YOU MUST GO
Jeremiah had a ministry that lasted over 40 years. He preached, he warned, he comforted, he prophesied - and he carried out his work faithfully to a largely unfaithful people. He spoke when no one wanted to hear him and he continued to repeat the words of the Lord even when he when the people tried to kill him because of it. Jeremiah was a dedicated servant of God in some very unspiritual times. But it didn’t come naturally for him. Jeremiah didn’t grow up knowing that he would be the one to serve as God’s prophet to the people nor did he think that his talents were even suited for that position. Jeremiah himself says to all of us at the beginning of his book: “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’ ‘Ah, Sovereign LORD,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’” And Jeremiah probably was fairly young at the time. You don’t have a 40+ year ministry without starting relatively early in life. And because of his age Jeremiah wasn’t too thrilled to be chosen as God’s spokesman at first. There were so many more people that were older and more qualified than he was. And there were so many more people that were better speakers than he would ever be! Why would anyone ever listen to a young man like Jeremiah? How would he ever be able to come up with the words to convince their hearts? He didn’t know what to say! He didn’t know what to do!
But Jeremiah then records for us the Lord’s response, “The LORD said to me, ‘Do not say: I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out this hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.’” God didn’t ask Jeremiah to be an eloquent speaker. He didn’t require him to come up with new and interesting ways to present the material or to concoct some captivating catch phrases to draw people in. The Lord simply wanted Jeremiah to repeat the clear words of God. That was it. Nothing more. Jeremiah was supposed to speak the words that God gave him to speak and Jeremiah had to go and do it. He had to. He had been given the Message of Life and there were so many people around him who were dying without it. He had to go; he was compelled to. As a Christian, as one who had been commissioned by God himself, he had to go to as many people as possible and invite them to hear about their sins and about their salvation. Their souls depended on it.
You have never audibly heard the Lord’s voice speaking to you as Jeremiah did, but the Lord speaks these same words to you through the pages of Scripture. You have never had the Lord physically touch your mouth and place his words on your tongue, but the Lord has certainly touched your heart with his gospel and placed his words in your hands. You have never been personally commissioned by the Father to be a prophet to his Israelite people, but you have been commissioned as a Christian to be his spokesman to the world. And so although you may not consider yourself of prophet caliber, you have really been asked to do exactly what the prophet Jeremiah did, just to a different set of faces in a different era of time. “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15) Jesus tells you. And you must go. You cannot stay in. You must go because people around you are dying and their souls depend on the Message of Life you now hold.
And I know, I understand: you don’t want to go. Not always. Not every time. You don’t necessarily want to go and preach the Good News to all creation because it’s hard work and it takes time and it’s a little bit frightening. And I’m the same way. I don’t always want to go and share the Message and spread the Message and invite people to hear the Message. Because I’m not an eloquent speaker. I’m not a naturally gifted conversationalist who has a sharp wit and a golden tongue. I don’t have an outgoing personality that captivates entire groups of people. And so I try to use the same excuse as Jeremiah did: “Why would anyone ever want to listen to me? How am I supposed to come up with the words to convince their hearts? I don’t know what to say! I don’t know what to do! Why me? Why not someone else?” But the Lord answers me and he answers you in the same way he answered Jeremiah: “You must go.” “‘You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD.” I must go. I must. I have no excuse and I have every reason. There are people in this town who do not know about their Savior and I have to tell them. And so do you.
I was at our annual Missionaries’ Conference this past week in Wichita, Kansas. And every time I go to a conference like that I hear about different ways to spread the gospel and different approaches to share the Word. And many of those ways - methods that are definitely worth trying - would mean that I would have to stick my neck out a little bit and open myself up to rejection or ridicule or failure. And that’s a little scary. It’s frightening. And this last week I also realized once again that there are so many more things that I could personally be doing to bring people into contact with the power of God’s Word - but things that would take a lot of time and quite a bit of concerted effort without any guarantee that any of my attempts would produce any visible results. But through God’s Word I was also reminded that I must go - I must go out with the gospel because there are thousands of people around me who do not know Christ - and I am letting them die. I am letting unbelievers die only so that they end up in hell when I hold in my hands the only Remedy. I hold it in my hands, but I hold it back. I hesitate to share and invite and encourage and express my faith for no legitimate reason at all. I must go, but I want to stay. I want to stay hiding in here where it’s a little safer and a little less hostile and a little less messy. I want to stay and keep this holy Medicine to myself instead of offering it to those who need it before they die. Don’t you? Don’t you like to stay in here among those who believe what you believe and think how you think and will end up where you will end up? Isn’t it easier to remain seated under the grace and glory of God instead of getting up and going about the ugly business of passing out God’s grace to those who don’t think they need it? Isn’t it natural to come up with excuses? Isn’t going out with the gospel something that is perpetually put off until tomorrow but never done today? Isn’t it more comfortable for you to sit and wait and see who walks through those doors instead of actually going out and bringing them back in?
We must go. We must go and invite people to hear about where Jesus went. We must go and bring people in to see the manger where Jesus was born, the temple in which Jesus answered questions at the age of 12, the river in which he was baptized, the desert in which he was tempted, the sea on which he walked, the countryside in which he preached, the houses in which he healed, and the hills on which he prayed. We must go and grab everyone we can so that they can see the garden in which Jesus was arrested, the courtyard in which he stood on trial, the palace in which he was condemned, the cross on which he died, and the tomb from which he rose. We must go and tell people that Jesus did all of these things for us, but that he also did all of these things for them. We must go and remind people that we are in the same position as they are: sinners to the core but saved by Christ’s blood, rotten and nasty and spiritually disgusting but also completely forgiven. We must go and show people their salvation. We must go.
How could we not? After everything the Lord has done for us, after everything the Lord has sacrificed for us, after everything the Lord has secured for us and promised to us, how could we not go and share this Message with the world? How could we sit by and watch as our own family members and own relatives and own co-workers and own neighbors come and go without the knowledge that their Savior has died on the cross for their sins? How could we keep an announcement like this to ourselves? As Christians we are not forced to invite others to hear the gospel, we are compelled to. We are not required to do so for the sake of our salvation, we are urged on because of our salvation, by our love for the Lord and our love for the souls of those around us so that they too will believe in the forgiveness we already have. We must go for the sake of the lost around us.
You can be sure that is why Jeremiah did what he did. He certainly didn’t repeat the words of God because it was the popular thing to do; people hated him for it! He certainly didn’t do it for the money; he didn’t get paid. And he didn’t do it because he could see the fruits of his labor; his ministry was a statistical failure. Jeremiah shared the Word of God with people because the Lord had shared the Word of God with him. And he knew what Jesus would do. He knew what Christ would accomplish. And Jeremiah wanted nothing more than to bring as many of his fellow Israelites to the true faith in their Savior as he could so that they would end up in heaven with him. Jeremiah worked hard at that goal for over 40 years. And even though his ministry was difficult and frustrating and seemingly unsuccessful, he never stopped carrying out the commission that the Lord gave him when he was still a young man: “‘You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD.” Jeremiah had to go - and he did.
We must go with him, as Christians and as a Christian congregation. Whether this remains a congregation of 50 people or grows to a group of 500, we can never be content with the number of souls in God’s flock. We must keep looking. We must keep striving. We must keep going out and bringing back in. It is essential to the souls that are still lost around us. It is crucial to the spreading of God’s kingdom. It is simply what Christians do. And if you need help doing this, I will help you. I will help you come up with as many ways as possible for you to approach a person in your life with an invitation or an encouragement or a confession. It is an urgent matter. Don’t assume that you will have a chance some other time. The time is now. The time is now for the Lord to work on the hearts of sinners to convince them that they are saved. And we have the incredible privilege and the inexpressible joy to go and find them. And so go. Go with God’s full support, his loving protection behind you, and his powerful Word at your disposal.
Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Rom. 15:13
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