All that fire

"Were not our hearts burning within us?"


It's one of my favorite quotes from the Bible and it comes from Luke's story of two people walking the road to Emmaus.  A  stranger joins them on this journey and pretty soon the stranger is talking scripture (the Hebrew scriptures or what we Christians would call the Old Testament since that was all that there was).  It turns out that this stranger is the risen Jesus and he is connecting the dots in the scriptures .....which, I would guess firmly point to him as God's Messiah.  When the two companions finally figure it all out, one says, "Were not our hearts burning within us when he opened to us the scriptures?" Apparently, God's Word and fire are not uncommon. Luke 24.32

In the book of Exodus, Moses encounters a bush that is burning but not consumed....the famous 'burning bush' story.  As Moses comes closer to inspect this phenomena, a voice says,  'take off your sandals.  You are standing on holy ground'.  Yep, that was God, calling Moses to be God's servant and the liberator of the Hebrew people.  Exodus 3.1ff

The prophet Jeremiah is another example.  In the 20th chapter, after having endured consistent and nasty responses to his faithful preaching, Jeremiah has had all he can take.  "You have enticed me, and I was enticed" Jeremiah cries.  [There are some very interesting variations on the translation of that word 'enticed']

If you have read all the previous 19 chapters you would probably agree with the crowd; Jeremiah, who is known as the weeping prophet, is a buzz killer.  As a result, he was called names, called out, ostracized and pushed around, and just because he is doing what God called him to do (see chapter 1), that is, to speak the words that God put in his mouth.  No one likes the message, so they want to get rid of the messenger.

Jeremiah wants to get rid of the Word of God that is constantly coming to him; he wants to retire from his job as prophet.  So he says,  "If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot."  God's Word was a fire in his bones.  Wow.  Jeremiah 20.9

When the disciples gathered after Easter for the feast of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came among them like tongues of fire with a tongue of fire resting on each one present.  Soon everyone was speaking and hearing languages they didn't otherwise know.  Hmmm  Acts 2.3

When was the last time God's Word lit a fire in your belly?  When did it compel you to speak?  When did God call you to be a servant and liberator of others?

I would guess there are times when a gentle nudge is no longer enough to get God's people moving.  Sometimes it takes a little heat, applied wherever God believes it will do the most good.

Have you felt the heat lately?

A fire in my belly......

For Jeremiah, it was a fire in his belly...or bones depending on the translation.  Either way, it was way down inside of him.  The Word of God was more than story, more than white noise in his life, it was a fire and it was burning him up.  Called to be a prophet as a boy, Jeremiah was given a Word from God and it was his job to share that word with the people of Israel. It got him into all kinds of trouble with lots of powerful people.  His friends and neighbors plotted against him.  No one wanted to hear Jeremiah's Word from God.  Yet he had no choice, it was a fire in his belly and as much as he tried, he could not keep it in.

Now that's a Word!

God has planted a Word deep within you as well.  It is the Word which is transforming your life.  It is the Word that turns your face towards God again and again and the same Word which sends you out as a servant of God.  It is the Word which helps you see this world through the eyes of a loving Creator.  It is the Word which is also your vocation - your calling - your way of being in the world.

Am I talking about a literal word?  Like 'love' or 'compassion' or 'serving'?  Or is the Word more of the assurance of God's presence and my calling to live as a child of God?  Yes.  Both of these.

God calls us to live in deep relationship with the Creator; Jesus shows us how to do this (and in some very tight and difficult situations); the Spirit swirls around us with energy and life and power.  Add all that up and it equals the Word of God planted deep within you, calling you into the world.

But there is also a word that can describe how God calls you into the world, your way of being God's love in the world with friends, neighbors, and strangers.  I think it is worth the time to consider what that word might be.

Some are called to compassion (even when they don't want to feel compassion, don't want to see the other a sinner just like them).  Some are called to sacrificial giving, using the wealth they have (maybe large, maybe not) to bring about the light of life in Christ in lots of ways in lots of places.  Some are called to organize, making the ministry of others more efficient and effective.  Some are called to feed and are always 'putting some together' for the sake of the hungry or lost.

A Word from God, a Word of God, a word for you. The Word, our Lord Jesus.  The Word, the Bible.  A word for you?  What could that be?

Lord, keep us steadfast in your word;

curb those who by deceit or sword

would wrest the kingdom from your Son

and bring to naught all he has done.

(Martin Luther, ELW #517)

One more time.....

It's Jeremiah this Sunday.  Jeremiah in a good mood.  Jeremiah bringing a word of hope and grace to the people of Israel, who he threatened and denounced all the way into exile (which they deserved, according to Jeremiah).

This is a word about the 'days that are coming'; days filled with new plantings, with building up.  In 'those days' a new relationship will sprout between God and Israel, or as it is translated, 'a new covenant.'

Now God's word will be written on each person's heart.  Each person will be responsible for him/herself.  Each person will answer to God. (This replaces an understanding that the action of the parents would bless/condemn the children.  Now each person is responsible for her own sins.)

This may not sound like good news to you, but to Israel, who had spent long years in exile, who were certain that God had abandoned/forgotten them, it was amazing news.  They were going back to Jerusalem (a symbol of the entire land) and God had not cut them off forever.

Even more importantly, "I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more."  That is the promise.  All is wiped clean.  Come home, God calls to his people.  Come home where you belong.  I want you here and not there. 

This is our God, the one who continually calls us home.  Let's not turn a deaf ear.