Jeremiah 20.b. Prophet Plots.

 Jeremiah has been called by God into prophetic service that is more difficult than he imagined. Being called to preach is one thing but being called to preach to people who not only won’t listen to God’s word but also turn on the preacher is another. They didn’t tell me in seminary that it would be like this!

 Jeremiah says: ‘I hear what they are saying about me, the plans they are making against me, and it scares me to death’.

Jeremiah 20: 10.

For I hear many whispering:   

"Terror is all around!

Denounce him!

Let us denounce him!”

All my close friends   

are watching for me to stumble.

“Perhaps he can be enticed,   

and we can prevail against him  

and take our revenge on him.”

Jeremiah has already been enticed by God (remember?) and he has made his choice. Even if he wanted to quit, God’s word is like a fire in his belly that erupts and spreads a wildfire of social and political criticism. His erstwhile friends become his enemies because he has made a devastating critique of their way of life, their religion, and their government. They want to find a way to cancel him. Prophecy is counter-cultural; the word of God is counter-cultural. People will fight back and plot against the prophet.  

 To say that God’s word is counter-cultural is not to say that God speaks only in one language and only to one culture. To do that would be like preaching in Spanish to a Japanese audience about the terrors of the Roman Empire and how it would be better if they would follow Nigerian customs. Don’t laugh. Missionary preachers sometimes do something similar. Certainly, the local language must be used (that’s cultural) and local issues must be addressed (that’s cultural). That is what Jesus did. 

 For example, when I preached in Papua New Guinea, I spoke in Pidgin English, which is a trade language understood by most citizens. I did not have to persuade them to treat people in their community with love and care, sharing their food and necessities with them. They already did that as part of their culture. On the other hand, I sometimes preach that kind of sermon in America where individualism is rampant and people try to get ahead by stepping on others, even their neighbors. So, preaching must be culturally appropriate to be understood, but the word works against the ungodly practices in culture.

 Each culture sins its own sins, and we have ours. No one breaks all the laws of Moses or the commandments of Jesus, but everybody breaks one or another of them. In the previous chapters, God has made a variety of charges against the king and people of Judah. Now the end is near. Will Jeremiah be vindicated or will Judah avoid the disaster God warned about by repenting? 

Jeremiah 20: 11-13.

But the LORD is with me like a terrifying warrior;   

therefore my persecutors will stumble,   

and they will not prevail.

They will be greatly shamed,   

for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonor   

will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous;   

you see the heart and the mind;

let me see your retribution upon them,   

for to you I have committed my cause. 

Sing to the LORD;   

praise the LORD!

For he has delivered the life of the needy   

from the hands of evildoers.

 Well, this chapter ends on a high note then, even a song. Jeremiah can’t win against God (verse 9), but he can’t lose as long as he is with God (verse 11). Those who oppose Jeremiah can’t win at all because they oppose God. They can only surrender and repent of their sins. Otherwise, they will certainly not succeed. End of story? 

 As Ron Popeil, the old TV salesman, used to say: “But wait, there’s more!” This is not the end of the chapter. Jeremiah’s feelings overwhelm him. He has to prophesy against his kinsmen and countrymen, he has to take their disrespect, and in the end he will have to stand by while God carries out the punishment. What a terrible life to live. 

Jeremiah 20: 14-18. 

Cursed be the day   

on which I was born!

The day when my mother bore me,   

let it not be blessed!

Cursed be the man   

who brought the news to my father, saying,

“A child is born to you, a son,”   

making him very glad.

Let that man be like the cities   

that the LORD overthrew without pity;

let him hear a cry in the morning   

and an alarm at noon,

because he did not kill me in the womb;   

so my mother would have been my grave   

and her womb forever pregnant.

Why did I come forth from the womb   

to see toil and sorrow   

and spend my days in shame?

 Do you think that it is easy being a prophet or pastor? Is it even easy to be a disciple faithfully serving the Lord in a society like ours that rewards greed and corruption, pursues self-serving political and judicial power, and then relishes sexual exploits as if they were signs of real masculinity? 

 No one said that it would be easy being a Christian in a sinful society. Otherwise, what did Jesus mean when he said, “Take up your cross and follow me”? 

 Or why did Jesus say, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets” (Luke 6: 22-23).