Northside Church - Sydney
Clay... Potter… Masterpiece...Week 1
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well, is there a person here who hasn't had a crack at pottery? You might not have ever sat down at the potter's wheel, but maybe you can remember back in school having a slab of clay slapped onto a bench and you were expected to do something with it. Clay is not the most glamorous of substances, is it? And yet throughout the Bible, as I mentioned a moment ago, God uses clay and the image of a potter and the whole spinning potter's wheel thing to teach us about where He wants us to be and about the relationship He wants to have with us. And so here in Jeremiah chapter 18, God says to the prophet, "Go down to the potter's house and you'll get my message." And if they're in verse 1 of chapter 18, the Lord said to me, "Go down to the potter's house where I will give you my message." These prophets got messages from God in various settings. And so the word to Jeremiah on this day was, "Go to the potter's house. It wasn't, look, go near the potter's house. Just near the potter's house. There's a great little cafe you can have and sit, sit relaxed, have a flat white and just sort of like get my message, the potter's house wasn't a sign or a signal appointed to the destination. It was the destination. It was where God's message was going to be revealed to Jeremiah. And I can picture the prophet making his way through the streets of ancient Jerusalem and seeing the mounds of clay as he got near the potter's shed. And potter was a major industry in Jerusalem in those days, seventh century BC. And you picture all those earthenware, water pots and bowls and things. Potter was a very big industry. Before long, Jeremiah would have been able to smell the earthy fragrance of damp clay as he got toward the potter's house. And there was the simple open air, urn or fire, kiln rather, just outside. And then he entered the potter's house. He would have seen the potter's skillful hands encircling the rotating lump of clay to kind of center it as the clay became perfectly centered on the wheel. The potter would have pressed down with both thumbs deep into the center of the clay of the clay and begin the process of opening it up. And then once opened into a bowl-like form and the expanded clay was kind of brought upwards as the potters do and the pot would have grown. Maybe on one instance maybe Jeremiah saw it get a bit wobbly on the wheel and lose its shape and he would have seen the potter gently press that clay back down to a flat piece of clay because that one you have to start all over again. Jeremiah would have seen all this. And so verses three and four, what's it say, verse three. So when I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel, whenever a piece of potter returned out imperfect he would take the clay and make it into something else. What was the message that God wanted Jeremiah to see here in the potter's house? It was a big ask wasn't it, you know, just observe Jeremiah, observe what's happening here and that's going to be my message to you. It really called for some lateral thinking, some spirit-guided lateral thinking. Friends I want to look at a few of these things that Jeremiah would have observed. Firstly, Jeremiah would have observed the motion of the clay, the clay being spun by the potter. That's a mesmerizing sight if you've seen it, you know, like spinning really fast. It speaks of motion, repetitive motion. Not unlike the sort of frenetic activity I know makes up the lives of some of you in pastoral situations. I get to talk to some of you. I know that life for some appears at times to be spinning, not necessarily out of control, but moving at a pace that's very hard to manage, not enough time for us, not enough time for reflection, not enough time for thinking, not enough time for praying, not enough time for just taking stock of what's happening, just a constant spinning of life. But a healthy life balance is something many people find elusive, even as Christians. There's a high percentage of the things we do feel very predictable, very repetitive. When our lives get to that point, they're usually pretty shapeless, they don't have a lot of form, they're devoid of real purpose. How sad would it be if on the potter's wheel, the clay was allowed to spin endlessly without the master touch of the potter to give it some kind of shape? What an exercise in futility that would be is the spinning lump of clay. What a difference to the clay when the skilled hands of the potter are applied to shape it, to mold it, to create something, to design something, to bring it to life. By the grace of God, Jeremiah would have seen this message, I believe, and would have realized that God was pleading for Israel to allow him to shape her as a nation and to make her into the people he wanted her to become, and that's a big part of the ongoing story of Jeremiah. Of course, the message is for us today, exactly the same. The heart of the Christian journey, God pleads with us to allow him to shape us and mold us and work us into the kind of people he intends us to be. Jeremiah would have also observed the patience of the potter. I've never said it a potter's wheel, you've got to be honest about that. But I've seen it, and I would imagine that it requires a lot of patience, choosing the right clay, with the right texture, for the particular job at hand, working that clay on the wheel to the point of the senators, that's very important, choosing the right moment to build the clay up and having the patience not to lose your cool when something goes wrong. Now, whilst there are parts of Jeremiah, and in fact, parts of the Old Testament that can be used to illustrate the impatience of God, some of these harsh judgments and so on, the cumulative evidence of Scripture shows that God, our Father, is the very personification of patience. There is no one more patient than him. Paul wrote to the Roman Church in chapter 15 and verse 5, listen to this, "May God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus," was Paul's word in the context of some conflict. What about 2 Peter, chapter 3, and verse 9, "The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised as some think; instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants all to turn away from their sins." Friends, I don't know about you, I'm so glad God is a patient God and he does not deal with us as we deserve. I'm so glad he understands our frailty, our fragility, our weaknesses. I'm so encouraged by the fact that he gently guides us on the pathway of life to the point when looking back sometimes, we can see the way he has patiently worked his way into our circumstances, shaping us into the people he wants us to become, especially in our times of failure, especially in our times of struggle, especially in our times of doubt. Can you trace the patience of God in your life today? I know he's been extraordinarily patient with this pastor over the years. Are you grateful for his patience today? Are you thankful? God like the potter of old is very patient in the way he's able to cope with our waywardness. That day in the potter's house long ago, Jeremiah would have been reminded of the patience of God, which was extended to the nation of Israel by the way on so many occasions, despite their waywardness and their inclination to serve other gods. But there's something else to be seen in the potter's house, something that arises out of God's patience. It speaks volumes of the love and the grace and the forgiveness that's available through him. Jeremiah would have observed the retention of the Mard vessels. Check it out, verse 4 of Jeremiah chapter 18. Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else. I'm told clay can prove to be unworkable for a variety of reasons, the presence of stone or other foreign matter in the clay, the development of air pockets just to name a couple of things that make it difficult to work with clay. But rather than discard the lump of clay, the old potter whom Jeremiah was observing merely began the delicate task of reworking the original piece of clay, reshaping it, remaking it into something of beauty, same piece of clay. This is and always has been the central feature of God's grace, his unmerited favor. God will not. He cannot give up on any of his people. Did you get that? He cannot. He will not give up on any of his children, even when we may be tempted to think that he has, and you can go through periods of life where you think that's the case. Many of the great men and women of the Bible reached a point in their lives where they were certain that God had discarded them, that he had given up on them. David, classic example, a great man of God that had many flaws as we know. In one of his most poignant Psalms, Psalm 31, this is what he says, this is David speaking. John has forgotten me, as though I were dead. I'm like something thrown away. He said it, thrown away, but he further affects on the work of God's grace and forgiveness in his life, and he concludes, as he often does in a lot of his Psalms, they start off a bit melancholy, but they get to a strong note. He finishes with, "I was afraid and thought that he had driven me out of his presence, but he heard my cry when I called to him for help." Down in verse 24, "Be strong, be courageous, all you, that hope in the Lord." Many years ago, we used to sing a song for those who can remember something beautiful, something good. All my confusion, he understood. All I had to offer him was brokenness and strife, but he made something beautiful of my life. One of the great privileges we have friends as Christians, as proclaimers of the good news, is to share that God never gives up on anyone. I've got so many stories I could bring to bear from my partial experience where God is, where people have said, "What would God want to do with me after where I've been?" After what I've done, it's our privilege to be able to extend the people on God's behalf, his grace, and his love and forgiveness. Never a piece of pottery turned out imperfect. He would take the clay and make it into something else. And some of you listening to me now can say a resounding amen to that, because you know that's been your story. You look back on your life and you recognize things are different now to how they were. God has done and is doing a mighty work of transformation in your life. And you can see them before and the after. And like Jeremiah in the potter's house, you've also observed, you've experienced the restorative skill of the craftsman, God's ability to heal, to cleanse, to transform. And so this is the message that was waiting for Jeremiah at the potter's house. It called for some very spirit-led lateral thinking. Jeremiah, just observe what's happening. Think about it, contemplate on what this means for you and for my people. Now friends, in a far more powerful and personal way, because of the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus, because of the gift of the Holy Spirit, I mean, seven centuries later, Jesus was to come as the Son of God. So this message has far more meaning for us today. It's the message that he wants us to receive and certainly the one he wants us to declare. Look at it. The life without the touch of the master craftsman can be a life that's just spinning, spinning going nowhere. Praise God for his patience, the patience he extends to even his most wayward child. Praise him for the fact that he discards no one. Everyone, no matter what they've done, no matter where they've been, is eligible to experience the restorative skill of the master craftsman. That's the gospel, seven century B.C. This is the good news. This is the gospel. Jeremiah was getting a bit of an insight into it and we shouldn't be deprived because God is the same yesterday, today, forever. His message of grace and reconciliation and transformation hasn't really changed between Genesis and Revelation. It's been packaged in different ways. The arrival of Jesus Christ made it all very, very clear. Guys, as you look at that list today, which of those do you need the most of? Your life is doing a little bit of spinning, a master craftsman yet to really get a hold of you and start to shape you into who you can be. You're thankful for God's patience, don't trade on it, don't abuse it, do something about what needs to be tackled in your life. Are you praising God today for the fact that he discards no one? There's a time today to really be thankful to him for the restorative work he's done in your life and what are you going to do with that? We need to share that, we need to talk about that, we need to let others know that this is where it's at in the Kingdom of God. This is what it's all about. In century BC, go to the potter's house, you'll see something. Praise God, those words are preserved in Scripture for us to learn from today. Let's bear in place, shall we? [BLANK_AUDIO]