Clay People

CLAY PEOPLE

Jer. 18:1-6; 19:10-11

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. In Johnson City, Tennessee, a police officer and his partner pulled over an unlicensed motorist. They asked the man to follow them to the police station,

2. …but while en route they spotted a North Carolina vehicle whose license plate and driver matched the description in an all-points bulletin. The officers took off in a high-speed chase and finally stopped the wanted man's car.

3. Minutes later, as the felon was being arrested, the unlicensed motorist drove up. "If y'all will just tell me how to get to the station, I'll wait for you there," he said. "I'm having a heck of a time keeping up with you." [John Newland]

B. TEXT

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. Jer. 18:1-6.

10 “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired” Jer. 19:10-11.

C. THESIS

1. Just what are you? Are you an accidental, evolved, compilation of male and female genes? Some people think so!

2. Are you an animal? With blood and organs and breath? With instincts and muscular reactions? No less and really no more than an ape in the African jungle? Some people think so!

3. Are you a lonely, isolated, universal happening? A blob soon to dry? A ripple soon to cease? A spec soon to be blown away? Some people think so! But what are you really?

4. Ask your doctor, he'll tell you one thing. Ask your science professor, he'll tell you another. But ask God and God will tell you that you are the creation of His hands. You are the fruit of His labor. You are the apple of His eye and you are the choice object of God's eternal love.

5. Just like each of us, the prophet Jeremiah wrestled with this whole concept of man. What is he? Where is he going? Why the dilemma of life? God spoke to Jeremiah: "Go down to the Potter's House, Jeremiah. Watch him work. Learn a "lesson" (Jeremiah 18:2).

I. THE POTTER & THE MATERIALS

A. THE PRESENCE OF THE MASTER POTTER

1. Pottery-making is a great analogy portraying God’s relationship to man. The Potter himself is the most important element. The Clay is next. God said; "I am the Potter. You are the Clay."

2. Picture it in your mind. The Potter is seated on the ground with a mass of clay nearby, a vessel of water by his side, and in front of him the Potter's wheel.

3. After moistening and softening the Clay, he puts it on the horizontal wheel, and then with the wheel turning, he touches the revolving lump of clay and begins to shape the vessel.

4. Sometimes when the vessel is near completion, the Potter discovers a serious flaw. But because the Clay is still pliable, the Potter is able to form the new vessel again and placed the Clay once more on the wheel and re-form a new vessel.

5. Men may claim that they’re "self-made," but there really are no self-made men. We are all the work of God's hand. "It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves."

B. PREPARATION OF THE CLAY

1. Clay is a mixture of common Earth and silica. It is the presence of that silica which makes Clay something more than common Earth. So it is with man; God breathed His Spirit into him, and he became a living soul.

2. Clay must, first of all, be crushed. We, too, must be made pliable in the hands of God. The crushing process is not pleasant. Life is often painful beyond description. But remember, until the lumps have been removed and the foreign elements screen out, and until you have been sifted, you are not suitable material for the Potter's skill.

3. Next, the Potter can make no use of clay which is too moist. He must squeeze out all excess water. One of the most difficult of all life's lessons is this matter of excess. A man who is impatient and critical of today's youth can suddenly learned kindness with his own son or daughter is the one messing up. Life can squeeze out a lot of excesses.