January 31, 2010

Prophetic Witness is Costly

Scripture Psalm 71:1-6 and Jeremiah 1:4-19

Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ January 31, 2010

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 71: 1-6

We have all faced times of trouble. Over a long life, believers develop a confidence in God’s saving activity. The psalmist puts into words our hope and trust that God will carry us through such times.

1In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
3Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

Jeremiah 1: 4-19
You can hear a bit of the word of the psalmist in Jeremiah’s encounter with God’s call to serve as a prophet. God "touches" Jeremiah's mouth. Perhaps it sounds intimate, but we should not imagine that it was a gentle or a comforting touch. The same verb, ng', can also mean "strike." We might do better to imagine a shock. We would be justified in asking whether it hurt, or left a mark. Having God's words placed in his mouth changed Jeremiah forever. What happens when we let God speak through us?

4Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” 7But the Lord said to me, “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, 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” 9Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

11The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” 12Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” 13The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.” 14Then the Lord said to me: Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. 16And I will utter my judgments against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them. 18And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. 19They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.

SERMON

God's prophets speak to and for the nations because God is God of all creation and all people and because no nation lives in isolation. The economic practices and well-being, wars and peace of one nation spill over into other nations bringing prosperity or poverty, destruction or formation, bondage or freedom. No prophet can ignore these relationships. No prophet speaks into a world so narrow that he/she does not also speak to and for the nations.

The international political dimension of Jeremiah's charge is a sign of the scope of what God is asking him to do. God's words in Jeremiah's mouth are powerful, dangerous, and life-giving. They destroy what must be destroyed, dealing death to death. They plant the seeds and build up the structures of life.

Jeremiah was called by the Lord to serve as a prophet to the nations, to declare God's word to Israel and its enemies, a word of judgment that could be a blessing. Like the people of Nineveh, the people of Judah could of turned from their evil ways and repented. There was no promise that this task would be easy, especially for a young and untrained communicator like Jeremiah, but since God's power operates in weakness, he could rely on divine aid. The question for us is, does Jeremiah's experience give us an insight into how the divine call might work for us today? Like Jeremiah, we are personally known to the Lord, set apart and appointed to communicate the gospel to the ends of the earth. We must carry a good-news message to seekers which becomes bad-news to those who turn away form Jesus. All believers are called to this end and we fulfill it in a myriad of ways: personal witness when asked to give an account of our faith; praying and giving to mission work; teaching the Bible; and supporting the ministry of Unity. We are all called to gospel proclamation and we can be sure that the Lord will support us as we seek to make his Word known.

In seminary we used to talk about prophetic ministry and priestly ministry, as if they were different calls. But the prophet who does not suffer with the people is no priest either. The priest who never challenges hurtful behavior and choices is no prophet and neither serves the will of God. Jeremiah was both and it cost him dearly to see his people suffer as they continually made bad choices that led away from God’s will for them. Out of his mouth poured God’s judgment and it was harsh. Like a doctor prescribing a strict regiment of changed behavior, the purpose of God’s judgment is to give life and to kill what is destroying our lives.

As believers we are called by God to share the good news of Jesus the Christ. Some will receive our message with joy like those who quench their thirst with cool water. Some will run from the burning it brings to their hearts and minds. The choice is theirs, our role is to love them in whatever choice they make and continually offer the gift of life. It cost Jeremiah everything to serve his Lord: he was forbidden to marry and so had no children (because any children born at that time would more than likely be killed by the invading armies); he was persecuted by the political and religious leaders, placed under house arrest and exiled to Egypt. Isaiah wrote about a servant of God, in which we, as Christians, hear the suffering of our Lord Jesus, but Jeremiah also “was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3) His call to serve was very costly. He wrote songs of lament and poured out his grief, but he is also a “Prophet of Hope.” Because in the midst of the political disaster and immense human and personal suffering, he still speaks words of assurance.

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD.  But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:
I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

In Jeremiah’s message we can hear our own call to love, to have hope, to give joy, to keep the faith and to be an instruments that give life and that life in abundance. Such as call is costly for us as well. We give of our time, our treasure, our comfort, and our abilities and talents. When we would rather stay under the covers and wait for the crisis to pass, God calls us out into the world to be the living WORD, speaking truth in our work for justice and mercy. Our call is to empty ourselves, but then we are filled with the Word of Life. Amen.