OK, so this is not the usual Scripture passage we expect as we move through Advent and prepare to welcome the Christ child.

Transcription

1 And Jeremiah Spoke Jeremiah 23:1-8 OK, so this is not the usual Scripture passage we expect as we move through Advent and prepare to welcome the Christ child. But though it speaks to a time long before Bethlehem, and long before 2017, Jeremiah s words ring loud and clear about the One who entered our world a little over 2000 years ago. Let s look at the background first. The historical books of the Old Testament are books of struggle and sorrow, rebellion and disobedience, pagan practices and idol worship. And though God had warned His people through the prophets that they were heading for a fall, and a big one, they did not listen. They refused to listen. And so the northern kingdom, called Israel, fell to the hands of the Assyrians. And though the southern kingdom of Judah, in which Jeremiah lived, survived longer, it too fell to the invading army of Babylon. The people never learned. The devotional insert in our bulletin had a very interesting message about a week and a half ago. It began with a question: What is wrong with the world? And it offered some of the answers the world would give like poverty and lack of education. Which we might agree with. Only, the devotion went on the real problem with the world is separation from God. And if we were to offer that as a diagnosis in most worldly quarters, we would be labeled as old-fashioned, out of touch, maybe even religious bigots. But that is exactly what the matter is. We were created in God s image, to have a meaningful and fulfilling relationship with Him, and in so many ways, we have sought our own way, adjusted our lives according to our standards, distorted that image until we look like something you would see in a fun house mirror. But it s not fun. Not at all. Which is what happened in Israel and Judah they separated themselves from God. And for doing so, they were scattered, exiled from their homeland, thrown into the wilderness like dust in the wind. Only, and this is the beautiful part of Jeremiah s words, God promised to bring them back, to scatter them no more. To care for His people, protect them, provide for them, love them. And He promised them a king, a descendant of David. A king who would rule righteously, wisely, and justly. Who would offer safety and security and peace. A king who will be called: The Lord Our Salvation.

2 That was certainly good news for the scattered, especially since a lot of the kings of these two nations were disasters and led the people into the black hole that they never thought they would escape from. Only, they did. By God s hand. All a promise fulfilled by a child born centuries later in David s town, Bethlehem. Let s focus first on the word scattered. I looked it up in the dictionary and this is what I found: widespread and haphazard distribution of components. In the field of mathematics, there is a concept known as chaos theory. You can probably figure out what that means. It means that there is a high statistical chance that things that can happen will happen in a widespread and haphazard manner. Chaos mathematicians speak of the butterfly effect in which a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil might eventually cause a hurricane in Florida. No, I m not sure I could explain that since I am not a chaos mathematician, but that would certainly seem to be something widespread and haphazard. Now when we talk about chaos in our lives, it s not just the day when the washing machine overflows or the car won t start or it takes forever to get the kids out to school and out to work yourself. It s the chaos when our plans and dreams and security and expectations get scattered all over the landscape of our lives in a widespread and haphazard manner! Certainly, even though they should have known better, considering all the warnings they had received, the people of Israel and Judah were scattered in a widespread and haphazard manner. But here is God, promising to unscatter them, to bring back some sort of order in their lives. it. He is, after all, the One who looked at the chaos before in the beginning, and brought order to And this new king, even though He was born into a world of chaos, with all the components scattered in a widespread and haphazard manner, was the one He did it through. That doesn t mean that the washing machine will never overflow or that the car will always start or that it still won t take forever to get the kids to school, or even that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil will never create a hurricane. Just that when we feel scattered, broken, frustrated, confused, when we feel that we are looking into some version of a black hole, Jesus is the eternal unscatterer. And while spellcheck underlined that word in red, it means exactly who He is in the daily grind of life. And there is yet more. A father was reading a bedtime story to his little girl. After he finished, his daughter said to him: Daddy, do all fairy tales begin with Once upon a time? No, sweetie, he replied. Some begin with: If I am elected, I promise I will Of course, when leaders get elected, they find out it is not as easy to fulfill their promises as they thought they might be. As former New York governor Mario Cuomo once said: You campaign in poetry; you govern in prose. There is, of course, another of course. Every person ever elected to any office, from borough council to the White House, no matter what campaign promises have been made, had plenty of foibles.

3 For every success in office, there are matching failures. Even those world leaders who had the Great attached to their name, like Peter the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia had plenty of reasons to be called ungreat. For no human leader can ever fulfill this promise God made that this new king, the unscatterer, would reign in wisdom (is that ever in short supply!); righteousness (we are missing a lot of that in our culture!), and justice (not enough of that either!) Which is not to belittle all of our elected officials, current or in the past. Just that they all have this one slight problem they are all human. Which leads to this new king. Well, yes, He is human. But He is more. He is God in the flesh or as I said last week He is the With-Us God. And wisdom is in His genes. And righteousness is in His soul. And He simply doesn t know how to be unjust. And that is no once upon a time fairy tale! He is the real thing. And I suppose you could affix the title The Great after His Name with no qualms whatsoever. And when we feel scattered, when our life is in a widespread and haphazard condition, He s there to show us the way back. To wholeness again. As well as to wisdom, righteousness, and justice. For without those that He gives us, we will never be unscattered. And yet there is more. Isn t that the way with God? Just when we think He has given us enough, there is still an abundance waiting for us. A little boy came out of Sunday School and told his parents that his Sunday School teacher told his class that God s Name is Harold. His mother asked him if he was sure. Sure, I m sure, he said. She taught us to pray: Our father who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name. He might have gotten an argument from another little boy who was convinced that God s name was Andy, because they sang in his Sunday School: Andy walks with me Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am His own. Of course (another of course), God s Name is neither Harold nor Andy. As a matter of fact, we don t know His Name. When Moses asked God for His Name when the Almighty appeared in the burning bush, He didn t tell him His Name just gave Moses a description of who He was I am who I am. Or as it comes to us in Hebrew Yahweh. Which eventually became transliterated into English as The Lord. So this new king isn t just some king He is the Lord; the Almighty; God. He is who He is, and no use trying to fence Him in. This name did get Jesus in trouble, when He told the Pharisees: Before Abraham was, I am. They wanted to stone Him right there for blasphemy. Which it would have been if He wasn t the I am. But He was; He is. The Lord our Salvation. Which is the key to all of this message of Jeremiah. When Dottie and I took our cruise through the Inside Passage of Alaska sixteen years ago, our ship docked in town of Seward and we took a bus north to Anchorage, from where we flew home.

4 It was a pleasant drive, as we saw some spectacular scenery. The road took us along a river, and our bus driver told us something about the riverbank. Apparently, the soil along the river is like quicksand, only more dangerous. If you stood on it, it would suck you in and there was no way out. And he told us about a husband and wife who were travelling that road, and stopped to get a closer look at the river and take some photos. Well, the wife stepped too far and got caught in this dangerous soil. And even though her husband managed to call for help from the local authorities, there was nothing anyone could do. All he could do was watch helplessly as his wife was sucked to her death. He wanted to save her, but it was simply beyond his power to do so. Now, that is an awful story. But isn t that the story of humanity? Isn t that what we face every day? Isn t that the reason God sent this great king to us? Because we can t save ourselves. Oh, we try. Oh how we try. And in forty plus years in the ministry, I have met any number of people who try. I m not a churchy person, they say. Or: Well, I do believe in a god (small g that is). Or: I m ok with the way I am. And I really want to say: No you re not! You re not OK! And I do. Not as often as I should but I do. Usually, they don t listen anyway. And they are perilously close to the spiritual version of that sucking soil along an Alaskan riverbank. To be honest, sometimes we get close to that same spiritual soil. Trying to tell ourselves that we re OK. When we re not. Not without the Lord, the great I am, the one whose name Jesus means Savior. The only one who can pull us up from the spiritual quicksand we all face. And while that man could do nothing to save his wife, Jesus can. And will. And does. And we won t be scattered anymore. And we won t be broken anymore. And we won t be lost anymore. We have just fifteen days until Christmas. Or perhaps I should say Christ -mas. Not Santa-mas or Shopping-mas or Mall-mas or Amazon-mas or even snow-mas. Christ -mas. When all who are scattered are called home by the great and eternal Unscatterer. May we know that. May we live that. May we share that. Hey, just imagine what might happen if we wish everyone we meet not a holly, jolly Christmas, but a joyful Christ -mas! Try it!

5 Worship December 10, 2017 Call: litany Assurance: litany Children s Message: What would it be like to wait for your Christmas present? Word - patience Prayer: Loving God, we thank You that whenever we feel like strangers in a strange world, You are there for us, to bring order into our lives that seem permanently scattered. We thank You that when we feel as if no one can lead us out of the darkness we so often face, You gave us the One who would shine the light of love before us. We thank You that since You are more than we could ever define, we may know that nothing can overwhelm You or hem You in. And we thank You that though we think we can save ourselves, You chose to send Your Son, Jesus our Christ to show us the only He could save us from the alienation and brokenness and searing soul pain we feel. Loving God, may we look to You this day and all days, with the assurance that because of Jesus, there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from You, not even our own pride and rebellion and sin. Needs, etc. LORD S PRAYER