Sermon based on Jeremiah 15: 15-21. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
Each of those of course are snippets from famous speeches in English over the last 75 years. The first was from a speech given by African American Civil Rights Leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the March of Washington on August, 1963. The second snippet was from President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech in January, 1961 and the third was from Prime Minister Winston Churchill speech to the British House of Commons in June of 1940.
I begin with those three because I don't know if in your study of the Bible if you have noticed but some people, some model the moral life. Some people heal. Some impress crowds with miracles. Some are mediocre and do little. And some are faithless and wrong. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was interesting because he talked. Jeremiah's call was to faithful speech. The reason I bring this up is because in Jeremiah 15, we have access to Jeremiah's process before he speaks.
As you well know, speech permeates our lives. Lots of people talk! I thought about that this past week as we heard from the President of the Ukraine in the midst of civil war and Russian incursions. We have the lingering messages from various people spoken on the streets and at the funeral of African-American teenager Michael Brown, unarmed and shot by police in Ferguson, MO. And the media is filled with what is commonly referred to as "talking heads." Of course we have the right to free speech that we all cherish.
All this means is that we live in a loud world. We can make YouTube videos. We can speak our minds in our Facebook status updates, Twitter feeds and Snapchat remarks. We can write and comment on blogs. We are surrounded by TV, radio, microphones, videos, Skype, apps, and websites. Speech is everywhere.
And on occasion, our American society pauses to examine the way in which we communicate. One such moment presented itself back in January of 2011 after the Arizona shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Immediately following the incident, people wondered if the political ads and rhetoric against Congresswoman Giffords fed the dangerous anger that led to her shooting. Ultimately, no connection between our rancid political speeches --- the billboards with Gifford's in gun sights --- and the shooter could be established. Nevertheless, the incident served as a reminder of our present poor divisive political climate and the general quality of our language. We all believe, that others, not necessarily ourselves could learn a lot from the practice of restraint. Indeed, fasting from speech in a normal day can offer tremendous insight as I experienced when I went on a silent retreat for a week back in 2005.
It is in this our climate that Jeremiah's process of how and when to speak faithfully detailed in our first lesson offers us a unique opportunity to reflect; when to speak and on speech that holds weight. You may not think that our individual speech has much impact … but it does and as followers of Jesus, it is an essential part of our job description. Jesus asks us to speak words of faith. So what can we learn from Jeremiah.
Before we begin it is important to remember that faithful speech is not reserved just for Christian preachers found in our cities and around the world. Nor I am not talking about wasting time on looking for dates and times in the book of Revelation and being inspired to share that at City Hall. Rather like Moses wistfully remarked, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!" We are all required to consider what faithful speech would look like coming from our own mouths.
First, Jeremiah's call to speak from a faith perspective begins with a delightful discovery. Faith filled speech is not opinion. Neither does it draw strength from popular sentiment or ideology. Faith filled speech does not come after watching Fox news, MSNBC or ESPN. Rather, faithful speech comes from a profound encounter with God. God's words "Your words were found, and I ate them," This discovery proved so significant to Jeremiah that he immediately internalized his encounter with God. In other words there was something that touched him deeply. Notice that for Jeremiah at first finding and ingesting God's words brought him joy and delight.
That is important for us as we consider our speech as Christians, in that our speech begins with our encounter, our own personal wrestling with God. For example, what made Rev. King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial so powerful is that it resonated with his life, the lives of the African American community and his reading of the Bible, particularly the book of Isaiah
The second important detail to notice is that after his discovery, Jeremiah does not immediately go to the nearest corner. Verse 17 indicates that the prophet held his tongue. Jeremiah waited to speak, not because he did not have anything to say rather it was to deepening his thoughtfulness. This period of waiting, where Jeremiah refrained from speaking, reveals another aspect to faithful speech. Why does Jeremiah wait? Because the words of God take on a difficult weight in Jeremiah's personal life.
Holding his tongue begins to produce a range of emotional responses in Jeremiah. Although at first the words produce joy, as considers them Jeremiah also feels angry, isolated, and wounded … so wounded in fact that Jeremiah lashes out at God and accuses God of lying to him. Where previously, Jeremiah felt joy at the discovery of God, over time, God begins to feel like a dead end: "Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail."
Have you ever had that experience? I know that has happened to me; for example, I will read something in the Bible, it will say something to me and at first I like it, but as I think about them, I am torn by the implications or cost. There is a wonderful quote by the 18th century pastor and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher; "Truths are first clouds, then rain, then they are harvest and food." At first Jeremiah was delighted, likened to a blue sky with brilliant white clouds. However, these same words became a rain storm leaving Jeremiah angry and wounded.
As Christians, we need to be careful about speaking immediately, not because we have nothing to say, rather there are times when we need to let God's word sink more deeply into our own lives before we speak fully. We need to think about what God's word may mean wholly.
This leads to the third aspect of faithful speech for us Christians because what happens next makes Jeremiah's turn from letting the words sink in to his life and then speaking publically truly amazing.
It begins when Jeremiah realized he has a choice. As well have a choice. It is not like the Bill of Rights, a realization that he is free to speak, rather God indicates that Jeremiah can offer the world two kinds of speech: worthless speech or precious speech. "If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth."
"Worthless" speech might be that which indulges in despair, confusion, or drama. Worthless speech stems from anger and hurt. Worthless speech is our common language. Worthless speech Jeremiah realizes also flows out of the disappointment and isolation he feels after the glow of his inspiration fades. Worthless speech if we return to Beecher's quote sits at window in the rain, day after day, depressed at the cloudy weather.
Jeremiah chooses to deliver precious words to Israel. Jeremiah realized that God let him have the decision, and Jeremiah chose to speak weighty, precious words. Now for those who wonder, and as we know from other places in the Bible, we are not given much detail about "precious" or "weighty" speech. But it is implied that weighty speech does not pander to public opinion and is strong enough to endure criticism. Precious speech requires faith in nothing less than the protection of God.
So what to do you think. How are you and I working on our speaking as Christians? We are all challenged to speak faithfully precious and weighty words in our context. I know that for me, I am way too often flip. I may speak more of anger than thoughtfulness. And, I may know God's word but I have not wrestled with as well as I would like. There is something to learn from today's passage and why I return day after day and week after week to worship and scripture.
Finally, it is important to remember Jeremiah was one of several hundred prophets with something to say in Jerusalem. The same holds true for our century, there are lots (and lots!) of people, some Christians out there talking and talking, some of it nuggets of thoughtfulness, but like the ancient excess of speech in Jerusalem that still holds true for us today. Nevertheless, Jeremiah's spoke and his words persisted and the process that unfolded in his life, I think offers us a glimpse into speech worth saying. Let us listen to God's word, ponder and consider the words deeply, in our hearts and then choose weighty, precious words, because then our words will be similar to those spoken by Jeremiah --- they will stand like walls of bronze. Amen.