Object lesson
In the ancient world, salt preserved, flavored, and, in some covenants, sealed a relationship. Jesus tells disciples they are the…
Mission · Formation · Community
Matthew 5 · Leviticus 2
Object lesson
The clay that talks back
Jeremiah 18:1–6; common object lesson from the potter’s house
A potter’s wheel is a small, violent mercy. The clay is centered only by pressure. If it goes lopsided, the potter does not flatter it. He collapses it and begins again. Jeremiah is sent to watch this and hear the word: Israel is clay in the potter’s hand. The image is not that God is careless with us. It is that he is free, and we are not self-made. A pot that argues with the wheel is still clay. The hope in the image is that the potter does not walk away from ruined work. He remakes it.
How you’d preach it
If you can, hold an actual piece of unfinished clay. Press a thumbprint into it. The sermon lands when people feel that being remade is not insult. It is the only way a pot becomes useful.
- Calling
- Formation
- Pride
Jeremiah 18 · Isaiah 64
Jeremiah 18:1–6; Isaiah 64:8