The Calling of a Lifetime

Focus: God raises up, leads, speaks for us as He calls us into mission

Function: that the hearer would boldly go forth, just like Jeremiah, proclaiming the message of truth.

Verse by Verse Structure

The Calling of a Lifetime

I. Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Old Testament text is an interesting one. We are able to glance and peak at an interaction between Jeremiah and God as God calls us Him into the ministry as a prophet. God’s calling for Jeremiah is specific to him. In other words, we can’t read these words today and say this is what God is calling me to do. We can’t say just like Jeremiah, God is calling me “to break down, destroy, and to overthrow nations...” Or we can’t say God has called me to be a prophet of the Old Testament to the nation of Israel, I’m going to sell my house buy my airplane ticket right after church. But even though these word are specific to Jeremiah, there are still some truths that we can learn and apply to our lives from the call of Jeremiah as Christians living today in the 21st century living after the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Because God has called us to be witnesses, to share the amazing love and message of Jesus. In both Jeremiah’s call as a prophet and our calls as witnesses to the Lord’s love for the world, God appoints us, He leads us, and He gives us His Word to speak.

II. (Deductive) First, God just like He did with Jeremiah, He appoints witnesses. It says, in verses 5-6, “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. Then I [Jeremiah] said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” When God calls Jeremiah, first He tells him. I knew you intimately, I knew you before you were born; God tells him before you were born, I set you apart for this - to be a prophet for the nations. And after hearing this amazing truth from God, what does Jeremiah do? He focuses his mind inward towards himself and he focuses on the flaws, the things that he think keep him from being a prophet of the Lord. God gives Jeremiah this truth, that I knew you before I formed you in the womb, and Jeremiah says I really know myself better than you. Listen God, I think you got the wrong guy because I’m only a youth and I’m not a good public speaker. Instead of hearing the truth that God reveals, Jeremiah focuses on the flaws that he thinks disqualify him from this amazing calling to be a prophet.

Our responses to God’s appointing of us as witnesses in the world of God’s amazing love can be similar to Jeremiah’s. After hearing the calling of a lifetime to go be a witness to the world, we focus on our “flaws” instead of God’s truth. Some people may think, God, must not know what He’s doing I just don’t have the time or the talent to be a witness for Him in the world - there are other people out there better than me. Others may say, God must have the wrong guy, I don’t know the Bible well enough; I don’t have enough Biblical knowledge. Still other people might say, God must not know the mistakes I have made, the sins of my past, because there is no way I’m the one He wants being a witness of Him in the world. You might have used these excuses, but they’ don’t hold up. But, just like for Jeremiah; God knows you intimately! He knew you every aspect about you before you born; He knows all the flaws or things that you think disqualify you from being a witness in the world, and He CHOSE you anyway! God CHOSE you despite lack of talent, your lack of Biblical knowledge, and the sins of your past. God didn’t make a mistake by CHOOSING you, He knows every aspect about you. In fact, He loved you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to come and forgive you, to come and remove your sins, to make you pure in God’s eyes! God has appointed you or chosen you to be a witness in the world.

III. (Inductive) I don’t like heights. I wouldn’t say it’s a phobia; it’s not an overwhelming fear where I freeze and I’m unable to move. But there is a definite dislike for heights. My friends and I went on vacation together and one of my close friends, who is always eager to do everything he possibly can, suggested that we do a high ropes course together. And I didn’t want to be the only one left out, so I figured I’m going to toughen up and do this together with all of my friends - We’re going to conquer this together! And so we were getting harnessed in, I pulled extra hard on the harness to make sure I was safe and then we began to climb to the start. Every obstacle on this high rope course had 2 options - there was the easy one and the “more challenging” one. And I was standing in the back of the line of my friends and saw friend after friend after choose to do the “more challenging” obstacle because they thought the easy one was too easy for them. Next it was my turn. I stood there with a choice, I could try and do the “more challenging” one like my friends or I could take it easy and do the “easy” one that had handlebars and other things to grab onto. At first, I said, I’m going to do the “more challenging” obstacle just like all of my friends. So I tried it, I stepped out on that narrow rope and it began to shake, every step I took it began to shake more and more and more. After I powered through that first difficult obstacle, I said this is not for me; I’m not doing that again. I took the easy choice the way through the course and the rest of the time up there was a breeze; it was actually kind of comfortable for me with all of the railings and handlebars up there to assist me as I went through the high ropes course! When faced with the choice in life whether it’s on the high ropes course or our calling to be God’s witnesses in the world -It’s easy for us to remain comfortable. We see this attitude in God and Jeremiah’s interaction in verses 7-8. Jeremiah’s talking here and says, “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. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” God is telling Jeremiah don’t say no to the calling to be a prophet for the world because of your age, or because you have never done it before, or because the calling makes you uncomfortable. Then God gives him a promise that is going to lead Jeremiah were he needs to go, and the whole time God promises to be with Jeremiah. God says that He is going to lead Jeremiah in this calling of lifetime that God has given him.

God in His great love for you through Jesus, stepped out of His comfort zone, His comfortable throne in heaven to lead you and show you the truth that you are loved by God! Jesus didn’t choose to remain comfortable, in fact, He willingly chose to go through an extremely difficult situation for us by taking our punishment on Himself, so that we are forgiven and have life in God’s name forever! He came to carry the heavy, painful burden of our sins to set us free, to deliver us from the greatest enemies, sin ,death, and the devil.

God in our callings to be witnesses in this world, just like with Jeremiah, He promises to be with us. He promises to lead us as many times we are called out of our comfort zones.

IV. (Deductive) God not only leads us as He calls us, but He also promises to give us the words to speak. In Jeremiah’s interaction with God, verses 9-10 it says, “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, See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” With Jeremiah, God put out His hand and the touched the mouth of Jeremiah to give him the words to say as a prophet. He gave Jeremiah the words to speak some words of destruction and other words of prosperity. The Word of God, promises of God- changed Jeremiah! Jeremiah interacted with the Word of God and as we know if we keep reading the book of Jeremiah, He was able to deliver the message - the Word of God!

We have been given the Word of God, but there are times we fail to speak. Maybe we think, I don’t know what to say, there’s so much there. Or maybe we think I know what God has said, but it’s different than the way these people think, it’s going to cause some conflict. Or maybe we’re placed in situations, we know the Word of God, but instead of boldly proclaiming, we remain silent because it’s easier that way. But just like Jeremiah, interacted with the Word of God and was changed by it - we have been changed by the Word of God too. Jesus Christ the physical Word of God, put on flesh to change us. Jesus Christ the Word of God gave us forgiveness and life. He has come and completely changed us, the way that God sees us. You have interacted with the Word of God, been changed by it! By hearing and reading the Word of God, the Word has touched you, it’s changed you and it drives us out to be proclaimers. As God calls you to be a witness, He has given you His Word and that completely changes you!

V. Conclusion In out text, God calls Jeremiah into His ministry to be a prophet for Him. But just like God has called Jeremiah, He calls you today to be a witness for Him! God has appointed or chosen us, He leads us, and He gives us the words to speak as we boldly proclaim His message to the world! Being a witness does have to mean traveling around nation to nation proclaiming God’s Word. It can look like being a witness in your family, being a witness to Jesus in your circle of friends, it could like being a witness at church, here at Bethany, by finding ways to get involved at the ministry here. God calls for us, may lead us out of our comfort zones, may cause us to use or time and talents, but God has promised just like with Jeremiah, that He is going to be with us as He calls us to be a witness and it’s the calling of a lifetime!

Now may the grace of God, which surpasses all understanding, may it guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.