CONTEXT - This calling narrative apparently took place in 627 BCE when Josiah was king and busy reforming political and religious institutions to strengthen his control of Judah and bordering states. The occasion for Josiah’s energy in restructuring his alliances was Assyria’s tenuous status; they were on the verge of collapse so with their enemy weak and seemingly vulnerable, Josiah thought it a good time to do his own geo-politicking with Egypt.

CALL - It is during this time that Jeremiah receives the "call." God says that he is to be appointed "over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (1:10). Like the prophet Moses before him, Jeremiah was none to eager to be a prophet. It wasn’t a salary issue either. Speaking truth in the face of conflicting and competing realities makes Jeremiah’s reluctance understandable. No wonder he said, "pass" when the prophet’s mantle was being passed around.

I’D LOVE TO, BUT I’M TOO . . . The reason Jeremiah gives for his resistance is that he is both too young and too unsuited for the task (1:6). Yet God’s call could not be avoided. God commanded Jeremiah not to speak of himself as a boy and not to be afraid of the powers he would confront. God would be with him, for his calling was based on the foresight and choice of God and not based on good career counseling.

 

JOHN DONNE [1572-1663]

What is it that God has made you for? What awakens your passion, your creativity and your sense of being true to yourself? What is your calling? What do you need to do in order to cooperate with that calling?

 

Please refer the DPS homily based on this passage: Known . . . Consecrated . . . Appointed. Also, you may want to review Peterson’s fine work on this passage: Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1984), pp.37-43.

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[1] John Donne, Holy Sonnets 5.