St. Andrew's Salmon Arm

September 4, 2022

Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements:

• Thank you for joining St. Andrew's Salmon Arm for this online service. As the lazy hazy days of summer draw to an end we hope this service will prepare you for the busier days ahead as we move into the Fall season. May God bless and equip you this hour, for the days to come. Thank you Rev. Ena for preparing and leading our worship today.
• This month's Loonie Offering will be going to the Shuswap Family Resource Centre. See the "Recent Posts" for more info.

Called to Worship:
We come with praise for the wonderful works of God.
Even before we speak, God knows us completely.
The Holy One knows us and sustains us,
even in our moments of confusion and doubt.
Who can count the thoughts of God?
They are more than all the sands of the desert.
Like clay in the hand of the potter,
we are shaped into vessels of divine will.
We come with praise
for the wonderful works of God.

Hymn: 290 Immortal, Invisible God only wise

Prayer of Adoration
Creator God, all creation is your handiwork; your touch gives life
to all that is.
You who shape and form us by the breath of your Spirit and the
touch of your grace, you alone are able to call forth from the
depths of our being the beauty of your Spirit in us.
May we in this celebration of worship and praise, surrender more
deeply to your loving touch, as you fashion and form your heart’s
desire in us.
This we pray in your Spirit, trusting in your mercy even as we
confess our sins before you.
Unison Prayer of Confession:
Look, Lord, on an empty vessel that needs to be filled. In
faith I am weak—strengthen me. In love I am cold—warm me
and make me fervent so that my love may go out to my
neighbour.
I doubt and am unable to trust you completely. Lord,
strengthen my faith and trust in you. You are all the treasure
I possess. I am poor, you are rich, and you came to have
mercy on the poor. I am a sinner, you are goodness.
From you I can receive goodness, but I can give you nothing.
Therefore I shall stay with you. Amen
(Martin Luther)

Assurance of Pardon
The Holy God rejoices in our repentance, reshaping us into vessels
of love and service. In the grace-filled love of Christ, we are
forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Peace
Grace to you, and peace from God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace of Christ be with you.
The peace of Christ be also with you.

Hymn: 319 Wherever I may wander

Scripture Lessons:
Jeremiah 18: 1-6
Deuteronomy 30: 19-20

Sermon: Shaped by the Potter’s hand

Years ago, I took pottery lessons. Over those 3 years it
was clear that pottery is not in my skill set, and yet I really
enjoyed the lessons and working with the clay, even if
most of my pots did not work out.
One time, in the lesson for large bowls, the bowl that I
made got too wet, and the clay started to bend on one
side. The instructor and I looked at it, decided I had
created a gravy bowl, so I fashioned a handle for it, which I
applied crookedly. It was a pretty strange looking
creation, but it could still serve a useful purpose. Over the
years it was a cat dish, a key dish, and if you were careful,
you could even use it for gravy.
Most of the time however, I just took the lump of clay, re-expounded it and re-shaped it and put it back on the wheel
to start again. The one thing that potters never do is
throw clay out.
I was reminded of those pottery lessons as I read the
comments by Howell regarding the passage from
Jeremiah.
He writes: “the language potters use is theologically
suggestive. Clay gets spoiled, so the potter reworks
it. If it is wonky, the potter has to redeem it.’ He
concludes by saying, “the clay is passive—but has its
own life and nature that can resist the potter.”
Now it is not the perfect metaphor for our relationship
with God, no metaphor is ever perfect. But there are
insights that we can discern.
We are God’s creation and he sometimes needs to rework
us or redeem us. And because we have “free will” we have
a life or nature that resists what God is working in our
lives.
That is never truer than when we are being
rebellious.
The commentators in Working Preacher spoke about the
metaphor of the potter and the clay being a lesson of the
nature of prophecy.
Prophecy being one of the ways in which
God rebukes, reworks and redeems his
creation.
This message comes to Jeremiah in the midst of many of
his prophetic announcements that God will destroy his
people unless they repent and return to God. Jerusalem
will be smashed and destroyed if it does not obey.
Smashed and destroyed; but never discarded.
In this case the prophecy serves the function of persuasion
to compel the people to change their behaviour and
return to God. It is only in doing so that they can avert
disaster.
Yet, God is patient.
Very patient. The people to whom Jeremiah spoke,
did not listen. They were invaded and removed to exile
where they remained for decades.
Jeremiah continued to speak to them from his captivity in
Jerusalem. That relational aspect of God being present in
the lives of his people continues, even as they learn the
lessons of exile.
Smashed and destroyed; but never discarded.
Here God is speaking through Jeremiah to woo his people.
Bruggeman writes: “Old Testament prophetic language is
an expression of engaging and committing—always
seeking a response.”
Like the potter God sends Jeremiah to visit, God has a plan
for when things go wrong.
The commentators in the Christian Century write that
when things go wrong there is scope for reinvention, new
initiatives, and re-creation. Throughout God always
displays sovereignty and flexibility.
There is a greater message here. We are also called to
display flexibility. When dealing with stubborn necked
people—and let’s face it, that is all of us--we need
patience and flexibility.
We have all known those times when we have been too
invested in the outcome of our outreach. We get
frustrated when people don’t take our advice. In those
situations, we can become pushy as we try to make them
conform.
But here the message to the prophet and to us is simple.
Look to the Potter. It doesn’t work out, he stops reworks,
regroups and waits until the right time. Then he starts
again.
Sometimes you just need to step back and let the Holy
Spirit do his job. In this case Jeremiah kept encouraging,
but the Holy Spirit worked on the people who were in
exile.
We see this played out again and again in the stories of
the other prophets as well. We are probably most familiar
with Isaiah, who speaks to the people in exile reminding
them that God is preparing a way in the wilderness.
Smashed and destroyed; but never discarded.
With God there is always another way to be restored. The
outcome will depend on the nature of our response. We
are free to say no to God; but we, like the people of Israel
are not free from the consequences of our choice. If we
say no to God, he simply waits for us to be ready. The
work of bringing the people back continues as the prophet
changes the message from God will destroy you, to God is
waiting for you. This is the time when the Holy Spirit
confirms that message by whispering grace to us.
I am reminded of the parable of the prodigal son. The
younger son, had destroyed his life in dissipated living,
and as he is slopping the pigs and wishing he could eat
their food, he hears the Holy Spirit whispering grace, and
realizes that in his Father’s home he always had enough to
eat and a comfortable place to sleep. So, he goes home.
And oh, what a welcome he received.
We always have a welcome with God. There will be some
pain as he reworks us and teaches us; but there is always a
welcome.
In Working Preacher, R. Nysse sums up the message God
gives through Jeremiah as a list of God’s actions.
--Plucking up. Like a plant in preparation for
transplantation.
--Pulling down. Like the walls of a house that is being
renovated.
--Overthrowing. Like Jerusalem destroyed by an army and
people sent into exile, in preparation for their repentance
and return to grace.
Nysee refers to this list as the process of judgement. But
we can see the elements of grace in them. Judgement is
never the end of our relationship with God. Judgement is
the beginning of the renewal of our relationship with God.
Smashed and destroyed; but never discarded.
Nysse continues the list.
--Build. Like when the exiles returned from exile and
rebuilt the city and the temple. They had new lives, new
homes and a place to worship God. Once again, they
remembered that God’s love had always flowed down to
them and they renewed the flow of love they gave back to
God.
--Plant. Or rather, replanted into more nutritious soil.
Replanted in order to thrive and bear fruit.
Nysee refers to these as the reconstruction actions of God.
When the people respond to the pleading, calling and
wooing of God and come back they respond to the
determination of God that none will be lost—at least
not forever.
Smashed and destroyed; but never discarded.
Why, because everything that God has
created, he longs to redeem.
Jeremiah is often referred to as the Lamenting prophet.
Yet when we read the prophecies that Jeremiah makes
through an understanding of the work of the potter, we
can see that there is a strong thread of hope in everything
that Jeremiah says. When the people turn back to God it is
a time for compassion and comfort. More than that, the
return of the people will promote change that makes
possible a restoration of justice and the opening up of a
bright new future.
I think of those lumps of clay that I took off the wheel and
re-pounded and re-shaped, which turned into beautiful
bowls. Each of them found a home with someone I love,
where they brought joy.
That is the purpose of prophecy. To take a rebellious
people and return them to a people of beauty and love
and grace; through whom will flow God’s love and grace
which brings joy into the heart of God and into the hearts
of those whom we know.
Praise be to God. Smashed and destroyed; and always
redeemed by grace. Amen.

Hymn: 574 With the Lord as my guide

Online: Guide me O thou Great Redeemer

Offering
Doxology
Offertory Prayer

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

We give you thanks and praise always, O God,
for your love surpasses all and your will is ever good.
You have created every part of us, shaping us in secret in the
hidden depths. You read our inmost thoughts and desires and
keep your hand upon us, reshaping us as seems good to you.
Loving and creative God, make us the people you want us to be
and help us to follow in the path of Christ Jesus your Son each
day and to proclaim your saving love in all that we say and do....
In that love we now bring before you our prayers for your people
and your world.
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Father, we pray today for your hand of blessing
to be upon those we have named before you and those whom we
have held in our hearts
We ask these things through Christ Jesus our Saviour, who taught
us to pray, saying,
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And
give us this day our daily bread and forgive our debts as we
forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
for ever. Amen

Hymn: 338 Let all things now living

Charge and Benediction
Sung Blessing

Take O take me as I am; Summon out what I shall be;
Set your seal upon my heart and live in me. (2x)