September 7, 2025 First Congregational Church UCC, Brimfield MA
Jeremiah 18:1-11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s hous, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. 9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
for darkness is as light to you. . . .
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
God makes us.
God knows us.
God loves us.
God protects us.
God is with us to the end.
For the past month I’ve been talking each Sunday about where we are – about the challenges we face, about the opportunities we have, about how we can proceed. Today, we’re going to change focus. Instead of what we can do, or should do, or don’t have to do, I want to talk a little about why we do this, why the time and effort and — let’s be clear — the money we put into keeping this church on the path is worth it all.
There’s no doubt that we’ve been putting a lot into this work. And there’s little doubt that the busyness of all we do can sometimes make it hard to remember why we do it. So, let’s take a pause and think together about our “why”.
We are here this morning because we have chosen to follow God. Back in the days when this church was called together, everyone knew there was God, and that it was good to follow God. Today, that’s more of an individual decision, but we have that determination in common with our religious ancestors. We follow God.
We follow God because we believe that God is the ultimate source of all things. That doesn’t have to mean that we think God is some sort of master carpenter, who literally makes everything. That would just reduce God to a functionary, like the person who gives me my driver’s license. And if there’s one thing we’re sure of God — and heaven — are nothing like the Registry of Motor Vehicles! No, what I’m talking about is that creativity is one way to see God. The ability to make things is a gift from God. That human beings can make more human beings is a way of understanding God’s creative power. That human beings can tell stories, is part of God’s creative power.
Stand before an amazing painting and you will be standing in the presence of God’s creative power, as understood by the artist.
This creative God is who we follow.
God not only is creative, God knows us.
Years ago, I had a friend who was struggling with our classes at college. He’d often come to me and ask me what I thought the textbook said, because to him it just didn’t make sense. We went through this for a couple of semesters, until I began to feel used, and finally pushed him on why he always did this. Turned out he was dyslexic. He’d hidden his problem because he thought that since I read so easily I wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who couldn’t read much at all. But, you know, we didn’t really become friends until the day he felt free to admit his challenge and I had the opportunity to really understand what was going on.
I don’t know how many places most of us find we can’t be who we really are…. Even when we don’t realize that’s what’s going on. But parents learn to say they know what’s what when their first child learns to ask “why”…. At work we have to act as if we really know everything. We have to seem honest, and kind, and considerate.. all kinds of things. The constant need to present our best side is exhausting.
But here, in God’s presence, we are who we are. We don’t need to hide from God. Here, with God, we can be honest with ourselves about where we are, and with that freedom comes the freedom to grow into a better person. It’s a friendship that just gets better and better. My college friend and I never saw each other after we graduated, but God’s friendship never ends.
God’s friendship never ends because it’s based on God’s love for us and for the world. God knows us and because God loves us, that knowledge is good and can help us grow in love for all the world.
When I was a little kid, I thought all grownups were happy, free to follow their hopes and dreams. If I’d thought about it, I’d have assumed that when you grew up, you got a job you loved, married someone who loved you, had good children, and in your old age, were surrounded by happy, loving children and grandchildren.
This despite the fact that I was in constant ill health, in and out of the hospital; despite the fact that my mother was not allowed to work as a registered nurse because she was married, that my best friend’s parents were not only divorced but distanced – she didn’t know her father at all…. In other words, even as a kid, I should have known that my dream was an illusion.
And when we’re little and we hear that God cares for us, I suspect most of us think that means that if we follow God we’ll never have to deal with hurt or pain, that our children will be good, our parents healthy, our jobs successful.
Now, we all know that’s not true. In fact, the more attention we pay to our world, the more pain we see. It shows up in our own lives, in the lives of those whom we love. We do our best and still fail. Life, it turns out, is hard, sometimes painful, often disappointing. And in the midst of all that, one thing upon which we can depend is God’s protection. Not protection against bad things happening, protection against those things robbing our world of all that is good.
It’s a protection that helps you see in the midst of that which might blind you to so much. You’ll remember, for instance, that last fall my back went out and I was in terrible pain for a while. In the midst of all that I had to go to Charlton Hospital in Fall River for a scan, and I got lost, trying to find the closest parking lot. I tried to enter the hospital through the emergency room, and fell into the hands of the tallest security guard I’ve ever seen. It was the beginning of a great visit. And I’m convinced it was God’s presence that helped me look beyond my pain and see his effort to help me as help. It was God who helped me recognize the love in the care the medical folks took to get me back to my car and, for a needed return visit, find a better place to park.
God didn’t get me exercising so my back wouldn’t go out. God didn’t make the pain go away, but God helped me see help as help, to respond with kindness to kindness when irritability would have been far more likely. And that’s why I say God protects us.
Finally, God is always with us, till the end. No matter how that goes, we will not be left alone, abandoned by God. On our deathbed, God will be with us.
So – God makes, us, knows us, loves us, protects us, stays with us to the end. It is the knowledge of this, and the way it brings worth and value to our lives that we have to share with our neighbors. This is what makes our work as a church so important. This isn’t just a gift for us; it’s a gift for everyone.
We matter.
God matters.
This church matters.
Amen.
c 2025, Virginia H. Child
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 