When you think of the process
of someone being engaged into God's work, what is that process? As good
Presbyterian-types, we know how this works. A nominating committee meets.
They consider the gifts of the people of the congregation. The committee
tries to match those gifts to jobs. Those showing special leadership
qualities are asked to serve as elders. In the end, the congregation votes
the nominees into office. Looking at it from the human perspective, that's
how people are chosen to do God's work.
Now look at our Old Testament lesson.
There's no nominating committee. God is the one who is doing the choosing.
God elects Jeremiah to be God's mouthpiece. God is the actor. God is the
nominating committee of one. God chooses. Look at the language of the
text: "'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.'" Who
chose Jeremiah? God. When? Before God formed Jeremiah in the womb. What
office did God appoint Jeremiah to? A prophet to the nations. What office
did Jeremiah pick out for himself? None. What other options did God give
Jeremiah that Jeremiah might choose instead? None. You see who is doing
the choosing. You see who does the electing. God. Our text is not about
what Jeremiah decides he wants to do. It is about God choosing Jeremiah.
God is the one who is in charge.
Of course, when God speaks there is
something authoritative about it. When God speaks, his word carries its own
authority. Sure, the hearer might sometimes struggle with the identity of
the speaker. Still, the word that is spoken is strangely
self-authenticating. These are some words I lined out many years ago,
following my own struggle with God's self-authenticating call:
I am addressed by a silent voice,
still,
stirring,
seeking,
signaling.
How shall I answer?
Shall I answer,
"I shall not answer,
for this is but my own mind which
speaks,
And tricks it is wont to play"?
How shall I answer?
Shall I answer,
"I shall not answer,
for this is but my culture which speaks,
And it seeks to mold my mind"?
Yet the silent voice continues,
calling,
caring,
compelling,
commanding.
How shall I answer?
In the midst of doubt and fear,
Questions spinning my mind,
I must follow the voice I hear.
Lord, use me, I am Thine.
You might not be able to explain to someone
else how you figure God is speaking to you. But God's call is somehow
self-authenticating. The word of God carries its own authority. When God
speaks, you somehow know that the speaker is God.
And yet, the prophet protests. Jeremiah hesitates. He's not
immediately ready to accept the assignment God commands him to do. Even
though it is God who speaks, even though God has not given Jeremiah any
option not to serve, the prophet protests. We can almost hear his
objections now. "I must not be your man," Jeremiah says to God. "I'm just
a kid. I don't know how to be your mouthpiece," he complains. Who does
that sound like? Like us. Those are our objections. "Don't send me," we
protest, "I'm just a boy." "I'm just a girl." "I'm too young." "I'm too
old." "I'm not worthy." "I don't really have the time." "Sorry, I've got
kids in school." "You wouldn't want to use me, I've got all these doubts
about my faith. Get somebody stronger." When God calls, it is to something
significant. Surely anyone who is called has to be astonished at the fact
that God has called, and that the appointed task is too hard. We can
understand Jeremiah's hesitation. After all, he's very young. Surely he's
not equipped to be a "prophet to the nations," of all things. Maybe someone
else better should serve. Maybe someone else.
Listen! God silences our human
objections. When God speaks to our objections, there is no, "But I can't."
When God says, "You can," then you can, by God! What does God say to our
puny objections? He says, "Don't say, 'I'm just a boy.' Don't tell me,
'I'm just a girl.' 'I'm too young.' 'I'm too old.' Don't say, 'I'm not
worthy.' 'I don't have the time.' 'I can't do it, my kids are in school.'
Don't tell me, 'I can't work for you because I have doubts.'" Our flimsy
objections are no grounds for being excused from God accomplishing his will
through us. Who do we think we're trying to fool? God, our Maker, knows us
better than we know ourselves. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
. . ." Our Creator God, our Sovereign, Creator God silences our flimsy
objections to his call. "Don't tell me you can't. You will go to all to
whom I send you." It seems when God calls certain people, there is no
choice. Some don't get to enlist; they're drafted. God does the calling.
Nothing left for the servant to do but to give in.
Of course—did you notice?—those whom God
calls, God also equips. God doesn't send servants to do tasks they are not
equipped to do. God not only calls people to serve him, he also gives them
the necessary gifts. What was it God said to the objecting Jeremiah? "Do
not be afraid . . . ," God said, "for I am with you to deliver you." Our
God who makes us equips us to serve him. Lloyd John Ogilvie tells of a
friend who felt called by God to serve others by being a "wound healer." He
made his living by being an engineer; but this man's basic calling, he would
tell you, was to be a wound healer. His calling was to help people who were
at odds to find new ways to accept each other and to communicate. This is
what he felt called to do. And you know what? He also had the gifts to do
this very work. In fact, being a reconciler of persons was what this man
saw as his particular gift. So he studied, prayed, and developed the skills
necessary to foster reconciliation between people. This man felt called by
God to be a "wound healer" and God equipped him for that service. When God
calls someone to do a task, God also equips that person. Those whom God
calls, God also equips.
God probably has something in mind for each
one of us. No, we won't all have calls similar to, say, Jeremiah or Martin
Luther King, Jr. Maybe all you'll be called to do is to heal a few wounds
or work for reconciliation wherever you are or help feed the hungry at the
Stewpot or the Lancaster Outreach Center. Whatever God calls us to do, God
will also equip us for that task. Whatever God calls us to do is vital,
because that service—verbally or silently—manifests God's active, gracious
word. So there's only one thing to do when God calls us into service. Only
one thing to do: Go!
