Empowered by God
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 1: 4 - 10 (NIV)
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5“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.”
6“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Message: Empowered by God
Jeremiah’s calling
Jeremiah is giving a 1st person account of his calling
He tells the story himself
He talks about what God said to him and what God did to him
God empowered him to be a great prophet
Jeremiah was a special prophet
He was telling God’s people about a new covenant
He spoke out against injustice and ungodly life
He bought land in times of gloom to bring hope
He is the author of Lamentations, giving us the value of expressing our pain and giving us language for our own struggles
Like no other prophet, Jeremiah showed us what a personal relationship with God looks like
As he tells the story of his calling, and as we have experienced the new covenant in the sacrament of Baptism, we are empowered to discover God’s calling on our own lives today
“I know you”
Jeremiah starts his account by saying - the Lord came to me and the Lord said: “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.”
Before anything else, God reminds Jeremiah that He knows him through and through
And as we are reflecting on God’s calling for us, God reminds us today that He knows us through and through
God knows who we are, God knows where we come from, and God knows our future
God says to us today, “I know you”, and “I have plans for you”
“Do not say”
Similar to Moses, Elijah is blown away by God’s calling on his life and offers up an excuse
Jeremiah is basically saying, “I am not good enough to be a prophet”… offering up two excuses - not being able to speak well and being too young
But God answers with the words, “Don’t say” …
God is addressing the negative self-talk that has the potential to cripple Jeremiah from taking up his calling
To me and you, God says today: “Don’t say”
Stop your negative self-talk and look to your God, who is calling you to follow Him today
Stop offering up excuses for why you cannot respond to his calling
Touched by God
And then Jeremiah tells how God touched him - “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth.’”
With his hand, God is touching Jeremiah’s mouth…
Personally and intimately, God addresses Jeremiah’s concerns to enable him to respond to his calling
God is still touching lives today
God never calls us and leaves us to fend for ourselves
God intervenes - God touches - God lifts us out of our negative self-talk
Empowered by God
Through Word and Sacrament, God is empowering us today to follow Him
In this secular world that is in dire need of God’s love and direction, God is calling believers to follow Him
God is saying to you today: “I know you and I have plans for you”
God is encouraging you to stop your negative self-talk and excuses
God is also telling you that He will touch where you feel weak
Know today that you are empowered by God!
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