Jeremiah the voice of truth in a sea of deceit

Transcription

1 1 3 rd Sunday of Lent 4 th March 2018 Jeremiah the voice of truth in a sea of deceit Grief giving birth to future hope Lam PRAY 2 weeks ago when Leibidh began our series looking at Jeremiah she spoke about the picture of the boiling pot tilting away from the north which God gave Jeremiah (ch1). The picture represented disaster coming upon Jerusalem because of the Jewish people s unfaithfulness to God the judgement which had long been foretold if the people of Judah strayed from God was on it s way. Last week we heard how Jeremiah petitioned God to stay His hand in Jer 14, but no in v10 we heard how the Lord had made His decision.

2 2 And so in 597BC the troops of King Nebuchadnezzer of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and the city fell (2Kings ). The King of Judah and of his officials were carried off into exile in Babylon and all the treasures of the temple were removed. But amazingly the nation of Judah survived with a new King called Zedekiah, albeit under the control of King Nebuchadnezzer. This had been a calamitous event, but still Jeremiah prophesied worse was to come in Jer 38 he prophesied that Jerusalem would be handed over to the Babylonian army and would be burnt down again all because of Judah s unfaithfulness to God.

3 3 And of course it happened as detailed in Jer 52 King Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon and the army of Babylon marched against Jerusalem. After a 2 year siege, in 586BC the famine in the city was extreme and the city fell. King Zedekiah was carted off with his family, and all the houses of the city, including the royal palace and the Temple were burnt down.

4 4 Finally the city walls were broken down and all the people of the city exiled. Only the poorest people of the land were left to work in the fields. And Jeremiah who had been in chains following his unpopular prophecies was released from his shackles (Jer ). From within the destroyed city of Jerusalem, alone and deserted he wrote the Book of Lamentations. Lamentations has often been described as the book of tears because its words convey a pain and dislocation which affects everything. If you have ever seen pictures of a destroyed city, be it all those images of destroyed cities after the First and Second World Wars, or sadly the present day destruction in Iraq and Syria

5 5 (this image is from the Eastern Ghouta in Syria from this week), you will begin to grasp the horror, shock and pain of Jeremiah in destroyed Jerusalem. A lament is a cry that is uttered when life falls apart, and the Book of Lamentations is the longest lament in the Bible. And it may surprise you that laments are not at all uncommon in our scriptures - there are 20 psalms of lament alone. Lamentations was written in poetic form as an acrostic poem whose verses begin with successive letters of the alphabet. 22 verses in chapters 1,2,4 and 5 to mirror the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and 66 verses

6 6 (3x22) in chapter 3. Scholars believe it was written in this way to aid memory so people could recall the pain of Jerusalem s destruction so that they would never abandon God again. In this Book, Jeremiah recognises very clearly that it is God not Babylon that moved against Judah, and the writing expresses a pain and guilt that is intense, but the tone is not bitter or angry, after all the Lord said this was coming. Rather there is a questioning nature to the poem. Chapters 1,2,4 and 5 of Lamentations cover similar themes so the opening 12 verses we have heard sum

7 7 these chapters up well. Skimming the verses an extraordinary picture emerges: V1 the city is deserted, the people gone, like a widow left alone, the city of Jerusalem that was once like a queen is now a slave. V2 the reference to lovers speaks of spiritual adultery following other gods. V3 Judah is no longer its own nation, for its people dwell elsewhere. V4 celebrations have gone, only anguish is left.

8 8 V5 Jerusalem s many sins have caused this. V6 splendour has gone the treasures and people carted off. V7 speaks of powerlessness V8-9 here Jeremiah personifies excessive sinfulness as like menstrual uncleanness, and this indicates a moral decay.

9 9 V10 the scriptures move from the image of a violated woman to a violated temple V11 there is no food. V12 an acknowledgment that this unprecedented suffering has come from God. The people had abandoned God, so He had left them to their own devices and this was the result.

10 10 I pray we may never suffer like the suffering described here, but sadly we know that desolation like that described in Lamentations can come upon anyone, albeit under different circumstances. Judah s pain happened after repeated warnings and calls to change their sinful behaviour, but often the pain we experience is that brought about through circumstances where we are blameless. In Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere today innocent civilian populations suffer amidst destruction. And likewise our own lives can be visited by tragedy and desolation unlinked to anything we have done. And when it strikes us we too may find the need to lament

11 11 overwhelming; that need to cry out to God when life falls apart. There have been a few times in my life when I have felt abandoned, distraught and desolate. When Fi suffered 3 miscarriages, the pain I felt, and I cannot speak for Fi about her pain, the pain I felt was at times unbearable, and I remember crying out to God in anguish. More recently, in my time at St. Mark s, I remember a phone call I got on the evening of Monday 28 th April 2014 from East Surrey Hospital. Revd Coldicott, Judith Tattersall s daughters have asked that you come

12 12 at once. Mrs Tattersall isn t at all well and then the phone call was interrupted by the sound of the emergency buzzer. Though I didn t know it for sure, I suspected the call was for Judith, and as I drove as quickly as I could up to Redhill, through my tears I prayed that this wonderful lady, who had been a faithful servant of St. Mark s for so many years, would not die. She was one of my go to people when I needed help and advice; one of those incredibly wise people I knew God had blessed my life with. I needed her. But when I arrived on the ward, she was already dead, and when I drove home later I lambasted God with one of the most bitter laments of my life. I could not believe this lady whom I loved, and relied on, had gone. Why God - Why? And of course to that is no answer. I had to accept it was her time to be promoted to glory. PAUSE

13 13 So what can the Book of Lamentations say to us today? Is there anything positive we can draw form this? Well the answer is definitely yes, and I promise you there is Good News in this talk: 1. Firstly, you need to know it is alright to shout and cry and wail at God: like any loving parent will expect their children at times to take out their frustration on them, it is normal for us as Christians to do this to God. From the writers of the Psalms to Job, to Jeremiah in Lamentations, we read in our Bibles of people crying out to God in distress; and when we are in pain, we must feel able to do so too.

14 14 I have always been drawn to C.S. Lewis and his perspective on pain. Lewis had tasted pain in ways that few have experienced. He lost his mother at an early age, saw his dad emotionally abandon him, suffered from a respiratory illness as a teenager, fought and was wounded in World War I, and finally had to bury his beloved wife Joy. Lewis wrote about all his heartache in his book The Problem of Pain, in which Lewis penned one of his most famous lines: Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but

15 15 shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Lewis is not speaking of God bringing us pain, but rather that our pain as Christians should drive us hammering on God s door. Where are you? What are doing? Help me? So if circumstances overburden you, never be afraid to tell God all you feel. For Jeremiah that was all he could do, but for us we can now view these scriptures through the eyes of the new relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. And that makes a huge difference:

16 16 2. There is no one who can understand the depth of our suffering like Jesus Christ, so draw near to Him: No one has ever experienced the pain of loneliness and brokenness like Jesus, the son of God. The sinless Saviour walked the earth for 33 years amongst those He had created, healing sinners, teaching and ministering to people s needs. And yet he was betrayed, abandoned by his disciples, beaten, mocked and nailed to a cross. The sinless Saviour even had the sins of the whole of humanity, past, present and future placed upon him.

17 17 And at that point, when as Paul writes he became sin for us (2Cor 5.21), the relationship He had had with the Father since the beginning, was broken. And in utter pain, Jesus cries out My God, my God why have you forsaken me! (Mt 27.46) The so-called cry of dereliction is the ultimate lament. Now what that means for you and I today, is that however great our pain, however desperate our situation, we have a Saviour who knows the very depths of human suffering. When we cry out in grief, not only does Jesus hear us, but He knows and understands our pain. And His Spirit, the Holy Spirit within us, will drive us to call out to Him.

18 18 But still there is more. In the first 2 and last 2 chapters of Lamentations it is bleak. But in Lamentations Chapter 3 hope rises extraordinarily from Jeremiah and he says something incredible: 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

19 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. 19 Jeremiah s lament pauses as hope breaks in. And hope doesn t come from the Kings of Judah or its princes, from its priests or law makers no - hope is found in God s unchanging love. God s love and compassion remain, even when circumstances are bleak. The sense conveyed is a conscious desire to come into His presence and draw near to God, knowing that by doing so God s salvation will come. Jeremiah then speaks of God s yoke the yoke of discipline. And this is particularly poignant as the Lord had

20 20 earlier spoken to Jeremiah about the iron yoke or iron discipline King Nebuchadnezzer would place on the necks of Judah (Jer 28.14). So here we have Jeremiah speaking of a new yoke, God s yoke replacing the heavy yoke the conquered people of Judah wore. In this he is echoing Jesus words about yokes, so my third point is: 3. If we draw near to Jesus in our pain, he can ease our anguish:

21 In Matt Jesus says: 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jeremiah spoke of the need for God s yoke in our time of trial, and here, a little over 600yrs later, Jesus spells it out. He invites the weary (those who have become weary through heavy struggling or toil) and the burdened (overloaded) to come to Him and He will give you rest. 21

22 22 The Lord longs to bring us relief from our suffering and restore to us that peace which passes all understanding. trust yourself to His care? The question is Are you willing to I still find a lump rising in my throat on All Saints Sunday or at the Tree of Light service every year when I remember the 3 children Fi and I lost, and when I remember dear Judith. I miss her, and part of me still pines for the children we didn t have. But in the aftermath of all these losses and others, I can testify that as I have cried out to God again and again in pain, he met my distress with His love and peace. I have found the pain is rarely totally erased, but in

23 23 experiencing the overwhelming love of my Saviour Jesus, I have in time always come to a place where I can move on living out of my new normal with the Lord. Are you willing to trust yourself to His care? PRAY