Jeremiah 18

The Marred Vessel

When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel. Jeremiah 18:4.

I wonder how many of you have watched a potter at work with his wheel? The molding of cups and vases is a most fascinating process, and if you ever have the opportunity of seeing it you should not miss doing so.

One very interesting thing about the manufacture of pottery is that the methods are practically the same as they were in the days of Jeremiah. We have introduced all sorts of wonderful and complicated machinery for weaving, for making tools and weapons, for working on the land; but the potter's wheel remains very much what it was thousands of years ago.

In Jeremiah's day the machine on which pottery was made consisted of two horizontal wheels, joined by an axle. The lower wheel was moved by the foot and caused the upper one to rotate. On to this upper wheel the potter threw his lump of clay which had been previously prepared by being kneaded into the right consistency and having all impurities such as stones or bits of grit removed. The potter then set his wheel agoing, and while it rotated he molded the clay into the desired shape.

First he formed it into a cone very much like a sugar-loaf. Then he thrust his left thumb into the top of the cone and kept pushing until he had made a hole large enough to admit his whole hand. In the meantime he kept on molding the outside of the vessel with his right hand, or with a piece of wood held in that hand, until he had formed it according to the plan in his mind.

Now God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter at work because He wanted to give him a special message. And while the prophet watched this particular potter something happened. The vessel was almost complete; it was just taking on a most beautiful form when suddenly the wheel stopped. A stone or a bit of grit in the clay had spoiled the shape of the vase. Jeremiah watched to see what the workman would do. Would he throw away the vessel and begin on a new bit of clay? No, he took the spoiled vase, crushed it down, and began all over again. It was not such a beautiful vessel as the first one might have been, but still it was good and useful.

And the message God gave Jeremiah was that as the potter had done with the clay so He could do with the people of Israel. He had had a great purpose for them. He had meant that they should be a great and good nation, and by their willfulness and wickedness they had spoiled His plan. But if they would yet give themselves into His hands to do as He would with them, to mold them to His will, He could still make of them something noble and useful.

Now, boys and girls, what has this to do with you and me? A very great deal. God has a plan for each of us and He wants to mold each into a beautiful useful vessel. If we will yield ourselves into His hands He can make of us something very good and very noble. The trouble is that many of us won't give ourselves into God's hands. We won't trust Him, we prefer our own way. And so the grit of self-will, the grit of foolishness and sin gets in and spoils the noble vessel.

And, boys and girls, the message to the grown-ups today is that God is still able to make something worth while, something good and useful of their marred vessels, if they will let Him. But the message to you is don't let the grits get in.

You have the glorious privilege of the first chance, the privilege of the unmarred vessel, the chance to become something very beautiful, very splendid. You are still a lump of plastic clay. Won't you give yourselves wholly into God's hands to be molded and perfected? You will never regret it.