on November 30.2014.
The scripture passage was Isaiah 64:1-9.
In the Potter’s Hands
Today begins the season of Advent,
A season of preparation,
A season of hope.
And we have lit the first candle of Advent,
the candle of hope.
This little spark of light is what I want us to ponder today.
This little spark of light is a beginning, a hope.
When a little spark is taken
and is passed from candle to candle,
the glow grows…
until…
there is one bright shining light.
That bright light begins with one spark,
one small glow of hope.
In our scripture today, we find hope.
The scripture is part of a prayer to God which begins in the previous chapter of Isaiah.
It is a psalter,
a communal lament,
and we are picking it up in the middle.
In chapter 63, the prayer begins with remembrance of the great things God has done:
Isaiah 63:7:
“I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”
Then Isaiah brings in the Israelite’s current situation.
The Israelites are in despair; they are in exile in Babylon.
God’s people had to sit down and think and pray and imagine in a new way that they could be faithful in their circumstances of the exile.
They know what great deeds God has done for them in the past and they know what He can do for them in their present situation and in the future.
They put their hope in God.
The people of Israel wanted God to show His power and His might.
“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!”
In Isaiah’s time, the Israelites were looking for a divine warrior to ‘come down’.
They wanted someone to save them;
“….so the nations might tremble at your presence!”
God’s response is in the following chapters of Isaiah:
Isaiah 65:17-19
“For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.”
The Lord responded.
The Israelites went home to Jerusalem.
In Jesus’ time, the people were again looking
for a divine warrior,
a Messiah,
someone to take charge,
to fight Rome,
to bring vengeance on their enemies,
someone to save them.
But who did God send?
Not a warrior, yet, a savior.
Not a king to make war against Rome,
but a prince of peace.
God sent a light into the darkness of their lives;
a spark of hope.
One light, breaking through the darkness;
the brightest spark shinning from the deepest darkness.
As we read in the first few verses of The Gospel of John:
“What has come into being in him was life,and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
So why was this God’s response?
-back to Isaiah:
“Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.”
You and I are God’s creation!
God is our caring and loving parent.
Our creator.
Let us look at this image of God, Isaiah uses –the potter.
Have you seen a potter crafting an object,
a vase, perhaps?
The lump of clay is taken
and centered, on a wheel.
Water is slowly added
as strong hands guide the clay,
molding the clay,
shaping it.
The clay is stretched and grown as it builds up,
into a form.
There is careful guidance,
there is patience,
there is love,
and a form, a vase, is created.
God is our potter:
“the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and the man became a living being”
God is our creator.
You and I have a caring and merciful God.
We have a God who loves us.
This is why God sent to us a prince of peace, a savior.
God responded to the Israelites in exile…
God responded to the people in Jesus’ time…
And God responds to us today.
There have been the occasions when you and I
have prayed with hope in our hearts asking something of God.
Also you and I have learned,
yes, God answers all prayers,
however, His answer is not always yes.
Sometimes it is no.
Sometimes it is not now.
And sometimes it is God has a better plan.
So no, no divine warrior to answer Israel’s pleas;
No, no one king to make war against Rome.
Yes, a savior.
God sent hope.
Not a conqueror, but a teacher.
God’s love and mercy for His creation is shown
in the spark of light of Jesus Christ.
The hope in the darkness –the light to shine,
the little spark that begins renewal, salvation, and
the bright light of hope.
We have welcomed Advent, a time of expectant watching.
We are watching and we are waiting.
In this time of anticipation and preparation,
be alert to God’s presence among us.
Watch as the light as it grows brighter each week.
Embrace the hope, peace, joy and love of the season.
Shine your light to others.
And look to the fulfillment of the hope
of the birth of God’s son,
who is our Redeemer and our Savior.
Through his, resurrection, light has overcome all darkness.
Amen.
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