Transcript 「神 － 極めの陶器師」 Jeremiah エレミヤ書 18:1

“God, the Master Potter”
「神 － 極めの陶器師」
Jeremiah エレミヤ書 18:1-6
Rev. Kazuo Ozaki
尾崎 一夫 師
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NIV)
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.
1
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NIV)
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.
5
エレミヤ書 18:1-6 （新改訳）
1
主からエレミヤにあったみことばは、こうである。
2 「立って、陶器師の家に下れ。そこで、あなたに、
わたしのことばを聞かせよう。」
3 私が陶器師の家に下って行くと、ちょうど、彼はろ
くろで仕事をしているところだった。
4 陶器師は、粘土で制作中の器を自分の手でこわ
し、再びそれを陶器師自身の気に入ったほかの器
に作り替えた。
エレミヤ書 18:1-6 （新改訳）
5
それから、私に次のような主のことばがあった。
6 「イスラエルの家よ。この陶器師のように、わたし
があなたがたにすることができないだろうか。――
主の御告げ。――見よ。粘土が陶器師の手の中に
あるように、イスラエルの家よ、あなたがたも、わた
しの手の中にある。
Jeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the
LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I
will give you my message.” So I went down to the
potter’s house, and I saw him working at the
wheel. 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.
Then the word of the LORD came to me. 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.
In Jeremiah chapter 18, God had a lesson to teach the
prophet. The lesson was so important to God that he
had Jeremiah physically go to the potter’s house so that
he could observe the potter mold and create
something out of clay. In other words, God provided
Jeremiah with an excellent object lesson. I believe that
the most profound lesson in all of scripture and
practically the only lesson that we need to clearly
understand is right here in this particular passage.
First of all, God The Master Potter, has a purpose to
every lump of human clay. In Genesis 2:7 the Bible says
that God made man out of the dust of the earth.
Meaning that God created us out of dirt or clay.
Therefore you and are vessels of God. We are like that
“dust” of clay. A potter would never place a piece of
clay on the potter’s wheel unless he had a definite
purpose in mind. God never made something for
nothing. He did not make something for the purpose of
nothing. He had a definite purpose for your life. When
you were born into this world God had already chosen
the purpose for your life.
Did you decide where you were born? Did you wish
you were born into a certain family, or maybe a
millionaire? You did not choose where to begin your
life. Your life began by a Divine Appointment. You
were born into this world from God’s own heart. God
allowed you to be born with a purpose. Let me say it
again…..God allowed you to be born with a purpose in
his divine secret.
Now, when the potter places the clay on the potter’s
wheel, he has a specific design in mind. He doesn’t just
throw this piece of clay on the wheel and let the wheel
decide what form the clay should take. The potter
himself already has a specific design for the clay and
already knows what the end result will be. Therefore,
when he looks at the clay, he will not see clay, he will
not see mud, instead he will see is the finished result.
Corrie Ten Boom, internationally
known speaker and author, came to
the Bible camp in Japan in 1958. I
was a college student and worked as
bookstore manager at the camp. Her
book, “Not Good if Detached” with
her signature on sold out that day.
She wrote 18 books. Her most popular,
The Hiding Place, has sold more than 15
million throughout the world. Born in
Holland, she spent the first 50 years of her
life as a watchmaker in her father’s shop.
During World War II, the ten Boom family secretly helped
the persecuted Jews, until their own arrest and
imprisonment. But her prayer was “Lord, never let the
enemy put me in a German concentration camp.” God
answered “No” to that prayer, but in the German camp she
and her sister Betsy were among many prisoners who had
never heard of Jesus Christ. God has no mistakes – only
plans. Therefore, God does not always grant us what we
ask for in prayer. Sometimes He says, “No.” That is
because God knows what we do not know. God knows all.
Look at a piece of embroidery. The wrong side is chaos.
But look at the beautiful picture on the other side – the
right side.
My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,
I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily,
Often times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside,
Not till the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver’s hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the patterns He has planned.
We see now the wrong side; God sees His side all the
time. One day we shall see the embroidery from His
side, and thank Him for every answered and
unanswered prayer. Faith is like radar which sees
straight through the fog; the reality of things at a
distance that the human eye cannot see. In that way
we saw God’s side, and could thank Him for the
unanswered prayer. Since God sees His side of the
embroidery, He has no problems concerning our lives.
God has no mistakes – only plans.
One of the biggest mistakes that we make is that
we look around and say, “well, if I could be just
like him, or if I could be just like her, or if I had
the gifts and talents that so and so has I would
be a much better person. What are we doing?
We are trying to compare ourselves with others.
Please do not do that! Nowhere in scripture
does it say that God has made two vessels alike.
Not two fingerprints are alike.
I heard the news on Radio Japan telling us that one of
the criminals in Japan had minor surgery to erase his
fingerprints. Just so that they would not be able to find
him if he were to commit a crime. Today if you are
travelling internationally, your fingerprint will be
printed at the entrance of immigration office at the
airport to capture the terrorists. Just think, there are 5
billion people in the world and not two people have the
same finger print. This shows the infinite-creative
ability of God.
God created us and has designed each of us for a
specific purpose. What is that purpose? It is not My
purpose or Your purpose but His purpose. The issue is
not whether God is working in our lives or not, the
issue is “am I in agreement with what God is trying to
do in my life?” If I am in agreement, then it doesn’t
make any difference weather he uses me in a small way
or in a big way, with a few people or with a lot of
people. It shouldn’t make any difference where He
uses me.
• The issue is what God had in mind when he put this
clay on the wheel with Your name on it and began
turning it. He put his loving, divine hand on the clay,
He did not look at the clay, he looked at the finished
product, which was in his MIND. He designed each
one of us to fulfill His purpose in our lives.
Therefore, once I submit to His purpose and yield to His
will then I have no reason to compare myself with
someone else and say things like “I wish I was this” or “I
wish I were this”. NO! What matters is God and what
He wants to do with My life. And what ever that
purpose is we must be open to say to him, “Here am I.
Mold me, make me, and shape me anyway you desire.”
When I was a student of Japan Christian College in
Tokyo, I had absolutely no idea what the future had in
stored for me. Except for a lovely lady working as a
secretary in the Evangelism Department in the College.
I used to help her with her translation and typing, so
the day after I graduated, I helped myself. We were
then married.
After the honeymoon, I joined the staff of the Pacific
Broadcasting Association. A Christian recording studio
that produced gospel programs for local radio stations
throughout Japan. I ‘ve never dreamed of going to
South America to start the Japanese broadcasting from
Ecuador to reach numerous listeners around the world
through shortwave.
When radio station HCJB asked the question “Who
could we get to come to Ecuador from Japan?” “Not
me!” was my immediate response. I was a newly wed
and our first born son was only one year old. Not only
did I have my responsibilities with broadcasting but I
also was a pastor of a local church. I told the Lord that I
was NOT available. I gave Him all kinds of excuses and
reasons just because I did not want to go to South
America.
Then things started to happen. One day I was
preparing a message, the message that I was preparing
happened to be the story of Jonah who had run away
from the will of God. Then when I was flipping through
an English magazine, the title of the magazine read in
large print “Here Am I Oh Lord. Send My Brother is Your
Prayer?” Well, yes, that was my prayer. I had a best
friend and I decided that he would be the Perfect
candidate to go to Ecuador and did every possible thing
you can imagine to get him to go.
The Psalm 37 says, “The steps of a good man are
established by the Lord and He delights in His way.” I
was trying to take the steps of MY way to delight
MYSELF. I was not at peace within myself. I knew that
there was something wrong. I knew that I was not right
with God. As I look back on my life, I recognize now
that God was indeed preparing me to become a
missionary.
I joined the Self Defense Force for three years and was
trained physically. I was also assigned as a liaison
officer to use my English with the Foreign Military
Advisor Group. After I was saved, God gave me a
wonderful opportunity to study at the Bible College all
expenses paid. Physical training, Language training,
Bible training and radio training………all these elements
in the hand of the Master-Potter were put together for
God to create His own vessel.
None of my life was wasted. God used every second of
my life, every experience on my life to mold me into
what I am today. I finally said to the Lord, “Here Am I
Oh Lord, send NOT my brother but ME! I’m yours.”
God has a PURPOSE for your life. He has a WILL for
your life. God has a PLAN for your life and God LOVES
you personally. He wants the best for you and He
wants to work in your life to make you something
beautiful. He knows that you are capable of becoming.
Now, God, the Master Potter has absolute power over
the clay. He has a specific purpose and plan of molding,
and working daily through our entire life. However,
God does not get in a hurry. We live in a world of rush,
rush, rush, but spiritually maturity is not something you
can rush. It’s a life time process of learning.
When the potter works on his clay and it does not work
exactly like he want to, he will pull it off the wheel and
throw it back on again and then he begins to reshape,
remake and remold it. One important thing that a
potter does not do with his clay is that he NEVER throw
it away! God never discards the human clay. That’s the
Good News, Isn’t it? He will never throw you away. He
will never say, “you’re hopeless or you won’t work”.
We all have ONLY one life to offer. It is the most
precious, important thing. But we can not keep it in
the refrigerator or freezer. If you offer it to God, then
He delights to use it for His way. God asked Moses
“what do you have in your hands?”. A stick. He used it
to let the people of Israel going out of Egypt to get to
the promised land. God asked Samson “what do you
have in your hands?” Sampson had a jawbone of a
donkey and he used it to eliminate 1,000 enemies of
the Lord.
A Little Shepard boy David had a good fight against a
giant Goliath using a slingshot. A boy who had a snack
lunch with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish could fed
multitude. God takes simple human beings and makes
them His own. Then He employs their limited abilities
and through them accomplishes His great work. The
Lord often takes what you consider to be weak and
small and uses it for His glory. So stop trying but start
trusting Him recognizing that even though we are weak
and small God can work through us to accomplish His
purposes.
Therefore, when he places his hand in your life, you
must say “Yes, Father”. Even to the pressure in your life
you must answer by saying, “Yes, Father”. You may or
may not understand what He’s doing in your life but we
all do understand and know that God is a Loving Father
full of wisdom and power!
He will always make you become exactly what he hade
planned for you in your life. He will make you the
maximum of everything you could become in the hand
of God, the Master Potter who is ready to make you
something beautiful out of your life. All you need to
say to Him is…..
Have Thine own way, O Lord
Have Thine own Way,
Thou Art the Potter, I am the clay
Mold me and Make me after Thy Will
While I am waiting, yielded and still.