Sunday Sermon, 7 September 2025
Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, Proper 18 (C)
A reading from the prophet Jeremiah
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ 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. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 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. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 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. 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.
Jeremiah 18.1–11, NRSV
Earlier this week I was struck by a Radio 4 presenter who described the current world situation as being ‘on fire’. The rise of authoritarianism in the Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, and most worryingly the United States of America. The increasing warfare and violence, laid bare in the atrocious suffering on display in Gaza. The threat of climate change which harms the poorest countries. All these cause alarm – what is happening in our world today?
The atheist philosopher John Gray offers a sobering perspective. He suggests that western liberal democracy is waning. In the 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we in the West believed we had the answer to how society works best. Democracy and globalism was exported to the rest of the world, often at the end of the gun. But the liberal elites have failed the ordinary working people, and a backlash is now under way. New kinds of government, increasingly authoritarian, are striving to take its place. According to Gray, the way of life that we have taken for granted may give way to something very different, and sooner than we think.
Whether or not Gray’s diagnosis is correct, it would not have shocked the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who saw clearly that there is nothing fixed or permanent when it comes to human forms of government or ideology. In the words of this morning’s reading, nations and empires are liable to being ‘plucked up, broken down, and destroyed’ (v7). The difference for Jeremiah is that there is a hidden purpose behind the turmoil; the hand of God is mysteriously at work.
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We see this in the image of God that Jeremiah presents to us in his prophecy.
In an unusual assignment, God instructs Jeremiah to visit a pottery workshop. On his way he may have wondered why he was going, but as he observes the craftsman, he is clearly drawn in. This won’t be surprising to anyone who has had the privilege to watch a skilled artisan at work – you will know that it can be mesmerising. We have archaeological evidence that Israelite culture at that time produced high-quality ceramics, using pottery wheels that allowed them to shape clay efficiently and precisely. But Jeremiah notices that, as the potter works at his craft, there is a defect in the lump of clay he is moulding. As an experienced potter, he does not throw it away, but reworks it into something more suitable. At this point, the penny drops, and Jeremiah understands why he has been sent here by the Lord.
God is like the potter, and the nations are like the clay. No nation is guaranteed to succeed and prosper in the long run. It depends on God. He is able to create or destroy just as a potter decides what to do with the clay. Any power that believes it is inevitable will eventually fall; whether it’s the Babylonian Empire, the Roman Empire, or the liberal democratic West.
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The image of the potter and the clay, which reappears in the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul, informs the Christian doctrine of providence. Providence teaches us that not only is God the creator of all things, but he is also intimately involved in the sustaining of all things, and is ordering all things ultimately for good. This is the foundation of our Christian hope. It is often contrasted with the Deist idea of a ‘watchmaker God’, who gets things going, but then steps back and allows creation to run its course. The God of Jeremiah remains engaged in the world, much as a potter remains at work with the clay.
This view of God provides comfort to the believer, but it also raises deep questions. If God is directing things as a potter, then what about human agency and free will? How do we understand the great problem of suffering and evil in the world? Are God’s promises to his people conditional upon their acting in righteousness? And can we really say that the turmoil we see in the world around us today is in some sense directed and ordered by God?
These are important questions, and ones that theologians have debated and reflected on over the centuries. But Jeremiah has not been given the vision of the potter for the sake of speculation. The image is given for a practical purpose. It carries with it an urgent call to action. The people of Judah must repent, or God will surely bring disaster upon them: “Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings” (v11).
When events are in flux, we might feel that God has disappeared, and be tempted to act in our own self-interest. Jeremiah is telling the people of Judah that God is still present, and their response is important. They must choose righteousness over evil. They must look to the interests of others rather than themselves. The potter has not taken his eye off the wheel!
It causes us to reflect on our own society today. Do we live in a hospitable and charitable country? Do we welcome the outsider and the outcast? Are we committed to sharing our resources, and making decision that will benefit the next generation? As you look around at world leaders today, it seems there are not many that embody these fundamental Christian values. We are called to repent and work for a better society today.
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Along with Jeremiah’s warning, we can also draw a hopeful lesson from the image of God as the potter.
By creatively reworking Jeremiah’s metaphor in the light of the gospel, we could say that God as the master potter was not happy with simply shaping the clay this way and that. He realised the clay needed radically transforming. So he chose to stoop down and join with the clay, and purify it from within. In theological terms, the divine Word took on flesh in order to redeem fallen humanity. Jesus Christ transforms this world from within, rather than from outside.
As we trust in Christ, we can know that whatever happens politically, he will always be with us. More than that – through his Spirit working in us, we are able to play a positive role in our society and walk in paths of peace and righteousness. Through Christ, the potter is forming a holy people that will endure.
We live in uncertain times, and it is not clear what future direction our own country will take, nor Western liberal democracy as a whole. But the gospel message gives us a hope which extends beyond the shaky foundations of the modern political state. May we trust in the God of Jeremiah, who providentially cares for his world, and is working in and through events for our ultimate good.
Amen.