Jeremiah 8: The Mess In The Message

Did you ever stop to think that a preacher might not always like the message that he or she is called to preach?

Personally speaking, there are some sermons I enjoy more than others.  I love the Advent Season, when the focus is on the coming (or second coming) of Christ.  There is so much beauty and mystery and wonder wrapped up in the anticipation of Christmas.  I also thrill to the triumph of Easter morning when the news of the empty tomb is announced and the realization of the resurrection hits home.

But what about the (very necessary) sermons about sin, judgment, and our need for repentance?  What of the dark messages about the dangers of hell and the warnings of antichrist?  If I feel I receive a message to preach from the Lord but don't like the content, what should I do?  Who really is in control of the truth to be shared with the congregation - the preacher, or God?

Jeremiah also struggled with this issue.  But he answered the questions as I do.  The message really isn't up to the messenger.  The Word comes from God.  Pastors and prophets are only servants who are responsible to bring forth the revealed Word and serve it to God's people.  If we fail in that task - if we decide we'd rather preach something else than the truth delivered to us - then we are derelict in our duty and liable before God!

"My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.  Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: 'Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?'" (vs. 18-19)  Does it sound like Jeremiah enjoyed bringing the message of gloom and doom to his countrymen?  Far from it!  He would much rather have served up good words that go down easy.  But that was not his assignment.  Instead, he had to bear the pain of being a messenger of bad tidings.  "For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me" (vs. 21).

So the next time you might want to criticize a preacher for the subject of his message, maybe because you don't like the conclusion, consider that he might not have had a choice in the matter!