But I’m only a child!
Jeremiah 1:4-10 The word of the Lord came to me. 5Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. 6But I said, “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!” 7The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, because I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares the Lord.” 9Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me: There! I have now placed my words in your mouth. 10Look, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2). Amen.
Max is nine years old. He thinks this is a wonderfully valid excuse for getting out of chores. One Saturday morning, Max was sitting on the couch, with his eyes glued to the TV screen. Mom called from the kitchen, “Max, can you please take out the trash?” Max paused the show and called back with the excuse, “Mom, I’m just a kid. I’m too weak to do that stuff.”
Later in the afternoon, Max’s dad was working in the garage changing the oil on their SUV. He wanted to start teaching Max how to work on cars. He said to Max, “Come out to the garage and help me.” Max gave his dad the excuse, “Dad, I’m just a kid. I don’t know how to do that stuff.
In the evening, Max’s sixteen-year-old sister was doing laundry. She told Max that his clothes were in the dryer and that he should fold them and put them in his dresser. Max made the same excuse to his sister, “Sis, I’m just a kid. I’m not able to do that stuff.”
The next day, after the family returned home from church, suddenly the family made sure that Max knew he was old enough to do everything. Mom made sure Max took out the trash. Then he helped clean the whole kitchen. When he was done with that, Dad had Max out in the garage. After changing the oil in the SUV, they worked all afternoon on cleaning the garage from top to bottom. All Max wanted to do was sit in front of the TV. But his sister dragged him upstairs and had him fold all the laundry and put it away in everyone’s rooms.
Max didn’t use the excuse to his parents anymore of “But I’m only a kid.”
When the Lord appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah made the excuse to his Heavenly Parent, “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child” (Jeremiah 1:6)! Jeremiah is the son of a priest. His call is unique in the Old Testament as he receives his call before he is even born. “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations’” (Jeremiah 1:4,5). No other prophet in the Old Testament is like this.
Jeremiah’s ministry was during the last days of the kingdom of Judah from about 627 to 585 BC. His ministry consists mostly of dark warnings about the destruction of Jerusalem and about the captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah’s prophecies also contain a few glimmers of gospel hope that would be fulfilled through Christ.
Jeremiah was probably only a teenager or in his early twenties when he begins his prophetic ministry. That’s why this is a fitting text for this Youth Sunday. You young people – children, teens, and young adults – will hear people say that you are the future of the Church. They are partly right. You are the future of the Christian Church. You are also the present.
One of the largest groups we have at Water of Life is the teens. We are blessed to have 40 teens from 6th – 12th grades. That’s a lot of youth for a church our size. You teens are the ones inviting your friends to come to worship with you. Next week we’ll have the Baptism and adult confirmation of Layton, a college student. This is happening because Layton’s girlfriend, a Shoreland senior, invited him to worship and adult instruction classes with her.
You teens are very active in the ministry of our church – ushering, singing, playing, serving, canvassing, helping with Happy Birthday Jesus and Soccer Camp. Most of you are busier than the adults. Yet, you fit God’s service into your packed schedule.
The people who are attending our adult instruction classes are all young adults. They’ve been invited by a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé, or spouse. We finally have a full Church Council. Three of those men on the Council are under the age of 30.
You young people are not the future of Christ’s Church. You are the present.
That’s a lot of pressure!
You can be like Max and Jeremiah. You can make the excuse, “But I’m only a child.” Why did Max make excuses? He was afraid. He didn’t have confidence in his abilities. He was probably a little lazy, too. Why did Jeremiah make excuses? He was afraid of what would happen to him as a prophet.
You might be afraid, too. Afraid that you don’t have the ability to speak or teach or be patient. Afraid you don’t have the ability to serve in the church with your mind, voice, or hands.
Afraid of your lack of knowledge for sharing God’s Word. Afraid of rejection when you attempt to correct and rebuke your friends of their sins (2 Timothy 4:2). Afraid of being canceled on social media when you quote scriptural sound doctrine to counter what the culture’s itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). Afraid of being bullied by those trapped by their own desires when you tell then what God desires (2 Timothy 4:4). Afraid of being thrown in jail for praying outside an abortion clinic, or harassed for speaking against woke policies in your college, or being labeled something awful because you love God and his Word more than you love the people of this world.
Probably worst of all – for all of us older people, but especially you younger people – is the fear of being left out. Apart from the group. Isolated. Alone and lonely.
Jeremiah was afraid of what would happen to him. He had good reason to be afraid. After several years of preaching, Jeremiah’s family turned against him and even plotted to kill him (Jeremiah 11:21-23). Over the years, he was whipped and put in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1-3), attacked by a mob (Jeremiah 26:1-9), ridiculed (Jeremiah 28), threatened by the king (Jeremiah 36:26), and thrown in an empty well (Jeremiah 38:1-6).
Perhaps worst of all, Jeremiah was alone. He was not allowed to marry (Jeremiah 16:2), and his family abandoned him. The people turned against him and didn’t believe him. He was alone with the knowledge of the judgment coming upon Judah.
The Lord gives young Jeremiah and you in your youth this promise, “Do not be afraid of them, because I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:8).
God desires to be with his children. God walked with and talked with his children until they were separated by man’s fall into sin. From that moment on, God has been working to restore the relationship between him and his fallen children. He does this by establishing his presence with
his people again and again. He finally did that with the incarnation of his divine Son taking on human flesh. It’s a true Epiphany Moment.
The Lord is present as he reaches out, touches Jeremiah’s mouth, and puts his words in the mouth of his young prophet. Jeremiah writes, “The Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me: There! I have now placed my words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9). This is like what God does with the prophets Isaiah and Ezekial where the Lord touches and prepares the mouths of his prophets. The Lord cleanses, prepares, and fills the mouths of his prophets, so they might be able to proclaim the holy Word of the Lord.
Does it help you to know that the Word of the Lord is powerful? God says to Jeremiah, “Look, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). God’s Word uproots and tears down, destroys, and overthrows, it builds and plants. You can count on it accomplishing exactly what the Lord wants it to.
Jeremiah was nervous when God called him to be his prophet. He made the excuse, “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!” Jeremiah was right – he wasn't up to the job, and he knew it.
But he missed one thing – and God pointed it out. God said, “I have placed my words in your mouth.” It’s as if God said, “Don't worry. It’s not about you. It’s about Me. You don’t have to be smart enough or strong enough or good enough. I have put my words in your mouth, and they will do the job.” And they did. Jeremiah spent the rest of his life speaking God’s Word to the people. He did the job God had for him.
God has called you, too, to certain jobs. They may not be flashy jobs like being a prophet. It may not even be cool jobs like a pastor or a teacher. More likely, God is calling you to humble jobs one day of being a spouse, parent, child, sibling, and friend. You may be a caregiver, an encourager, a pray-er, and a protector. You may even think that you have no job at all, because at this point in your life – because you are a child or elderly – your role is mainly to receive care from others. But that’s a job! And a hard one, at times.
What happens when you feel overwhelmed by your job, whatever it may be? You can turn to the same source of help Jeremiah did. “I have put my Word in your mouth,” God said to him. “You aren’t doing it alone.” And to us he says, “I have put my Holy Spirit in your heart. You are not alone. I laid down my life at the cross to make you mine, and I will not forsake you now. I am present with you in the waters of Baptism, in my body and blood upon the Lord’s altar, and in my holy Word. I am with you as a Shepherd to protect you from Satan, as the Divine Physician to heal your broken heart, and as your Champion to lead you into spiritual battle. I will work through you and your job – with all your faults and weaknesses – and I will use you to bring glory to my name.”
The Lord knows you. He cares about you. He has plans for you. Like Jeremiah, the Lord’s plans started even before you were born. He planned for you before this world was formed. His plans included a cradle where his Son, your Savior, was born. His plans included a cross where his Son, your Savior, was sacrificed. His plans included a tomb where his Son, your Savior, rose from the dead. All because God is planning and preparing a room for you to be present with him forever in his heaven.
The Lord has formed you. Set you apart. Made you his own. He is with you. He’s placed his words in your mouth. You are the future of the Christian Church. You are also the present. Don’t
use the excuse of “But I’m only a child.” The Lord has equipped you for the future, for the present, for this very moment. Amen.
Keep a clear head in every situation. Bear hardship. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy 4:5). Amen.