Last week I had the opportunity to preach at a few of our sister congregations on the south side of Atlanta. Some of you know who the preacher of those churches is. It is pastor Jonathan Scharf. Pastor Scharf is one of those guys, you know the kind that can do everything that you can do, he just does it better. In almost every way, Pastor Jonathan Scarf is better than I am. He is taller than I am. He has more hair than I do and the hair he has is even turning grey faster than mine is (even though he is younger than I am). Pastor Jonathan Scharf is smarter than I am. He is more patient than I am. He is more selfless, more giving, more kind, and more caring than I am. I have known Pastor Jonathan Scharf for a long time, longer I think than even his wife, and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt and without question, Pastor Jonathan Scharf is a better man than I am.
Pastor Jonathan Scharf is a better pastor than I am. He is a better preacher and teacher. He has a better singing voice. He is better with children. He is more involved in teen ministry. He is better at adult discipleship. Even the little old ladies love him more than they love me. This one I can’t prove because it is kind of personal, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he reads his bible and bows his head in prayer more often than I do.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to stand in his pulpit and teach in his classroom. Now that I think about it, why should I bother serving in the ministry at all when Pastor Jonathan Scharf can do everything I can do, only he can do it better?
Pastor Scharf is my excuse, what’s yours? Maybe for you its time. That wouldn’t at all surprise me. We are a busy people. Work obligations, family obligations, social obligations, and your eating and sleeping obligations leave little to no free time for service at church. Time is a pretty good excuse, but I have noticed we tend to make time for the things that are important to us. Maybe an even better excuse would be, fear. It can be kind of scary to knock on a stranger’s door and invite them to church. It is a little daunting to go up to a visitor and welcome them to worship. It can be uncomfortable to visit people in the hospital and nursing home. Fear is a pretty good excuse to avoid service at church, but I have never been beaten up at a nursing home, I’ve neither been belittled nor berated by a guest, I have had a door slammed in my face but honestly, I was more amused than offended. Turns out our fear is mostly unfounded. So, that brings us back to pastor Scharf and the people that are like him. People are probably our most often used excuse, especially for a congregation this size. When the church was just starting out it was all hands on deck because if you didn’t do it, it didn’t get done. But now we have people for that. Why should I teach Sunday school, organize an event, or direct the choir? Can’t the pastor’s wife do that? (I don’t recommend letting my wife hear you say that. Last person who said something like that to her had what they call a come to Jesus moment.) Why should I visit the shut-ins, reach out to the delinquents, or follow up on a visitor? We have a pastor for that. Why should I volunteer to clean the church or bring snacks or organize an event when there are so many other people here who can do that.
Pastor Scharf was not yet born when the LORD presented the prophet Jeremiah with an opportunity for service in the church. So, Jeremiah had to come up with a different excuse. Jeremiah shares his excuse with us in verse 6. There we read, “6 Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” Jeremiah’s excuse is not all that different then the excuses we give. He is basically telling the LORD that he can’t serve because he lacks the ability and experience required. Now, clearly Jeremiah knew how to speak. Perhaps he was not the world’s greatest orator, but when you read through the book of Jeremiah you discover he was an above average preacher, he was a bit of a poet actually. And clearly Jeremiah was not a child. Considering Jeremiah’s ministry spanned the reign of five kings of Judah it is likely that he is rather young when he was presented with this opportunity to serve, but he is not a child.
Still, Jeremiah’s excuse might sound reasonable to you. You might think he has presented the LORD with a valid reason why he shouldn’t have to serve. However, consider the arrogance of Jeremiah’s excuse. How Jeremiah speaks to the LORD shows a humble respect, he calls Him Sovereign LORD. But what Jeremiah says to the Sovereign LORD is stained with a subtle superiority. “Ah, Sovereign LORD”, Jeremiah protests and in so doing invites the LORD to look at things from his point of view. It is a suggestion that the LORD has overlooked something that Jeremiah clearly sees and that the LORD needs to be informed by Jeremiah; that the LORD would benefit from some of Jeremiah’s insight and understanding of the situation.
When you examine Jeremiah’s excuse as to why he could not be of service in the church you see arrogance. If you examine the excuses you give, as to why you can’t be of service in the church, I bet you will see the same. I know I see it when I examine my excuses. When God places various opportunities for service before us, be it public preaching or private praying, and we make excuses why we shouldn’t do it, can’t do it, won’t do it, are we not basically telling our Sovereign LORD that He screwed up, that He made a mistake, and that He should have asked someone else to do it? When you refuse to take advantage of a service opportunity the LORD places before you, it might be insecurity and uncertainty that you are feeling, but it is arrogance that you are showing.
I have my excuse, you have your excuse, Jeremiah had his excuse. In verse 7 the LORD reacts to all our excuses. We read, “7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.” This reminds me of the times I tell one of my boys to do the dishes. They tell me, “Ah, dad. I don’t wanna.” To which I often respond, “I’m sorry for the confusion, I’m not asking you to do the dishes, I’m telling you to do the dishes.” To which they respond, “whhhyyyy?” To which I reply, “because I said so, that’s why.” To which they reply, at least if they know what is good for them, “yes sir.” In effect the LORD is telling Jeremiah, and by extension you and I, “you will go where I tell you to go and you will say what I tell you to say because I the Sovereign LORD said so.” Having our arrogance rebuked and the heavenly hierarchy reestablished, the only appropriate response on our part is a repentant, “yes Sir.”
“Because I said so” is a good enough reason for us to do what the Sovereign LORD tells us to do. But the LORD does not want to drive us to service with the threat of the Law. Rather, the LORD desires to entice us to service with the promise of the gospel. That’s what we see the LORD doing for Jeremiah on either side of this rebuke. Let’s start on the front side of the rebuke. Back up in verse 5 the LORD says, “5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” The LORD reminds us that He “formed” you. This is not so much a reference to the creation of the universe, rather, it is a description of the personalization and customization of your individual aptitude and abilities. The LORD reminds us that He “knew” you. Long before you were a twinkle in your daddy’s eye, the LORD was intimately acquainted with your talents and gifts. The LORD reminds us that He “set you apart”. Service is what you were designed for, it is what you were built to do, it is the purpose of your life.
Now, here is where we really start to see the graciousness of our God. The LORD reminds us that He “appointed you”. The word “appointed” has an almost judicial feel to it in our language so allow me to shade it a bit with the Hebrew by saying instead, the LORD “gifted you”. He gifted you with the opportunity to do what you were designed to do. You see, the LORD does not need you to perform works of service. He who cleansed your soul from the stain of sin could also miraculously clean the toilets here at church, He who caused light to shine in the universe could also zap faith into your children, and He who loaded the animals into the ark could also lead unbelievers through those doors two by two if he wanted. But the LORD does not want to hog all the fun, He does not want to deprive you of the joy and satisfaction that comes from fulfilling your purpose and so He places before you an opportunity to do what you were designed to do; He provides you with the gift of service.
We see the graciousness of our God even more clearly when we jump to the back side of the rebuke to verse 9. There we read, “9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.” Here we see that not only has the LORD designed us to serve but He also equips us to serve. He reaches out His hand to you. This is such a gracious thing for our God to do. It reminds me of what it says in John 15:16 " You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last." Out of all the people in the world, the LORD reached out His hand to you, He chose to save you. He touches you: you were touched by the LORD when the waters of baptism were poured upon your head and faith was created in your heart, you are touched by the LORD every time the message of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins is preached in your presence, and you are touched by the LORD every time you come to this supper to eat and drink His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Finally, the LORD puts His words in your mouth. The LORD equips you to do His work by giving you His word to guide and direct, aid and assist you. Through His word the LORD gives you the strength, He gives you the compassion, He gives you the understanding and wisdom that is needed so that you, the people of God may be thoroughly equipped for the works of service He places before you. This word that He gives you, Saint Paul says, is the very “power of God” for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Our God of grace has designed us and equipped us to do the works of service that He has placed before us. So, even though pastor Johnathan Scharf is a better at …well, everything than I am, Pastor Johnathan Scharf is not the pastor of Messiah Johns Creek. I am. The LORD has placed this service before me. So, I am going to preach because it is what my God of grace designed and equipped me to do. (Besides, honestly it is kind of fun.).
I am not sure what service opportunities the LORD has placed before you in your family and in your community. But I know that He has placed a variety of service opportunities before you here at Messiah. There are opportunities to serve in worship as a member of the altar guild, ushers, choir, musicians, maybe even with a children’s ministry. There are opportunities for cooking and cleaning and caring for the property. There are doors that can be knocked on, shut-ins that can be visited and people that can be prayed for. One of the great blessings of being a member of a church like ours is there are so many opportunities to do works of service. I am not sure how many and what types of opportunities the LORD has specifically placed before you, but you can be sure if the Sovereign LORD placed it before you, you have been designed and equipped to do it.
Ah, Sovereign LORD, we thank you for providing us works of service. Amen