Dangerous Love (sermon)
About a decade ago, themovie Evan Almighty came out. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s amodern retelling of the Noah story, where a brand new congressman named Evan isasked to co-sponsor a bill that would allow development in national parks.
Before Evan has decidedwhat to do, God—played by the one and only Morgan Freeman--steps in, and says,“oh hey. Evan. I’d like you to build an ark”.
And, at first it’s justa statement. Hey, this is the job I have for you. But Evan is a bit surprised,and like, I think, most of us would, thinks it might be a hoax and tries tocarry on with his new suburban life.
But God doesn’t go away,and neither does this annoying commission to build an ark. Wood and toolsarrive in his front yard, animals—two by two—begin to just show up. His hairand beard grow overnight, and he suddenly can’t wear anything other than whatwe might call prophet’s garb. And the more Evan tries to avoid God, the worseit gets.
When I read today’s OldTestament reading from Jeremiah, I hear something similar going on.
God tells Jeremiah that:
"Before I formedyou in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
What an intimidating jobdescription! A “prophet to the nations”! It’s no wonder that Jeremiah says “youknow what God? I’m too young for this whole prophet to the nations thing. I’mjust a priest, I’m not ready for a promotion yet.”
But just like in EvanAlmighty, God isn’t willing to accept this answer from Jeremiah.
“You must go
I am with you to deliveryou
I have put my words in your mouth”
And we hear this refrain inscripture a lot—do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. I, God, am going to giveyou all the tools you need. We hear this again and again in the stories ofNoah, and Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and Elijah, and Isaiah, and Peter, andPaul, and centuries of saints and martyrs. Don’t be afraid. I’m going to equipyou for what I’m calling you to do.
In the case of Jeremiah, that’sreally comforting… until you get to the very next lines, when God tellsJeremiah what his job actually entails.
Plucking up. Pulling down.
Destroying. Overthrowing.
Building up. Planting.
And despite what some Biblicalcommentators might argue, I don’t think this is figurative language. Pluckingup and pulling down means literally pulling an entire nation and people out ofits self-serving, idolatrous ways. Destroying and overthrowing means that thesepeople will literally go to captivity in Babylon for disobeying God. We knowthis from the first few verses of the chapter, which are not included in ourlection today, where the editors tell us that in the fifth month, the peoplewent into exile.
This isn’t a nice, cozy call to be aprophet to the nations. It’s not a relatively cushy job, like Jonah’s, wherethe people all repent, and all the difficulties he has to deal with are fromhis own personal issues. There’s no promised exodus for these individuals—a lotof them are going to die in captivity. Most will never see their homeland again.The building up and planting won’t actually apply to most of them. Jeremiahhimself will never see the people of Israel restored to the land.
Reading Jeremiah’s call story shouldbe inspiring. After all, God, despite all of Jeremiah’s objections about beingtoo young and not good enough, says that he was still called, and still had arole to play in God’s work.
But I think we’re also being dulywarned about what a call from God might require from us.
Scholar and pastor Robert Lahawrites of the book of Jeremiah that “Re-creation andrenewal requires the tearing down and dismantling of old and uselessstructures. This, of course, is a difficult and often unwelcome work because itmeans letting go of old hopes and dreams and trying to imagine something newthat, as of yet, does not exist.”
God’s call could mean letting go of old hopes and dreams and to imaginesomething new that does not yet exist.
God’s words in our mouthsare risky and life-altering.
For me, that has meantleaving behind other plans, ideas of what my future might hold, to go toseminary. And maybe your call—your vocation has required you to give upsomething that’s perceived as “successful” or lucrative… in order to dosomething else. Maybe your call has required you to take your successful careerin a new direction, or spend your limited free time in the care of others, orgive more time and money than you normally would to support God’s mission inthe world.
God’s words in ourmouths are dangerous and death-dealing.
They spell death for thethings that distract us from God, the pursuit of idols, our focus on money overthe lives of innocent human beings, our focus on short-term profit over theecosystems that sustain life on this planet, our focus on the people who touttheir own authority while crushing the poor under their feet.
God’s words in ourmouths refocus our priorities on the kingdom of God, instead of our earthlykingdoms.
Suddenly, our gifts andtalents that seem irrelevant become a part of our vocation. We move from beingthe authorities, critiquing Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, to seeking outthe work of the kingdom, knowing that the care of others’ souls is more urgentthan any ideology.
We move from destructionto building and planting, from exile to freedom, from idolatry to love.
For Jeremiah, and foreach of us, we are being called to speak a dangerous truth about God’s love andcompassion that must deal death to the evil of this world, so that there may belife anew.
It is for this life thatChrist died and was raised.
And it is for this lifethat you, too, are being called.
What words is Godputting in your mouth?
Where are you beingcalled to dangerous, life-giving love?