Sermon Jeremiah 18:1–11 Warning to Ocean City

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Jeremiah 18:1–11 Warning to Ocean City

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

September 4, 2016

            I am continuing today with my sermon series called Jeremiah: Prophet to the Nations.  We have seen so far that Jeremiah was selected by God for this important task before he was born.  And likewise we are predestined to play an important part in God’s plan and purpose for creation.  Then we heard as Jeremiah spoke to the nation of Judah that they should not put their faith in things they made like false gods and water cisterns.  Things break and often cannot save us when we really need it.  You only real savior is Jesus Christ.  And as believers we can depend on him.  Today we will listen as Jeremiah once again talks to the nation of Judah and explains to them the relationship between God and the nations of the world.  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification.  Amen.”   (John Calvin)

Jeremiah 18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

            The image Jeremiah wants in our minds is that of a potter.  Before him is a wheel slowly turning.  On the wheel is a lump of clay.  As the wheel turns the potter shapes the clay with his hands into a pot. Some potters can quickly mass produce many pots in a day.  But some potters are artists and with great skill bring to life beautiful works of pottery.  You may remember the scene when Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze worked clay on a potter’s wheel in the movie Ghost.

            As the potter works with the clay it becomes closer and closer to the pot he imagined.  He squeezes it and shapes it to make it suitable for its intended purpose.  But sometimes the clay is just too difficult to work with.  It fights back.  It begins to wobble.  The pot is ruined, and the potter pushes the clay back into a lump and starts over.  With this image in mind of a master potter working with clay, and starting over again, let’s go back to Jeremiah.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

            So according to Jeremiah the relationship between the nations of the world and God is just like a lump of clay and a master potter.  Nations of the world are created by God.  They are held in God’s hands.  God shapes them according to his will and purpose.  And God can destroy them and start over if he has to.  The nations of the world are held by God in his hands.  God can use them or destroy them at his will.  And so with this understood Jeremiah has a message for Judah.

11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’

            God is trying to shape Judah just as a potter shapes a pot.  God wants Judah to repent of its sin.  If it does this God will make it into a thing of splendor.  But if Judah refuses to turn from their evil ways then God will have no choice but to start over and create a new nation that will achieve his purposes. 

            So, what it is that Judah has done which has God almost ready to start over?  Well we know from Jeremiah that the nation is not caring for the poor and needy and widows and orphans and aliens as it should.  But there is something else that is going on here.  And for that let’s turn to the previous chapter of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 17: 19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.

            The nation of Judah is not keeping the Sabbath day holy.  People are engaging in the usual commerce bringing merchandize in and out of the city on the Sabbath, and God is angry at this.  If they don’t repent and stop working on the Sabbath, God will have no choice but to start all over with a new nation that will keep his law.

27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”

            They better get their act together and stop working on the Sabbath day.  This seems to be pretty important to God.  Why do you think God is so concerned about the Sabbath?

            When the people of God were slaves in Egypt they were forced to work seven days a week.  They were prevented from worshiping God.  So God sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them from this slavery.  They were sent to speak with Pharaoh with these words:

 Exodus 5:1 … Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

            God was using Moses and Aaron to shape Egypt for his plan and purpose.  But Pharaoh refused and ignored God’s instructions.  And his nation was destroyed when his chariots where stuck in the mud on the bottom of the Red Sea when the waters returned and the King and his men all drowned.  After the Hebrews were freed from Egypt they worshiped God and received from God his holy law.

Exodus 20: 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

            The nation of Judah was breaking this law and returning God’s people to slavery by denying them a Sabbath rest and a time to worship their God.   This is the sin God was calling them to repent.  They were to give their workers a Sabbath rest and a time to worship God.  Otherwise God might have to start over with a new nation.

            Thankfully here in Ocean City we have no problem giving people a Sabbath rest and time to worship every Sunday.  No employer in this town would ever think of forcing employees to work Sunday morning and miss church.  Or would they?  Of course that is exactly what they do.  Employers are doing in this town the same thing that the nation of Judah was doing in Jeremiah’s day.  We are forcing Christians to work on Sunday mornings and miss church.

            For the last year and a half I have asked many people to worship here at this church on Sunday mornings.  And they all tell me the same thing.  “I would love to come to church, but I can’t.  I have to work.”  Christian international students would love to join us for Sunday worship, but they have to work.  We have elders and trustees who cannot come to church because they too have to work on Sunday mornings.

            There is one exception.  Chick-fil-A across the bridge is closed today.  This is what it says on their corporate website.

Q: Why is Chick-fil-A closed on Sunday?

A:  Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. He has often shared that his decision was as much practical as spiritual. He believes that all franchised Chick-fil-A® Operators and Restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That's why all Chick-fil-A Restaurants are closed on Sundays. It's part of our recipe for success.

            One employer knows what God wants.  There may be others.  I call on the business community of Ocean City and all managers in this town to repent and give their employees Sunday off so they may rest, enjoy their families and worship God.  The promise of God is that if we do this Ocean City will be blessed.  But we risk God’s wrath if we continue to ignore his command to give employees Sunday off so they may go to church for worship.  Here is the promise to the business community from God though Jeremiah, his prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah 17: 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord.

            If the businesses of Ocean City MD repent and give their employees Sundays off then God will bless them with more visitors, more sales, and more profits than they ever thought possible.  Obeying God’s Sabbath law would be the best business decision they could ever make.  Failure to obey God may result in more Labor Day Weekend washouts.  I urge you to tell the owners of the businesses here in Ocean City that God wants their employees to have Sunday mornings off.  God wants the workers of Ocean City to worship him in churches and that will bring greater prosperity to Ocean City if it happens.  Let’s pray.

            Father in heaven we confess that we enable the businesses of our city to stay open on Sunday mornings.  We repent of this sin and will tell the stores, restaurants and hotel owners in this city that if they obey God and give their employees Sunday morning off then God will bless them with greater profits.  We pray this in the name of your son our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen.