Scripture: Jeremiah1:11-19; John 4:27- 42; Romans 1:1-15

Speaking for God

When we look at the three passages for today, we see three very different people speaking out for God: Jeremiah the prophet, a Samaritan woman, and the Apostle Paul.

Jeremiah was called to cry God’s judgment on a nation that had turned from God to worship inanimate objects – which should perhaps make us nervous. The Babylonian exile is still 40 years away, but his judgment comes in the same way as Hemingway explained how he went bankrupt: “Two ways. Gradually, and then suddenly.” This is a cautionary perspective on our normalcy bias when we look at the slow and then sudden changes in our world.
The woman at the well was not explicitly called or sent, but acts on her own to carry the good news she has received. The despised Samaritans first believed her and then Jesus. This woman was implicitly so outcast that she chose to draw her water during the noonday heat. Yet she was so changed by her encounter with Christ, that her neighbors believed her. Jesus’ miraculous knowledge of her former life was not likely nearly as convincing as the miraculous change in her.
Paul was directly, miraculously and suddenly called and changed, and the start of this epistle is doctrinally dense and rich. He recapitulates the Gospel and his calling as an apostle, even before formally greeting the Romans, expressing his thanks and prayers for them, and his desire, purpose and readiness to visit them.
What unites these very different people separated by time, status, gender (and more)? They have been changed by their personal encounters with God or with his divine Son. Whether or not they are expressly charged to go and speak for God, they cannot help expressing this change through their words and their lives.

Prayer: Dear Lord, may your presence in our hearts and minds so change us, that our lives and our words speak for you. Amen