As we read today’s scripture, we might tend to fix our minds on how these words apply to the lives of Jeremiah or Jesus. The obvious problem being that we are, none of us, Jeremiah or Jesus. Yet I believe that a similarly important calling belongs to each one of us, important enough to cause us to protest much in the same way that Jeremiah does. As you read this dialogue between Jeremiah and God, imagine that you stand alongside Jeremiah. How would you respond to God’s call? How would God answer you? What would God say was authorized for you in speaking and acting on behalf of the divine? Are we here to make war on evil? Are we here to make peace with victim and violator? Meditate upon the word of God:
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Now 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."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD!
Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a child."
But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you,
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,
says the LORD."
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth;
and the LORD said to me,
"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant."
How are we called to speak for God today?
Grace and peace,
Ron
