So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 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.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: 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.

– Jeremiah 18:3-6 NRSV

Pastor Dave’s sermon Sunday was drawn from Jeremiah 18:1-11 and left me thinking about how we are molded and formed in life. The people around us shape us for good or for ill. The conversations in which we engage nudge our thinking one way or another. The books we read, the shows we watch, the music we listen to – it all plays a role in making us who we are.

The text and the sermon reminded me of pictures I took at the Iowa State Fair in August. Jim Miller of Blue House Pottery demonstrated how to throw clay and mold various vessels. (To learn more about Blue House Pottery or to see finished work click here.)

As I cropped the pictures I was focused on the hands that were doing the molding. What you can’t see – except in the second to last picture below – is how the potter’s attention was fully focused on the clay as it was being formed into a vessel.

Imagine, if you will, God’s full attention focused on you and your people. How might God be forming and reforming the vessel that is your community?

Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me:
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.

“Spirit of the Living God” by Daniel Iverson (1926)

The potter in these pictures is working on one vessel at a time. More often than not, I think of God the potter shaping one person (me!) at a time. But the Biblical text is about God forming a people, a community, a nation. It is in relationships with God and with others that we (the clay!) are formed in faith, learn to be be faithful, and practice faithfulness.

Yet, O Lord, you are our [Parent];
 we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

– Isaiah 64:8 NRSV