Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
February 1, 2004
“You Can Do This”
Jeremiah 1:4-10
INTRODUCTION: How does God communicate with you? Are his plans always clear? Never clear? Are you ever unsure whether it was really God speaking to you?
We probably all have uncertainties that we didn’t hear right. That maybe it wasn’t God after all. Maybe it was “just me” thinking something. We fear “missing God” and “messing up.”
In today’s scripture Jeremiah was a priest by birth and a prophet by calling. His call to be a prophet came in 626 B. C. just five years before the important reforms of Josiah. He lived at a time when society was deteriorating economically, politically, and spiritually and God’s Word was offensive to many people. Sound like our day? Jeremiah was minding his own business when God suddenly barged into his life calling him to be a prophet to the nations. God would “set him over kingdoms, to uproot and tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” It was a big assignment; and if Jeremiah had had any inkling of what God was really calling him to do, he might have protested all the more. His job was one of the toughest ones of all the Hebrew prophets. He had to preach an unpopular message to people who did not want to hear anything he had to say.
1. He Knew It Was the Word of the Lord: Scripture points out specifically that Jeremiah knew it was God speaking to Him. This was probably due more than anything else to his personal faith and fellowship with God. He knew God in a personal way in his life. One theme that he preached over and over was unconditional surrender --the priority of the spiritual over everything else. He indicated that only faithfulness to God could guarantee the nation’s security. Jeremiah recognized God speaking because of his close relationship to Him. He had heard God speak before and he again recognized the Word of the Lord when it came to him.
We can also know that it is God speaking to us when we are living in a close relationship and in fellowship with Him. When we make Him our number one priority, we can identify his Voice in the crowd. John 10:4, 5 likens us to sheep who know the Shepherd’s voice. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...he goes ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice” (v. 4).
There were four things that indicated God knew Jeremiah as well:
a. In verse 5 He said before I formed you...he was a valued person to God His creator. We are valued in the sight of the Lord. Sometimes we don’t think so.
STORY: A preacher was walking past a tattoo shop in Hong King and one tattoo in the window stood out to him--Born to Lose. He went inside and asked, “Why would anyone want to be branded with such a gloomy statement?”
The Old Chinese man shrugged his shoulders and said, “before the tattoo is put on the body it is on the mind.” If “Born to Lose” is implanted in the mind, it shapes the way we live.
God wanted Jeremiah to know that he had value in the sight of God. He was in the sight of God. He was in no way “Born to Lose.”
We need to lift our eyes from circumstances that cause us to think less of ourselves. God has a plan for each of us just like he did when he formed Jeremiah. If we have a “Born to Lose” attitude in our minds, it will hold us back to where we will not be open to what God wants for us.
b. God also said to him, “I knew you or I chose you. I approved of you. God believed in Jeremiah enough to choose him. He picked him out for something special. The Message Bible says, “Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.” He does the same for each one of us. We have to believe in God’s opinion of us.
c. He went on to say, “I set you apart--consecrated you and sanctified you.
d. The fourth thing he said was, “I appointed you, I gave you a commission--a special assignment. I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
These four blessings were significant to Jeremiah:
a. valued
b. chosen
c. set apart
d. commissioned
If you were to hear these words from God and you knew it was God, would they be a surprise? What evidence in your life do you see of God’s knowledge of your life?
2. Jeremiah’s Response: Immediately Jeremiah spoke up and said, “Hold it right there God.” “Thank you, but no thank you.” Jeremiah was struck with terror over the magnitude of His Word. He pled youth and inexperience. “Not me, God. Let George do it. I’m too young. They won’t listen to me. I’m only a child. No Way. I can’t do this.”
STORY: One day Charlie Brown was talking to his friend, Linus, about the pervasive sense of inadequacy he feels all the time. Charlie moaned, “You see, Linus, it goes all the way back to the beginning. The moment I was born and set foot on the stage of life they took one look at me and said, “Not right for the part!”
God didn’t let Jeremiah off the hook that easy. He would not accept Jeremiah’s “NO” just because he thought he was too young, too inadequate and not right for the part.
STORY: A bumper sticker was spotted in Nashville that said, “Do you believe in love at first sight or shall I drive by again?”
God is willing to drive by again until we get his message and are willing to accept it and believe it. He doesn’t let us off the hook after one try.
ILLUSTRATION: When we were in Mexico there was a root beer float social one night and there was to be some singing. Dewey played the harmonica and he had also brought along a keyboard and a guitar. I was appointed to play the guitar and I didn’t want to do it. I felt inadequate around these people. So I just spoke up and said, “I didn’t bring my guitar.”
“That’s OK,” he said. In no time flat a guitar was plopped down in front of me and I played--in fact better than I had expected.
Often we must confess our reluctance to heed God’s call. We can always find a reason not to do what we feel God calling us to do.
1. I’m too old or too young
2. I don’t speak well or know enough
3. I’m too busy
4. I can’t do that
5. It must not really be God calling
6. I can serve, but not now, maybe later.
7. I didn’t bring my guitar.
3. Tangible Evidence: God just didn’t listen to all of Jeremiah’s protests and he won’t listen to ours either. God brought some tangible evidence next. We need this too. He did two more things to reassure Jeremiah.
1. He touched his mouth
2. Put words into his mouth
From this time on Jeremiah’s words would truly be God’s words. Remember that the power for the journey does not come from within us but from above us. Luke 24:49 reminds us of this. “But stay in the city (the disciples were told) until you have been clothed (endued ) with power from on high.”
The touch of God on Jeremiah’s mouth made the difference. He knew he was called to do a difficult task but he also knew that God was going to help him to do it.
We can count on him to help us today to do whatever he asks us. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. “You can do this” because you don’t have to rely on your own resources.
STORY: B. B. King grew up in Mississippi during the depression and life wasn’t easy for him. He traveled to Memphis where he heard some of the great blues guitarists. He said, “My soul UNDERSTOOD the music.” And then he heard a word spoken to him. “You can do this.” For 50 years he has played the blues. He still hears that word spoken to him.
Jeremiah had this same experience--God saying, “You can do this.” I’ll be with you and fill in the gaps for your inadequacy. My presence will go with you.
We know that Jeremiah was faithful to the call because in Jeremiah 20:8-9 when he decided to resign and just quit, he couldn’t because he said, “his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” He continued as a prophet for 40 or 50 years and fulfilled God’s call.
CONCLUSION: Don’t be surprised when you feel inadequate for the task. The kind of assignments God gives are always God-sized beyond what people can do. He wants to demonstrate His power.
He works with imperfect, inadequate people in impossible situations. Jeremiah was timid, prone to discouragement, and fearful.
ILLUSTRATION: It is said that the closest to perfection a person comes is when he is filling out a job application.
So don’t worry about your inadequacies.
There may be many reasons why we have not accepted God’s call in the past.
1. You might think He is asking more of you than you are willing to give
2. You might feel inadequate like Jeremiah.
3. You might feel you have other priorities and can’t be bothered now. Maybe later.
4. You might feel stretched to your limits already. Can’t handle another thing.
5. You may have a low self image.
God can work with all of these objections just as he did with Jeremiah and make you productive in His service. You just need to give Him permission.
“You can do this.”
Let us Pray:
