May 19, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.” (Isaiah 64.8)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

This is what Isaiah the prophet declared early on in speaking to the people of Israel: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9.6) In the same manner as David espoused “The LORD said unto my Lord,” (Psalm 110) we are able to gain a faith perspective on the “Father as Father and Son as Father.” We can take our lead on this from Paul’s teaching to the community of faith in Jesus as the Christ found in Ephesus (and from it to the other six churches of Asia Minor.) Paul carefully explains the relationship of a father as the head of the family because he is the “head” of the wife. Of course, we will not be so naive as to assume Paul is saying that the wife cannot think for herself. The title of “head” indicates the responsibility for final decision-making. Good decision-making is a collaborate effort (except in emergency situations where one has to be made in the moment.) In either case, the “head” decision-maker is also the primary accountability/ responsibility focal point. As President Harry S. Truman said, and had a sign with the notation on it on his desk, “The buck stops here.” We see how that was not a working understanding in the Garden of Eden and the consequences of it. Returning back to Paul’s teaching, which is included in the pericope of submission, the “head of the Church” is Jesus the Christ. Seeing the Church, as the body of Christ and the Bride of Christ, allows us to parallel the imagery to Christ as the “father” and the Church as the “mother.” So, it is right to hold on to the Isaiah prophetic titling of the Messiah as: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders the weight of the governance of the world rests. Jesus tells the disciples, “If you have a desire to see the Father, then you need only look as far as the Son of the Father; that is enough.” The full countenance and resonance of God who is the Father exists in and through the Son of God who then is a Father. That reflective identity is seen then as “the wife submits to her husband as the head of the family and as to Christ who is the head of the body of faith. The weight of such responsibility rests upon the shoulders of all fathers (whether they profess Jesus as the Christ, the Son the Living God, who serves as Lord and Savior of all people.) That should be a wake-up call to every man and man-child to take seriously the call to “walk by faith and not by sight.”

To further the duty and responsibility is added the image of potter and clay. We are called to form and shape the clay into useful pieces of work which serve the needs of others. This image comes alive in the prophetic work of a contemporary of Isaiah named Jeremiah. Some scholars believe that some of the work of Isaiah is actually attributable to Jeremiah; especially in what is called “Third Isaiah,” or Deutero-Isaiah. In Jeremiah 18, we hear God directing Jeremiah to the Potter’s House. It is an image of determination and reconciliation. The potter works the clay until it is truly formed. We can apply the biblical designation of “good” to the finished product as “it does what it was intended to do.” The clay is Israel, of course. It is every believer, by extension. Thus, it is the Church by new covenant application. There are many pieces that simply refused the touch of the master’s hand. They remain flawed and are cast aside. No amount of decoration or support can make it “good.” This would not be the image of God in the passage of Jeremiah. Rather, it would be those given the duty of “shaping and forming” the spiritual community; such as judges, prophets, kings, priests, generals and fathers. Their concern is for the “next generation.” I would remind us, as mighty ones of God, that we should not limit the understanding of “next generation” to be applied solely to youth and children. We must remember that we are all children of God. Our coming to faith and commitment to serve God brings us to a new beginning. In Christ, the believer, regardless of age, is like a babe in faith whose training starts with milk and proceeds to meat/substance. Are we willing to be shaped by the master’s hand? Are we willing to be pliable so that we can become true substance and reflect the goodness of God? Are we willing to take on the given role, by faith and by nature, to father the “next generation”? This is the challenge which Isaiah feels and presents. It starts with God and continues through those who are “His children” beginning with the Son of God who is none other than Jesus the Christ.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and be gracious to us in the name of Jesus.