GEMS FROM JEREMIAH (4) “The day God ruined Jeremiah’s life”

 


Texts: Psalm 139; Jeremiah 1.1-5, 16.1-13, 20.7-18

     We often have a sentimental attitude about the Psalmist’s words:

“…it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139.13-14)

However, when similar language is used to describe Jeremiah’s calling to be a prophet (Jer. 1.4-5), it is anything but an attempt on God’s part to boost Jeremiah’s self-esteem.  Au contraire, these divine words, when used in Jeremiah, take on a great deal of ambiguity (for us).  We often have the habit of speaking of our vocation, our “calling” in life, as if God was a celestial guidance counselor.  Again, to grasp what is going on in the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah, we must disabuse ourselves of such modern, Western affectations.  An underlying current in a lot of Western religious thinking is that God is part of our plan, our script; God is there to serve us and our ambitions.  This notion is often presented in a subtle manner, but if we pay close attention to a lot of what passes for Christian communication, we will be able to discern that – despite the biblical and devotional rhetoric – this is in fact what is being said.  “Just accept Jesus and go to church, and your life will be great, a success, you may even live the American dream…because God loves you”.  The opening words of Jeremiah totally deconstruct such drivel.

     The fact is that, yes, God indeed does love Jeremiah and his people Israel and indeed, the entire world he created.  The reason Yahweh called Abraham in the first place was so that his descendants (i.e. Israel) would be the source of blessing for all the nations (cf. Gn. 12.1-3).  Israel’s very existence as a nation was a sign of God’s love for the world.  If you will, “God so loved the world that he formed Israel, so that everyone who follows her example should not perish…”  However, Israel had largely failed in her vocation to exemplify genuine humanness to the pagan nations, preferring more often than not to imitate the Gentiles rather than to be a contradictory sign of truth in a world of illusions.  Indeed, Israel’s calling as a nation was fundamentally prophetic.  However, as Jeremiah would discover on a personal level, there’s nothing easy or gratifying about being a prophet.  Once again, precisely because he loves his people, God desires to communicate with them and to warn them of impending disaster; hence, his choice of Jeremiah to be his messenger.  It is no easy thing to be part of the purposes of a loving God.  Love always comes with a cost.  At the end of the day, we are creatures; that is to say, we are called to play a part in God’s script.  As C.S. Lewis said, “…you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John”.[1]  Then again, it seems that neither Judas nor John had particularly easy lives; there are no easy roads, but some roads, as Jeremiah realized in his better moments, are worth the pain.


[1] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, New York: HarperOne, 2001 [1940, 1996], p. 111.

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