“Ministry On Display” (Part Two)

This week we are considering Jeremiah as a helpful model for ministry in our generation. Today, we’ll look at Jeremiah’s commission as seen in Jeremiah 1:6-10. What was his response to God’s call? How did God reply?

His hesitation: Young Jeremiah was not the first or the last to react with reluctance to God’s calling. Moses had many excuses at the age of 80 for why he was not God’s man. Jeremiah appealed to his youth and inexperience and lack of speaking skills.

In my own call to ministry, I was 17 years old and had responded publicly in my home church. It was a life-changing night for me. I was finally focused on a career with Jesus! But my father triggered hesitation as he questioned my public speaking ability. How I wish he had said that Sunday night, “With God’s help, you will be a good servant of God”!

God’s reassurance: God quickly responded to Jeremiah’s excuses with a twofold promise:

• I am in charge of where you will minister. The day after our public ordination, we start a journey with Jesus. Mine has led to Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and overseas. Jeremiah’s led to a spiritually backslidden people. He would be considered a failure today. Imagine preaching for 40 years and not being able to recall a day when people repented and turned back to God. Instead, we receive an inward look into the struggles of this prophet:“Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?” (Jeremiah 15:18 ESV).“O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance foe me on my persecutors” (15:15).

  “I did not sit in the company of the revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation” (15:17).

• I am in charge of your message. God told him: “Whatever I command you, you shall speak” (1:7). And then, as He did with the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:7), He touched his mouth. This was a special personal touch for his preaching that seemed to say: “This will not be easy. Don’t be afraid of them or take heed of their faces when you preach.” Every pastor knows the significance of body language and frowns as we preach. Looks of disapproval are something that “goes with the territory.” And there are times when we search for the proper theme for the next series of sermons. God says, “Come to me for your messages.”

On Wednesday, a final look at Jeremiah 1 and this man’s model for ministry.