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Jeremiah 20:7-13

You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.” But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.

By: The Rev. Ron McKeon

As I read this passage in Jeremiah 20:7-13, I began to identify with Jeremiah’s feelings as he agonized over the message he must deliver and prayed for those who refused to respond to the truth. I believe Jeremiah was reflecting the character of God himself in the unfolding drama of God’s love affair with His creation. We can also look to Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in (Matthew 26:36-46) as testimony to God’s unfailing love as revealed in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Throughout his life, Jeremiah stood alone, declaring God’s messages of doom, announcing the new covenant, and weeping over the fate of his beloved country. Jeremiah felt firsthand God’s love for his people and the people’s rejection of that love.
In today’s scripture, Jeremiah cries out in despair mixed with praise, unburdening his heart to God. When he withheld God’s word for a while, it became fire in his bones until he could hold it back no longer.

If someone with such intimate awareness of God’s presence struggled with insecurity, we ought not to be surprised over our own failures and weaknesses. Jeremiah doesn’t give us an excuse but rather an example. No matter how we may feel about ourselves at any moment, God remains unchanged, loving, and present in our lives.
Many in our congregation know things about Jesus Christ, but they don’t know Jesus the person. When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though this life is all we have, resulting in the aborting of babies in the womb or assisting in the death of the elderly. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity where there is no death, sickness, enemy, evil, or sin.

Today’s news headlines are filled with the innocent slaughter of children throughout the world’s major cities by the bombs, guns, knives, and even motor vehicles of terrorists acting in the name of false religion and false gods.

I believe God is calling each of us to proclaim the full Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no matter the cost to us or our families, and to follow the example of Jeremiah despite our current circumstances.