God is Calling

Introduction

This morning starts the beginning of our new series on the book of Jeremiah.

Part of my professional development as your pastor, I am given the opportunity to audit a seminary class. It was back in November that I sat in on the class on the book of Jeremiah. It was wonderful to spend an entire week looking over the book and gleaning various passages that can be preached.

If any of you have read the book of Jeremiah, it is fulled with a lot of information and you most likely would come out with more questions than you had going in.

In fact, what I have learned as I began to study this book that there is no easy way to approach this book.

I have entitled our series called:

Jeremiah: God's Response in a Tumultuous Time

You may be thinking to yourself, why tumultuous?

To be honest, its a hard word to pronounce. Its not an average word we use on a daily, weekly, monthly or ever at all to describe the situation we are in at any given time

So why this word?

If you look up the word, you will find the following

making a loud, confused noise; uproarious. "tumultuous applause" Similar: loud, deafening, thunderous, ear-shattering, ear-splitting, ear-piercing, uproarious, noisy, clamorous, Opposite: soft, excited, confused, or disorderly. "a tumultuous crowd" Similar: stormy, turbulent, in turmoil, passionate, intense, explosive, violent, volatile, full of upheavals, full of ups and downs, roller-coaster, exciting, hectic, chaotic, confused,

disorderly, unruly, rowdy, uncontrolled and the list goes on and on.

all these words are a description of what we can find as we will look into the book of Jeremiah.

Now if you read the weekly email, read through the book of Jeremiah in preparation for this series, I am impressed.

There are 52 Chapters in this book.

Now I will put your mind at ease, Although one could take a chapter each week and preach for an entire year, I will not be doing this.

I won’t be doing this not because I don’t think it is needed, but that we would be so lost by the end that we might miss the main focus of this book.

The life of the People of God and how God speaks

This was not a good time for the people of God and yet God did not abandon them or forsake them.

We will be looking at few passages or books as we go through this series.

I am trusting that this series will give you an appetite to explore the book further and drive you deeper in your relationship and understanding of God’s response in your life.

All that to say, How will we approach this book without spending an entire year or more going over this book.

What I learned in the course is that there are three ways in which one can approach the book of Jeremiah.

There is a Historical, literary, and theological approaches as we study this book.

Let me explain:

Historically

Historical looks at data that can be found out about the story in the book of Jeremiah.

It involves the following:

o Incorporating the timelines

o Context of the story

o Extra biblical evidence

o Language context- Classical Hebrew

o Is there difference in the language time periods

o How is it used in the history of the people

Literary

In the literary approach we look at the words and the format in which the story is written.

From that we can come up with the following thoughts.

o Profound

o God’s inspired artistic thoughts.

o Plot and structure

o Shades of dialogue What they say and don’t say

o Character is acting

o Ambiguities about the characters

o Poetic form

o Hebrew poetry.

o Parallelism rhymes ideas, images, pictures

o Metaphors

o Intertextuality- allusions to other texts

Theological approaches

The final approach is to look at the theology of the book. What can we learn about God.

Such themes in this approach are:

o What are we expecting them to know about their faith?

o “Is Ahab aware of what the Torah says?”

o The portrait of God

o Complicated

o Changes

o Uncomfortable or disturbing

o Asking hard questions

o Conversation with other texts or ideas

o Job- question asked “consider Job he fears God.. Does Job fear God disinteresting?”

§ He only loves you because of what he gives you

§ Probing work of “is God fair” Theodicy

o Key words

o Covenant

o Words

§ How many hallelujah – ps 104

· 1st Creation psalm

For in these next few months throughout the summer we are going to look the book of Jeremiah incorporating all these three different types of lenses.

It may not be systematic or necessarily in order, but once again my hope is that as we look through this portion of scripture we will find more about God. How God worked in the lives of the people and from that How God does and will work in our lives.

I hope that give you a taste of what to expect as we dive into this book.

Today, I will draw your attention to the first part of the book of Jeremiah to get a picture of what the why in the prophet’s life.

I’ve called this sermon

God’s Calling

I want you to turn in your bibles to Jeremiah chapter 1. It would be good to have your Bible open as we will spend most of our time here in this passage.

Before we dive into God’s word to hear what He has spoken let’s come to Him in Prayer.

Prayer

Turn with me to Jeremiah Chapter 1 and we will begin in verse 4

Jeremiah 1:4–5 ESV

4 Now 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.”

The Call

When we begin to look at this passage we can be reminded that throughout scripture there are various people and passages that God calls them for a life of service.

If you have ever been or heard of Pastor’s and missionary conferences, the speaker will at one point or another take the listeners to this passage and with the words from scripture remind them of God’s Call on their lives.

It is in so many passages, that I believe they are there for a specific purpose, not just for the prophet but for us, every one of us who are called disciples of Christ.

As we work through this passage today, I want you to listen to scripture with the following Questions:

How does God call?

Does He call everyone?

REPEAT

Let’s begin examining the call

Jeremiah 1:4 ESV

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

God Speaks directly to People

God speaks directly to People.

In this calling of the prophet God spoke directly, audible to Him.

If you read through the various texts on different prophets, the calling came in different forms

When Amos was telling his people, or explaining his actions, he relayed this to the people

Amos 7:15–16 (ESV)

15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

This simple shepherd was just spoken to but literally plucked from the field and given a job.

God’s was a God of action not just words.

Many of you over the years have heard the all too famous calling and that of Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

This prophet’s calling was that of a vision. Not a small vision, but quite an inspiring and clear vision of the task that was set before him.

If you want to experience the majesty and live vicariously through another read through chapter 6. It is inspiring, challenging and life changing as you see God interacting with Isaiah

Remember all that was in a vision. God speaks to people in their dreams and thoughts

Finally, Ezekiel

Ezekiel 1:1 (ESV)

....the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Visions.

Plural.

I wonder what it would be like if you invited Ezekiel up to the mic on a Sunday Morning to give a testimony.

This is a dangerous thought to me. What would he say? How long would he be?

Could I limit the amount of time that he would relay what God has done in His life.

Take some time to read this man’s story and you will discover that God’s message is not always short.

In fact, The calling of Ezekiel covers several chapters in his book.

Did you know that a song was written to simplify the story

Ezekiel saw the wheel way up in the middle of the air

One commentary wrote to explain the simplistic call of Jeremiah

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel 2. The Call of Jeremiah (1:4–10)

Though brief, this verse is the heart of the prophetic experience. Jeremiah’s call came not in a vision but by hearing the divine word.

What would you do if you heard God’s voice speaking directly to you?

For some of us, that is what it might take for us to listen to the call on our lives.

There has been times in my life that I would have wanted God to speak directly and as clearly as He did to Jeremiah.

To know for certain of one’s calling on their life, nothing would be clearer than God audible speaking to you using His own voice.

Nothing would be clearer.

fortunately for us, that is not the only way in which God speaks when He calls us to something.

As a church we are discerning a call in a few weeks. A call to bring a person to join our church to live out His calling here in our midst.

It’s not just another hire. As one of the search committee members described to me, and I quote, “Lives will be changed by the person we bring, I must commit this to prayer!”

Bringing forward Josh as a candidate to this church has been a prayerful process, a discerning process by the search committee, and we look forward to the time ahead with him and Cass as they come and we begin to discover who they are and their calling of God on their lives.

Continue to pray..... Continue to Seek God’s Direction....

God Speaks directly to His People

Some of you may know people like this. Their language is often filled with, God put on my heart, or God spoke to me this morning.

They immerse themselves in God’s Word and spend a tremendous amount of time on their knees and God does speak to them.

God can be bold and clear, God can be a silent whisper.

As He speaks we must all hear what He has to say to us, but back that up or line it up to God’s Spoken, written Word of God.

God is actively working in and through our lives

God is actively working in and through our lives. We see this in this call passage.

I wonder if you have ever thought, God’s plan and purpose would always be best served if He spoke to everyone.

I mean if God were to speak from Heaven like he did at Jesus’ baptism, would you have no choice but to listen.

I mean if we were having a meeting at the church to decide a plan of action and God spoke. It would be much easier.

Why do we have to listen to the vision and direction of the leaders.

Folks, that is not the way God operates. He is actively working in and through us and our lives.

Here is what God said to Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

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.”

God spoke to Jeremiah and pronounced the greatest statement about Himself.

God’s Attribute: All knowing.

I call it the three G’s of God’s attribute

Gleam, before there was a gleam in Jeremiah’s fathers eyes. God knew Jeremiah .

Gestation, while being formed by God in his mother’s womb, God knew the colour of his eyes, his hair, his personality. He even consecrated him before life began outside of the womb.

Granted: The life set out for Jeremiah was ordained by God, an appointment with heavenly endorsement.

What a powerful verse. We serve a God who

He knew him before his life began at conception

He knew him as he was developing in the womb and was born,

He knew Him throughout his whole life.

God is sovereign

The final statement about the call is the sovereignty of God.

It was interesting on Saturday at the Elders meeting as we are working our way through the book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church we came across this discussion.

The sovereignty of God.

God’s plan found throughout the entire Bible is not thwarted by anything.

Simply put,

“God’s promise to fill the earth with the knowledge of its Creator would be kept in His new creation. The God of the Bible makes promises, and the God of the Bible sovereignly keeps them.” 9 Marks of a Healthy Church- Mark Dever

You have often heard me say, I look forward to the day that I can look back and see what God has done.

It’s the belief in the Sovereignty of God that I know that when looking back it will make sense to me. That one day, God’s full plan will make sense.

Have you ever put a jigsaw puzzle together upside down?

If you were to look at the many pieces laid out on the table with no picture, it would be next to impossible to solve quickly.

When our one son who loved to do puzzles, became board with doing them as he memorized the pieces, I gave him a challenge.

That is right, doing it upside down.

To my surprise, he was able to do it, and in time do it quickly.

We live our lives knowing that as the pieces of the puzzle in our live are woven together, and sometimes feel like they are upside down, our believe is that one day, the puzzle will be complete and turned over to see a beautiful tapestry of God’s plan for his creation.

God’s call to Jeremiah, although short was filled with words of Hope and promise,

But like most of us do, when we come in contact with God’s call on our life, we come with .... well let’s read....

Jeremiah 1:6 ESV

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

Jeremiah’s Response to the Call

Jeremiah’s response, is the response I often hear as I walk people through God’s calling in their lives.

But.....

We question, wonder, and make up excuses.

Look at the verse,

The Hebrew word is

הִנֵּה

NeHaw. In English we say Behold.

It’s like driving down the country road and come across a tree that is full of coloured butterflies. Look Behold.

Look Lord, don’t you know, I don’t know to speak, I’m young. I’m in training.

But look at God’s response

Jeremiah 1:7–8 ESV

7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

God Answers Jeremiah

God answers Jeremiah while he is in self doubt.

In fact, when God often calls someone, he is looking for those who doubt in their own abilities. Doubt in their own strength. God sees those as tools in order to show His strength. To show His abilities.

God said to the prophet.

Go where I say Go

Speak what I say to Speak

Your safety is in my hands.

In these times we should utter the words of one of my soccer players.

“Put me in coach”

Why, God wraps up the calling with a declaration.

You do this because I am God. I am with you.

Nothing, Nothing will happen to you. And what you think will happen, will bring honor and glory to me.

The Calling ends with a powerful scene.

Jeremiah 1:9–10 ESV

9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

God’s Mission for Jeremiah

After God’s Called Jeremiah we see the degree of his calling. His mission.

I often have read these verses and have never looked up the word “Touched”

We often think of that of attempting to quiet a child by placing our fingers over their mouth.

Jeremiah 1:9 (ESV)

9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth.

The Hebrew word for touch amazed me and brought me to a clear understanding of God’s power and presence in Jeremiah’s life.

NaGa

It not just a simple tap, Its a powerful striking with force.

The force that would change his speak forever.

One commentary writes

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel 2. The Call of Jeremiah (1:4–10)

As tangible evidence that he had empowered Jeremiah, in a spiritual experience God touched Jeremiah’s mouth. Thus he was inspired to speak God’s truth, and thus the impartation of the divine message was indicated to him. From then on Jeremiah’s words would be truly God’s, and he would actually become a mouthpiece for God (cf. Isa 6:7).

The rest of our study in the book of Jeremiah we will discover what Mission God had fore Jeremiah, but that is for other weeks.

God’s Calling on our lives

As we have looked in to the call of Jeremiah, let me leave you with this thought.

I asked you earlier, to think of these two things.

What is God’s Calling on our lives?

Do you believe that God has called each one of us?

Your Call

First off the scripture points out this.

Ephesians 4:1–6 (ESV)

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, (Calling) bearing with one another in love,

3 eager to maintain the (Calling) unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Many have taken the phrase, “Called” as it applies to those who enter into full time vocational ministry.

Jeremiah was specifically called to be a prophet to the people of Judah.

But as as Paul so specifically puts it, we are all called to walk in a manner worthy of the that which you have been called.

No matter what occupation you hold, have held or are looking to hold. God calls each one of us to walk

To be Disciples who are

Seeking to know God, while being transformed into the image of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in the context of community.

Our response

This morning, we have addressed what some issues that people in our community are feeling. We have been called to walk beside our community as many of them are dealing with a grief that is imaginable.

we are to

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, (Calling) bearing with one another in love,

3 eager to maintain the (Calling) unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Conclusion

As the worship team makes their way up to the stage, let me say this,

Jeremiah was Called. God is Calling

Will you too seek Him who is the one who calls. And when you seek Him will you listen, and after listening will you respond.

Not all are called to the same thing, but we are all called.

Called to live the life that our soverign God has placed before us.

Amen

Response to Worship

Benediction