“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.
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