by Mike Stavlund
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10
For Sunday, February 3, 2013: Year B—Epiphany 4
Preachers are a funny breed. We take ourselves, our work, and our words very seriously—as we should—yet we assiduously maintain a veneer of pious humility. We work hard at something difficult in order to make it appear effortless. We imagine that we can change the world, or at least our little corner of it. Every week, we redouble our life’s investment in our spoken words, hoping that we can somehow evoke some of the Divine Word by these earnest efforts.
Yet underneath, we bear deep insecurities.
We Are Not Alone
Jeremiah is a preacher/prophet not unlike the rest of us, but he got a call quite unlike the rest of us.
Anyone who is a preacher starts to salivate when reading a passage like this. It is a kind of litany of all that plagues us along with everything that we long for. Furthermore, it seems to present a way out of our predicament. We are just like Jeremiah:
Wondering if we are special? Yes, Lord.
Doubting our call? Yes, Lord.
Feeling less than up to the task? Yes, Lord.
Afraid of the powers-that-be? Yes, Lord.
Desperately wanting Almighty God to put words in our mouth (or at least in our word processing program)? Yes, Lord.
Looking for a mandate as big as all the world? Yes, Lord.
Not-so-secretly wanting to be famous and influential and powerful? ...Uh, yes, Lord.
Looking to be freed from our deep doubts? Yes, Lord.
Jerry’s Ticket to Ride
It gives us chills when we read it: “See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." This ordinary man gets an unwavering call from Almighty God to be a mouthpiece to the whole world. Lifted above the doubts of everyday life, he is launched from obscurity to hero status with one clarion call from God.
The Thorns on the Other SIde of the Fence
But can Jeremiah’s call even be about us? After all, how could anyone wield this kind of power without having a direct line to the throne of God? So are we better off in our not-knowing, in our doubts, and in our insecurities? On second thought, certainty might be more of a prison than a parole.
The Hardest Question
Are we better off without the kind of authority and colonial imperative that Jeremiah receives in today’s text? Is God’s work in our day and time better served with quieter voices in smaller places? Is a postmodern prophet better served with an opinion than a mandate?
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Mike Stavlund writes from a 5-car pile-up at the intersection of his Christian faith and real life. A husband of over 15 years and a father of 4 children, he lives with his wife and 3 daughters in a small house outside Washington, DC. He’s a part of an innovative emergence Christian community called Common Table, a co-conspirator with the Relational Tithe, and a proud part of the collective called Emergent Village. He blogs at MikeStavlund.com, and his first book, "Force of Will", will be published by Baker in the Spring of 2013.
