Jeremiah
1:4-10—God promises to deliver the prophet Jeremiah from the fear of
those opposing the Word. Before Jeremiah was born, he was called to be a
prophet. The point of contact of this lesson with the Gospel is Jeremiah’s fear
of preaching the Word as implied in verse 8. In the Gospel Jesus faced His
opposition with courage. Here we are given the human side of the preacher. What
would Jeremiah say concerning himself? He is destined to preach (verse 5). This is his life’s calling, although at times
he feels unworthy to preach (verse 6), and is at times afraid to preach (verse 8).But
preach he must for he know that he speaks for God (verse 9).
At the
beginning of his writing, Jeremiah explains how he was called by God to be a
prophet. He makes it clear that he has a strong sense of being born
particularly to be a prophet-almost a sense of predestination to the prophetic
role. At first Jeremiah protested the call; he was too young he said. Finally,
he accepted and he senses that he is a prophet to all the nations, not to
Israel alone, with the assignment to both destroy evil and sin and to build up
the kingdom of God.
Ina time when
many did not want to hear God’s Word, as a prophet of God, Jeremiah had a
difficult time. In some of the “confessions” that he wrote, Jeremiah curse the
day he was born and expressed grave doubts about any good coming out of his
declaration of the message that God had give him. But God protected and prolonged
Jeremiah’s work as His spokesman and reaffirmed frequently his commissioning.
The point of
contrast to this lesson with this week’s Gospel is Jeremiah’s fear of preaching
the Word as implied in verse 8. In the Gospel lesson Jesus faced his opposition
with courage – Luke 4:30. True, the preacher is a person yet the ministry
belongs to Christ.
Collect for Epiphany 4—Lord, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. [2]
[1]
The Crucifixion, Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for
personal and congregational use
[2]
Collect for Epiphany 4, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing
House, St., Louis
No comments:
Post a Comment