One of the images that Jeremiah used for the faith community was that of the potter and the clay. (Jeremiah 18:1-11) While Jeremiah used it in reference to the destruction of the nation, there was also in the image a suggestion of hope. There was nothing, including the destruction of the very people that God had called to be a light to the nations, which God could not remold into a new possibility of hope.
This same truth was revealed at the crucifixion of Christ. The act of crucifixion was a reflection of the worst that the world could do in rebellion against God. Yet God took the clay of that experience and remolded it into the way of salvation for the world. The God of redemption is not defeated by even the worst of sins and is capable of working redemptively through them.
There are many things that happen in the life of the church which could not be pleasing to God. Yet there is nothing that happens in the Body of Christ that God cannot remold into a saving possibility. While a member may well protest the decision of a church or the behavior of its members as that which is not faithful, that same member needs also to listen for how Christ can address him or her in that very experience.
The Body of Christ is the locus of God’s continuing revelation of God’s Word and that revelation is not defeated by those times of disobedience anymore than it was defeated in times of disobedience of the disciples.
The gift of Christian community which God offers those whom God has called is an invitation to both be in communion with each other and with God. In the history of Israel, God’s revelation often came in powerful ways precisely in times of distress. When members of the Body of Christ can trust that God can take the clay of all of their experiences and mold them into saving possibilities, then they have the capacity to face their own sinfulness honestly and also to celebrate what God continues to do in their midst.
In the next few posts, I will try to give you a fictional account of how this might work out in a local church.
