So I have to preach...for the very first time on a sunday morning...in Edam Saskatchewan...truthfully I dont even know where that is and in the middle of the circumstances that I'm having to face it's funny how my own sermon is becoming a lesson to me.
See I am talking about this guy named Jeremiah. I love this prophet. Reading through the writings I see glimpses of a man who's only passion was to follow God no matter what was placed before him. He was asked to give some pretty harsh judgements upon the people of Israel whom he loved dearly. Even in the darkest hour this man obeyed God. He followed through...pronounced the irreversable judgment by smashing a clay jar and then he was loved by all and everybody wanted to be his friend.....um...no.
See in chapter 19 Jeremiah obeys what God tells him to do. He follows that which he is called to and in chapter 20 we see a man broken, literally beaten, and he is left all alone. Jeremiah was a simple man, called by God, to do extraordinary things, just like you and I. In chapter 1 of the book of Jeremiah God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nation of Israel. He questioned God's motives and couldn't understand why God would want just a simple boy. God promised to stand by him, through all that he was called to and provide for him everything needed. So Jeremiah accepted this call. This is important. He had to let go of every dream, every desire, every hope that he personally had for his life, and accept the calling that God had for him. The calling that God had for him ruined the person of Jeremiah and then began to mold him into the person that God had created him to be.
The place where we find Jeremiah in chapter 20 is far from the place where he was when he recieved his call. He had obeyed everything that God had said. He embraced this call and he is left with nothing. It is here where we see the rawness experessed in following God. We see the pain of a man who loves God and loves his people, yet feels that he is rejected by both. Jeremiah therefore comes to the conclusion that he will reject this call and turn the other way. But he can't. His calling burns so deep in his heart. He can not escape it. It is as though he is saying Lord, I gave into your calling, I followed Your ways, I submitted to You. Now everyone laughs at me. If I try to stop Your word burns in my heart. It bothers me day and night and captures me and will not let me go!
How often do we feel like Jeremiah? We feel as though we have given up everything to answer to the will of God in our lives and it feels as though we are left alone, worse then what we would have been if we had rejected the call. Often we feel hopeless and ask the question, Why? The important thing here is not that Jeremiah is questioning the call of God on his life, and it is not even that he is considering quitting, but it is in the way that he ultimately responds that is key to being a true follower of God.
In verses 11 through 13 see a change in mood and are a prayer for Gods protection and vindication. When he is overwhelmed with this constant opposition Jeremiahs only resort is a rock-bottom affirmation of his faith. It is in this where he has no choice but to stand on the promises that God had given to him in the past and the faithful One that he has come to know Yahweh to be.
Many Christians in todays society expect that following God and His will for their lives is an easy task. Some people who come to know Jesus feel like nothing could ever stop them or hinder their obedience to the call that God has on his/her life. Many expect the Christian walk to be easy with only minor bumps and scraps along the way, however we see that this is not the case through Jeremiahs example. Jeremiah was a prophet, chosen and called by God. Some would suggest that this very fact would protect him from all worries and troubles that would come his way, however this was not the case.
Jeremiah himself never saw one piece of fruit within his time in ministry. Even most of us see some sort of fruit from the things that we do for God at some point in our lives, but Jeremiah saw nothing. From his example we can learn that sometimes all that we have is to cling to what God has called us to and the hope that God has given to us. Even Jeremiah questioned his existence. He asked the big why questions that many of us can be stuck in. What is important is that we rise up over the hardships placed in front of us despite the circumstances and embrace our call regardless of what we see and understand things to be. When God calls us we must follow Him. Every desire and dream that we ever had is replaced with Gods will. He ruins us and it may not bring about the lifestyle that we had expected, but in following Jeremiahs example we must continue on Gods path and trust that His will is far greater then anything that we could ever want for ourselves.
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