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. 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?” (Jeremiah 18)
I know a pastor who often intones a prayer just before he launches into a sermon that borrows language from a favorite old hymn:
Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way.
Thou Art the Potter. I am the clay.
My colleague is obviously familiar with both the hymn and the words from Jeremiah. My family (on my mom’s side) carries at least a measure of the potter’s DNA in our family tree. My cousin, Charles, once apprenticed with the renowned NC potter, Burlon Craig, whose pieces have been displayed on occasion in the Smithsonian Institution. He continued to practice his art after his mentor’s death, and in the last couple of years seems to have finally let his kiln go cold. Through Charles, our family has clay in our veins.
Back in the fall of 2014, I traveled over to the house of another potter, Dan Finch, just outside Bailey, N.C. I had visited with Dan a number of times before, purchasing gifts for others, watching him shape the clay, and listening to him wax philosophic. In short, Dan was a good conversationalist, skilled with clay in his hands, and possessed of the gift of gab. My visit was connected to a mission. I was there to commission a piece of art – actually two pieces. I came to ask Dan to create a chalice and paten for a very special day – 12/13/14 – the day Cathy and I were to be married. As was usually the case, Dan said, “You got time to sit for a while? If you do, I’ll throw yours while you’re here.” Dan actually made 4 or 5 sets that afternoon, promising that after they were fired, I could pick my favorite. When I returned and made my selection, he threw in a second set for free, a BOGO pottery extravaganza!
Jeremiah’s word to his people is applicable to us, in our current state, as well. Pottery doesn’t shape itself. A potter still has the opportunity to re-shape whatever rests in his or her hands. In short, to start over if it seems best. Perhaps we find ourselves in such a time at present. Jeremiah’s word may seem harsh at first hearing, but this word from God reminded a covenant people that God still had a deep love for them – that God was willing to wrestle with a people he loved in ways that Re-shaped them for His purposes, to serve the world.
In the epilogue of her wonderful book on Galatians, God Unbound, Elaine Heath offers us these words:
“And what about the wave of change that is upon the church, the new ministries that look different from the church we grew up with? These are from God not the devil. Beloved church, can we agree to let God have our anxiety? God knows how hard it is for us to let go. We simply have to be willing to be made willing. Just a tiny degree of openness allows God to work with us—like dandelion seeds. They blow on the wind, fall into every crack in the asphalt—and before you know it a parking lot is in full bloom. Church, do you realize we are on the cusp of a new Great Awakening? And it looks like a spiritual dandelion explosion as far as the eye can see. God’s new thing is networked, exponential, Spirit-breathed, decentralized, a vast planting of small communities of faith that birth small communities of faith that continue to multiply. It is very much the work of laypeople, and it is emerging as a natural progression out of the church that used to be.”
Still In ONE Peace,
Jon (the Methodist)