A reflection on Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6 for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany, January 30, 2022.
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 boy.’ But the Lord said to me,
‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
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.’
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NRSVA)
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge,
a strong fortress, to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
Psalm 71:1-6 (NRSVA)
Jeremiah’s call appears to have taken place before he developed the confidence to speak the words of God to nations. His response is telling: ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’
Only ‘…a boy.’ Jeremiah – no matter what his physical age may be, feels more like a child than a adult. Will he hear God correctly? Will he be able to muster the courage to speak truth to power?
And yet this call insists that God assigned this task even before the birth of Jeremiah. This one is as timid as a child and ‘known’, ‘consecrated’, and appointed’ to reiterate the very words of God to the nations. Ultimately, Jeremiah is created for this life-long assignment.
God’s assurance includes only the simple promise of God’s presence and God’s deliverance. Of course, it also includes a touch of God’s hand on the mouth of this now appointed prophet.
The description of the mission Jeremiah is being commissioned for strikes me as telling about the character of the God Jeremiah hears. Those final lines point to the creativity of the words God will speak:
‘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.’
These will not be idle words. They will ‘pluck…and….pull’; ‘destroy and…overthrow’, and, ultimately; ‘build and…plant’. Essentially, they will create.
Any gardener will relate to this. The goal of a flourishing garden involves the removal of weeds and any plants that have had their time. Cutting and pruning are essential. This may seem counter-productive for a while. Ultimately, however, this destroying creates possibilities.
One does not have to spend too much time among other artists to see that this is a wider principle. Most artists go through barren creative seasons. Of course there is plenty going on – a kind of plucking, pruning, or even destroying.
In art and faith, what was once timely and beautiful passes – and the courage to make change is needed.
Here at the outset of Jeremiah’s ministry, God is depicted as a gardener – or an artist – who speaks into our world with the ultimate agenda of creating!
And that is a wonderful thought!
Conversation Starters:
Do you think you are in a season where God is ‘plucking’ or ‘planting’? What makes you arrive at this conclusion?
How does the thought that God is ultimately a builder encourage you?