I love the prophet Jeremiah. I know…kind of weird. I mean, he’s a downer (though in no way as weird as Ezekiel…that guy is out there). Jeremiah though has always had a close place in my heart. It’s a long story, that, so I won’t bore you with it, but because I love Jeremiah, I’ve spent long hours reading his words.
They aren’t pretty. I mean, he also wrote a book called “All This Info Sucks”…no wait, that’s just what I would call it. It’s really called “Lamentations.” So, uh, not much better. However, in the midst of his writings, there are some great verses that people love to quote. I think, however, that some of them get mistaken for the point. I think that’s because we don’t generally like to hear bad news…especially when the news came due to our own failures.
Jeremiah is speaking to his nation in the months BEFORE major disaster strikes. No one likes disaster…especially when we bring it on ourselves. Ever notice that many people will really lash out after their failure gets highlighted? Where they should have shame and contrition, instead there is anger, finger pointing and loud voices. It’s just that we don’t like getting caught, so if we are loud enough then perhaps the truth of our own failing will be overlooked.
In Jeremiah 29, the prophet tries to show the people that the totality of the situation isn’t necessarily as bad as all that….or, well, it is BAD, but in the end (70 years later) some good will come of it. In verses 4-23, a story of hope is offered that suggests that the disaster won’t mean the death or destruction of all, and that in the midst of the hard times, continue to look for a future. Not only look for it, but work to see it come.
I was studying Jeremiah 29:12-13, though, and noticed something I hadn’t really seen before. To help myself, I reached out to a few of my brilliant spiritual brothers for their thoughts. The verse reads “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” I was struck by the two distinct actions that God speaks of here. First calling on Him and second, coming/praying to Him.
Why are there two?
I mean, when I have quoted this at various times, I was mostly thinking in terms of those being synonymous. Today, reading deeper, I think that can’t be true. He’s not merely repeating himself for effect, trying to hammer home the point about the need to talk to Him. There is something different in “calling” and then “come & pray.”
Two of my pastoral brothers pointed out quickly that there are actually three acts: Call, Come, Pray.
Call–Get God’s attention — and by that I mean first get my attention on God for His is always on me. The act of calling directs my attention to God. We give God our attention and we ask for His… we call.
Come—Here is alignment–coming to God is to leave where I am and “come” to where God is… to understand Him and His will. We come to Him, denoting a relationship and fellowship, perhaps one in need of repair seen in my coming back to Him.
Pray–Then I am ready to speak to Him, to give my petition. I have to leave myself (call), get on God’s agenda (come) then pray. At that point, my prayers are more likely to be on God’s agenda (a la Andrew Murray’s thesis in With Christ in the School of Prayer). We pray, indicating deep and emotional communication. It would indicate that our communication with God is always a call to a deeper intimacy.
My fraternity brother, Pastor Kyle Gatlin pointed out that this is a message to the exiles with a promise of return. “The Plan” is for all of them to go home. This gets lost often, especially when people quote v. 11—“For I know the plans I have for you, plans for good, and not for disaster; to give you a future and a hope.” Yay…but realize that said promise who are where they are (in need of this promise of good future) BECAUSE they were a disobedient people, specifically in that place because they failed to obey God’s directions for life.
Thus, these plans are not plans necessarily for AFTER the crisis, but WHILE in the midst of captivity, in the midst of pain. So, the “Then you will” means “in those days” of captivity….at that time you will call upon God. In the Hebrew, the word there is suggesting a shout out, a cry aloud, “to call out to address someone by name.” So, basically a simple declaration of greeting to someone: “hey Carl.” It would infer “calling” to get the attention of the other, or maybe to acknowledge the speaker is aware of who the other is.
So, “call on me” is a reminder that you have to acknowledge God as Sovereign, as the One who can restore you, who is the only One who can bring you home, the One who holds you in his hands. This is important as we remember the context…the people were, in essence, lost. That “lostness” literally being a “help me God; where are you; please come to me; I NEED you.” Plaintive, longing.
That crying is perhaps for moderns a form of “prayer” but it’s not really from God’s point of view here. He hasn’t even gotten close to prayer. We’ve called out for Him…but then we must next take action to come to Him. It is the old story of the older couple driving. They get passed by a young couple snuggled together as they drive. The wife, who is the passenger, says, “Why don’t we sit like that anymore.” The husband looks over and simply notes, “the steering wheel hasn’t moved.” It is the passenger who has slid further away.
Here, it is us, the human, who has moved away from God. And now, through Jeremiah, God is calling us back. We must be the one to return, to come to God. He does have a plan for our good future, but if we stay in rebellion, in rejection to living life His way, then why does He owe it to us? We have to take the step of returning to His ways.
This is again an acceptance of the sovereignty of God in life. Remember the context yet again. They are in this disaster of life because they had failed to follow God’s plan, they had failed to “call” and “come,” failed to place Him as sovereign. Now, in the midst of the disaster, God still has a good future. And in this good future, they are to live fully. Sons and daughters are to marry. They are to live for the well-being, the prospering of the city in which they live. As we do that, we can cry out for Him to be present in that moment. Then, we come to Him. We center our lives on Him first.
Then we pray. If we don’t call first, if we don’t come, then prayer just becomes tossed up words to some vague hope of help or rescue. I don’t’ speak for God here, and He might choose to listen to our prayers if we don’t “cry” and “come,” but He’s got every right to NOT listen. When we are obedient … He will hear us when we call on him, in obedience when we pray, he will listen.
That’s a good thing. Do you feel like you are in the midst of disaster? Perhaps feel as if you are trying to pray for help but getting nowhere? Hearing nothing?
Follow God’s directions as Jeremiah gives it to us. Call on God. Come to Him. Then pray…”our father who art in heaven…hallowed be thy name….”