As I read the Jeremiah reading to prepare for next Sunday, I was reminded that being a pot in the process of being shaped on the wheel is not always comfortable!
I am also keenly aware that there are critical moments in the shaping of a pot- moments that determine whether the pot will be something beautiful and useful, or something destined to be broken down and completely reshaped or even discarded. If the clay resists shaping, or gets off center or is fatally flawed, the potter must take action or the pot will never fulfil the purpose the potter has for it.
God reminds the people of Israel that He is the potter, and they are the clay and if they resist the gentle and steady pressure of his hands, he will take firmer action or even seek out another piece of clay. This is a sobering thought! And it behooves us to pray deeply and think seriously as we approach a series of critical moments in the shaping of our life together as a congregation.
But there is good news, very good news as well. God uses the image of clay, because clay is so malleable and in that, it is a lovely metaphor for the tension that exists between God's soveriegnty and our free will. We may get off centre from time to time, but if we stay soft in the potter's hands, he can reshape and reform us and while the end shape may be different from the one He first planned, it can still be useful and beautiful in his service.
One commentator touched my heart as he remarked on this image of the potter and the clay. It is a dirty and demanding craft, he observed (and if you have ever seen a potter's workshop you will know the truth of that!) and in the process, the hands and arms of the potter become caked in the clay. As the wheel spins and spins, it becomes difficult to see where the hands of the potter end and the pot begins. The potter is up to his elbows in the clay he is shaping - and in Jesus, God was "up to his elbows" in the muck of the clay he created, reshaping it, remaking it and forming it from a lump of muck into something both beautiful and purposeful. It was, and is, dirty, sweaty and sometimes heartbreaking work, but the potter persists for he cannot help himself. He IS love and for love of what he is creating, for love of his craft and for love of what is and will be, he shapes and forms and pounds and guides the clay in his callused hands. He pumps the wheel and it turns and turns,ever more quickly until the hands of the potter and the church he is creating meld into one.
May we be willing to be shaped!