Creekside Church Sermon of August 22, 2004 "Can You Hear Me Now?" Jeremiah 1:4-10	Rev. David Bibbee
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According to legend, the Pope, after a thorough physical, and was told by the Vatican doctor that he needed a heart transplant from a suitable donor or he would be dead within the year. The Pope decided to share his plight with the people. Addressing the faithful from his balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, the Pope said, "I have received sad news. Unless I acquire a new heart, I won't be with you much longer. Who among you will give me your heart?"

Thousands of hands rose. A cacophony of voices cried, "Me! Me! I will! Please take my heart!" The Pontiff was deeply moved, but how would he choose? The Pope held out a white feather. "The person upon whom the feather lights shall offer the ultimate gift," he said. The throng applauded, and the Pope released the feather. It sailed upon the wind currents, gliding and fluttering down, down, closer, and closer, until it was inches from landing when a sound was heard….. (Make sounds of mouths blowing puffs of air).

Generalized endorsement doesn't require much. Being singled out is another matter entirely. What do you do when you're tapped on the shoulder? How do you respond to the voice that whispers in your ear? How do you answer when someone says, "Come with me." How do you do when the feather is overhead? What do you do when God places a call upon you?

Many of you are breathing easy. You can accept the idea that God lays hands on some people. You can accept the fact that God singles out gifted individuals with leadership qualities. You accept it because you know there is no danger of God calling you.

This morning in the St. Petersburg, Florida, Church of the Brethren, Vicki Ehret is being licensed to the ministry. You're glad for her. In a little while you'll be asked to affirm Betty Kelsey's call to the licensed ministry. You'll be glad to do it because you know what Betty is made of, and you're not Betty… or Vicki… or David. You know you aren't leadership material. You don't have to worry about being singled out. Or do you?.

No one is safe from God. Titanium excuses melt like butter before him. Ask Jeremiah. He was minding his own business one day in 627 B.C. when the word of the Lord came to him. He was a descendant of priests, but he wasn't interested in keeping the "priestly string" going. He wasn't looking for the word. The word was perhaps the furthest thing from his mind.

In pre-marital counseling, I ask couples to tell how they met. The stories are fascinating. Some give the, "It was love at first sight" scenario. Some mention the role of "destiny," and get all syrupy talking about their union being written in the stars. Sometimes the guy falls head-over-heels, but he's not even on the radar screen of the object of his infatuation. I'm most interested in the stories where neither the man nor woman is looking for a relationship. They may be acquainted, but there is nothing remarkable that interests them in each other, or, for that matter, anyone else. But something unexpected happens, and not by their design.

Becoming a prophet wasn't Jeremiah's idea. He wasn't after the word-the word was after him. It was God's idea to make Jeremiah a prophet. Prophets spoke God's truth to power and the powerful, and it was a calling for which Jeremiah was uniquely unqualified. He never studied prophecy dynamics. For all he knew, prophecy was the art of making a profit! Yet, Jeremiah was God's man for the job.

Maybe you have seen the commercial where warning lights and alarms are going off in the control room of a nuclear power plant. The engineers and technicians are frantic because the reactor is in a meltdown. A man enters, eating a donut and tells a tech to close the master valve. "Do it!" he orders. All eyes are on the core temperature gauge, which finally begins to drop. Everyone is cheering, and an ecstatic engineer asks the man who saved the day, "Are you new to the team?" The hero replies, "No. I'm with the tour group. But I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night."

We laugh at the absurdity of the scenario, but it has more in common with how God picks leaders than it does with the way the world pick leaders. We look for the best qualifications. The goal is to pick the best, the brightest, the most experienced.

Jeremiah possessed none of this. His resume was very thin. He wasn't a bonifide born leader. But he was the one God chose. To emphasize how little Jeremiah had to do with it, God said, "I knew all about you before you were in the womb. I had holy plans for you before you felt the first contraction. Before your cord was cut, you were already appointed to be a prophet to the nations."

At the start of seminary, the most frequently asked question of new students is, "What are you doing here?" Some say they possess the necessary skills for ministry. Some say they received an unmistakable call from God. Though they aren't so sure, some come because their church believed they were called. Some have no idea at all. Ironically, some of those who are most sure of their gifts and divine calling are first to drop out, while those who weren't sure, or were there despite their reservations, often became the best pastors and church leaders. It wasn't a future they had picked for themselves. By all indications, it was picked for them.

This story is so interesting because not only was Jeremiah unqualified, but he knew he was unqualified. "Lord… I'm honored by your confidence, but you should reconsider. I'm just a kid. I'm a "C" student. I flunked speech. I freeze in front of crowds. You can do a lot better than me."

But listen to God's reply. "You think I don't know all about you? Don't give me that 'I'm just a kid,' excuse. I'll say, 'Jump!' and you'll ask, 'How high?' I will tell you where to go and what to say. I know what I'm about, Jeremiah. I'm with you all the way."

For the better part of my life, I was crippled. My life was governed by two little words-"I can't." "David, you should take college prep classes." "I can't." "Ask Rhonda for a date." "I can't." "We want you to play your guitar at church." "I can't." "We think you have gifts for pastoral ministry." "I CAN'T!!!" Given the opportunity to accept greater responsibility, the answer was, "No!" I was convinced I didn't have what it took, and I was right. But after being drug kicking and screaming into things I couldn't do, somehow, I did them. It wasn't just me, but a presence within me. I sometimes look back, wondering if things would have been different. Who knows? Rhonda may have said yes!

God touched Jeremiah's mouth with a finger. "There-I've given you my words. Stand up and say your piece. Tell the kingpins of government and religion I've lost my patience. You will take apart and demolish and then start over." God had big plans for Jeremiah, and Jacob, and Moses, and an underachieving gang of nobodies handpicked by Jesus to carry on his work. They were just kids, cheats, fugitives from the law, tax collectors, people you wouldn't want your daughter to marry. They had too many strikes against them to be of any good to God.

But God, whose ways are not ours, prefers such people. God isn't concerned about getting the best and brightest. God wants the willing. Don't expect to stiff-arm God by saying, "Wait a minute, Lord. I'm just a truck driver. I'm just an accountant. I'm just a housewife. I just sell cars. I just sit behind a computer all day." I'm talking to people who know that every excuse given to God to avoid responsibility is a lame one.

With my own ears I have heard you say, "I couldn't get up in front people on Sunday morning much less be a worship leader." "You wouldn't want ME to organize anything." "There are lots of people far more qualified than me to be a leader in the church." "I could never call on people in the hospital, the funeral home, the nursing home, or in jail." "I can't lead a Bible study or a small group." But with my own eyes I have seen you do what you said you couldn't do. The change didn't happen overnight, but in time you began to sense that you weren't all alone. It was as if you heard a voice, "I'll tell you where to go. I'll tell you what to say. I'll be right there. You'll see."

Why would God do such a thing? Someone suggested its because God is a creator. "Maybe God, being a creator who makes something out of nothing, considers our vocation a continuing aspect of creation." Maybe God gets pleasure from confounding our ideas about the way things "ought to be." As it says in the first chapter of 1st Corinthians: "I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots."

Do you remember teaching your children to ride a bicycle? You sat them on the seat and put their feet on the pedals. You held the handle bar with one hand and the back of the seat with the other. You ran along beside them doing all the balancing. Eventually, you took your hand off the handle bar and let them do the steering. It was wobbly. Occasionally the front tire would ram into your chin or run over your foot. Later, you let go of the seat a little at a time while running beside them. Then came the exhilarating moment when you let go for the last time. It took them a while to realize it, but they were riding!

It seemed impossible at first, but in time, they were going like the wind. The confidence that you were with them made all the difference. The analogy is imperfect, but it is the confidence of God's presence that enables us to do his will. We are capable of great things not because we are so gifted and resourceful, but because God is gracious and ready to use us in having his way with the world.

I'm not naïve. Not everyone is equipped to do the same thing. Some are more suited to particular tasks than others. There are skills that can be learned along the way. One of the things we are changing is our culture of leadership. Leadership isn't the sole domain of paid staff and the board.

I spoke with a man last week that said he has learned a lot about the church. "Until recently," he said, "I was a bench warmer. I sat in the pew on Sunday and dropped a check in the plate, but that was the extent of my involvement. I thought leadership was the other person's responsibility. I thought they had what I didn't. Now I'm doing things I never dreamed of doing, and I'm having a ball doing it."

God has assigned a role for each of you. In the coming months there will be a variety of tasks to be assumed. Teams will go into the neighborhoods surrounding our building site to introduce the church, to listen to their needs, and practice servant evangelism. There will be another capital campaign to organize. We will begin ministries to help us better practice the marks of Christian discipleship.

Credentials aren't necessary. Jeremiah didn't know credentials from castanets. What he learned is that God can do amazing things through those who trust and say, "Here I am, Lord."

Before we were shaped in the womb, God knew all about us. Before we saw the light of day, he had holy plans for us. God said, "I'll tell you where to go, what to say, and I'll be right there looking after you." So, now that God has our attention….

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