“Saying ‘Yes’ to Call: Putting Words in our Mouths” 2-3-13

The Reading—Jeremiah 1:4-10 Now the word of Yahweh came to me and said: “Before I formed you in the womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I dedicated you. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Bu I said, “But Sovereign Yahweh! I don’t know how to speak! I’m too young!” By Yahweh said, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ Now, go wherever I send you. Do not fear anyone, for I am with you to protect you. It is Yahweh who speaks.” Then Yahweh touched my mouth and said to me, “look, I am putting words in your mouth. This day I appoint you over nations and territories, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Our Middle Reading today is a reinterpretation of 1 Corinthians by Rev. Carol Even if I knew how to speak every language of earth and heaven, if I didn’t love you, it would all just be a cacophony of instruments banging with no meaning. Even if I had the key to all the secrets of the world and professed a faith strong enough to move a mountain, if I don’t love you, all that amounts to nonsense. I could give you and others everything that I possess. Then I, like Joan of Arc, could become willing to be burned at the stake for what I say I believe, but if I don’t love you, it is for naught. Love lasts and waits forever, love is pure kindness. Love allows for all freedom without jealousy, and does not pretend to be more that it is. Love doesn’t think it is better than others, it is never hurtful, doesn’t strike out in anger, and doesn’t keep track of how many times you hurt me. Love will never rejoice when something goes wrong for you, but will rejoice when truth prevails. Love never takes a break. When all the other gifts have ceased, perfect love will reign for all to see. Faith and hope are also important, but love is greater than all. The Gospel Reading: John 14: 21-33 Those who obey the commandments are the Ones who love me, and those who love me will be loved by Abba God. I, too, will love them and will reveal myself to them. Judas—not—Iscariot—said, “Rabbi, why is it that you’ll reveal yourself to us, and not to the whole World?” Jesus answered, “Those who love me will be true to my Word, and Abba God will love them; and we will come to them and make our dwelling place with them. Those who don’t love me don’t keep my Words. Yet the message you hear is not mine; it comes from Abba God who sent me. This much have I said to you while still with you; but the Paraclete, the Holly Spirit whom Abba God will send in my name, will instruct you in everything and she will remind you of all that I told you. ___________________________________________________God, we come into your presence today a little distracted. Our thoughts are other places. Call us back to you. Give us ears to listen and eyes to see. May all that I say bring glory to you. Amen. Put yourself in Jeremiah’s shoes just for a moment. There you are, minding your own business or trying to, and in comes God. This can’t be good, you think. Personal visits from God always mean something’s up and you kinda like your nice and quiet life just the way it is. But God walks in anyway. And then it comes—God speaks: “Before you were even thought of, before your mother even decided she wanted children, I had already chosen you. I dedicated you, and selected you to be a prophet to all the nations of Israel”. Whoa, God. Not so fast. I’m too young (and we can substitute any word you want here—old, shy, busy, tongue-tied—doesn’t matter to God) to speak on your behalf. Besides, I wouldn’t know what to say—you know me—a little distractible—I don’t stay on one subject very long and, anyway, this isn’t what I had in mind for my life right now;” “Stop right now!” says God. “Do not say that ‘I am too young.’ Go where I send you. There is no need to be afraid because I am going with you to protect you.” Then God touched my mouth and said, “I am putting my words into your mouth. This is the day your life changes: I appoint you over nations, countries, and states. It is your job to get rid of all that is unjust, and all that hurts my creation of earth and all its inhabitants. And then, it is your joy to build up that which is torn down and to plant new where old is gone.” And, just like that, God leaves you alone for now—alone with your thoughts, your protests, your amazement. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted after this experience with God. It feels so real, so now. I need time to think, or, maybe I don’t. Perhaps this call to Jeremiah is God’s call to me and to you. I want to do what I always do when I’m trying to understand something. I need to take it apart. What, exactly does God say in the midst of our “can’ts and won’ts and don’t know hows”? I think it probable that most of us, at some point in our lives, have said “I can’t do this”. It doesn’t much matter what you thought you couldn’t do, the experience is similar. Some of you did it anyway, some of you tried and failed, and there may have been times when ‘can’t’ won and you did nothing. God is not a God of ‘can’t’. There are stories of can’ts all through the Bible—look at Moses—and the burning bush—similar to Jeremiah, he tried every ‘can’t’ in the book to get out of doing what God was calling him to do. Again God told him that the words Moses would speak would be divinely inspired as if spoken by God. Jeremiah isn’t the only prophet who experiences this—Isaiah also experienced God touching his mouth at the time of his call. This kind of call expects the spoken word—preached, taught, dialogued, and meditated upon. And, for many of us, speaking—particularly in public—ranks pretty high on the list of things we don’t want to do. So, why does God call Jeremiah and us to speak of God’s grace and transforming power. I believe that, once again, it is about relationship. When we speak to another person, they have the opportunity to see our faces, hear our tone of voice, witness our excitement first-hand. The ancient Hebrew Rabbis were said to prefer the oral tradition—that is, the spoken word—to the written one. Spoken words are alive with not only history, but present and future as well. Spoken words nurture relationships with each other and with God. So why, then, is it so hard for us to speak of the wonderful work of God in our lives. Unfortunately, the concept of who God is has suffered in my generation and the generations that come after me. I lived through “God is Dead!”—most of you did as well—I remember the fear that some folks felt with the publishing of numerous books and articles on the subject. The cover of the April 8, 1966 edition of Time magazine asked the question "Is God Dead?" and the article which accompanied the cover addressed growing atheism in America at the time. This debate kept many theologians busy during the late 60’s and early 70’s—the precise time that a lonely teenager in Apopka, Florida was feeling a “call” from this same God who was presumed to be dead by others. It was a time of great confusion for me and for many. On the one hand, I was trying very hard to live a life according to the teachings of Jesus and worship God in song; while on the other hand, many thought that Jesus was a “great teacher of morals and ethics” and God—well l, I could sing if I wanted to, but there was no God to hear my praise. What finally ensued—and it was a great undertaking--were the efforts of many theologians—Christian, Jewish, and otherwise—to redefine God in a way that contemporary people could identify and understand. The late 60’s and early 70’s were a time of great change across many religious, social, cultural, and political arenas, in the United States and across the world. In fact, the birth of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches occurred bolstered and nourished by some of these same changes. This was a similar place to the one in which Jeremiah found himself. His father was a retired priest, and we learn from other Old Testament stories, that his home town of Anathoth was a place where several priests were sent when they ran into some trouble or another. So, Jeremiah was a “preacher’s kid”, surrounded by other priests and used to theological conversations even though still an adolescent himself. The nation of Israel had once again strayed from the right relationship they once had with God. They built idols while armies amassed warriors ready to bring down the Israel nation which no longer focused on the God of Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob. Jeremiah is often called the “weeping prophet”. He was given a great love for the people to whom he prophesied. Because of this, his heart was often broken by the sins of the people and their denunciation of Yahweh. His second book of writings of the words sent by God is called “Lamentations”—not a cheery book at all. But, shy, timid, resistant, reluctant Jeremiah followed the commands of God and took the word of Yahweh-sometimes critical—often frightening warnings—to the people for some 45 years. It is not so different with us. We think we are not ready, not skilled, not gifted. We are reluctant to share the words that God has given to us—reluctant to take the risk of speaking. Our excuses are loud and long. Our yeses are soft, barely uttered—perhaps no one will hear me. But God steps into our lives and uses us—plain, everyday folks like you and me to speak—not just act, but speak as well. God has always chosen people like us—common, ordinary, faithful people like us. Every single person that God has used throughout time has been just one of us before God called. And when God calls, and we say yes, words somehow arrive in our mouths just as we utter them. And, like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Moses we become prophets, spokespersons for the Lord. God has already written what we are to say. We know that Jesus Christ is the word of God incarnate. We have only to look at his life and work to know the word of God. God is not looking for theological proclamations or didactic presentations from any of us. To know the love of God through the grace of Jesus Christ is all we need to share. We talk so freely of God’s radical acceptance of and love for us—no matter what—gay, straight, short, tall, black, white, smart, not so smart, rich, poor—and, yet we keep it for ourselves. How can we do that? Surely it is worth allowing God to overcome our excuses, our perceived inadequacies, our timid reluctance, to bring someone else to this place of being and feeling loved by God. This place of being God’s beloved is giftedness beyond measure and encompasses all that you will ever need to step beyond your fear, hesitancy, and your focus on the possibility of failure. God will not let you fail when you step out and speak out about how your life has changed since you came to believe that God loves you exactly the way you are. God will not let you fail when you step out and speak out about this place where friends love to gather to share the experience of radical acceptance and inclusion. God says, “stop the excuses! Be who you really are…tell others what God’s sweet sense of love has done in your life. “ And together, we learn and grow, feel and rejoice, and listen and tell. And when God calls, we say “yes”! Amen and amen.