The Plans of the Potter—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 13C (Jeremiah 18)

Jeremiah 18:1-11 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. ⁹ And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

                *****************

                Clay is a rather malleable substance, which allows a potter to be creative when working with it. Then, at least until the clay is dry, if something doesn’t look right, the potter can start over. So, what if God is like a potter and we are like clay in the potter's hands? That is the premise of Jeremiah’s word to the nation of Judah in chapter 18. God wants to make something beautiful of the nation, but it has become spoiled, requiring God to start over.

                The words that Jeremiah brings to the people of Judah (Israel), as found in this book, are challenging. Judah had strayed from the covenant, and its days were numbered. Jeremiah was charged with delivering that word to a nation that wasn’t eager to receive it. Perhaps we can resonate with this reality. It’s difficult to hear challenging messages. Preachers know this to be true, so we often soften the message a bit, so it is more palatable. Jeremiah, however, didn’t mince words. It got him into trouble on several occasions.

                In this reading, God told Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house, where he would hear a word for the people. Jeremiah watched the potter work at his potter’s wheel. Since the vessel he was trying to mold into something useful spoiled, he reshaped it into a vessel that seemed good to him. With this, Jeremiah has an image to work with as he formulates his word to Judah. That word reflects what the potter did with the clay. Thus, we hear God ask Jeremiah, “Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done?” (Jer. 18:6). This is, of course, a rhetorical question. Of course, God can do to Israel (Judah) what the potter did with the clay. God can, if necessary, pluck up the people, replace them and start over. That is, like the potter folds the wet clay back into a ball or something like it to start over and remold the clay into something better, God can do the same with Judah.  However, if the people turn from their evil, God might have a change of mind and turn from the evil that God intended for the people.

                The use of the word evil here in the NRSVUE in relation to God’s actions needs to be unpacked. It is not as if God is evil but intends to engage in destructive behavior that seems out of character for God. What God portends is due to God’s judgment on the nation because it failed to remain faithful to the covenant. Eugene Peterson’s translation seems clearer in relation to the message here. In this translation, we hear God tell Jeremiah what to say to the people. “So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives’”  (Jer. 18:11 MSG). So, we might say that the nation will suffer the consequences of its actions unless it changes its behavior.   

                The lectionary reading ends with verse 11, where God issues a warning, telling the people to straighten out their lives. If we extend our view one verse, we hear that the people rejected this plea and followed their own plans and chose to stubbornly act according to their own evil ways (Jer. 18:12). This leads to a divine lament and word of judgment (Jer. 18:13-17). This leads to a plot against Jeremiah, as he had delivered a message they did not like (Jer. 18:18). Thus, the die had been cast, and Israel (Judah) was heading toward disaster. While Jeremiah warned the people that they were making a big mistake, they chose to plot against him rather than listen and reform their ways. What we know from scripture and from the historical record, Judah soon fell to the expanding Babylonian empire, which destroyed Jerusalem along with its temple, while taking the king and many others into exile. Thus, they were plucked up, as Jeremiah had foretold and set down in a foreign land.

                If God is the potter and the nation of Judah is the clay in Jeremiah’s oracle, what might we hear in this word today? Christians in the West, including the United States face the challenge of being swept up by our cultural context, which has a consumerist orientation. There are great concerns about the growth of Christian nationalism in the United States and elsewhere. You might even say that Putin’s partnership with the Russian Orthodox Church is an expression of Christian nationalism. As such, it does not portend well for the future of the church. Might we be consumed by the choices we make in service to nationalism and consumerism? So, where might we find hope in a passage like this?  Barbara Lundblad seems to be on target when she writes: “Like the potter, God’s intent is not to destroy the people but to reshape them in faithfulness and justice. The final words of this text can be heard as an invitation: ‘Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings’” [PreachingGod’s Transforming Justice, p. 377]. In an age when ministries of justice and mercy, of welcoming strangers and affirming those who live on the margins as being woke, Jeremiah might have a word for us. The church is facing numerous tests. The world is watching. From the reports we receive, the world is not impressed. We may want to push back and tell those who are hurting that they won’t experience the same kinds of hurt in our congregations, but the truth is that there are no guarantees. The challenge is great, but we can turn back, repenting of past actions, and seek to be communities where justice is experienced, and the love of God is fully expressed. This would seem to be what God, the potter, wants from the clay.