Sermons

September 9, 2007

Rev. Scott Swanson

15th Sunday After Pentecost - Jeremiah 18:1-11

I recall a time during my years in theological school when a few of us were having a discussion with one of our professors. He was talking about the fourth gospel. I have no recollection of evidence he gave to back up his opinion, but he was saying that it was his favourite of all the gospels. I responded by saying that of all the gospels, John was the most problematic for me and my least favourite. To which he replied, "I didn't like John when I was your age either."

I suppose stories like that demonstrate in part why it is important to make reading the Bible a life long practice for Christians. Partly because we are inclined to forget what they say, and partly because as we change, the stories themselves change. They may take on new meanings, deeper meanings, as our increasing experience resonates with their wisdom.

I can imagine that when I was in theological school I would have found Jeremiah 18 problematic. I was in my phase where anything that smacked of a violent God would have been regarded as potentially bad theology. Likening God and Jerusalem to a potter who destroys flawed clay would have certainly attracted my attention, but then I suppose that was its original intent. That would have been at the least what Jeremiah expected it would do.

I can think of a couple of times in my life when I have resisted what I will call God's will for me. A couple of times at least when I have insisted that my current path is sustainable, reasonable, faithful, manageable. A couple of times when I have not listened to the words of others, or the experience of my own body and mind, suggesting first gently and politely, and then more firmly, that I might want to think about changing my ways.

Someone - if you know who it was, please tell me so I can get the reference correct - once defined insanity as repeating the same behaviour and expecting different results. According to this definition, significant swaths of my own (and I would suggest all human behaviour) could be described as insane. We are all aware of the effects of global warming, of the projections of what will happen if we don't make significant, immediate change. And we wring our collective hands about the world we are leaving for our children and grandchildren as we drive them to dance class.

Lest we too quickly point our finger at ancient Jerusalem, who was repeatedly told to change and didn't do it, may we remember our own tendency to act exactly the same way.

As I can think of a couple of those times when I have been a spoiled vessel in the Potter's hand, so too I am aware of a couple of times when I needed some re-working into another vessel, as it seemed good to the Potter. These are painful moments, as individuals or institutions or societies are broken down and re-shaped into something new. We are experiencing it in our church life as ours and other so-called "mainline" churches such as Presbyterians and Anglicans find ourselves with fewer people, less money, lower attendance and energy. The end of Christendom, as some denominations are being broken down can be a painful time to be church. Likewise in terms of cultural shift, there can be painful times as change is forced upon us.

So too personally. My own experience in the spring of having been broken down was a painful time, and I am sure that all of us can relate to those moments. The reason it is important for me to read this text now, and not just 13 years ago in theological school, is that now I am willing to hold open the possibility that God's hand was in that experience.

Because what was shaped out of that brokenness has been another vessel that I hope will be more seemly to God - at least for a while. The fifty cent theological word you can use to impress your friends at parties is "sanctification." It means that God is at work in us to improve us, better us, make us closer to the beings we were intended to be. Over time, we can become more like God.

Sanctification is about God's love for us and desire that we might become more like God, more like the vessels of the Spirit that we are capable of being. This text is full of judgment, but it is the judgment of an artist, grounded in a love and passion for the vision of perfection reflected in the work of art.

God's desire for us is that we be even more beautiful, even more like God than we already are. Which sometimes means, when we get insane about maintaining things the way they are, that we will be forced to change. The challenge then is to stay soft enough to be open to what the Potter may want to do next. The promise is that whatever it is, it has the potential of being an even greater work, imprinted with the mark of the Potter's hand.

For more information or to comment on this sermon, please email Rev. Scott Swanson.

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