Jeremiah is purely passive in our passage and only receiving. This is the perfect spot to be in when you are receiving God’s Word.
Our reading for this Sunday is set in the context of the political upheaval of Jeremiah’s day, which is a context not too different from our own. Yet, in the midst of all this turmoil, God has called a prophet to speak the efficacious Word of God to His people. God’s plan is that, by speaking His word to His people through the prophet, they might be restored and through that restoration it would then spill over into the surrounding nations so all might know the Word of the Lord.
I love the position Jeremiah was in when he was called, or rather, I should say that he was in no position at all. In fact, he was stuck (verse 5). He was given his holy purpose from the womb as someone who could only receive and not do anything of his own. He was simply in a position to receive everything from God, and he was being made into what he was because Yahweh was in charge. Jeremiah is purely passive in our passage and only receiving.
This is the perfect spot to be in when you are receiving God’s Word. It is much like the position you are in when you are being preached to. You might even object to this kind of calling or even this kind of passive reception of the Word preached. Lord knows Jeremiah had his concerns in verse six, but by verses seven and eight, Yahweh has met Jeremiah’s objection with a strong affirmation that it will be God who brings these things about, not Jeremiah. Jeremiah was afraid of his potential to fail at such a task, but this work would be accomplished by the Lord through the power of the Word.
A strong theme for a sermon on this text might be “The Word Does Everything.” In verse ten, we see the framework that the Word of God will use to accomplish its purposes. There is a chiasm in verse ten using six infinitive constructs of purpose. Four of these infinitive constructs are negative and two are positive. These words are expressions of Law and Gospel, even in that order. The words uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow, then build up, and finally to plant. These six infinitive constructs are used repeatedly all throughout the book of Jeremiah. When they are placed here in chapter 1, it serves as kind of table of contents for the rest of his prophetic work. You can see these words again in 12:14-17, 18:6-10, 24:1-10, and 42:8-13, but especially in 31:27-34. In chapter 31, the old covenant of the Law will lead to the new covenant of life. This is a key detail to develop in your sermon so you can lead your hearers from the Law to Gospel in Christ (Luke 22:20).
This is a great sermon to develop the biblical teaching of the Word of God as a means of grace. The Word comes to Jeremiah, it is put into his mouth, and from his mouth it is sent out for the purpose for which God has delivered it (Isaiah 55:11). The Word of God is active, powerful, and performative.
The Word of God is active, powerful, and performative.
This pairs nicely with the appointed Gospel lesson for today in Luke 4:42-43. Here, we have Jesus, the prophet greater than Jeremiah, who says He was sent for this sole purpose, the purpose of preaching the Word of God. This might seem off to the discerning ear because it seems counter to what we understand Jesus’ purpose to be. We all know why He came: He came to die and rise again. So, why would He now say He came to preach? He would not unless the Word of God proclaimed would be the means by which all may know and come to faith in His saving work of dying and rising again (Romans 10:14-15). The Word of God is the work of God which Jesus fulfills and embodies by His life, death, and resurrection.
Since we are comparing Jeremiah to Jesus, we can use the Compare and Contrast Structure to order our experience of the sermon:
“This structure systematically explores relevant similarities and/or differences between two topics in order to accomplish a purpose for the hearer. In this sermon, the purpose of comparing/contrasting is crucial. While proverbial wisdom says you cannot compare apples and oranges, the preacher responds that you most certainly can, depending upon what your purpose is. The sermon, thus, does more than simply inform hearers of similarities and/or differences. It uses the information for a purpose, and that purpose often makes a difference in their lives. For example, one could compare/contrast the teaching in an adult bible class with the teaching in the Sunday sermon for the purpose of encouraging hearers to attend both worship and bible class.
In presenting this information to the hearers, the preacher has a choice of two approaches. He can work whole-to-whole (in other words, offering all of the individual items of one topic before proceeding to a listing of the individual items of another topic: A1, A2, A3, and B1, B2, B3). For example, the preacher may compare and contrast Mary and Martha or the Pharisee and the Publican. Or the preacher can work part-to-part (in other words, offering one item from each topic and then proceeding to the next item: A1/B1, A2/B2, A3/B3). In part to part, a larger theme will be present for the hearers which slowly unfolds through the comparison. For example, the preacher may articulate the theme of repentance by comparing and contrasting Peter and Judas or he may articulate the theme of preaching the Kingdom of God by comparing and contrasting John the Baptizer and Jesus.
The choice of approach is often based on the balance of information you have and what you desire your hearers to remember. Whole-to-whole encourages them to remember the topics (like Mary and Martha). Part-to-part encourages them to remember the items that compose the topics (like the stages of temptation found in both the fall of Eve and the fall of David into sin).”[1]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Jeremiah 1:4–10 (17–19).
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Jeremiah 1:4–10 (17–19).
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Jeremiah 1:4–10 (17–19).
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast- Dr. Jeffrey Pulse of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Jeremiah 1:4–10 (17–19).
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[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/comparisoncontrast/
