I have rarely preached on this passage for some reason.(Or the sermons were lousy and I repressed the memory) So it is important for me to try to work with it more closely.
1) we start out with one of the few places in the Bible where God speaks of knowing someone fully before their birth. After all, the OT usually seems to me to speak of this bodily existence as it s starting point. I wonder if the nephesh, the throat literally, but more like life force is behind this?
2)I love how call accounts often have some sort of resistance. i have a bit of trouble with folks who are so certain that god has spoken to them directly, or has confirmed their judgment. For me, the static on the line distorts the message.So maybe one could work on a sermon on discernment here, or getting clear on the will of God in our lives a la Ben Campbell Johnson. Alternately, how do you perceive the call of God in life? The signal move of the Reformation was its expanded notion of vocation beyond the clerical orders.
3) The responsive God engages in dialogue, but runs over the lad's objection on youth. is it because god sees it as excuse? God is having him live out his name for surely God is exalting this young man.
4)God also detects fear. Of course we are dealing with the divine therapist.Again, the struggle with fear is grist for the preaching mill and our own spiritual development. In small churhces, I detect a lot of fear as a motive force and obstacle.
5)God ordains Jeremiah in his role. How do we view and enact ordination in a meaningful way now?
6)Pay attention to this verse 10, as it will appear in various forms in this book.Notice with care the tension within it, and we do well to maintain that tnesion when we look at this book.
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