I AM WITH YOU TO DELIVER YOU

A SERMON FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY, YEAR C

by Pastor Laura Gentry

Jeremiah 1:4-10

I don’t have enough experience.

I’m just not that talented.

I think I’m too young.

I’m scared to death of public speaking.

I really don’t have the confidence for this.

I would hate to be rejected.

Can’t you get somebody else for the job? Please!

This is just a glimpse of the litany of excuses the prophets of God have issued. Moses thought he was unable to speak and altogether unexperienced at leading Exoduses. Isaiah was overwhelmed with his own sense of sin. Even Jesus was rejected by his hometown folks. In today’s gospel we hear how he was nearly hurled off the cliff by them.

The prophet’s job has never been easy. No one ever applies for this position. Nevertheless, God has continued to pluck ordinary people out of their everyday lives and equip them for the tremendous task of being a prophet. They all fuss and complain and protest and try to winkle out of it. But God will have none of it. God is perfectly confident in the ability of these regular folks because God infuses them with divine power and wisdom.

That’s certainly the case for the prophet Jeremiah. We hear about his call to ministry in our first lesson for today. God says to him: “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.” A prophet to the nations. Yes, his prophesy will have not just local but global impact.

It seems his work is all cut out for him, but like others who have been called, Jeremiah asserts that he’s not qualified. His primary excuse is that he can’t speak because he’s too young. “I’m just a boy!” he whines.

Nope. That alibi isn’t going to fly with God. There is no need to fret about this or any other shortcomings Jeremiah may have. “For I am with you,” God assures him, “to deliver you.” His job will not be easy but each and every step of the way, God will be accompanying him—giving him the very words to speak. Then, God actually touches his lips to assure him that the words he will need to speak in his prophetical career will be provided for him. This is not just a pep talk encouraging Jeremiah that he can do it. It is, instead, a promise that God’s true presence will be with him at all times. And because of this, there is truly no need for Jeremiah to fear even though he will be running headlong into difficult circumstances.

He does have a bit of a hard time, by the way. Jeremiah has to speak out against Jerusalem for their worship of idols and false prophets and other violations of God’s covenant with the chosen people. He acurately predicts the fall of Jerusalem—which is not music to anybody’s ears. Inevitably, doing God’s work puts him at odds with just about everybody, including his own family and prevents him from marrying or starting a family of his own. Like Jesus, he finds out that it is hard to be accepted as a prophet in your own hometown. Jeremiah becomes known as the “weeping prophet” and gets mad at God frequently. He suffers so much that he wishes he’d never been born.

Despite it all, however, Jeremiah stands firm. He continues to boldly proclaim the words God gives to him (yes, God gives him the words as promised). And, indeed, he is not destroyed by those who oppose him. God’s promise to deliver him also remains good.

This is good news since God has promised each of us the same thing. We are pretty good at grumbling like our ancestors in the faith. We are all too quick to admit our inadequacies and claim that we’re not up for the job. Yet God won’t let us off the hook. I formed you, God says to you and me. I knew you. I set you apart. I appointed you.

What does that mean to you? As people of faith, we believe that God has called us and that there is a specific use for the gifts we possess. We are incredibly special. God does not want us to shrink from our responsibility. We are called to go forth in faith despite our doubts and anger. We each have the potential to make a huge difference and God has plans for us.

And just what is plan—that mission—God wants us to accomplish? I think contemporary author Parker Palmer, explains it quite well in this statement:

“The mission of the church is not to enlarge its membership, not to bring outsiders to accept its terms, but simply to love the world in every possible way—to love the world as God did and does.…If we are able to love the world, that will be the best demonstration of the truth which the church has been given.”

Yes, we are called to love and not just a little. We are to love with all that is within us. And why not? As we read in I Corinthians, without love we are just a clanging gong with no purpose at all. In the end, love is the most important thing we can do with our lives. My family is still in the process of deciding what to do with my mom’s things. As I sort through her possessions, I am more and more aware of how insignificant they are. They are just things. What is important is the love she gave us. That’s what counts. Life is short. How we live it matters a lot.

And so we are given a choice. Will we answer God’s call? Will we allow ourselves to be mouthpieces of the divine? Will we believe in God’s power so fiercely that it overcomes our fear of failure? Will we trust that God is always with us to deliver us? Will we be the hands of Jesus reaching out to love the world?

I invite you to answer these questions by singing the hymn of the day: “Here I am, Lord.”

© 2010 Laura E. Gentry