4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." 7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD." 9 Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." 11 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see an almond branch." 12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it." 13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north." 14 Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands."
Jeremiah 1:4-16
When God called Jeremiah to be His prophet, the young man responded with some hesitation. He knew that the spiritual condition of Israel was seriously bad. The people had forsaken the true God and chased after false gods — things that are not gods at all. He also knew that the message that God had for His people wasn't going to be well received. In a word, he was afraid. He tried to convince God that he was not the right person for the job. After all, who would listen to a young man like him? And even if people listened to him, Jeremiah was certain that he lacked the speaking skills necessary to convince people to turn away from their idolatry and turn back to the living God. But God rejected Jeremiah's objections, dismissed his fears, and assured him that he had been specifically created and equipped for the work to which he was being called. God knew this about Jeremiah because He Himself had chosen, called, equipped, and commissioned Jeremiah to speak His Word of judgment against His people for "worshiping the works of their own hands."
While we've grown far too sophisticated to whittle wood and shape metal into objects that we would worship as gods, people in our world continue to make their offerings to false gods and worship the works of their own hands. In place of idols made from stone or wood or precious metals, we have shaped the things of creation into our own idols to worship. We have fashioned gods out of the good gifts of government, personal wealth, human reason, science, technology, etc. and have feared, loved, and trusted them in place of the only true God while insisting that we have done nothing wrong. In some ways, Jeremiah's call, while daunting, was preferable to our call to speak God's Word against the false gods of our time. At least the people of Jeremiah's situation recognized that there was something greater than themselves. In our experience, many people have put themselves in place of both the true God and false gods.
Unfortunately, the sins of our society have significantly influenced us. Conditioned by the rampant idolatry of our culture and immersed in its self-centeredness, we are prone to approaching the true God on the basis of our self-idolization. We buy into popular thinking about earning God's favor through being good people — on the basis of the works of our own hands. It's easy to view ourselves according to our own goodness or, at least, by being better than many other people. We look to God to bless us because of what we have done or have refrained from doing. Such idolatry draws us away from the Cross and into ourselves. We are spiritually sick and enslaved. But the God who sent Jeremiah to reclaim His people has come to us in our sickness and captivity. He who knew us before we existed chose us to be His people in the beginning, formed us in the womb for His purposes, and called us to proclaim His Word of life and healing. Healed and made more alive than ever by Jesus' loving sacrifice on the Cross, we live our lives in response to His love and grace. Now the works of our hands are the acts of worship we perform in carrying out His desires. Through the works of our hands others come to know the living God who heals their diseases and drives out their demons. In the works of our hands the good news of Jesus is carried forward into our broken world and brings restoration and reconciliation. Our excuses melt away in the face of our God who has filled our mouths with His Word and calmed all of our fears. It is our privilege and our joy to worship Him with the works of our hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment