“Called Forward, Even in Our Fear”
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 1:26-39
When I was a child living in a Sacramento suburb, I can remember staying out and playing in our neighborhood until it got dark. We would ride bikes, dam up the gutters on the street, have boat races, go to the nearby park, and play baseball, etc. At some point, as it got later, we’d all start hearing our mothers’ voices calling us in for dinner. My mom called me “Danny” back in those days. Sometimes she had to call from the front porch a couple of times before I came in to eat dinner. “Danny, time for dinner” would be followed a few minutes later by “Danny Fowler, dinner, NOW.” I knew better than to ignore the second call, stopped what I was doing, and came inside for dinner.
I share that story because both of this morning’s passages are about answering a call- not from Mom, but from God. (I realize for some of you who knew better than ever to talk back or ignore your Mom, they may be one in the same…😉) The scripture from Jeremiah is about accepting God’s call to become a prophet, even at a young age. The passage from Luke’s gospel is about Mary, who is also young, and is about answering the call to be the mother of the Messiah. Let’s take a closer look at these narratives to see what they reveal about God’s call.
First, let’s take a closer look at Jeremiah and God’s call. Jeremiah is an insider with God. He is the son of a temple priest, Hilkiah, and of the tribe of Benjamin. Even as a young boy, Jeremiah heard about the goings on around the temple from his father. It is interesting to note that the call from God for Jeremiah to become a prophet occurs at a very specific time, given the book's beginning. In addition, we know the exact length of Jeremiah’s time as a prophet. (Jeremiah 1:1-3) “The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.” So, Jeremiah heard God’s call in 627 B.C., prophesied for 54 years to 5 kings of Israel, ending with King Zedekiah, including the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 B.C., and time in exile.
God calls Jeremiah to prophecy, saying God knew him before he was even born and that, in the womb, he was appointed as a prophet. How did Jeremiah respond initially to God’s call? “I am only a boy, too young to answer your call!”
I vividly remember receiving a phone call in early 1974, not long after joining the Rancho Cordova Presbyterian Church at the age of eleven. My mother handed me the phone, letting me know it was someone from the church. I answered it, and it was someone from the nominating committee, who said, “Now that you are a member of the church, I was wondering if you would consider becoming a deacon?” My voice was beginning to change at that time, and I responded, “I’m only eleven…” There was a long silence on the other end until the voice replied, “Oh… Well. Perhaps when you are older, then.” Two things about that story. First, I am thankful the person from the nominating committee did not quote Jeremiah 1:7 to me, which states, “DO not say I am only a boy, for you shall go to all whom I send you, says God.” Second, to all those on our church nominating committee, the struggle is real to find officers to serve as elders and deacons, and it has been around for decades!
The second reason Jeremiah gives for not accepting God’s call is that he does not speak well, echoing Moses’ protest against God’s call to lead the people of Israel out of servitude. Jeremiah is afraid and does not feel qualified to answer God’s call. After telling him not to concern himself with his age, God tells Jeremiah not to be frightened, that God will be with him in this calling, and then gives him a mystical vision, where God’s hand touches Jeremiah’s mouth and puts God’s words into his mouth. After that, it appears Jeremiah, despite his fear and concerns over his age and lack of speaking ability, says yes to God’s call. For the next 50+ years, he serves as God’s mouthpiece to the kings of Israel, calling them to faithfulness and pointing out their sinfulness. One of my favorite passages of scripture comes from this prophet. When the people living in Babylon fear they will be in exile forever, God speaks through Jeremiah, saying, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Our second story of call is also about a young person, “Mary.” It happens at a particular time as well, during the sixth month of her cousin, Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Mary’s real name, however, was “Mariam,” an Aramaic/Hebrew name that became “Mary” through Greek and Christian translations. Calling her “Mary” misses the connection to another important woman in the Bible, Miriam, a leader during the Exodus who sang praises for the Israelites' deliverance at the Red Sea. If the old name is used, it is easier to associate Jesus’ mother with Miriam, a woman who sang about freedom from oppression, as Mariam would later do when she sings her Magnificat.
Why do we believe Mariam was young? Theologian Amy Jill Levine writes, “We do not know her age, although Jewish women at that time married in their late teens or early twenties.” Girls were betrothed to marry as young as the age of twelve. So, since we know she was betrothed to Joseph in marriage, but that marriage had not yet taken place, most likely she was young when the Angel Gabriel came to extend God’s call.
Like Jeremiah, she was also related to the priestly class at the temple, as her cousin Elizabeth was married to the temple priest Zechariah. It is also believed that Mariam did not come from a wealthy background, for as she says, “Yes” to God’s call, she refers to herself as a doulos Doulos, a house servant, one of the lowliest forms of servitude at the time. Now that we know more about Mariam, let’s investigate her story of call.
The angel, Gabriel, appears to Mariam with the greeting, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” I wonder up to this moment in her life, if Mariam ever felt favored, as a young, poor house servant. Her response to this greeting is one of fear. The text says she is “greatly troubled” (- diatarassō-diatarassō)— a Greek word used to describe Zechariah's feeling disturbed when he also encountered an angel. The “Dia” at the beginning of this Greek word intensifies tarassō, suggesting not just inner disturbance but a profound, bodily dissonance. Mary is not simply disturbed— she is shaken, thrown off-balance, possibly afraid for her life.
Gabriel recognizes her fear, tells her not to be afraid, and then announces that she will conceive a baby boy and name him Jesus. Gabriel goes on to say to her this son will be great, Son of the Most High, and that his kingdom will have no end. I doubt that settled her down much. Mariam was young, unmarried, and living under the weight of imperial and patriarchal control. To be told—without warning—that she would bear a child by divine initiative wasn’t just a spiritual shock; it was a profound social and bodily risk.
Mariam asks questions and wants to know how something like this can happen to her. She wants understanding before offering her answer. Gabriel explains that God’s Spirit will create her pregnancy, and his birth will be holy. Mariam’s consent is essential before God’s plan moves forward. She listens, considers the impossible, and then, despite her fear, feels called forward and responds with courage, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
What happens after Mariam’s yes to God’s call and her encounter with the holy? How does she take all of this in? Rev. Sara Speed’s poem, Mary Considers Her Situation, gives us one possibility.
“What next, she wonders, with the angel disappearing, and her room suddenly gone dark.
The loneliness of her news possesses her. She ponders how to tell her mother.
Still, the secret at her heart burns like a sun rising. How to hold it in—that which cannot be contained.
She nestles into herself, half-convinced it was some kind of good dream, she its visionary.
But then, part dazzled, part prescient—she hugs her body, a pod with a seed that will split her.”
Scripture tells us that after this holy encounter, she heads for the hills to be with her cousin Elizabeth. It may well be that she decided to put some distance between her newly pregnant body and her betrothed and her family. Pastor Austin Shelly considers the very real threats Mariam would have faced in his article, “Mary’s Fear and Desperation” (Christian Century, December 2018). She writes, “Mary has reason to be afraid. While Elizabeth’s pregnancy would have been understood by her community as a miraculous sign of God’s favor, Mary’s would have been cause for alarm—cause, even, for her to be put to death.” Perhaps, in addition to fleeing for her life, she sought assurance, wanting to know more about her cousin’s miraculous pregnancy while contemplating her own.
Both Jeremiah and Mariam are initially hesitant, feel they lack something to answer God’s call, and are fearful. Yet in time, they move forward even in their fear, and respond with a holy, hesitant yes to God’s call, a yes that dares to trust.
When I was 13, I started singing in the choir at Vallejo First Presbyterian church. The choir sang every Sunday, and the choir director, Donna Holden, began taking an interest in my musical abilities. I studied organ with her for about a year, and also did some basic singing lessons. I really liked blending in with the back row and singing low notes with the other basses, as well as exchanging written notes with one of my friends during the service. About a year later, when I was almost 15, Donna asked me to sing a solo in a choral piece for the Christmas Eve service. I had never done anything like that before, and was petrified to even think of standing in front of a large crowd to sing something. I was too young, too inexperienced, and said “no thanks.” However, she asked the following week again at rehearsal. I finally gave in and started practicing for my first vocal solo. Despite my fears, my age, and my lack of experience, I said yes.
As we gathered for the Christmas Eve service, I remember that the choral piece I had the solo in was near the beginning. I went up with the choir out on the steps and lifted my folder. I was so frightened; I remember my music shaking so much that it was difficult even to see it. But I got through it, and some folks after the service congratulated me. Since that first solo, I’ve taken part in rock bands, musicals, operas, sang solos in Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem, got to perform live on stage with a Broadway Star, and even sang the national anthem a few times at an NBA arena with over 17,000 people. That initial yes changed my life’s arc in profound ways, and as I reflect on that moment, I think God spoke through that choir director, calling me to something new. I use that gift of music in my ministry as well. What if I had said “No?” I am thankful I said yes to that call, despite my fear.
American Author, activist, and poet Wendell Berry wrote, "The old and honorable idea of 'vocation' is simply that we each are called, by God, or by our gifts, or by our preference, to a kind of good work for which we are particularly fitted." What is God calling you to? Maybe God called you to whatever it is in your life a long time ago, and you are following it. Perhaps God calls you to reaffirm that initial calling, or possibly expand its scope a bit. Or, maybe it is a new calling. Is it a ministry? Is it a change in your life’s arc? There are an awful lot of non-profits looking for volunteers these days, as well as some vacancies to fill in our church. Perhaps, especially if it is something new, as you feel that nudge or hear that small still voice, you feel fear, and, like Jeremiah, like Mariam, like me, your first response is, “I’m too young, or old, or inexperienced, or not holy enough, can’t speak, don’t sing well, or…” (fill in the blank.) God calls us forward, even in our fear, to say yes to a kind of good work for which we are particularly fitted.
May we have ears to listen for that call, and respond with “Yes” as Jeremiah, Mariam, and many others have throughout the centuries. Alleluia! Amen.
