Are You Smitten?
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series V, Cycle C
Object:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me: 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. (vv. 1-6)
In the spring of 2004, my wife, Hadley, and I prepared to move to a new community and a new church. We started going through all of our excess stuff -- deciding what to throw out, what to sell, what to give away, and what to keep. One item was a 27-inch television that needed to be repaired. It had been in our garage for a year or more. We decided we would have it fixed and keep it.
We called the first listing in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, phone book -- A-1 TV Repair. They said they'd take a look at it so we loaded it up and made the 45-mile journey to Fort Smith. I helped the repairman unload the television and then he struck up a conversation -- asking me what I did for a living.
I'm sometimes reluctant to let people know that I'm a minister because some folks get uneasy, but when I shared my profession, this guy embraced it and the conversation took a faith-based bent. Finally he turned to Hadley and said, "Are you smitten?"
It seemed like an abrupt change of conversation and a little personal, but I knew Hadley was smitten with me. We loved each other dearly. Surely she would respond to this stranger by pledging her undying love to me.
Instead, she had this confused look on her face. The television repairman repeated and clarified his question, "Are you smitten -- following your husband's authority?"
I now understood. The man wasn't saying "smitten." In a slurred, Jeff Foxworthy, southern drawl, he was saying "submitting." From his theological viewpoint, wives were to submit to their husbands. I looked at Hadley and thought, "We should both be submittin! Uontto?"
Now, I'm not arguing for a husband's authority over his wife. I believe in equality in God's kingdom -- even if I didn't challenge the television repairman. After all, I just wanted my television fixed, not a theological debate. But I do believe in submitting to God. Do we offer ourselves as clay in the potter's hands?
This is what God urges us to do through Jeremiah. God led Jeremiah to a potter's shop. There, Jeremiah understood God as a master potter molding the people of Israel into beautiful pottery. When we submit ourselves to the master potter, God's artistic hands shape us and form us.
In an ironic twist, the television repair guy was right. If we are smitten with God, we will submit to God's will, and be re-created into something beautiful.
In the spring of 2004, my wife, Hadley, and I prepared to move to a new community and a new church. We started going through all of our excess stuff -- deciding what to throw out, what to sell, what to give away, and what to keep. One item was a 27-inch television that needed to be repaired. It had been in our garage for a year or more. We decided we would have it fixed and keep it.
We called the first listing in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, phone book -- A-1 TV Repair. They said they'd take a look at it so we loaded it up and made the 45-mile journey to Fort Smith. I helped the repairman unload the television and then he struck up a conversation -- asking me what I did for a living.
I'm sometimes reluctant to let people know that I'm a minister because some folks get uneasy, but when I shared my profession, this guy embraced it and the conversation took a faith-based bent. Finally he turned to Hadley and said, "Are you smitten?"
It seemed like an abrupt change of conversation and a little personal, but I knew Hadley was smitten with me. We loved each other dearly. Surely she would respond to this stranger by pledging her undying love to me.
Instead, she had this confused look on her face. The television repairman repeated and clarified his question, "Are you smitten -- following your husband's authority?"
I now understood. The man wasn't saying "smitten." In a slurred, Jeff Foxworthy, southern drawl, he was saying "submitting." From his theological viewpoint, wives were to submit to their husbands. I looked at Hadley and thought, "We should both be submittin! Uontto?"
Now, I'm not arguing for a husband's authority over his wife. I believe in equality in God's kingdom -- even if I didn't challenge the television repairman. After all, I just wanted my television fixed, not a theological debate. But I do believe in submitting to God. Do we offer ourselves as clay in the potter's hands?
This is what God urges us to do through Jeremiah. God led Jeremiah to a potter's shop. There, Jeremiah understood God as a master potter molding the people of Israel into beautiful pottery. When we submit ourselves to the master potter, God's artistic hands shape us and form us.
In an ironic twist, the television repair guy was right. If we are smitten with God, we will submit to God's will, and be re-created into something beautiful.
