Jeremiah 1:1-10 Semon.docx

Jeremiah 1:1-10 Theme: Divine Calling: A Prophetic Ministry to Transmute the Ungod It was in my seventh standard, my English teacher asked about ambitions. Some friends told they want to become doctors, engineers, a few teachers and so on. When my turn came I stood quite for a second, a few seconds later I responded, “Doctor” because the friend next to me signaled me to say DOCTOR. After that incident I have always asked myself what is the ambition of my life? It was during that time I realized through the self-giving service of a priest that I am called to serve God by completely giving myself in service of God. I dedicated myself for the ministry before a Kochamma who was my hostel warden. My commitment was challenged and questioned last year, as I was mocked and speechless before my own relatives who were against my decision of going for ministry. I cried every night questioning God, why have you called me for ministry? And where are you now in my difficulties? But God’s healing touch upon me reassured my call and challenged me as I began to think that our calling is always a challenging task, if we take the divine call seriously. Because calling is never just about continuing the passed on priesthood but a life risking task like Jeremiah’s. Jeremiah lived in an important transitional period in West Asian history. He witnessed his own country losing its political independence and become a Babylonian province. The society was divided in three classes, the upper; the middle and the lower class, the lower class which included the poor and slaves were oppressed and exploited by the upper class. Their heights of immorality refused to pay attention to prophets. The purpose of Jeremiah’s calling in this situation was more challenging as it was to transform or to transmute the ungod, the power structures that muted the true prophetic voices and exploited the poor with their false teachings and beliefs. Ungod is a term used by Fr. Sebastian Kappen to distinguish him (the ungod) from the Divine whom Jesus met, worshiped and proclaimed. He says, “From the centuries the visions and the prophetic voices of the God were muted by the power structures of the Church and societies and converted God into ungod.” Ungod is a god who takes the side of the affluent against poor, of the powerful against the weak, a god with hands dripping with the blood of innocent. I use this term ungod to denote the power structures in the church and a society which muted divine revelations. The prophetic call today is as challenging as Jeremiah’s as it invites us to critically evaluate our faith and spirituality to see whether we have replaced the God of the oppressed with the ungods of power, prosperity, and status quo and to reestablish the divine presence in the society. From today’s selected passage let us together meditate upon two thoughts: Firstly Divine initiated call is to speak against the Ungod The word Jeremiah probably means “the Lord exalts”, though the sense could be “the Lord loosens or unties.” The verses 1-3, gives complete picture of Jeremiah as a prophet, belonging to priestly traditions of Anathoth, lineage of Abiather (1 Kings 2:26-27), and also as the recipient of the powerful word of Yahweh that will create thunder-storm in the entire nation Judah. Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry began with the King Josiah; continued through King Jehoikim; and lasted until King Zedekiah. So one can understand that Jeremiah lived when old authorities were declining and new powers emerging. King Josiah’s reign was reformation period as he sought to reform the religious life of the nation (2 Kings 22 and 23), which didn’t last long. Under King Jehoiakim, the royal palace was made more luxurious using forced labour by citizens of Judah. Economically poor and helpless were being exploited, physically abused and were forced to sell themselves by the powerful and owners as well as by government (Jer. 5: 26-27). In the time of both Jehoikim and Zedekiah, people lived in religious fictions that they as people of God were exempt from judgment and destruction and the Lord would never allow Jerusalem and His temple, to be destroyed. The kings and rulers replaced God of Justice with ungods of injustice and power which was religiously and theologically supported by the false prophets and priests. Jeremiah’s call in this situation proves that it was divine initiated. It was a call to speak against these ungods and a cry against the theological delusion. In verses 4-5, The prophetic revelation formula “the word of the Lord came to me,” is an authentication in itself that Jeremiah is called by none other than Yahweh and the vocabulary “formed” in the womb is a creation language of Genesis (Gen 2:7), the word yada (know) reveals the personal intimacy and covenantal bond between Yahweh and Jeremiah before even his birth. Jeremiah’s call as a prophet to the nations distinguishes him from false prophets of that time, who for the sake of power and positions joined their hands with kings, officials in carrying out the injustices of the society. So God assuring his providence and appointing Jeremiah against injustice of the rulers, kings, officials, priests and the people of the land in verse.18. Understanding the call of Jeremiah in the present Ecclesiastical struggles is more disturbing and challenging as well. Church is defined as assembly of equals and disciples where none is discriminated but treated with equality and justice. The institutional structures of the church have made people blindly follow whatever comes from above without questioning. The God that we present through our theologies is a male patriarchal or so called ALMIGHTY which fails to explain that God is a God of Vulnerable and lives in the experiences of people. Our church structures are so rigid in nature that it cannot be changed and create atmosphere of justice. I call it has ungod that we have created for ourselves which needs to be questioned or countered. If we truly believe that we are chosen by God, I believe everyone is called to be Jeremiahs to speak against this ungod though it is life risking. Today we fear to speak because either we don’t want to put our lives to risk or we want to gain power and carry a so called ‘good pastor’ banner with us. Where do we locate ourselves is a question left to each one of us as we critically understand our calling. Secondly, Divine initiated call is to reorder the Chaos The divine intention behind Jeremiah’s call is concisely put in 1: 10, which exposited at great length in the Book of Jeremiah. Though Jeremiah puts forward objections that he does not know how to speak and he is only a boy, it tells about his knowledge of what it means to be prophet to the nations (1:6-7). God’s assurance of his presence to not to be afraid and putting God’s word in his mouth says about the great struggles that he is going to face due to his prophetic ministry. God clearly articulates the mission of Jeremiah in v.10; He is given a twofold task, which is destructive and constructive in nature. The destructive task, given in four verbs – to pluck up and tear down, to destroy and overthrow which is to dismantle and destroy all that constitutes the Jerusalem establishment. This task refers to the destruction of Jerusalem through Babylonian incursion in the beginning of the sixth century. The second task given to the prophet is to “plant and build”; that is, to restore the Jerusalem that has been devastated, which is likely later than the person of Jeremiah. Thus the central mandate of the prophetic call concerns exactly judgment and restoration. As a consequence, Jeremiah is variously opposed by “the men of Anathoth” (11:21 –23), arrested and beaten by royal authorities (20:1 –6), and dubbed a traitor by his contemporaries (38:4). Talking about the two fold task of Jeremiah, Walter Brueggemann says “each is a metaphor characterizing the nullification of an entire organization of social power and social meaning. After this Jeremiah’s energies and imagination were directed to the “sequential act of constructing a new world out of God’s powerful promise.” Speaking against the ungod is never a complete task, Jeremiah is asked to completely dismantle the Ungod and create a new world; a world where the worship towards God of Justice is practiced through social justice. Reordering the Chaos in our context is just completely dismantling the traditions, theologies, liturgies, and church structures that discriminate people and forcefully lead people to bear the injustices. It is to create a new order of world where the justice and equality rules. Dismantling the theologies, and Church structures should begin from presenting a God as ‘Trans-God’, in the words of B. K. Hipsher, ‘Trans-God’ is one that transgress all or ideas about who and what god is and can be, one that transports us to new possibilities for how God can incarnate in the multiplicity of human embodiments, one that transform our ideas about our fellow humans and ourselves, one that transcends all we know or think we know about God and human as the imago Dei. It explains how the concept of God includes all irrespective of gender, caste, creed and ethnicities. Dismantling our strategies of mission which is charitable in nature should be recreated with the equality of all believers, which doesn’t treat Dalits as worthy of doing only menial works. The ministry of Jesus here reminds us that his ministry was more of dismantling the set rules, theologies and traditions of society and creating a new society of equals and disciples, and he paid the price for it. Dear Friends, as we are called to be prophets, it is our faith imperative to occupy our churches, our spiritual practices, and our institutions, so as to reclaim them from the worship of the ungods. It is in our unending journey towards freedom, dismantling the pyramids of systemic sin and evil, that we worship the God of justice in truth and spirit. To dismantle the ungod and create a new society is always as challenging as Jeremiah’s and Jesus Christ’s which may take away our lives but it’s worth dying for the sake of justice as it makes us live on though we are killed. Coming out of my sickness was a second life to me as it reassured my calling but how far you and I can risk our lives for God is challenging. We fear to speak against the ungods and dismantle them and create a new world order for the survival sake but can we say that we are called by God if we don’t do justice to what we are called for? May the Lord help us in understanding our call more clearly so that we fear none to stand for God by transmuting the Ungod.