This last Sunday we heard about the prophet Isaiah’s life-changing encounter with God. Here’s the scoop: Isaiah had a vision of Israel’s God, enthroned in the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. This radical experience causes Isaiah to immediately cry out, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I have unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And my eyes have seen YHWH the Almighty” (Isa. 6:5). I imagine that moment must have been terrifying. To come into direct contact with the Holy God and consequently have your self-perception and the perception of your world so drastically altered... Probably not so fun.

Continuing our celebration of Black History Month, today I wish to lift up the name and story of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler. At a  time when very few women worked outside of the home, Dr. Crumpler was saving lives. Earning her M.D. degree from New England Female Medical College in 1864, she was the only African-American person to earn a degree from the institution and the first African-American female physician in the United States.

So, this week during worship we heard about Jeremiah’s calling to be a prophet. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). Jeremiah lived in difficult times, politically speaking. He ministered from around 627 BCE, during the reign of King Josiah over Judah (considered one of Judah’s last good kings), until after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire and the exile of so many Judeans in 587-86 BCE (This was the same Babylonian exile I wrote about last week.) Jeremiah’s prophetic career would involve crying out against Judah’s infidelity to its covenant with God and warn of God’s judgment. (Long story short, the people wouldn’t listen very well, and the exile would happen anyway.)