Consider the Call(ed)
In the third part of this series, we’ll keep Jeremiah 1 in view and look that the individual whom God calls to a ministry of obedience. In this case, we’ll be looking at Jeremiah as he began his lifetime of ministry unto the Lord. We’ll also probably sneak ahead a few chapters to better understand Jeremiah as a man who God called to serve as a prophet, teacher, preacher, and servant.
As we looked at the calling, we examined three key points:
The Calling might be something we object to, but God’s rebuttal is swift and clear
The Calling often involves being sent
The Calling must involve speaking God’s Word
Keep this in mind. Let’s look at the guy that God called and make a few observations about Jeremiah:
Jeremiah was uniquely qualified
Jeremiah was uniquely equipped
Jeremiah’s was uniquely used of God
1. Jeremiah was uniquely qualified
So, chapter 1, verse begins with telling us that Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests. It seems like his priestly pedigree may have made him a prime candidate for a promotion to prophet, right? Seems like a familiar theme when we arrive at Paul. He was a shoe-in for an apostle due to his pedigree as a pharisee and son of a pharisee (x-ref Acts 23:6) , right? Nope! Paul refers to himself as one seriously unqualified and unlikely pick for an apostle (x-ref I Corinthians 15:7-9) .
Jeremiah, the son of a priest, cites his age as part of his lack of qualification for the prophetic task being assigned to him.
So with regards to this first point, I am being facetious. Jeremiah was not uniquely qualified. But still, God called him, commanded his obedience, and set him on his ministerial course.
The application for us here is quite simple. We’re not called because we are uniquely qualified. In Gospel irony, we are unqualified but then in Christ, are made to be priests of the most high God. We are consecrated for his service and become part of that priestly lineage, but that happens by God’s grace alone.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
2. Jeremiah was uniquely equipped
Jeremiah was equipped for his calling, but this was not the case on day 1. This was a work of God’s grace.
Equipped with the Words to Say
God put the needed words into Jeremiah’s mouth and helped Jeremiah determine what he was saying. Behold I have put my words in your mouth. Jeremiah 26:2 says, ‘Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them’ do not hold back a word’.
It is a remarkable thing to see that the one who God calls, He also equips and gives the words to speak, and the authority with which to speak them. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, even came in the form of one commissioned by the Father. He told us that He was given the words to speak and the eternal, supreme authority to speak the Word of God. Of course, He was the very Word of God!
“Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.”
The application for us is that God has given us the words need to teach, preach, and minister the Gospel to others. And He us given us the authority to do so. In this, we have been equipped (x-ref II Timothy 3:16-17) .
Equipped with Team mates
Besides being given the words to speak, Jeremiah was given a scribe to work with him to write down these words. God equipped Jeremiah by giving him a man named to Baruch. In chapters 36-45 of Jeremiah, we see Baruch’s ministry, and we can read about it because it seems he wrote down all 52 chapters of Jeremiah for us! Jeremiah 36:18 tells us that Baruch wrote with ink on scroll the words from God. Baruch also was Jeremiah’s messenger delivered these unpopular words to the King and his men. Baruch was a partner in Jeremiah’s ministry and suffered along with his friend. (More on this when we have time to dive into chapter 45 together) This is an incredibly important part of some lessons I am learning about how God equips His people for ministry. He equips them not only with gifts and abilities, but also with one another.
Paul also had to learn this. Ministerial incompatibility seems like a topic even Paul had to wrestle with. See Acts 15:36-40 and then look at II Timothy 4:11. Paul had to learn that part of God’s plan to equip him for ministry involved him learning to serve alongside John Mark. (Question: If we and other believers are bought at the price of Christ’s blood, have we any right to say we’re ‘incompatible’ to serve alongside them?)
It seems to be God’s design to equip Gospel ministries through partnership and creating this whole church thing. Body, members, Christ as its heads…
Examples abound of God’s faithful ministers being paired or grouped with other for effective ministry.
Paul + Aquilla/Priscilla
Elijah + Elisha
David + Jonathan
James + John
Peter + Andrew
every church ever
I think I could spend a lot more time here, but let me just say that God uniquely equipped Jeremiah with a ministry companion even when he felt alone and discouraged, Like Elijah, we might feel understaffed, alone, and unequipped for ministry. But God equips us with other co-laborers.
3. Jeremiah was uniquely used of God
Jeremiah was a messenger of God’s Word. He was a pretty amazing teacher and used not only words, but also object lessons to deliver the message. Here are some of the object lessons that God used in Jeremiah’s ministry, which I hope we can double-click on in the future:
the ruined loincloth: chapter 13:1-11
the potter & the clay: chapter 18:1-11
the broken flask from the potter: chapter 19
buying a field: chapter 32
the wooden & iron yokes: chapter 28
Besides teaching through these object lessons, Jeremiah himself was an object lesson. Jeremiah’s personal sufferings and experiences were used to teach lessons to those around him.
We find a vivid example of this in chapter 38. King Zedekiah permitted Jeremiah, already imprisoned, to be lowered down into a mud-filled cistern. It sounds a like the situation David described in Psalm 40. Faced with imminent starvation, Jeremiah's plight comes into the view of Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian with access to the king’s courtyard. This man must have cast a glance down into the cistern to understand just how dire things had become for Jeremiah. He was moved by compassion and asked the king for permission to remove the prophet from the cistern. The Bible tells us that Eded-Melech took 30 men with him and fashioned ropes from old clothing to lift Jeremiah to safety. The prophet’s misfortune and subsequent deliverance were publicly visible. This narrative points us to Christ as the one who was made to suffer in our place, and more so, did this in order to ensure our deliverance from the deepest, darkest depths.
So, believer, you might be used as a painful object lesson. Just remember that in the midst of doing so, you are pointing others to Christ. Your life and even your hardships might be used by the Lord to teach others and even bring them to salvation.
In the next and final post on this topic of calling, we will look at the very specific promises from the God who calls to those whom He has called.