God calls people of all ages
Daily Scripture
Jeremiah 1:6-8, Joel 2:28-29
Jeremiah 1
6 “Ah, LORD God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak
because I’m only a child.”
7 The LORD responded,
“Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’
Where I send you, you must go;
what I tell you, you must say.
8 Don’t be afraid of them,
because I’m with you to rescue you,”
declares the LORD.
Joel 2
28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days, I will also pour out my
spirit on the male and female slaves.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Great art (like Michelangelo’s “Moses”) can shape our view of the kind of people God works through. We may expect God to work primarily through fully adult, even older, figures. God has done that, calling aged Abram (cf. Genesis 12:4) or Moses, age 80 when he set out to deliver Israel from slavery (cf. Exodus 7:7). But God didn’t accept Jeremiah’s protest that he was too young to be effective as a prophet. The lesser-known prophet Joel pictured God pouring out God’s spirit on people of all ages.
- Scholar John Goldingay said we don’t know exactly how old Jeremiah was: “just a young man—maybe in his twenties, maybe even younger. A culture such as Israel’s recognizes that wisdom lies with people more senior.” Except not always: “God isn’t constrained by the way things usually work.” * Are you ever tempted to discount someone’s spiritual influence because you think they are “too young” (or “too old,” for that matter)?
- Joel’s message (the apostle Peter quoted it on the Day of Pentecost—cf. Acts 2:12-21) showed God’s desire to work through people of all ages, social standings and giftedness. “God’s call to Jeremiah is not meant as a model of God’s call to believers in the sense that we should all seek an experience with God like that of Jeremiah…. God does not call all believers to be prophets.” ** What has helped you (or might help you) develop a clearer sense of God’s calling on your life?
Prayer
Calling, commissioning God, sensitize me to the ways you pour out your Spirit on me, and on the ways your presence calls me to serve and bless others. Amen.
GPS Insights
Gwyn Thomas
Gwyn Thomas serves in donor relations at Resurrection. She’s a Boston native and moved to Kansas City in 2020. Her husband Blake is a provisional elder in the UMC and is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection Leawood. Her favorite pastimes include pottery, hiking, frisbee, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her daughter and their large orange cat, Tuna.
If you live in the Kansas City area, you may have felt the “back-to-school” shift in your environment this week, regardless of if you have school-aged children. Bus stops are back to being a part of my morning commute, I am extra vigilant of crosswalks as kiddos make their way to and from school and many of my friends have been sharing their child’s first day of school photos.
The current trend for first day photos is to share a picture of your hopeful student with a little sign that has some fill in the blank spots for things like: their name, grade, age, favorite color, who you want to be when you grow up, etc. I have been so struck by some of the signs where these young kids have shared amazing ideas of who they want to be like a computer programmer or a politician. Today’s Scripture reminds us that children have so much potential to have positive impact on God’s world.
I have been thinking about if I can pinpoint when in my life people started taking me seriously. I am not sure that I can. I remember the safe environments where I was unafraid to be myself but there are still some environments where I feel like my opinions are “less-than” based on my age. I know there’s so much wisdom to be gained as we grow older. I also know there’s so much wisdom to be gained when we listen to those younger than us, especially after being in worship this weekend and hearing the powerful words shared by our Resurrection students. There’s an amazing generation of young students gaining education right now who are uniquely equipped by God as shared in the Scriptures today.
Try to think back to one of your first day of school moments. Who were you hoping to be? Who helped you get there? Let’s continue to be a church that empowers our youngest to know God is their biggest advocate and their church is behind them every step of the way!
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* John Goldingay, Jeremiah for Everyone. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015, p. 10.
** J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary: Jeremiah, Lamentations. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002, p. 52.
