Thoughts going in, Sun Aug 22nd

4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young." 7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. 9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

As we begin our sermon series on the prophet Jeremiah and his times, it is appropriate that we begin with the passage generally known as his “call.”

Jeremiah lived during a very tumultuous period of his nation’s history. They were a small fish in a very big pond. The glory days that had been experienced under the great kings of yesteryear, like David & Solomon, were long passed. Making matters worse, there were TWO …possibly THREE “power-broker” nations all vying for power, all in their turn demanding “tribute” (extortion of money/resources). Merely deciding which of these to support could mean the difference between life and death.

It was the worst of times. No doubt Jeremiah would have liked to ride these times out with as little trouble and as much anonymity as possible. Since 9/11 and the new advent of terror threats around large metropolitan areas in our own land, perhaps you’ve at least fantasized of having a ‘work-at-home’ job …and then moving to Montana or Michigan’s upper peninsula, where the threats and troubles of the day are unlikely to materialize.

If something like that had been Jeremiah’s plan, it is obvious that God had other plans. God tells Jeremiah that even before he was born, God’s plan was in store for him. From this we should learn that not only was God’s plan set for Jeremiah, but more importantly, that God knew of the events that would be unfolding during that period of history—and that even though His own people had been faithless, God would go with them through these times and still be there with His plan of salvation on the other side of those times.

Another thing we learn from this passage is that God intends to put Jeremiah in harms way. When He says in vs 8: “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” the reader of the story already knows that Jeremiah will have PLENTY to be afraid of. Very often choosing to speak a counter-cultural message means risking the anger of one’s surroundings. God promised to preserve Jeremiah in suffering, not to prevent it from happening.
Often this is a reminder that we need to hear in the Christian Church. For far too long “evangelical” Christianity has been dominated by the evangelistic catch phrase: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” This is extremely misleading and open to great misinterpretation. God loved Jeremiah and had a wondrOUS plan for his life—but that plan was all part of God’s big thing; it wasn’t about how Jeremiah could have the inside track to health & happiness.

Even so, one thing we should recognize is that WHEN God’s plan for us includes hardship; includes speaking for him; includes being counter-cultural, passages such as this (and many others) teach us that God is always generous in giving us what we need to do his work. Verse 9 says that God has literally put HIS WORDS in Jeremiah’s mouth.

cheers,

TM