Sermon Epiphany 3 Texts Jeremiah: 1:4-10; Acts: 9: 1-22; Matt: 19:27-End Theme: GOD CALLS HIS PEOPLE FOR A PURPOSE/MISSION QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION 1. AS A LEADER WHAT HAS GOD CALLED YOU TO DO? 2. AS AN ASPIRING LEADER WHAT IS GOD CALLING YOU TO DO? KEY TEXT Jeremiah: 1:4-10; 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. Ah, Sovereign Lord, “I said, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child. 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. 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 plant. The meaning of the name Jeremiah is unclear but the name can mean; The Lord exalts; The Lord Establishes, and more favourable, “The Lord Throws”. Traditionally the names of the prophets summarize their mission for example; Isaiah-The Lord Saves; Ezekiel-God is Strong; Daniel-God is My Judge etc. Sometimes the names we give to our children say a lot about our relationship as husband and wife, or reflect our situation in life at the time of the birth of our child, or our feelings towards the new born baby, and lastly, our relationship with neighbours or relatives. So we have to be careful with the names we give to our children. He began his ministry in 626 BC and ended sometimes after 586 BC. His death is not recorded in the Bible but tradition says he was stoned in Egypt at the age of 70. He was from the priestly family, a member of the household of Hilkiah from the city of Anathoth. He was labelled the prophet of doom and had few friends. He prophesied during the reign of Josiah (640-609), Jehoahaz (609), Jehoiakim (609-598), Jehoiachin (598-597), and Zedekiah (597-586). One wonders why so many kings during his ministry? This was a period of storm and stress when the doom of the entire nation, including Judah itself was being sealed. Imperial giants such as Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were threatening her peace, so Kings were being disposed and killed by invading nations. For example Jehoahaz only ruled for three months and was killed. This period of turmoil eventually resulted in the subjugation of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Why was Jeremiah called? It was during this period that Jeremiah was called. God calls His people regardless of the situation/context and has a word or answer for any situation in your life. There is no situation when God is silent even in the darkest moments in life. The most important thing in any situation is to honestly seek God’s word. God clearly told Jeremiah that he called him while still in his mother’s womb. God does not accidentally call you. God knew exactly what He wants to do at a specific time and place. Jeremiah tried to evade the calling by giving excuses-I am only a child/youth. This was a common phenomenon with Old Testament prophets. Their call narratives have five parts/Five tier structure; 1. Call- God would call a prophet in various ways; dreams, visions, auditions, etc (theophany) 2. The prophet refuses to accept the call and give excuses. Normally they were called for a difficult mission, eg to uproot/destroy, overthrow/tear down. Such a task was life threatening hence fear was the obvious reaction from a normal human being. Today many people volunteer or campaign to do God’s work because the majority are not fulfilling God’s mission but they are only milking God’s flock. 3. God then pursued the prophet by giving him assurance that He will be with him throughout his ministry. This assurance was in form of miracles or other deeds for example Jeremiah’s mouth was touched by God. When you became a leader who touched your mouth? Whose message are you carrying? If you are carrying God’s message then there is no reason for fear and failure. Many of come to leadership with the message of those who elect them. 4. The prophet then accepts the call. 5. God then commissioned the prophet with a clear mission. If you check with Jeremiah his call narrative pattern was similar to that of other prophets like Moses. Jeremiah was appointed over nations and kingdoms. To do what? 1. To uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow. To make progress as a church/section/guild/association/ nation and continent as whole there are things that we need to uproot and tear down/ destroy/overthrow. To uproot something is not an easy task because that thing had established some roots. There are wrong teachings and systems that has established roots in our sections, guilds, and church that needs to be uprooted for progress to take place. Uprooting is not an easy task as there is bound to be some resistance. It calls for women and men of strong character. Tearing down involves something that has be sewn or knitted together. It not easy as well as there are some threads that will be resisting. Destroying involves putting down a built structure. The devil has built his empires in some of the people and it calls for strong and principled men and women of faith to destroy them. Overthrowing involves removing established systems that are evil. The devil has enthroned his own kings and queens and some are even in church hierarchies hence the need to overthrow them. Look at how a new road is constructed. Several trees, rocks and even beautiful houses are uprooted, destroyed, and overthrown. Look at what happened when planting is taking place. There is a lot of uprooting especially of grass and unwanted vegetation. The challenge we have with leaders is that there want to produce different results every year but using the same approach. This is even happening in our secular leaders. We can only reach new destinations or heights when we use new methods. We cannot achieve anything above our leaders. The quality of leaders we choose determines our destination. Do not expect miracles there. A leader who cannot climb a tree cannot take you to the top of the tower light. A leader who cannot uproot a weed cannot uproot a big tree. A leader who cannot destroy a wooden house cannot destroy a concrete house. Lastly Jeremiah after destroying, tearing down, uprooting and overthrowing was to build and plant. The planting and building was only necessitated by successful tearing down and overthrowing. You called not destroy but to plant and for the planting to take place destruction is needed. What are you being called to do this year? If you are not sure why bothering yourself to take up leadership positions? Jeremiah had a clear mission and what is yours as a Christian? Be blessed as you listen to God’s call.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:48:21 +0000
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