Prophets -
not profits as in financial gain - the difference
between the amount earned and the amount spent in
buying operating or producing something.
But prophets as in the chosen messengers of
God empowered by the spirit, equipped to
declare the word of the Lord to the people of God. If your
mind goes to prophets perhaps you might think of Amos.
Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness
like an ever flowing stream.
or Micah
What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and love
kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
Oh, perhaps you think of Elijah. The Lord was not in the earthquake nor
in the fire, but in the
sound of sheer silence.
Or maybe it's Isaiah who comes to your recollection. I heard
the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send and who will
go for us?" And I said - "Here I am, send me".
Well, I'm not surprised if one of those famous prophets was the
person you immediately thought of. We've heard from some of them
in the Old Testament readings in previous weeks.
So they may be fresh in your mind.
But in today's reading we hear about the call that God placed
on another person - a somewhat reluctant
prophet.
Jeremiah.
Now Jeremiah was not itching to respond to God when he received
the call to become a prophet. He was not very old. Some commentators
considered him to be in his early 20s.
Others note that the distinctive Hebrew word used
in this passage indicates he was actually in his
teens.
So we might have some sympathy for Jeremiah on this
account. He was young. He was hardly at an age
that we would recognize as qualified and equipped
to be a public spokesperson for God.
Anyway, when Jeremiah heard God declare
to him "I appointed you a prophet to the Nations".
The NRSV translation says that the young man replied. Ah
Lord, God truly. I do
not know how to speak for I am only a boy.
Actually when they say he replied - ah
He was using a Hebrew word that actually means alas or
woe is me. In fact
Strong's Concordance says this is a primitive word
expressing pain.
Perhaps it's more likely to be translated as
ouch.
Maybe we should think of Jeremiah's responses more like
oh no, no. No, I couldn't possibly
do that. No way at all.
Jeremiah just did not want this gig at all.
Maybe you might know how he feels when we're asked
to do something difficult, something demanding, something challenging,
something that's way beyond
what we feel that we're able to achieve.
I don't know for you but that might be the challenge of running a marathon.
Or being invited to speak in public to a very large crowd.
Or learning a new language, big challenges, lots
of hard work.
Too much really to consider.
For me, I can think of a few challenges that really freak me
out - climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge would be one. I
don't handle heights very well at all.
Letting a snake coil around me - that's quite a petrifying thought
to me and touching a spider - well,
we're just not going to go there any way. I'll probably
have nightmares about that tonight.
Jeremiah was incredibly reticent. Like
Moses, he was not going to take up his
invitation in any way. Moses - You may recall
declined the offer of becoming the spokesperson for God. Who
am I to go to Pharaoh? What could I say to
him?
But God persisted and Moses relented.
And so it is too with Jeremiah. Initially he
says I don't know how to speak. I'm only a boy.
But God persists. He will support the young
man Jeremiah just as he supported the young man
Moses.
But I think that perhaps we have this story from
the opening chapter of this book in our reading today not because
it shows us that God will help us
overcome our fears about challenges set before us.
I think it's actually not Jeremiah's words that we should
focus on, rather, it's the words that
God speaks to Jeremiah which should ring in our ears.
It is the encouragement for the task that
God promises and later delivers.
That must surely stand out for us. Do not
say "I am only a boy" a voice declares.
For you shall go to all to whom I send
you and you shall speak whatever I command you.
God gives the right words for the appropriate time.
That's actually remembered in the New Testament when Jesus tells
his disciples that the
spirit would enable them to speak even in the midst of
difficulties.
And then we hear the words "do not be afraid of them for I
am with you to deliver you" says the Lord.
In typical style, the first word of God to the
human being chosen for a specific task is
Do not be afraid.
When God appears to human beings, however, God appears
in a vision as an angel, a voice
from the heavens, a response to prayer;
a niggling, unsettling feeling; words of
advice or guidance from a friend. However, it
is that God might appear to us, it can be
an experience for us that will
evoke fear,
or
anxiety.
Who is this speaking to me? How am
I to respond?
"Do not be afraid" says the Lord to Abraham in the vision.
"Do not be afraid" He said to Isaac at
Beersheba, but do not be afraid to Moses in the wilderness and
to Joshua facing the combined might
of a great Army; to Elijah also facing a great Army; do
not be afraid Isaiah says on
behalf of the Lord to King Hezekiah.
Do not be afraid the voice of God says to the prophet
Ezekiel when he was called to his role and also to
Zechariah. It's a common refrain throughout the
stories of the people of Israel. And indeed we
hear the same phrase repeated in New Testament stories - when
God speaks to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist -
do not be afraid.
When the angel speaks to Mary, Mother of Jesus.
Do not be afraid; to Joseph, to Simon Peter,
to Paul and Silas and Timothy in Corinth.
To the aging prophet, John in exile on
Patmos. Do not be afraid.
This is God's consistent and encouraging word,
to those who encounter the intensity of divine presence,
the enormity of divine challenge,
the inescapable call to follow, believe and
declare the word of the Lord.
Do not be afraid is God's word
to each of us.
So the word of God to Jeremiah is clear. I
appointed you a prophet to the Nations. Jeremiah
Is ultimately willing to respond. He accepts the challenge,
takes up the call. He's willing to stretch himself
and step into a new experience.
And we know that what Jeremiah would encounter in the
decades that follows
was pretty heavy stuff. He didn't know at the
time that he accepted the call to be God's spokesperson.
He persisted, he held strong, he remained faithful
throughout all the difficulties that ensued for
the people of Israel. They were attacked. They were besieged.
They were defeated. They were taken
off into exile away from their homeland off into
a strange foreign country.
Through all of this Jeremiah held fast. He remained
faithful to the call that
God had placed upon him. Through all of this
God held fast to him.
Jeremiah received the support and guidance and
encouragement from God through all of this as the
people of God were taken from their beloved land and
sent far away into exile.
God remained faithful
and so we give thanks to God.
For that's the God we know. God who holds fast. God
who remains faithful. God who does not let go
no matter what.
It's that gracious faithful commitment,
which is at the heart of the Good News
that we know,
that we proclaim, that we live in our lives,
the ever faithful God who IS with us,
the ever-present God who IS for us,
and for this we say thanks be to
God.