Sermon: Is There a Balm in Gilead (or Salem)?" 1 A rant is a loud, lengthy, impassioned discourse. I usually think of it as fueled by anger and

Transcription

1 September 22, 2013 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Janet Chisom Salem Presbyterian Church Prayer for Illumination: God of mercy, you promised never to break your covenant with us. In the midst of the multitude of words in our daily lives, speak your eternal Word to us, that we may respond to your gracious promises with faithfulness, service and love. Amen. Introduction: Jeremiah is a prophet and has been given the assignment to turn the people of Judah and Jerusalem from their evil ways before they feel the wrath and pain of God. No matter what Jeremiah has said or done, the people have not repented or changed their ways. What follows in the verses that we read today is a heart-wrenching cry from Jeremiah as he cries with and for the people. Or is it God, crying with and for the people? It is difficult, sometimes, to distinguish between the cries of lament and anguish and pain from God and those from Jeremiah. Today we encourage you to read along in the Bible, because the quotations and parenthesis help us to understand who is speaking. It is Jeremiah s lament, but at times he quotes the people. God also has his word in there, too, in the parenthesis. Listen to this cry of lament found in Jeremiah 8:18-9:1. Scripture: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 The Prophet Mourns for the People My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her? ( Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols? ) The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! 1

2 Sermon: Is There a Balm in Gilead (or Salem)?" 1 A rant is a loud, lengthy, impassioned discourse. I usually think of it as fueled by anger and frustration. This week I put out an unofficial survey on Facebook asking whether a big rant makes you feel better or worse. I enjoyed hearing from many of you this week and the results are almost evenly split. About half of the responses were that it was good to rant, that it felt better to vent and not bottle up the feelings, and that as long as nobody was hurt in the process it had a cathartic effect. The other half of the responses said that a big rant was not helpful; that it would exacerbate the anger and multiply it, and that it doesn t take care of the problem anyway. I wonder if this is some of what Jeremiah is doing. Jeremiah, the prophet, has been trying to turn the people of Judah and Jerusalem from their wicked ways. In previous chapters he has ranted away, angry at the people who have closed their ears to his warnings 2, acted shamefully 3, been stubbornly rebellious 4, and rejected the word of the Lord 5. Jeremiah serves a God who is willing to give the people another chance, to forgive them, IF they repent and change. But, the people of Judah and Jerusalem have refused to repent and have held fast to deceit 6. And so, Jeremiah s words in the passage we hear today turn from that rant... that expresses his frustration and his hurt... and moves to lament, an expression of deep sadness. I grant that this is a difficult passage to listen to. On Sunday mornings, we talk about coming together to worship and to share the Good News. Some of us even read scripture out of the Good News Bible... but where is the good news in this anguished cry? This lament is not sugar-coated. It isn t one of those short cries that cleans out your eyeballs and sets your heart on a new course. Even reading ahead several chapters does not reveal the good news. This is straight up lament. How often have some of those words or feelings been our own? My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. It s that shoulder-slumping posture of defeat. The world with all its problems seems too heavy to hold. Sometimes it s that we ve just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, our milk is too warm, our coffee is too cold, our car is too cluttered, the traffic light is too long, the news is too negative, she looked at me wrong. Joy is gone, and grief is upon us. We suffer and cry out, just like Jeremiah. But these words today aren t all Jeremiah s words. God s words are in there, too. God s frustration leaks out: Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols? God laments along with Jeremiah... and along with us. And I think that is some of the good news. We worship a God who can suffer and cry with us. We are given permission to express our lament in the present situation. The good news and our hope is that we know the Kingdom of God is coming... it s just not here yet. 2

3 So what are we to do? First, I think we need to stop pretending that everything is perfect and acknowledge the brokenness in the world. And there certainly is brokenness: broken families, unemployment, hunger, war, misunderstandings, violence, greed. Church offers a place to deal with that brokenness and sadness not just sweep it under the carpet. I ll admit that I am one of those people who avoids the news... who doesn t like to read the newspaper, who gets depressed watching the evening news. So that I m not completely uninformed, I listen to NPR and also I get sucked into the news snippets that run across the internet as I m working. But generally, and some of you may be the same, I don t like to hear the bad news. In many ways I d prefer to be ignorant than sad, hurt, mad, and frustrated. When I was growing up in CT, there were a series of attacks that happened to joggers in Central Park in New York City. It seemed that every night there would be reports on the Central Park attacks. I clearly remember commenting to my family that I was going to start a news show that broadcasted only the good news. Instead of saying that 2 people were attacked while jogging in Central Park, I was going to have my top feature to be 4,422 people enjoyed Central Park today and were not threatened or attacked. I wanted to focus on the positive instead of the negative. The media didn t help with my quest since most often the headlines captured the tragedies of the day. But, as much as I don t like it, part of what we have to learn is how to deal with the sadness that surrounds our lives. Some people talk to friends or counselors. Other people journal. Others vent their frustrations on Facebook or Twitter. Others pray and bring it all before God. Probably if we choose the social media route, we often get cheap placations, such as God doesn t give us more than we can handle, or This, too, shall pass, or You ll laugh about this in a few weeks. But, when we choose to lay our sorrows bare before God, we give ourselves the gift of humility. We are acknowledging that some things are just too big for ourselves, and we acknowledge that God is big enough to cry with us and to hold us in our pain. The scripture asks, Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Jeremiah is asking for hope to cut through his sadness and despair. Gilead was a nearby region which symbolized hope. In Gilead grew the herbs and trees and flowers from which balsams were made to supply the physicians of that Eastern world. Is there no balm even in Gilead? Is there no physician, no prophet, no priest, no healer, no teacher who can cure a sick heart? And the answer is No. There is no remedy on earth for a heart which is desperately sick. 7 3

4 For some things, there is no balm in Gilead. There is brokenness in this world that cannot be fixed. No balm soothes in Syria and brings back to life the people killed, regardless of whether the government or the rebels released chemical weapons. No balm comes close to healing the pain of genocide in Rawanda.. No balm heals the betrayal and torture of the Holocaust. No balm restores a home to displaced Native Americans. There is no balm for the families affected by the shooter(s) at the Naval Yard in D.C. this week. There is brokenness in this world that there is no balm for. I ve heard a quote by Mr. Anonymous: "Sometimes I would like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world, when He could do something about it...but I'm afraid He may ask me the same question." And that s a question that we should rub onto our skin and let soak in. What can WE do about poverty, famine, and injustice in the world... what can WE do to heal the brokenness in the world... what can WE do to lessen the need for lament? I believe that WE are the balm and the hope for the future. The balm is God working in and through us. The balm is an awareness of what is going on around us... poking our heads out of our turtle shells and noticing the world around us... and then being moved to do something. Sometimes it s when we finally get mad, when we start our rant, that we are motivated to do something. When the world is coasting by... full of carousels and daisies and laughter, we are content to ride along. However, when we feel the pain, the sorrow, and we find our words echoing Jeremiah s: My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick! that s when we finally hear that call to action. It is a big world out there and many heartbreaking things happen. There are some things that we can t do a bit to change. But can we take positive action for our little part of the planet? Can we give $40 to sponsor a child through ACT Ministry so he has food over the weekend? Can we spend those extra minutes listening to a coworker tell the same story again, because we know that it brings her joy to share it? Can we smile and thank the clerk and bagger at the grocery store and let them know we appreciate their time? Can we write words of encouragement to a military person? Taking time to make our little part of the world better could ripple out in ever widening circles. If each of us does this, together, think about what could be accomplished! 8 A reflection from a Central American newsletter put it well: 4

5 Large things are made of smaller things... Be they dead stone, living flesh, or rolling sea; be they idle times or events of world shattering proportion... Significance is cumulative but not always obvious. (Jim Butcher) Avalanches start with snowflakes. Floods start with rain drops. The Great Wall started with stones. And wars start with small actions.... So does peace. Sometimes we shut our eyes, move in oblivion, and feel powerless. But... Large things are made from small things. Change begins with a single movement. Movements begin with a single step. Love begins with a single act. Peace begins with a single stance. Large things are made from small things... our generosity, our love, our kindness, our steps, our voices, our bodies... no matter how insignificant they may seem... they matter. Large things are made from small things... significance is cumulative." 9 It was a little over a year ago that my mom was so sick and living out the last of her days. Recently I read through the journal I kept while I was in Connecticut with her and it is FULL of my words of lament! This past year, however, has not been joyless and grief-filled. In most situations, I have been able to carry her positive attitude with me. In Mom's last months, even after she was in hospice care the last two weeks of her life, she was determined to notice and give thanks for the small pleasures and the gifts in life... what she called the Alleluias. I ve tried to look for them as well. I think that seeking out and being aware of the Alleluia moments... and pausing to give thanks to God for them... is an appropriate balm for the pain in the world. That small action of being aware of the Alleluia moments brings hope into difficult situations. Another person who has preached hope amidst hard times is Tony Campolo. Dr. Campolo gave a sermon during Holy Week that I heard many years ago called It s Friday. But Sunday s Coming. I can still hear echoes of it in my head. It s Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday s coming. It s Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday s coming. It s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday s coming. Now it s Sunday. And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb. It s Sunday, and the crucified and resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It s Sunday. And now everything has changed. It s the age of grace. God s grace poured out on all... who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it s Sunday. 10 5

6 Just like in Tony Campolo s sermon, there are days of brokenness, pain, death, sadness, and lament. There are the Fridays in our life when it seems all we can do is scream in frustration and hurt. Jeremiah lamented. God lamented. Jesus lamented. We lament. But, take heart, people of God. We can open ourselves up, see the brokenness in the world, and then be instruments of peace, reconciliation, comfort, and healing because we know that Sunday s coming! Sunday, with resurrection joy and life. Sunday, with balms of healing. Sunday, when we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ s name. This week ask yourself, what is MY role in being a healing balm? And then, stand up and take action in your small part of the world. Let us pray: We thank you, Dear Lord, for the reminder that we do not suffer and cry alone. We worship a God who is our constant companion through both the trials and the Alleluias of life. Give us courage to be more aware of the brokenness around us, and then to be a healing balm in our small part of the world. Guide us, O God, by your Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. 1 McCoy Robb and Eric Fistler on Pulpit Fiction, Podcast Episode #29: Say NO! to Bombs in Gilead. 2 Jeremiah 6:10 3 Jeremiah 6:15 4 Jeremiah 6:28 5 Jeremiah 8:9 6 Jeremiah 8:5 7 Hopper, Stanley Romaine. The Interpreter s Bible, Vol. 5. Abingdon Press: New York, 1956, p Alcorn, Paul. 60 Seconds. A thought-provoking blog each week from Bedford Presbyterian Church, Bedford, NY. 9 Butcher, Jim. A reflection printed in Center for Development in Central America newsletter, September Campolo, Tony. It s Friday. But Sunday s Coming. 6