it back. It read: "For tinkering around on the motors: $10. For knowing where to tinker: $9,990. Total $10,000. Henry Ford paid the bill. As we open up our lives to God and allow him to minister to us, he knows where to "tinker," to put right what's gone wrong and repair what is broken. After all, he formed us and fashioned us in the first place. Jesus the great physician knows the right remedy because he is able to diagnose the exact problem. David A. Seamands, Healing for Damaged Emotions (Victor Books, 1981), p. 23; submitted by David Holdaway, South Wales, United Kingdom [ read less ] I read a story about a little boy whose hand got stuck in a very expensive vase that his mother owned. It was a family heirloom that had been passed down for generations. The mother tried in vain to pull his hand out, but she couldn't do it. Even though she hated to break that vase because it was so valuable, she realized it was the only way she could get her son's hand out, so she broke it, only to find out that her son had his fist all balled up and that is why she couldn't get his hand out. She said, "Son was your fist balled up like that all the time we were trying to get it out of that vase?" He said very sheepishly, "Yes Ma'am." She said, "Why didn't you let your hand open so it would have come out easily?" He said, "Mother, if I had opened my hand, I would have dropped my penny." Too many people are just like that - holding on to the dark side; holding on to that impurity and that sin in their life when God is simply trying to make out of them a beautiful, valuable vase. He can't do it, because they refuse to yield to His will. That is why you always need to remember that when God is working on you He is wanting what is best for you. To the Potter’s House I went down one day, And watched him while molding a vessel of clay, And many a wonderful lesson I drew As I noted the process the clay passed through. Trampled and broken, downtrodden and rolled, To render it plastic and fit for the mold. How like the clay that is human, I thought, Which in heavenly hands to God’s image is brought; For self must be cast as the dust at His feet, Ere man is renewed and for service made meet. And pride must be broken, and self-will lost - All laid on the altar, whatever the cost; And all that is boasted of human display Must yield to God’s hand and be taken away. (Anonymous) We are Christians under construction, seeking to build a life that really matters! What do you need from the Master Designer? And always remember: You are on God’s mind, in God’s plans, empowered by God’s grace, and headed safely home.