Rev. Christine Dudley

Scripture Text: Jeremiah 18:1-11

Let us quiet our minds, and open our hearts, as we listen to prayerful words written by a 2^nd Century, Christian named Irenaeus:

It is not you who shape God;
                 it is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God,
                 await the hand of the Artist
                 who does all things in due season.
Offer the Potter your heart,
                 soft and tractable,
                 and keep the form in which the Artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist,
                 lest you grow hard and lose
                 the imprint of the Potter's fingers. (Voices United # 275)

I have always been in awe of the mysterious and wondrous ways in which a potter fashions a lump of clay into something which is both beautiful and functional. The whole process has an almost mystical quality about it and it is easy to draw parallels with human spiritual formation and the relationship with God, the Creator.

Pottery is an ancient art which was well known and widely practised in Jeremiah's day (approx. 2,600 years ago). And, because pottery was such a basic and important craft it is not surprising that Jeremiah would use it as an example of God's creative movement at work within his community. It's important to know that Jeremiah was a prophet with a hard edged message. His speeches are vitriolic proclamations of judgement against what he viewed as a corrupt and virtually unredeemable society. The only hope, in Jeremiah's view, was absolute repentance and radical change in order to be redeemed and restored to right relationship with God. In spite of Jeremiah's often caustic delivery, his heartfelt desire was for a just and righteous people who would remember and fulfil their covenant promises with God. In today's reading for example, if we focus on the first part of the passage, we can glean valuable insights and wisdom for ourselves as people of faith in our time and place.

Jeremiah likens God, the Creator and Source of life, as a Potter working at a potter's wheel. The potter has the ability to endlessly shape and reshape the clay as is necessary and pleasing to the creator.

To fully appreciate the analogy - of God the divine potter and human beings as clay - it is helpful to understand something of the creative process in which pottery is made. What I know from my limited experience, and from what I have read and learned from potters, is that the preparation of the clay is very important. The clay needs to be worked and kneaded to make it soft, flexible and malleable. United Church minister and potter, Darryl Auten, explains that,

Clay settles when it rests in a pail or plastic bag. It becomes hard, even if it seems soft to the touch. The clay molecules will not slide into new shapes if the potter does not wedge it by rolling it on itself. ...[This] is a crucial step...The potter needs to soften and restructure the inert clay so it is no longer rigid. ...The clay must become flexible and ready to move... (Arts and the Spirit, p.46, United Church Publishing House, 2007)

The readiness, and character of the clay, is crucial in the potter's ability to create something good from it. The clay, when it is prepared, is formed into a lump which is centred firmly on the potter's wheel so it will stick. This centring is also important in the process of shaping the clay so that the clay doesn't become unbalanced and out of proportion.

Next, and most exciting from my perspective, is the opening up of the lump of clay as it spins on the wheel while the potter applies gentle but even pressure on the clay.This is the beginning of the creative process and the intimate connection of creator and creation. Pat Krug, describes her experience as as potter by saying that,

...each pot begins with hope. I hope it will be a certain shape and try to help that happen. If, in the process, that shape doesn't work, my ideas change so the shape can be corrected to make a different curve, or perhaps I will change my ideas radically - starting to make a pitcher that becomes a bowl. ...At times the clay collapses and I need to let it rest, then rework it to enable it to make another pot. There is rebirth. To work with clay requires my body to adapt to the nature of the clay body I am using at the moment. Then I can form the clay through the pressure of my hands and the strength flowing through my whole body. There is a listening period, and that leads to a mutuality that results in a pot. If I understand the nature and the ability of the clay, I can adapt my methods to form a useful object within the limits of the clay. (pg.15, Ibid.)

All through the stages of creating a vessel, it needs to be supported, protected, and exposed at the same time. Care needs to be taken not to force change too rapidly. Gradual change needs to take place when my hands are forming the clay, changing its shape...Each individual step is important for the whole. (pg. 16, Ibid.)

Preparing, centring, opening up to the creator's gentle touch, evokes memories of my own experience with intentional spiritual discipline and worship —Preparing, Centring, Opening up— the interplay of potter and clay; call and response — forming and reforming. The clay doesn't always respond as the creator intends and sometimes, in the process, the clay is overworked and needs to rest before being shaped and moulded again.

It is in this context, in the summer of 2009, that the General Council of the United Church of Canada gathered in Kelowna and used as their theme, "Down to the Potter's House" based on today's reading from Jeremiah. The invitation, to the General Council commissioners, from then Moderator David Giuliano, was to consider that "Out of this most basic substance, the earth, God continues to shape and breathe life into creation. ...Together we will imagine how we are being shaped as a community of faith and how we are being called to respond to Christ in the world."

Similarly, Nelson United Church is engaged in a discernment process which we are calling, Re-Imagining. The flip chart paper and artistic expressions which surround us this morning bear witness to a dynamic process of discernment and declaration. This is a creative process which includes: listening; sharing; resting in God's presence; prayerfully discerning God's guidance and moving forward with faith; setting fear aside and boldly describing who we are as followers of Christ; and seeking to understand what God is calling us to become as the community of faith known as Nelson United Church.

Individually we have been shaped by the experiences of our lives. As a congregation we embrace the diversity of experiences within in our midst and celebrate our unity of purpose as disciples of Christ. We are people of faith: welcoming; gathering; learning and growing in faith together; holding each other in prayer and love; daring to speak out against injustice; being a visible presence in the wider community; and blessing people on our way.

We are constantly discerning God's call for us as people of faith and we will respond as best we can at any given moment. Regardless of the changes or challenges we are facing, now or in the future, we can be assured that with the gentle touch of the divine potter we will form and reform, mould our lives with the imprint of God's love and grace, and shape the world around us with the dynamic action of our faithful witness.

Let's hear, again, from the prophet Jeremiah. This time in a contemporary paraphrase, by Darryl Auten:

Then the word of God came to me: "Can I not do with you...just as this potter has done?...Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand..."
"Can I not take clay and make it into an ordinary pot or make it into a work of art? May I not take clay and wedge it to restore its vitality; use the clay like the potter, centre it on the wheel, and create a perfectly formed lump? May I, as the creator, open that lump, and create a lovely and open bowl, a pot or a cup, or any vessel worthy of constant use?"
I am the potter and you are the clay... I am a potter reshaping your world and devising a new plan. Come join me in this task.
And then Jeremiah said to God: "May we be creators with you, sharing this desire for beauty in creation. Support us, we pray, to be your creative people."
(Arts and the Spirit, p.46, United Church Publishing House, 2007)

May this hope be embodied,
in our community of faith,
this day and always.

Amen