Jeremiah was to say the least, a reluctant prophet as we heard in the story of his call:
“The word of the Lord came to me: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicate you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. ‘Ah, Lord God’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak. I am too young!’” (Jeremiah 1:4-6).
Though he was “too young” and did not know “how to speak” Jeremiah answered God’s call and became a prophet to the nations. As we hear in today’s first reading, not only was Jeremiah a reluctant prophet he was also a complaining prophet: “Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth! A man of strife and contention to all the land!” Although he knows he was predestined to be a prophet, his wish is that he had never been born. Nevertheless, despite all his complaints, he remained a faithful prophet: “When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart.”
In today’s reading Jeremiah makes a prayer of complaint to God as he feels himself threatened from every side: “You have indeed become for me a treacherous brook, whose waters do not abide!” The Lord hears Jeremiah’s lament and answers him: “Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, For I am with you, to deliver and rescue you, says the Lord.” Jeremiah was a reluctant and complaining prophet but always remained faithful.
In many ways Jeremiah was a precursor of Jesus. Jeremiah, like Jesus, preached against the Temple and threatened its destruction because of the injustice in the land:
“Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message there: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD! Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds so that I may dwell with you in this place…Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with your neighbor; if you no longer oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow…And now, because you have committed all these deeds…because you did not listen, though I spoke to you untiringly, and because you did not answer, though I called you, I will do to this house, which bears my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your ancestors, exactly what I did to Shiloh.” (Jeremiah 7:1-3, 5-6, 13-14).
Jeremiah threatens the Jerusalem Temple with the same destruction as the sanctuary at Shiloh. Like Jesus, Jeremiah suffered greatly and was threatened with death for challenging the secular and religious authorities of his time.
Like Jeremiah you are I can be very reluctant to answer God’s call. We can make all kinds of excuses, “I am not good enough, holy enough. I am too young; I do not know how to speak.” God does not accept any of these excuses. He has chosen us through our baptism:
“You are the light of the world…Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14, 16).
God listens to our excuses and our complaints but then tells us that nonetheless he has chosen us to bring his light to our world and promises that he is always with us.
Image: “Cappella Sistina, Prophet Jeremiah” by f_snarfel is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.