Delivered on November 27, 2005, Melana

discusses "You Are the Potter"  We hope you enjoy

reading her sermons and wish you would

join us each Sunday to hear the

new one in person.

 

You Are the Potter                                                                                   Isaiah 64:1-9

 

        We tend to think of the Bible as an old document.  Things that we read about in the Scripture happened so long ago.  How can they really have any relevance to us?

 

        The reason they are relevant is that the Bible is all about relationships - our relationship with God and God’s relationship with us.  People haven’t changed much over the generations - we still generally want what we want, when we want it - we still get angry, we still pout, we still hurt ourselves and others through our foolishness and pride.

 

        This passage of Isaiah is not just speaking to people who lived long ago - it is speaking to us, right now, people who turn away from God and follow other gods, other idols.  Isaiah is trying to remind the people of God that God is the Potter, the Creator, we are the clay, the material God uses to create a masterpiece.  The only problem is that unlike real clay on a potter’s wheel, we have our own ideas about what we should become.  I have been reading a book about a potter, in it he places the clay on the wheel and begins to make something, but often he gets disgusted with what he has made and throws it back on the wheel to start again - until he is finally pleased with the finished product and lifts it carefully from the wheel to begin to cure.

 

        Isaiah says that God is the potter and we are the clay - God can mold us into something wonderful, if we will allow it.  Too often we have our own ideas about what we want to become, and we thwart the work of the grand Potter, we make it difficult for God to create us into the image God has for us.

 

        Advent is the beginning of the new church year - today is the first day in a new liturgical year - it is another chance to hear again God’s word to us.  Advent is a time of waiting and preparation - most of us are not very good at waiting – it’s a waste of time.  We are pretty good at preparations - How many of you had a list to use for the preparations you made for Thanksgiving dinner?  How many of you have a list of the things that need to be done before Christmas?  If not written down, at least in your head.

 

        We are pretty good at preparations - like the decorating we have done here today.  Advent is really a time to prepare the one thing we usually forget to prepare - ourselves.  We get so caught up in all the things that need to be done before Christmas that we find ourselves wishing the time away - hoping just to get through it one more year.  So that we miss the real joy of the gift that God has given us - the Christ child, the Prince of Peace.  We find ourselves caught in the commercialism of the season - for it is very difficult not to get caught in it, the commercials started before Halloween - and we find ourselves comparing the gifts we are buying with the commercials - and often find that we really need to get more.

 

        How many jewelry commercials have you seen that suggest that the only way to let someone know how much you love them is to buy them a diamond?  No wonder we get overwhelmed with the demands of the season.  The message of love at Christmas has nothing to do with diamonds or the number of gifts under the tree - It has everything to do with a tiny baby born to a peasant girl.

 

        That is the gift we await - that is who we prepare our hearts to receive.  This Advent I am going to try to have a different attitude - one of preparation and waiting - I want to let the Potter mold me, instead of letting myself mold my life.  It won’t be easy - we have been taught from a very early age to make a plan and work it - I like crossing things off my list - which means that sitting still listening for God’s word is not helping my list at all.  But just a minute - what if my list totally changed because I started to be still and let God shape my plans – wouldn’t that be a great change?  I might even feel the joy of the season - instead of just singing about it, I might experience it.

 

        Here are some ideas to get you thinking about how you might slow down and prepare yourself for Christmas - some of these might not speak to you, but they might get you started thinking about your own ways to wait and prepare.

 

        How about spending 15minutes each morning during Advent reading Scripture and thinking about God’s message to you for the day?  I would recommend reading Isaiah or Matthew for a start - read a few verses and then ask God to reveal the message for you for that day.  It means stopping and waiting for just a few minutes each day.

 

        How about making presents for people instead of buying things?  Last year my mother made a cookbook for me of all my favorite things that she and my grandmothers made - it was a gift from the heart.  Such gifts are true reminders of the gift we celebrate at Christmas.

 

        Perhaps you would like to give gifts in honor of people you love instead of buying things that they don't really need.  Habitat for Humanity and the Heifer Project provide easy ways to give gifts in honor of people - with Heifer you can send a card that tells the animal that a family received.

 

        Maybe you love to bake and would like to spend time baking cookies and delivering them to shut-ins.  The visit could mean a great deal to someone who is lonely.  

 

        These are just a few ideas of how to slow down so that God can work the clay that is you and help you truly celebrate the birth of the Christ child.  The calendar I have in my kitchen has said on the November page - Slow down to the pace of nature.  All month I have looked at the saying and been reminded that I live at an unnatural pace - we all do and we accept it as normal.  December only makes the pace pick up - I am inviting us to make a few changes where we can, so that we can spend a few minutes of our Advent season preparing ourselves for the gift who will come to us once again.

 

        We have four weeks - what will we do?

 

© Melana Scruggs 2005

 

 

  

     

    

 

Questions? Comments? Email us!