The Words of Jeremiah the Prophet
My last two articles were about prayer words:
This afternoon, as I attended the ordination of one of my students, the words that Jeremiah received from the Lord caught my attention. The Moderator of Cavite Presbytery shared a message based on Jeremiah 1:4-9:
As I listened to the message, I was reminded of three things in responding to the call of God to proclaim the gospel of His Son:
The call to proclaim came in a time of national decline.
When God calls men to the ministry, the typical response is to focus on oneself.
When God calls men to the ministry, God Himself will confirm such a call.
The Moderator shared the above message and related it to the Ordinand:
The man was so happy about this special event in his life. As he commemorated how the Lord protected his life in two previous fires, he concluded that the Lord was calling him.
Here is his brother-in-law and at the same his Supervising Minister who happened to be my long-time friend:
His wife is the cashier in the school where I work with. A blessed couple indeed! The man is called to the ministry and his wife is very supportive of it:
Finally, the act of ordination. Other ministers in Cavite Presbytery were called in front to lay their hands on him. After requesting the Ordinand to kneel, the Moderator led in prayer.
This ceremony reminded me of my ordination in 1995. That was 29 years ago.
This event happened at Peniel Presbyterian Church under the supervision of the Cavite Presbytery of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines.
The Relevance of Prophetic Ministry in Our Time
- The words of the Lord came to Jeremiah in a time of national decline.
The prophet's ministry culminated at a time when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. This tells us that something was wrong with God's people and that wrong had not been addressed and corrected which finally led to judgment.
We are living too in a time when nations are in decline for so many reasons. Unless these issues are addressed and solved, we cannot expect things to get better in days to come.
- Jeremiah responded to the call of God with excuses.
Such a response is typical. We see Moses responded the same way. Realizing the seriousness of the call, fear will lead one to a feeling of inadequacy. As we look into ourselves and measure our capacity with the tasks assigned to us, such a withdrawal is a normal response
- The Lord's confirmation of his call
When God truly calls a man, He will remove all our excuses. His presence and assurance of protection are sufficient enough to remove one's fear.
The act of touching the prophet's mouth by the Lord is an act of empowerment. The Lord's words are now put in his mouth.
Furthermore, the Lord describes the nature of the prophetic ministry assigned to Jeremiah with six related tasks: to uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow, build, and plant.
Four of these tasks seem negative. They point to the fact that something rooted in nations and kingdoms has taken root for so long that needs to be uprooted. They could be a legal system that promotes plunder just like what is happening in our time. Anything that is considered an established structure does nothing for the common good, but brings harm instead. These things must be uprooted, torn down, destroyed, and overthrown. Any appearance of evil must be removed. That is the task of the prophet concerning nations and kingdoms.
Likewise, preachers of the gospel today share the same task. We must address first the problem of sin in whatever form. Only by addressing sin, can we truly present the gospel of Christ.