Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

The words rained down like echoes from the past. Words so similar to those spoken to another prophet in another time concerning other people in another land. Strong words. Hard words. Words so heavy it felt nearly impossible to squeeze them past his tightened throat and parched lips. Words the hearers had no desire to hear. Necessary words. Words of warning. Words of repentance. Words of change. A call for the people to lay aside their own willful desires and return to their God in humility and obedience. A cry for them to hear and learn and embrace God’s truth as their own. Without these words, the people would continue to wander, continue to stray, continue to sin. They would die that way. In their sin. Eternity stretching before them in a long, dark, hopeless night. Unless he spoke the words. The unpopular, unpleasant, unwelcome truth of God. He wasn’t excited about it. Wasn’t thrilled with the possible deadly results. Jeremiah might even have taken the long way to the house of the Lord that day. His reluctance obvious. His internal struggle intense. Just like the hesitant prophet before him. (Jeremiah 26:1-6)

Jonah had found himself in a similar situation. God’s call to warn Nineveh of impending disaster due to their scandalous ways found him hopping a nearby ship and sailing in the opposite direction. For as far as it took him. As the sea kicked off and the boat rocked and swayed, Jonah found himself face to face with the consequences of his own disobedience. It wasn’t pretty. Options for escape were limited. His overboard route took him on a tour of a large fish’s intestinal tract and brought him face to face with himself, his sin, and his God. It was a time of soul-searching. A time of repentance. A time when Jonah made the choice to really sell out to God, no matter the cost. A time when Jonah was determined to speak God’s truth. To himself. To others. In Nineveh. (Jonah 1-3:3)

Had there been a way to hop aboard a nearby ship and sail away, Jeremiah might have followed Jonah’s lead. An ocean getaway seemed highly preferable to his current contentious position, even if the accommodations were the cramped quarters of a fishy stomach. He’d also happily accept the response Jonah received when he finally reached Nineveh and began to speak God’s truth. That had been truly miraculous! The people listened! They repented! They dropped everything, abandoned their hedonistic lifestyles, set aside their rampant sin, and fell to their knees in fasting and prayer. They believed God! It was a response Jeremiah would have been thrilled to receive. But the people of Judah were of a different mindset. The only truth they wanted to believe was that of their own misguided hearts. Speaking the words here, to a people so deeply entrenched in their own manufactured ideals, would no doubt end much differently than Jonah’s mission. 

Jeremiah wasn’t wrong. As he’d known they would, the words he had spoken in obedience to God had fallen on wilfully deaf ears. Everyone was angry with him. Livid, really. Priests. Prophets. People. Their rebellious hearts, convicted by the truth of his words, twisted and writhed inside them. The ugly mess within erupted in rash actions without. Snatching Jeremiah by the arms, they dragged him to the gate, stood him before the officials and raised their complaint. 

The allegations were ugly. Jeremiah was a charlatan, a liar, a traitor. He was against them. Spitting out ugly threats of coming disaster and demise for their city and themselves. Telling them to change their ways. Saying they weren’t right before God. They called heresy! Refused to believe him. Resented the fact he’d even say such things about them. Called loudly for the officials to take their side, rebuke Jeremiah, and send him to his death. 

It was Jeremiah’s moment. His time to speak. His opportunity to defend himself, his words, his God. His option to take it all back, succumb to the alleged truth the people wanted to hear, candy-coat God’s words, soft-sell the coming judgment. He chose the first option. Looking squarely in the face of those able to condemn him to death, Jeremiah spoke God’s truth. The city and the people therein were a mess. Selfish. Disobedient. Headed for certain destruction. His words were their warning. Their lifeline. Repent. Change. Obey. Be saved from certain disaster. Simple words. Honest words. Words that could send him to an early grave. He spoke them anyway. At a time when God’s truth was unwelcome, unpleasant, unheard of, Jeremiah bravely, staunchly spoke it anyway. 

Waiting for the official decision must have felt interminable. His heart thundered in his chest. His breath lodged in his throat. His instincts urged him to break free and run. It must have taken all his strength to calmly stand and wait. His life hung in the balance. There was nothing more he could do to swing the vote in his favor. He’d said everything God told him to say. Yet knowing he’d been completely obedient didn’t stop his mind from running away with his thoughts. How long does it take to die from stoning? Or would they simply run him through with a sword? Drag him out into the wilderness alone to die? Would death be slow and torturous or painfully quick? It didn’t matter. He’d do it all over again. Jeremiah would speak God’s truth again and again. Because he deemed obedience to God worth anything, worth everything. Even death.  

Admittedly, it was touch and go for a few minutes. The officials seemed to be at a bit of an impasse. It could go either way. Micah of Moresheth had prophesied similar words. When he entreated the Lord, disaster had been averted. Uriah had also prophesied similar disasters. They had sought him down and killed him. The weight of responsibility sat heavily on their shoulders. They could keep him alive and hopefully avert disaster or give him over to death and take future responsibility for the coming onslaught. They needed to choose carefully. Their decision would be final. If death were the choice, it would be immediate. The priests, prophets, and people would happily lob stones at Jeremiah until he breathed his last right there at the gate. 

The people’s thirst for blood was destined to go unfulfilled. One man on the council stood with Jeremiah. Shielded him. Kept him from death. It was a near miss. It wouldn’t stop the preaching. It wouldn’t end the sharing of God’s words, His warnings. It wouldn’t stop Jeremiah from risking his life to speak God’s truth in a social construct that encouraged each individual to speak their own truth. Verbalize their own opinions. Follow their own paths. Demand validation of their actions whether godly or not. They simply weren’t interested in hearing from God unless it was a pat on the head and a blind eye to their sin. Nothing has changed in the intervening centuries. (Jeremiah 26:7-24; Jeremiah 11:8)

We live in the exact same society. People happily traipsing through life seeking their own way. Twisting the Bible to approve their actions. Underlining the words they like. Lining through the parts they hate. In anger and conviction over their obvious sins, they rail against those upholding God’s laws, assigning them names similar to the things people called Jeremiah. Bigots. Hypocrites. Liars. Haters. And God’s people stand in fear, holding the line, but wondering how long it will be before these same people call for discrimination and death to those who hold fast to the true teachings of God’s Word. (II Timothy 3:2; Galatians 5:19; Romans 8:7; Deuteronomy 4:2)

It’s so tempting to join the club. So tempting to simply smile and nod as the people around us spew out corrupt interpretations of Scripture that allow them to sin and follow their own inclinations. We dare not do it. God’s Word, His laws, His expectations never change. You can count on them. No matter which voice is the loudest in the room. Regardless which argument falls the nicest on your ears. In spite of how persuasive the voices of the world can be. Do. Not. Give. In. You can’t afford to. Your soul is worth more than that. Your eternity is so much more precious than the baubles and trinkets the world is selling. Even when it feels treacherous and terrifying, obedience to God is worth everything, worth anything. Even social rejection, discrimination, and hate. (Matthew 5:11-13; Luke 6:22; Exodus 23:2; John 15:18-19; Matthew 7:13-14; Romans 12:2)

So be obedient. In a society that extravagantly celebrates speaking your own truth, I challenge you to speak God’s truth instead. To yourself. To others. I challenge you to grab your Bible and study it. Old Testament. New Testament. Genesis to Revelation. Lean in to every account, every proverb, every parable. Listen to God as He speaks to you. Let Him teach you His truth, the only truth, the eternal truth. Learn His requirements for living. Understand His desires for humanity. Know God’s truth. Then go speak it. Boldly. Even when it is unpopular. Even when it is uncomfortable. Even when it flies in the face of the current social agenda. Speak it anyway. In Jonah’s place. In Jeremiah’s stead. No matter the outcome. Be faithful. Be courageous. Preach the message. Speak God’s truth. (Ephesians 4:15, 6:10-16; James 1:22-25; Zechariah 8:16; II Corinthians 2:17, 4:2; Galatians 4:16; John 17:17; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:105)