St. Christopher's Episcopal Church: Sermons

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A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on 15th Sunday after Pentecost, September 9, 2007 (Proper 18, Year C, RCL)
by the Rev. Paris Coffey

Readings: Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139:1-5, 13-17, Philemon 1-21, Luke 14:25-33

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 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. - Jeremiah 18:1-4

Although I love the art selections that grace the cover of each week's service leaflet at St. Christopher's, I would have preferred potter's hands this week to the photograph of the cross. Certainly, today's cover is lovely, and the detail of Jesus bearing his cross in the Santa Monica Cemetery exquisite. Potter's hands, though, strike me as a more inclusive image for today's readings, gathering together the Old Testament, Psalm, and Gospel.

As we heard in the first reading, in the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." Intrigued by the Lord's directive Jeremiah says, "(So) I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 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."

Now I don't know much about clay, but potter Linda Hillman tells me that before a pot can be thrown, the clay has to be wedged in the potter's hands. Wedging is the process of kneading the clay, much as one kneads bread, to remove air bubbles so that the clay is smooth and malleable. Soft spots and hard lumps are purged to form an even consistency, so that the clump of earth becomes supple enough to shape. Only then can the clay be centered - an essential step in the process - for if the clay isn't properly centered on the potter's wheel, the emerging pot will be misshapen and possibly ruined. In fact, the clay must first be centered - an image suitable for people as well as pots - before it can be opened and its walls pulled up to form a useful vessel.

Throughout this process any number of things can go wrong: the pot can get off-center, its walls become uneven, or its shape turn out to be nonfunctional or unpleasing to the potter. Whatever the problem, though, the clay can be reworked, as the potter in Jeremiah demonstrates. It can be re-centered, its walls straightened and thin patches thickened. It can even be softened and reshaped into a useful vessel after the clay has dried out, or leather-hardened into a disagreeable shape. This is a comforting thought for those of us too set in our ways, although the truth is that if God is the potter and we are the clay as Jeremiah suggests, then reshaping requires our consent. At least it required Israel's consent - Israel's choice for good or evil - for unlike clay, which has no will of its own, people and nations cannot be reshaped without their cooperation.

In some ways this is good news, since it means we're not pawns in the hands of God, as many believe. At the same time, though, it means we must take responsibility for ourselves and the world, and this can be tough. We'd rather blame God for our troubles, or abandon faith altogether, which a significant number of people are want to do, as I realized Thursday evening watching Part One of the PBS series "A Brief History of Disbelief." This repeat performance, sponsored by a number of humanist organizations, argues against the reality of God. One of its central arguments, though, is surprisingly simplistic, rooted in the traditional but questionable view of God as omnipotent. "If God is all powerful," said host and author Jonathan Miller, "Then people want to know how he can sit back and allow things like the Holocaust or 9/11 to happen? And if he's not all powerful, then why call him God?"

In all honesty, this argument is one of Miller's weakest in a show that has some otherwise valid points. On the other hand, his argument is a common one, despite its unbiblical basis. "What!" you say. "God's omnipotence is unbiblical?" "Yes," today's readings suggest, "for God has given us free choice." In fact, the centrality of the cross in Luke and rebellion in Jeremiah suggest that God has surrendered the right to absolute power in order to share power with us. "You are co-creators," God says to us, which means that unlike potter's clay, which is resistant but lifeless, we can create a world aligned with God's vision . . . or not.

Indeed, as Jeremiah realizes with great sadness, we can ignore God's dream altogether and destroy ourselves in the process. This is what the Israelites were doing when the Word of God first came to Jeremiah. They were ignoring the Sabbath and following false gods, leading them to also mistreat the poor, aliens, widows and orphans; in short, to violate every element of God's longing for humanity. No wonder God is angry, visualizing verdicts for offenders, and yet as always, God visualizes hope, saying to Jeremiah after the prophet's visit to the potter's house, "Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? . . . IF you turn from your evil."

God's action depends on ours, which means that the outcome of relationship with the Divine Potter is not fixed by either party. We are partners, and so the decisions and plans of one party affect the other. We're not a lifeless clump of clay that can be pounded into submission so that we can be molded according to the Potter's whim. On the other hand, neither can we pound God into submission, for God is not some bendable being yielding to humans on demand - some passive potter tolerating whatever we do or don't do. Rather God is a free agent, although of course, we'd prefer a more manageable God. We'd prefer a God who truly understands and tolerates our antics, as five-year old Kirsten helped me realize recently. Actually it was Kirsten's mother who revealed this truth when she confessed that she'd sent Kirsten to her room for misbehaving.

"I was mad," her mother admitted somewhat sheepishly, "But after awhile I began to feel badly. Kirsten had been in her room there for a long time, too long I thought, and so I went to check on her. She was so quiet I thought she must be asleep, but when I opened the door I found her on her knees in prayer. Hearing me," the mother continued, "Kristen turned around and said, 'Mama, I've been thinking things over, and I've just had a talk with God.' You can imagine my surprise," said Kirsten's mother, "but I beamed and answered, 'That's wonderful, darling. God always forgives, and God will help you behave if you only ask.' 'Oh,' Kirsten said to me with a laugh. 'I didn't ask God for that! I asked God to help you be more understanding, whenever I misbehave!'"

We may ask the same, for the truth is that we want God to behave even if we don't. In fact, we want God to behave even if we don't believe, so that someone or something besides us can be blamed if things go wrong. And of course things always go wrong; that's life. It's not the end of life, though - not the end of the world - if we "repent" as God invites, and turn in a new direction. After all, this is what "repent" means literally; it means "to come to our senses and turn in a new direction," accepting our part as co-creators with God so the poor are cared for, strangers welcomed, widows and orphans received as family, Sabbath is honored, justice practiced and God is worshipped.

Such is the Potter's vision - which in theory sounds great. The truth, though, is that unless we become potters ourselves - feeling the clay, visualizing the pot, shaping the vessel, and getting our hands dirty in the process - God's vision is just words. We must give shape to God's vision, and so I invite you this morning to go into the Parish Hall after church and look around. Sign up to care for the poor by working with PADS or Back-to-Work-Clothes Closet for the homeless. Sign us to honor the Sabbath, joining our choir or serving at God's Altar. Sign up for the training to Dismantle Racism and practice justice, serve as a greeter and welcome the stranger, or receive someone as family just by talking at coffee hour to someone who's standing alone. Indeed, sign up for Christian Formation classes, Building and Grounds, Events Coordinator or any number of other ministries that give life to our words, for the reality is that God has no hands or feet but ours; no eyes or ears or heart but ours. Let us offer ourselves, then, to God - and not just in church, but in the world: in our families, work, schools and neighborhoods - so that together we can create a vessel of purpose and beauty to the glory of God.

Amen.