Living as Covenant People
Jeremiah 1:4-10
For the last two
weeks, the Old Testament lesson has come from the prophet Isaiah. In today’s reading we have moved on to
Jeremiah. I didn’t make some
specific decision to focus on the prophets after I got back from vacation, but
they’ve caught my attention these last few weeks. We’ll be in Jeremiah for three weeks. I don’t know what I’ll preach in the
coming weeks, but again today I’m going to focus on the Old Testament reading
and the prophecy of Jeremiah.
We know very
specifically when Jeremiah was active as a prophet, because it can be keyed to
other historical events. We don’t
know when he was born, but we know he was active from 626 B.C. to 587. That’s about 100 years later than
Isaiah of Jerusalem.
The chapter in
my Old Testament textbook from seminary that talks about Jeremiah is
titled: “The Doom of the Nation.” It was not a good time, politically or
spiritually for the people of God.
A good bit of that trouble, Jeremiah pointed out was self-inflicted. In terms of the religious life of the
people, it was a time when people thought they could pay lip service to God in
the temple but still offer sacrifice to pagan gods the rest of the week. It was a time when
religious/nationalistic sloganeering had replaced true heart-felt observance of
the covenant. They had forgotten
what it meant to live as people faithful to the covenant God established at
Sinai.
The passage we
heard today from Jeremiah comes from the very beginning of the book. It is a “call story.” The Bible is full of “call stories.” Call stories are when God speaks
directly to a particular individual and says, “I have a job for you.” You have a God-given “calling” or
vocation. Moses receives his call
from the burning bush. The Old
Testament is full of stories of kings and prophets being called to their
vocations by God. The New
Testament tells the disciples’ call stories.
Jeremiah
tells his call story in his own words. “The word of the Lord came to me saying, "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 calls
Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah demurs: I’m too
young to be a prophet. Doesn’t
matter, God says, you’re called.
Do not be afraid. I will be
with you and will give you the words.
Moses tried to dodge his call, too, saying he was not eloquent enough to
do what God asked. Doesn’t matter,
God said, I will be with you and will give you Aaron to speak for you. It’s hard to wiggle out of God’s call.
So what does
Jeremiah’s call story mean for us?
Is it a reminder from God that we are all called to be prophets? And that we really don’t have any good
excuses to dodge that call?
I’m reminded of
the passage from Numbers (11:29) where Moses says: “Would that all the
Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
It’s not a bad question to ponder… How we are all called to prophetic
ministry. And we could certainly
all do a lot better at bringing God’s words to the world in which we live.
But (it may be a relief to hear) that’s not really
the main point of this passage for us.
Writing about Jeremiah’s call, one commentator writes: “we are not to read these
lectionary verses as a reflection on vocation. We are not urged to “be like”
Jeremiah; rather, we are called to
listen to Jeremiah. We are not enjoined to admire Jeremiah nor are
adolescent “youths” being encouraged to dream beyond their self-perceived
deficiencies.”
The call stories
of the prophets have a special role in the Scriptures. They authenticate the prophetic
ministry of the prophets. They
bestow divine authority on the words that the prophets proclaim. The prophets are called by God to convey
God’s message. These are God’s
words. They are commanded
words. Jeremiah’s call bestows God’s
own divine authority on the words he speaks.
And we are to
listen. Just as attentively as the
people to whom Jeremiah spoke.
These are God’s words, spoken to us, today. The urgency of the prophetic message is a constant “today.” God commanded these words to be
spoken. And we are to listen. To hear. To take seriously the living Word of God in our lives.
Jeremiah reminds
us not to just give it lip service to the Word of God on Sundays. But to study it, take it into our lives. To read the Bible and listen to others
who proclaim God’s Word. And to
take it very seriously throughout our lives.
I’m into the
prophets right now. They seem
particularly relevant to me in our current cultural setting. But maybe something else speaks to
you. Seek out the Word of
God. Listen. Attend to it in your life.
Jeremiah also
called the people of his day to return to the covenant. They had forgotten or abandoned their
commitment to living as people in covenant with God.
Our covenant
relationship with God is expressed in the Baptismal Covenant. That individual covenant established
between each of us and God at baptism.
It begins with the Apostles’ Creed, the baptismal declaration of
faith. Then it continues with
these vows:
With God’s help,
I will “continue in the apostles' teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.” I will participate in the life of a
faith community.
I will “persevere in resisting evil,
and, whenever I fall into sin, repent [I talked about that last week] and
return to the Lord.”
I will “proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ.”
There’s that prophetic ministry.
We can’t escape it.
I will “seek and serve Christ in all
persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” All persons. It isn’t easy following the covenant.
And, finally, I will “strive [strive, that’s a strong word] for
justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human
being.”
That’s the covenant we are called into as people
baptized as Christ’s own.
I’ve printed out copies of our Baptismal
Covenant. I’m going to ask the
kids to help pass them out after the blessing of the backpacks.
You might leave your copy on the pew or on one of the
tables. Jeremiah would have
something to say about that!
You can chuck it when you get home. But your baptismal covenant with God won’t
go away.
Or you can put it on your
refrigerator or by your desk or on your nightstand. And pray it.
Memorize it. So that it
soaks into our DNA, becomes a part of all of our being. So that we live it throughout our lives
almost without thinking about it.
So that we live as God’s covenant people today.
