HE SAID, GOD SAID
Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10
FOCUS: God often calls and equips the most unlikely of folks to the most unlikely of ministry.
They come dressed in all kinds of outrageous outfits and costumes. They have travelled from all over the country and even from foreign lands. Some dye their hair outlandish colors, others have garish hats, many raise signs bearing what they think to be clever sayings. They yell, they scream they wave their hands, they jump up and down, all in an effort to be noticed by the staff in hopes of being called down to meet with host Wayne Brady on stage. For decades it was with Monty Hall that folks sought to interact. Most of us have watched Let’s Make a Deal. Making its debut in 1963, it has been a fixture of daytime television since the days of black and white only broadcasting,
The show is a sort of microcosm of the excess which has marked American culture for the last several decades. It is all about risk and about getting something for nothing. It tempts contestants to give up the proverbial bird in the hand in hopes of finding a more elaborate bird behind one of the three doors. It offers opportunities to make decisions affecting others in hopes of gaining something at their expense. And it encourages bizarre behavior as a means of being noticed, in anticipation of possibly being chosen.
Turn back the years to the troubled times of early Israel. In our scripture we encounter Jeremiah. He is a young lad, we don’t know how young, some have suggested he was in his mid teens, others that he might have been in his early twenties at the time. In that day it was not unheard of for folks in their teens to be anointed kings or for leadership roles to be grated to young men in their twenties. So when Jeremiah protests that he is just a boy, chances are that he was really simply looking for an excuse to avoid his calling.
Jeremiah was the seventh century BC equivalent of the modern PK. He was a preacher’s kid, or more accurately a priest’s kid. He came from a prominent family and had a good and comfortable early life in the hill country above Jerusalem. Unlike all those folks in the studio for Let’s Make a Deal, Jeremiah was definitely not looking to be noticed when he had the encounter we have before us. In fact he would have preferred to be left alone.
That is so often the way it is when we have Godly encounters. And I think, at least for the most part, it is true that like all but a handful of those silly looking folks in the audience who go to great lengths in hopes of encountering the game show’s host only to be disappointed, we rarely come face to face with God in the moments we most desperately seek God’s presence. Life changing encounters with God don’t come because we scream out the loudest, or wear the most Christian of Tee shirts, or carry the largest Bible. That is not to say that God is absent when we seek God’s presence. To be sure, God is never absent. Yet our most meaningful encounters with God always come in God’s own time. And I suspect most of you would agree that God’s timing, while it may well be perfect, is rarely the same as ours. You might even say that it is often rather inconvenient and disruptive.
We are not told where Jeremiah was or what he was doing when God called him to the ministry of prophecy, a difficult and disturbing ministry which would earn him the title “weeping prophet”. His would be mostly a message of judgment and condemnation. One thing is clear however, Jeremiah was not looking to be tapped for the job. He had not sent out any resumes. He had not posted his name on the list for the job. He was not away on retreat seeking to encounter God. We are not told that he was praying fervently. The encounter was not one Jeremiah initiated. God spoke first. I like the matter of fact way Jeremiah reports it, “Now the word of the Lord came to me.”
Words. In our text messaging world marked by OMG, LOL and BTW messages sent via cell phone, language seems to be morphing into its lowest common denominator. Words have become less and less valuable over the years. Such was hardly the case at the time of Jeremiah. In Old Testament days words had a life of their own and were thought to have innate power. That is why the Hebrew word for God, which we pronounce Yahweh, was written with no vowels. It was thought that simply speaking a name somehow gave power over the one whose name was called out. So to insure that no one inadvertently read scripture and pronounced God’s name, it was always written in its unpronounceable form.
When Jeremiah writes that “the word of the Lord came” he is speaking of more than a combination of letters. He is speaking of an encounter which unmistakably encompassed the very essence of God’s presence. Jeremiah knew he had heard God speaking from God’s heart. The first words God spoke are perhaps the most familiar from Jeremiah’s writing. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you.” What an amazing proclamation, what an awesome affirmation. It is no wonder that verse five is one of the more beloved scriptures in all of the Old Testament. It is a bold reminder of one of the wonderful mysteries which define our faith and which separate it from all others. Ours is a very personal God. Not only is God creator and redeemer, God is also friend and guide. No matter how small we may feel, no matter how overwhelmed we may become, no matter how insignificant we may think we are, Jeremiah reminds us that God knows us intimately, created us lovingly, and had plans for us even before we were conceived. Wow!
God spoke to Jeremiah and affirmed in him the notion that he had been consecrated from before he was even born. I believe without a doubt that every single one of us was consecrated before we were born as well. Consecrated. It means set apart for something in particular, for something special. You have been consecrated by God, created with a purpose in mind. In The Message paraphrase God says to Jeremiah, “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.” Plans indeed. God had big plans for Jeremiah. God intended that he would become a prophet to the nations, the one who would speak God’s truth to a reluctant nation.
Oh, but I don’t really have any significant talents like the great saints of old you say. Well join the crowd. The truth is that we don’t really need all that many prophets. But there is plenty of work to be done for the good of God’s kingdom. Some of it may be a flashy, some may encompass high visibility, but the vast majority will not be. Like any venture, the work of God’s kingdom relies on the quiet, dedicated effort of scores of regular, real Godly folk, like you. That makes the work no less important, no less significance. And it makes the gifts which equip folk to do such work no less significant.
My Alabama football phone app tells me that there are just twelve days until kickoff. I can’t wait, football season! There are a few names which everyone will know when the defending national champions, I had to throw that in, take the field. But there will be scores more none of us will know, at least not yet. Still the team needs all the talent. Some out there will rarely if ever see the field on game day. Yet they will spend countless hours on the practice field, perhaps serving as the scout team, learning the plays used by each weeks opponents so that the first team might practice against the type of game plan they anticipate encountering the coming weekend. Others will be on the sideline as backups should any of the regular players be injured. A few players will be in games only for kickoffs and punt returns. Then there will be all the support folks, the guys and gals who carry the water, bandage the ankles, untangle the cords to the coaches headsets. There are the coaches, some of whom ensure that the players spend time in the weight room during the off season when they most likely would prefer being at the beach or sleeping in, while others work tirelessly to hone specific skills at a particular position. Don’t forget the fans. If the stands were empty the programs would go away. When your favorite team takes the field in a few days, the event could not be pulled off without the combined effort of hundreds of folks, all with special talents, all committed to a common goal, all important to the ultimate success of the handful of guys out on the field.
God has, and has had since before you were born, plans for you. It was to the work of a prophet that Jeremiah was called. It was work for which Jeremiah was equipped, work specific to the way God made him, work intended for the particular situation in which God had placed him. So it is with each of us. God calls us to become who God made us to be and God calls us on behalf of those God would have us impact.
Our callings are individual. Jeremiah was called to a high visibility position. He was one of those names on the team everyone knows. But there have been many others whose names we will never know who were and who are no less a part of God’s game plan. God speaks to each of us, one on one. I can’t tell you what God is going to say to you. I have some suspicions, for I know the talents many of you have and I am aware of the ways you have already been about the work of the kingdom of God. But each of us must hear the voice ourselves. We are not supposed to read Jeremiah’s calling and do what he was supposed to do. We are supposed to read it, be challenged to listen for God’s voice, and then when the voice comes we are to hear clearly and to do what we are supposed to do.
Jeremiah heard clearly, but he was afraid. Who among us would not have been given the situation? Jeremiah was a young man, and he was not a skilled speaker. He was being called to tell a people what they didn’t want to hear. He was called to put his life on the line. It was a frightening assignment. But there were words of assurance for Jeremiah, words God will surely speak to us. “Don’t say ‘I am only a boy’, I will tell you where to go and I will tell you what to say. Don’t be afraid of a soul. I’ll be right there looking after you.” We will not be left alone, ever.
Alastair Symington has written, “God is not looking for the best qualification, best ability, best charisma, best prospects type of people – not that God would turn down those sorts automatically, because it’s also true that some of the most gifted people in our society have also been some of God’s best servants. But that is a coincidence and not a requirement. I think that is because God knows that the vast majority of men and women fall into the ‘I am only’ category. But “only” is enough with God’s help, and it would amaze you what “God can make of them.”
It is interesting to note that Symington is chaplain to the Queen of England. Here is one who has access to one who is the very picture of power and influence, one whose lifestyle is among the most elegant in the world. Yet the good chaplain understands that in the eyes of God what matters is not the size of the dwelling, not the wealth or the perceived importance of its occupants. What matters is the availability of the individual and the willingness or lack thereof for each person to allow God to work in their lives.
Moses tells God “I can’t stand up to Pharaoh. I’m only a shepherd. I can’t even talk good.” Gideon tells God, “I am the least in my family, there is no way I can deliver Israel from Midian.” Saul tells David, “You can’t go out there and take on Goliath, you are just a boy.” Later when given the opportunity to become the king’s son-in-law David demurs, “I am a poor man and of no repute.” When facing the challenges of being king, Solomon got cold feet and cried out, “I am only a little child.” When the angel came to Mary she asked “How can this be?” When called by God, Jeremiah protests, “I am only a boy.”
Make no mistake about it, when the word of God comes to us it is most often more than a bit disruptive. It challenges our comfortable lifestyles. It calls us to move out of our comfort zones. It refuses to allow us to hide behind those “ I am only” excuses. For with God’s help, only is enough.
Soon we will begin those annual fall rituals which are so much a part of every church. We will have a stewardship campaign. We will prepare a budget. We will begin to plan for the year 2011. We will elect leaders. One of the things we will all be doing as well is completing our First Opportunity forms. There is at least one thing there everyone here can do. It may be to pray at home, or to cut the grass, or to keep the nursery, or to sing in the choir. You may be tempted to say “I can only”. Go ahead, for offered to God and put fully into motion for the good of God’s kingdom “only” is enough.
Like Jeremiah, like Moses, like the disciples, like Mary, we may well be a bit afraid when we think about being consecrated by God, set apart for a task. We may well be more like the kid in class who hasn’t read the assignment and seeks to hide somewhere near the back of the room behind a rather large classmate, trying to be invisible than like the crazy folks hoping to be noticed by Wayne Brady. But hold on to verse eight, trust in God’s presence and your fear can be defeated as you remember that God is with you, has been since before you are born, and will empower you for that for which you were created. For your sake and for the sake of the kingdom of God, let it be so. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
