I. What Jeremiah and Judah hoped to hear
II. What the LORD commanded
Jeremiah 1:4-10 4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I
set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Ah,
Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to
everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be
afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 9
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to
me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you
over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and
overthrow, to build and to plant.”
In the name of Jesus Christ, whose work of salvation we know and enjoy because
his Word was faithfully proclaimed to us, dear Christian friends,
In the waiting room sat two employees, both called in to meet with the
president of the company. Neither one knew the purpose of the meeting, but both
figured it had to do with a promotion to the next level in the company. Both figured
their experience and their dedication put them in a good position to advance. They
spoke openly to one another about why they thought they were there and both were
eager to get the meeting started.
Each was called into the president’s office separately. Both received the same
news. Both were let go! The company was making cuts and their experience worked
against them because they were making too much money and had to be cut from the
payroll!
Maybe you have been in a similar situation. You had an expectation of what was
going to happen at an important meeting or event, but then it turned out to be the
opposite of what you had hoped to hear. How did you handle it? Was there anger,
anxiety, disappointment, despair? Were you able to finally accept it because you
realized that it was best for all, rather than just best for you?
THE LORD’S AGENDA UNCOVERED!
I. What Jeremiah and Judah hoped to hear
II. What the LORD commanded
2 From this reading from Jeremiah before us, and the other readings we heard
today, we see THE LORD’S AGENDA UNCOVERED! Here we see I. What Jeremiah and
Judah hoped to hear and II. What the LORD commanded. We will also see how the
LORD uncovers his agenda in our life and how we need to deal with it.
Jeremiah was a priest in the land of Judah. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had
already been overrun by the Assyrians, but the Southern Kingdom of Judah was
somewhat safe and stable, especially with Josiah as their king. He had carried out
nationwide reform in both church and state. By word and example, he led his people
back to the LORD.
The people of Judah had earlier and often heard the LORD’s decree that he was
“going to bring disaster on this place and its people” (2 Kgs 22:16), but now with
Josiah’s reform they were hoping to hear something different. Maybe God would relent
and not destroy them! But the LORD uncovered his agenda and said, “I will remove
Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I
chose, and this temple...” (2 Kgs 22:27).
As a priest in Judah, Jeremiah kept a regular routine of offering up prayers for
the people and sacrifices to the LORD. He was a man of ritual and knew what to expect
each day of his life. But that was all about to change as the LORD uncovered his agenda
for Jeremiah.
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the
nations.” Although we might think of them as carrying out the same tasks, a prophet
was different from a priest. The LORD’s Old Testament prophets were sent from one
place to another to proclaim the LORD’s message and uncover the LORD’s agenda.
Unfortunately for Jeremiah, the LORD’s agenda was not what he had hoped to
hear. As a prophet he would give up his daily routine, he would go to the people rather
than have the people come to him, he would soon be instructed to announce a message
of doom and gloom rather than peace and prosperity, he would later be told not to
marry and have children so he wouldn’t have to see them perish like the rest of the
nation (16:1,2), and he would eventually be persecuted (38) for being faithful to the
LORD’s agenda.
So, Jeremiah’s first reaction was to speak against the LORD’s agenda. “Ah,
Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” He was not
childish in age, but rather in preaching and teaching abilities, so he hoped the LORD
would accept that as an excuse not to serve.
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to
everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. The LORD’s agenda was
uncovered and it was not what Jeremiah hoped to hear, but it was what the LORD
commanded, so Jeremiah listened and obeyed.
I have to think the accompanying words helped Jeremiah accept the LORD’s
agenda. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the
Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me,
“Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and
kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
3 The LORD’s promises, power and protection help us to accept the LORD’s agenda
also. He assures us that he will never leave us (Mt 28:20), that he will protect us (2 Tm
4:18), that he will give us the proper words to say when called upon to witness to his
truth (Lk 21:15) and he gives us a message that not only uproot(s) and tear(s) down,
destroy(s) and overthrow(s), but also build(s) and plant(s).
The LORD’s agenda is what must be said and not what others want to hear, as
the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in today’s second reading, “for the time will come
when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears
want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”
(2 Tm 4:3-4).
The scientist Bill Nye, who is appearing at the Mendel Center next week, would
not want to hear from you that the world came into being by God’s creation and not by
evolution. Would you be willing to tell him?
The current President of the United States would not want to hear from you that
abortion is a sin because it is committing murder of the unborn. Would you be willing to
write him about this?
Celebrities Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi would not want to hear from you
that their gay marriage opposes God’s will who makes it clear that marriage is to be one
man and one woman. Would you be willing to tweet them this information?
When we confessed our sins together this morning and you were given a time of
silence for meditation and reflection, what came to mind as ways that you sinned and
did not carry out the LORD’s agenda? In what ways have you said only what people
want to hear and not what the LORD commands? In what ways have you followed your
own agenda and kicked the LORD’s agenda to the curb?
The prophet Jeremiah did not only talk about sin and the LORD’s punishment for
it. He also spoke clearly about the LORD’s mercy and compassion, as well as the new
covenant of forgiveness (31:31-34). He was able to assure the people of Judah that God
would restore them and they would be able to re-build and re-plant.
Just as you and I need to hear this message of the LORD’s mercy and compassion
and forgiveness for our many sins, so others do, too. Do not be shy about announcing
the work Jesus did on their behalf through his life, death and resurrection to soothe the
LORD’s anger over their sins and to win forgiveness for them. As we just sang:
We have a gospel to proclaim,
good news for all throughout the earth,
the gospel of a Savior’s name;
we sing his glory, tell his worth (CW93 741 st 1).
The LORD’s agenda might not be what we had hoped to hear, but it is exactly
what we need to hear...and so do others. May we, like Jeremiah, remain faithful to our
faithful LORD and his message in spite of our age, our abilities or our apprehension! As
we heard Paul teach Timothy, so the LORD wants us to “keep our head in all situations,
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of our
ministry” (2 Tm 4:5).