Sunday 24th August – Tenth Sunday after Trinity – Hereford URC
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 13:10-17
We begin with Jeremiah’s calling – Jeremiah, who became a prophet still heard of by people thousands of years after his death, is hesitant. When the Lord tells him that he’s appointing him as a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah’s response is “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
I wonder how many of us have laughed and said we’re not good enough, experienced enough, old enough, perhaps even too old, when God has asked us to do something? If I was asking for a show of hands mine would be the first to be raised! I remember when I first went to South Sudan, I had no idea why I was being asked to go or what I would do when there. While it felt right to accept the invitation I did so with much fear and trembling! The first time I stood to speak I was leaning against a metal pole supporting the roof, my notes shaking as I tried to get the words out.
Time and time again over the years I have seen God’s goodness, I’ve known Him give me the words that I need at just the time I need them, as I’ve accepted to go where He asks, speak to those He puts in my path, He’s given me His words to share.
God knew Jeremiah before He was created. He had a plan for his life before he was created, before Jeremiah was a small boy saying to his parents, one day I’d like to be a doctor, a teacher, a farmer, God had already planned that Jeremiah would be His mouthpiece, he would be a prophet.
In the same way that God knew Jeremiah before he was born, and had a plan for him, He had a plan for each of us before we are born – He gives us the option to follow and obey or to go our own way, but His plan was known to Him before He formed us in our mother’s womb. The older we get and the more we do, the more that becomes quite an astonishing fact, especially when we multiply it by the number of people we know and realise God had a plan for their lives too!
I’m sure we can all tell stories of how our own journey in life has taken some twists and turns – perhaps all were planned by God or perhaps our decisions made our journey more twisty than it needed to be, ultimately as people who believe and trust in God, people who listen to and obey Him, then where we are now, what we’re doing for Him now, was known by Him before He created us.
Let’s think of it another way. A builder has a plan of the building before he lays the foundation stone. If we’re going to knit a jumper or make a dress we usually have a pattern to work from. Most people don’t start activities randomly, it’s planned out and the plan is followed.
In the same way, God has a plan for your life – not a guess, not an accident – a purpose He designed before you were even born.
In South Sudan many people are trying to rebuild after years of displacement due to conflict. Some are returning from refugee camps; in July I visited a parish that had been left, almost abandoned, since 2016 when war caused the people to flee to Uganda. One man stayed, refusing to leave his home, and he is the reason the church still has its doors and windows. Now people are returning to the village, a rural dean was installed when I was there, an encouragement to people coming back to the area that the church is there for them and sees a future. Many are coming back with little or nothing. As we drove through the area I saw houses, in need of renovation – new doors and windows, some painting, but I also saw grass that had grown so high between the road and the door. I would be questioning where do we even start, we can’t get to the front door… But God has a purpose, He has a plan, and His plans don’t fail when we stop dwelling on our own weakness and look to Him.
Jeremiah’s first reaction was not joy, but fear. “Alas, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
We often respond like Jeremiah. We focus on what we lack — age, education, health, money, confidence. But God replies: “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.” God is not looking for the strongest, richest, or most educated. He is looking for the willing.
It’s not just Jeremiah, there are other examples too –
Moses said, “I cannot speak well” — God sent him to Pharaoh.
Gideon said, “My clan is the weakest” — God used him to save Israel.
The disciples were fishermen and tax collectors — Jesus made them apostles.
A small torchlight may seem weak, but in a dark room, even the smallest light drives away darkness. We all just need to shine where God puts us.
What excuses have you been giving God? Have you been saying, “I’m too old now”, or “I’ve suffered too much”, or “I don’t know the Bible well enough”? God says, “Stop looking at yourself in human terms, look at Me. I will give you the words, I will give you the strength, I will give you the courage.”
And so we move from hearing the call of God and accepting that, to obeying, to following Jesus’ example of “doing what the father does”.
Our Gospel reading tells the story of a woman who has been bent over, unable to stand up straight, for 18 years. We’re not told much about her, it’s likely that she was ignored by people around her, people unsure of what to say to her – we’ve all been there, rather than put our foot in it better we say nothing, she may have felt ashamed and she’s likely to have been depressed, feeling unworthy. The woman did not call out to ask Jesus for help as we read of others doing in Gospel records of healing, she kept quiet. As Jesus comes along, prompted by the Holy Spirit, He sees her, He calls her forward, and says: “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” He lays His hands on her, and immediately she stands up straight and begins praising God. What is translated in our bible’s as “she stood up straight”, reads – I’m reliably informed – in the Greek as she “was straightened up”. Not only did God, the father, set her free, He also straightened her. What Jesus, God the son, did was first to see her and then to lay hands on her between the divine announcement “woman, you are set free” and the divine action of God straightening her up. Just as Jeremiah had prophesised God’s word in the past, Jesus now prophesised God’s freedom over the woman.
We can be bent over, in need of God’s straightening for many reasons. Perhaps you are feeling bent over this morning – bent over by grief at the death of a loved one, bent over by guilt or shame of past mistakes, bent over by poverty. God is here, wanting to set you free, wanting to straighten you up. When God speaks over our life, chains break, when He touches us, burdens lift, when He sets us free, the natural response is to praise.
But that’s not the end of our gospel story… What happens next? A synagogue leader criticises Jesus – not for harming anyone, but for healing on the Sabbath. He sees the law but misses the love. He values tradition more than transformation.
Jesus challenges him – and everyone listening – by reminding them that mercy must come before ritual. If we would untie an ox to give it water on the Sabbath, how much more should we untie a suffering woman and set her free?
This story is not just about physical healing. It’s about being set free from whatever binds or burdens us. God can, and does, do that on any day of the week!
If our lives and ministry get bogged down in keeping to tradition rather than setting people free then we have missed the heart of God. We can preach long sermons (in South Sudan they can be very long!), hold big meetings, wear fine clothes – but if the hungry are not fed, the broken are not comforted, and the lost are not brought home, we are not following Jesus’ example. Jesus saw the woman and we can pray that God shows us those He wants us to help. It’s hard, especially in South Sudan where the need is so great, I know that I cannot feed everyone! I am always asked to help with school fees and it’s tough having to say no, so I pray and ask God to show me if He wants me to respond. We can bring hope and comfort to people just by being, by coming alongside and praying with people, and, when God shows us, by helping financially too.
Are we gatekeepers – protecting the traditions, or are we grace-bearers – showing God’s love? Do we bind people with expectations and rules, or do we bring them to Jesus, who sees, touches, and heals? I saw a job advert in the week posted by an American mission organisation – they were looking for an “Executive Assistant”, a PA, the first thing on the job description was that they would act as a gatekeeper to the senior management team. I’ve been a PA, I’ve been a gatekeeper! But as I read the job advert, knowing it was for a mission agency, I thought how sad, that they are looking for someone whose number one task will be to keep people away from the top team – when Jesus who, as a mission organisation they should be representing, would be the first to welcome everyone.
In conclusion our readings today remind us that –
Jeremiah was called – even though he felt unworthy
The woman was freed – even though she did not ask
Both lives were changed by the word and power of God and, through their changed lives the lives of others were changed.
If we’d read today’s Psalm we would have heard David saying, “From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb”.
Whatever it is that God is asking us to do He will give us the strength to do it – we just need to rely on Him. We may find ourselves unpopular with those around us, we may be laughed at, we might be cut off from friends or family, but God – the God who formed us, the God we choose to obey – gives us the strength and everything that we need to do all that He asks of us – whether that is speaking to someone at coffee after church or travelling to a foreign country!
You may be thinking, that’s all well and good but what can I do?
- We can listen for God’s call in prayer, in Scripture, in those quiet nudges
- We can lay down our excuses – stop telling God why we can’t; start asking Him how we can.
- We can receive His freedom – let Him heal our wounds, forgive our sins, and lift our burdens.
- We can serve where we are – at home, in our community, in our church.
- We can be signposts – pointing others to Jesus so they too find freedom in Christ.
So let us stand up straight – like the woman. Let us lift our eyes in faith, not fear. Let us, like Jeremiah, speak and act with courage – not because we are strong, but because God is with us.
May we be the Samuel’s of our time – simply saying, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” and then, having heard, trust and obey. Amen.