INTO THE CATSKILLS – YOU’RE A BETTER MAN GUNGA DIN

Jeremiah 1:6, “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak: for I [am] a child.”

One of the great lessons that the Catskills have been teaching me is just how small and insignificant I am in light of this great beauty of majesty of God’s creation.  I wonder if He could ever use someone as small and as imperfect as I am to accomplish anything for His kingdom.

Before I left for the Catskills I watched an old movie called Gunga Din (pronounced as deen) which was very loosely based upon Rudyard Kipling’s poem by the same name.  The last lines of the poem however were quoted in the movie and really expressed the true nature of the British soldier who lamented the death of the water bearer who saved his life and pondered the unsolved riddle of love.  Unlike the Cary Grant’s character who was very benevolent to Gunga Din this soldier had been very cruel, abusive and condescending to the young servant whose only job was to carry water for the soldiers.  Yet, this humble Indian servant laid down his life to spare the life of this British soldier. This soldier only saw an ignorant, uncouth, Indian servant who did not have the dignity of a British military officer. Someone whose only value in life was to bear water for the British soldiers.  Yet in the end this British officer realized that Gunga Din was just as much a creation of God as he was and in the long run this humble servant was a better man the he.

Tho’s I’ve belted you and flayed you,

By the livin’ Gawd that made you,

You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

As I reflected on Kipling’s poem I could not help but think of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah never really wanted to be a prophet.  I was told in Bible College that he resisted the call of a prophet because he knew of its dangers.  Yet when I analyze Jeremiah 1:6 I get more of a picture of a man who was like Gunga Din. It wasn’t that he was afraid more than he felt totally inadequate. We are led to believe that God dragged poor Jeremiah into the prophetic ministry kicking and screaming.   Yet, look at his response to his call.  “I said, Ah, Lord, I cannot speak because I am a child.  The word for child is na’ar which could mean a servant or a young maiden.  This is not your typical word for a child which is yalad.  Na’ar comes from an old Persian word meaning to boil. In other Semitic languages it has the idea of being agitated or stirred up which is a picture of boiling water.  It eventually came to be associated with a young child or a baby who is constantly being stirred up and crying and whining.  It is often used in the Hebrew and Aramaic for a baby about three months old.  So what Jeremiah was saying is that he could not be a prophet because he is as helpless as a three month old baby, why he cannot even speak.  The word used for speak is dabar which are words spoken from the heart.  He is basically saying that he cannot even express his own heart, how is he going to express the heart of God.

We really get the true motive behind his response from the use of the word ah.  In Hebrew this is ahah and is merely an injection. But this particular interjection is an express of helplessness and self-pity. Jeremiah is really saying, “Oh, Lord, I am just a simple man, I cannot speak eloquently like those other prophets, I am not gifted and talented like they are.  I mean look at these others who call themselves prophets, why when the prophesy it is like pure poetry flowing from their lips, they are charismatic, handsome, flamboyant, and I am just a simple Gunga Din with no other talent than to bear water for these other warriors.”  Yet God responds by saying, “Don’t be afraid for I am with thee.”  That word with thee is ‘iteka which means more than just with thee, it is an expression of saying, “I am in a relationship with you, I am as near as your heart.”  

With that assurance Jeremiah set forth on his prophetic ministry only to be mocked, ridiculed and tossed into prison. Yet, in the end God did a mighty work from this humble man who felt he was so small and insignificant.

I look around at the mighty mountains, the moving streams and I cry out, “Who am I that God could use me.”  Yet, God is saying I am His instrument and it is in His power and His might that whatever I accomplish in life will be done through Him.  I have a relationship with Him and He is as near to me and as close to me as my heart.