Who, Me?

Jeremiah is not a book that many pastors preach from on a regular basis. I did a couple of weeks ago, and I found some wonderful ideas for us today. Let me make a couple of observations from Jeremiah 1:4-10, the call of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah grew up, the son of a priest, and from a long line of priests. He lived in Anathoth, a town that was all priests and their families. So I imagine he grew up thinking (assuming!) that he would follow in the family footsteps by becoming a priest himself. Many people from all different time periods assume they will go into the family business, some because their parents have talked about it and some, well, just because. But one day, Jeremiah got a call from the LORD who said, “I have known you even before you were conceived and from that time on, I chose you and appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” Wow! What a change from the plan! Just like Zechariah when he told the people gathered around him, that his son’s name should be John, he went counter to what was expected, counter to family tradition: no one in his family was named John!

I might also think that Jeremiah was being prepared by his father and even preparing himself to be a priest throughout his life. Now here he was in his early 20s, possibly getting ready to begin his ministry and the LORD speaks to him and tells him about these new plans. What is Jeremiah’s reply? “I am too young and I am not a good speaker!” In other words, “I am not the right choice; I am not qualified!”

None of this is a hindrance to the LORD God! The LORD replies to Jeremiah,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” (Jer. 1:7–8 NRSV)

The Lord said, “It’s not a problem that you are only a boy and that you think you are not qualified. You just need to go where I send you and say what I tell you. And no need to be afraid because I will be with you and will rescue you when there is trouble.”

So two (of several) things I see in this passage are: first, sometimes God has a different direction for us than the one we have for ourselves; and second, all we have to do is respond to God’s call; he will tell us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to say. We don’t have to be qualified!

Jesus has chosen us: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 15:16; italics mine).

Paul says we don’t have to be qualified: “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5; italics mine).

We don’t have any excuses any more—and we have the love and power of God going with us when we follow him. Thanks be to God!

Longing and Calling

Recently, I read again in the gospel of Mark the story of Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). Bartimaeus is sitting in the street when he hears that Jesus will be coming along. So, he begins to call out to Jesus. When Jesus passes by, the people around Bartimaeus tell him to be quiet and not to call out to Jesus and bother him. But Bartimaeus doesn’t let that stop him. He keeps calling out all the more, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” I wonder how much I let myself be quieted by others and stop calling out to Jesus. It’s probably more that I shut myself up; self-censoring. I need to keep calling out to Jesus to (at the very least!) have mercy on me and my blindness. Bartimaeus was ready with a specific answer for Jesus when He asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said: “I want to see.” Do I have a specific answer when Jesus asks that of me? Do you?