Whose Hands Are You In? Part 3
Scripture: Jeremiah 18:3-10; Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:8
Introduction
This morning I will conclude this series with a look at what our response should and should not be as we begin to fully understand what it means to be in God’s hands. Previously I shared with you from God’s perspective detailing how He made us and is responsible for us. This morning I will focus on our responsibility as "the clay" in the potter’s hands.
Let me start by making it very clear that I know very little about pottery making so for the sake of this message I will assume that everyone here at some point in their lives have played with clay dough. If you have not, I have some here with me. When you play with clay dough, you can make different shares of things that you like. If it turns out bad you can always flatten it out and call it a plate or ash tray. Anyway, it does not take a lot of skill to design and form something using clay dough. But, if you were a potter and your job was to make fine china and other stoneware, everything you created would carry your signature style and your reputation. If you were creating something and it had a flaw, you would not put that out on the market because your reputation and your future income were tied to the quality of the product you produced. So the potter was in full command of the clay. If he made a mistake it would retool it until he got it just right. The potter was in control. The clay had absolutely no rights as it was shaped at the will of the potter. The clay, being in the potter’s hands, was totally open to becoming whatever the potter decided it was going to be. The clay could not complain when the potter changed his or her mind because the clay understood that whatever it turned out to be, it would be good. The clay understood that it was being developed for something great at the hands of someone greater than itself and so the clay went along with the plan.
I want you to understand this morning that we are the clay and God is the potter. As the clay, we have the right to be shaped into what Go wants us to become without trying to shape ourselves. Turn with me to Jeremiah the 18th chapter. Focus on verses three and four which says:
I. Clay in the Hands of God
"Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make." Jeremiah 18:3-4
Jeremiah was one of God’s prophets in the Old Testament. His name means "God will elevate". He was a God-driven man, fearlessly denouncing the religious laxity and social ills of the nation of Israel and warning of disasters that would follow. Jeremiah’s father was a priest thus he was probably raised in a devout and quiet home. At about the age of eighteen, he felt the call to follow the vocation of a prophet. Because he spoke out against the social norms, Jeremiah was not popular among some of the higher ranking priests and other community leaders. In chapter eighteen, Jeremiah is being told by God as to what god’s plans were in the coming days if nothing changed and the people continued along the same path.
In the opening of chapter eighteen, God was getting ready to give Jeremiah a special word for the people, but in order for Jeremiah to understand what God was going to tell him, God sent him to the potter’s house so that Jeremiah would have a reference point. As we read in verses three and four, when Jeremiah arrives at the potter’s house, he witnessed the potter making a vessel that was "spoiled", one with a flaw. The potter realizing what had happened decided to start all over so he took the clay and reshaped it until it please him. Once Jeremiah witnessed this interaction between the potter and the clay, God spoke to him. This is what God said to Jeremiah:
"Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ’Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. "Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. AT one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it." Jeremiah 18:5-10
After Jeremiah witnessed what the potter did to the vessel that was not perfect, God began to speak to him about Israel. Israel had strayed off course and was in the process of bringing down God’s wrath upon them. God informed Israel that He could do with them just as the potter did with his vessel. It is important that we all understand that as clay in God’s hands, He is trying to mode us into what he wants us to be hence His Words to Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah to tell the people of Israel that although He had chosen them His choice did not have to remain with them. God told the people that if He chose to do good for a nation but the nation started doing evil, then He would change his mind about what He was planning to do. Let’s apply this to our situation.
Many Christians believe in their heart that because they are a Christian God is "obligated" to do whatever they want Him to do for them because they are a "Christian." They do not see the need to live according to His will as long as they have been baptized and go to Church every now and then. The things they do in their private time are their own business, not God’s, so therefore God is a convenience. They believe as long as they come to Church, give some money and pray, God will allow them to do whatever they want and He will continue to bless them. This lie that Satan has planted within the Church is one that will enable many so-called Christians to end up in hell. God has made it very clear that He is in charge and we are to follow Him, yet we often find ourselves doing what we want and telling God "I’ll call on you when I need you but leave me alone while I am having my fun." The Children of Israel knowing that they were God’s chosen people, spent more time doing what they wanted with out regard to what God had told them. God came to the point where He had to get their attention. He needed them to understand that the blessings they received from Him could be taken based on how they chose to live their lives. God gave Jeremiah a clear example with the potter. The potter did not like the vessel he had made so he destroyed it and started over. God was telling the Children of Israel, as he does us, that He is the potter, He can create and He can destroy. Jesus made this statement when He was talking with His disciples about fearing man: "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you who to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes I tell you, fear Him!" Luke 12:4-5.
When we are dealing with men, we are dealing with others who are clay, just like we are. We spend a lot of valuable time worrying about the other "clays" versus focusing on what the Potter’s plan is for our lives. If you are so focused on man that you will defer to man over God, then you really need to understand what Jesus was saying. He said that we should not fear man because he can kill our bodies. Once our bodies are dead there is nothing more that man can do to us. Jesus said we should fear God who after He has killed the body, He can also place us in hell. Man cannot send you to hell, God can. As clay we must be mindful that we are in the hands of the Potter, the one who can truly make us into whatever He desires that we should be. Let us look at what our response or role is as clay. Turn to Isaiah 29:15-16.
II. Understanding Our Role As Clay
"Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say ’Who sees us?’ or ’Who knows us?’ You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made should say to its maker, ’He did not make me’ or what is formed say to him who formed it, ’He has no understanding?" Isaiah 29:15-16
Isaiah was a prophet similar to Jeremiah. In this message he was warning the Children of Israel, again for their lack of dedication and discipline when it came to their relationship with God. As you read these two verses you gain a sense that these people actually thought they could do something in the dark and God not know about it. In effect what they were saying was that they had a "right" to do what they wanted and God did not have to know. In this action they were making themselves equal to God. The clay was essentially telling the Potter, the one who had created it, that the Potter did not understand and that they (the clay) had the answers. That is not how clay should deal with its maker. As a man, if we were making something with clay and the clay began to tell us how we should be forming it or that we should make it the way it wants to be made, we would feel an over whelming compulsion to squash it. We’d smash it to make a point and then start over. We should feel extremely blessed that God is not like man. If we truly function as the clay, then we must understand that we are in the hands of and at the will of the Potter. This next verse should really hit home with many of us. Turn to Isaiah 45:9.
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker – an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ’What are you doing?’ or the thing you are making say, ’He has no hands?" Isaiah 45:9
Here Isaiah issues another warning about arguing with God. There will be many times when we will ask God questions about what He is doing in our lives and why. But Isaiah is speaking to the attitude behind the question. There are many people who believe they have the right to tell God what they are going to do and it is God’s job to listen to them and follow their instruction. If we are truly the clay, our job is to be still and wait for the Master’s hands to begin to work within us. Turn to Isaiah 64:8.
"But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand." Isaiah 64:8
We sing about blessing, about God’s grace and His goodness. We talk about everything God is doing for us and what He has done for us. When we are sick, we pray for healing and God heals us. When we are burdened, we pray, and God lifts the burden. When our minds full grasp the concept that we are clay in the hands of God, we will begin to understand what it means to have all resources available to you for your good. When we stop trying to get out of God’s hands so that we can do our own thing and relish in the fact that we are in His hands being cradled and protected, we will understand what it truly means to be saved. Being saved is not just about getting to heaven when we die, it is also about living victoriously here on earth. Victory starts here on earth and is completed in heaven. Do not waste your time on earth trying to be the potter. Accept the fact that you are the clay and are in good hands.
May God bless and keep you.
