Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 31, 2010
Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10
In both our First Reading and our Gospel text the people of God are afraid and unwilling to allow the Word of God to come into their lives. Whether or not they know that God’s word is both judgment and restoration is unclear. But they push back when God’s word comes from the mouths of the prophet Jeremiah and from God’s own Son, Jesus.
The result for the people of Judah in Jeremiah’s time was that by 587 B.C.E., their enemy nation of Babylon conquered Jerusalem. The palace was burned and the Temple went up in flames. The end of their nation had come. The people found themselves in exile in their enemies’ territory. God’s word is one that destroys and overthrows. It convicts us of our deceptive thinking.
The people of Judah thought that they had God in their back pocket. Their assumptions were shattered – “Just worship at the Temple and God will protect us. We worship, therefore our lives will be secure. Having God just an hour on a Sunday will suffice for the rest of the week.” They deceived themselves, but God was not deceived. God sent His word through Jeremiah and it brought destruction.
Six hundred years later, God’s people in Nazareth also pushed back when God’s word was spoken to them. They also thought they had God in their back pocket. One of their own, Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary, had come home and was invited to preach in the synagogue. At first, “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” They heard Jesus confirming their assumption that God was on their side. However, Jesus went on to preach that those outside their circle of acceptance also came under the Word of God – both its judgment and restoration. Jesus was including the outsiders whom the insiders did not want included. Now the people get nasty. When all those in the synagogue heard what Jesus said, they were filled with rage. They rose up against Jesus, dragged him out of town to throw him over the cliff. Thank God he was Jesus, for he escaped.
These texts help us to reflect on how we have deceived ourselves into thinking we have God in our back pockets. Are we secure simply because we always have been here as a congregation? Do we have an in with God simply by attending a place of worship and then doing whatever else we want the rest of the time?
Faith in God has become a religious product among many in our consumer culture, like a buffet at a restaurant. God becomes one “activity” among many. Sunday morning is God, but by the afternoon it could be just about anything. Monday is work; Tuesday is service club night; Saturday is sports. Never mind that God wants to be part of our every activity – shaping how we behave at work, at home, at play and how we carry out the ministry within the life of our congregation.
We have bought into many deceptions about our relationship with God. Have we placed our security in God? Or have we domesticated God for our own uses?
Whether we are the people of Jeremiah’s time, or the people of Jesus’ time, or we who live in this time, we are all in need of the word of God – its words of judgment and promises of restoration. Our God is the God who wants His word to judge and convict us so that He will in turn forgive and renew us. The call of Jeremiah to be a prophet is a call to us to welcome the word of God in our lives. But it will be a word against which we will push back.
Jeremiah pushed back when God called him to proclaim God’s word. Jeremiah pleaded that he was unable to face up to the task. He clung to the fact that he was just a boy, too young for such a responsibility. But God’s response was a promise, “Go to all I send you; speak whatever I command you. I have put my words in your mouth.”
Jeremiah also pleaded that he was afraid. Afraid exactly of what is unclear. But consider how afraid we are when the Word of the Lord convicts us. Again, God responds with a promise, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you to deliver you.”
This text from Jeremiah made me think of the “holy conversation” and consultation process we are now involved in. The Word of God will be speaking to us throughout this process. It will be the powerful word of God’s judgment, plucking up and pulling down; destroying and overthrowing. Already we are anxious and afraid of how the Word of God will judge and convict us and our life as a congregation. Through this process, God will not be in our back pocket. Instead, He will be standing directly in front of us, leading the way to where He wants us to go. The Word of God about us will be full of judgment. His Word will rid from our congregation that which is old, ineffective and outdated. God’s Word will pluck up and pull down in us that which is no longer His will for us to do. His Word will destroy the deceptions we cling to and overthrow the false teachings we hold. Later in his prophecy Jeremiah speaks of God’s word as being a cleansing fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces.” Some of our stubbornness, our resistance to change and our lack of trust will probably require a large hammer. So be it. It is the Word of God, and we need not be afraid.
The Word of God does pull down and destroy, but it is all done for a purpose – that God can build and plant against for His people to have new life. God will not leave us in the ashes of our death, in the crumbled lives of our sinning, or in the shattered hopes of our dreams. God’s Word is intentional and purposeful. It is proclaimed that God’s will is done – in our individual lives as well as in our life as we know it in this congregation.
That God has sent His word to us in Jesus is a blessing. He has come to our congregation here in Carlisle to rebuild us and to plant new life in us. He comes with the power to heal us, to energize us, to transform us, to make us new and vibrant again. We need not be afraid of this powerful word of God – in pulling us down it will build us up; in destroying us it will make us new again; in convicting us it will forgive us. Like Jeremiah, God has appointed us to this task of allowing the word of God to convict and restore us. Let us not say we are unable or be afraid. The Lord has put out His hand to touch us. We are in His hands.