People who live in modern cities, many times, loose the picture of God, which is seen among people who make things from scratch. We go to grocery stores and malls. We buy clothes, food, pots, glassware, and all kinds of stuff, which people in yester years would make from scratch. In the process, we loose the image of God, which is found in the Bible. A good example is the lesson, which Jeremiah is taught in Jeremiah chapter 18. God says to Jeremiah, “Don’t just sit in the prophet-high-tower, go to the potter’s house, and learn about me. See how the potter fashions the pot. It is supposed to be an exquisite piece of workmanship for him/her. He/she fashions it, molds it, breaks it, and remolds it . . . till it is a beautiful piece of work.” Sadly, many times the potter encounters a stubborn piece of clay, which for several reason refuses to be molded.
The word, which describes the potter, in Hebrew, is the word, which describes God throughout the Bible. He is the one who formed all creation, like the potter forms his piece of artwork (Genesis 2:7,8 19). Every human being is specifically and exquisitely shaped by God when he/she is formed in his/her mother’s womb. This is what God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I chose you.” (Jer. 1:5).
There are many lessons, which Jeremiah had to learn from the house of the potter. I want to emphasize two of the lessons that Jeremiah is taught in this scene. One is the value of the potter. I was reared in a slum of New Delhi, where I saw several potters, and grassroots level workers- very intelligent people. Sadly, they were treated like dirt, and enslaved by their high caste slave owners, just because they were low caste and outcaste artisans. This was the work of low caste people, and therefore held no value at all. Sometimes, it seems to me, that this is how we treat God.
Two, Jeremiah saw stubborn clay, which refused to be molded, and gave the potter immense amount of trouble. He broke it, reshaped it, and reshaped it over and over again. Yet, it refused to be reformed. Sometime, it seems to me, that we are like that stubborn lump of clay.
In John 6, Jesus says, “When you really see me, and truly believe in me, then you let yourself become like a moldable clay. It enables me to form you and shape you, so that you may truly live the abundant life I desire for you in this world, and finally I will raise you up into that perfect shape at the last day.” (John 6:35-40)
May we, during these days of Lent, not be like the stubborn lump of clay. Rather, may we give that great Potter the honor he deserves, and may we let Him break us, and mold us, so that we may be shaped in the image of Jesus the Messiah.
Rev. Dr. R. Boaz Johnson, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies
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