Jeremiah 2.1 The Calling

The Prophet's Message begins with a recitation of his lineage and then he recounts his calling. We learn that he came from a priestly family. But, was he a priest?

It is tough to tell. Many Biblical characters played the dual role of prophet and priest (Samuel, Ezra, etc.). The book of Jeremiah is filled with priestly inferences and Temple ritual allusions. But, Jeremiah was consistently at odds with the Priest class. They persecuted him, threw him down a well, and on several occasions tried to kill him.

If Jeremiah was a priest, he clearly must have practiced outside of priestly institutions and expectations.

He was an exile, long before he departed for Egypt.

Jeremiah was drafted to a calling different from the Priesthood - called to the work of a Prophet. God touched his lips and thereby inserted His message into the prophet's voice and life.

What must that have tasted like - those first moments of the Calling? The taste must have been somewhat bitter. The message was certainly difficult for any of the Prophet's listeners to hear. The Message was of judgement and destruction, of the razing of kingdoms.

But there was also something else laced throughout the Message. Hope. In the midst of all the heartache and doom, the Message promises rescue and resurrection. Like sky filled with clouds, the Sun is present but invisible.

The destruction was inevitable. The Judgement had been declared. But, God promises to be present with the Prophet and his people throughout. In the end, something different would arise - the culmination of God's eternal plan. The Message promises that God is not only in command, but he is also present through the suffering.

I'm writing this on Easter Sunday 2015. Perhaps you, like me, woke up and had no place to recall or celebrate the Resurrection. Or, perhaps you come from a different tradition and there is no remembrance of the Passover this year. Despite this, I wonder if it is times like these that God reaches down and implants a Message - a Message of resurrection. I wonder if people can still be effective ministers, even in exile.