Lent 2C Rev. Darrell Debowey Zion Lutheran Church, New Holland, IL February 24, 2013 Jeremiah 26:8-15: 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. 10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king s house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears. 12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears. Kill the Prophet TEXT Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for today s message is the Old Testament reading from Jeremiah the 26th chapter. INTRODUCTION You ve probably heard the saying, If you don t like the message, shoot the messenger. That actually happened in ancient times when messages were printed on scrolls and wax tablets and hand delivered by messengers. Being a messenger was a risky occupation. Your job was usually to deliver messages from kings and other such important people to kings and other such important people. Now, if they liked the news, they d tip you handsomely. But, if they didn t like the message, your career came to an abrupt end! Page 1
I d think you agree, it s kind of ludicrous to kill the messenger because you don t like the message especially if the message is true. But often the truth hurts because we don t like being set free from our delusions, our deceptions, or our pet sins. So, the messenger is the one who pays the price. For example, our government can t keep spending 30% more than it s taking in taxes we re a nation with trillions of dollars of debt this isn t just a political issue, it s a moral issue. But if someone tries to warn the nation, the media destroys him. 3. Jeremiah must suffer for telling the truth. Jesus said, You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. But someone added, The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable. Then later, someone else said, The truth will set you free, but first it will [make you mad]. So here s poor Jeremiah, called by God with the unenviable task to tell Jerusalem and its king the truth and it s going to make them more than miserable it will make them mad. Soon, if they don t change their ways if they don t repent and return to the one, true God their city will be as desolate and empty as Shiloh. Shiloh was once the religious center of the nation of Israel the tabernacle was there along with the Ark of the Covenant. But the Lord destroyed Shiloh because it had become a center for idolatry and false teaching. Now it lay in ruins, a desolate and uninhabited city. Jeremiah was telling them the God-honest truth he was trying to help them, not hurt them. But Jerusalem and its king didn t like the message they didn t want to change their ways! So right there in the temple, they shouted, You shall die! Kill the messenger! The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable, even mad. It s hard to change your ways when you have a pet sin you don t want to give up maybe it s drinking a Page 2
little too much or using God s name in vain a little too much or skimping on the offering here and there. It s uncomfortable to hear a message that calls for you to get off the couch and get to work serving the Lord. It s maddening when God imposes His will on you and tells you you need to change your ways. There was the pastor who had the full support of one of his elders until the elder s daughter started living with her boyfriend. When the pastor spoke against such an arrangement as he is called to do the elder became his enemy. The Law makes us miserable because it shows us our sins it tells us the truth about our relationship with God. Instead of repenting, our natural instinct is to reject the messenger because we don t like the message. 2. Jerusalem suffers even more for not listening. But what happens when the messenger is rejected for speaking the truth? Jesus said, Anyone who sins is a slave to sin. The people of Jerusalem rejected Jeremiah s call to repent. They were deaf to the Word of God. They remained entrenched in their sins, their idolatry, their greed, and their abuse of the poor. They may have thought they were free, but in reality, they were slaves to sin. Why did God send Jeremiah and all the other prophets to His people? So He could punish them? No! He wanted to save them. He wanted to love them, He wanted to forgive them. He wanted to set them free from sin. He wanted to call them, My People. But He couldn t do that if they refused to listen to His prophets, if they resisted His call to repent and return to Him. But God isn t only a God of love, He s a God justice and righteousness. He kept His promise to this unrepentant and stubborn people. Their spiritual deadness and slavery resulted in physical deadness and slavery. Not long after they shouted, You shall die! to Jeremiah, the armies of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, smashed the temple, and stripped them of their freedom. Page 3
The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. But ignoring the truth leads to even greater misery, if not eternal misery as sin reaps its consequences. 1. Jesus suffers for our sin. It s our nature to resist the Holy Spirit. It s our nature to reject the Word of God and the people He s sent to preach it. It s our nature to follow the lies that lead to destruction rather than the truth that leads to ever-lasting life. People seem to think that if Jesus walked through those doors, they d listen to everything He d say and follow Him everywhere He went. But if Jesus came today, He would preach the same truth He preached 2000 years ago when He said in our Gospel reading, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Jesus came to preach the truth but He was resisted by of all people His fellow Jews, the ones who called themselves godly and religious. They re the ones who shouted, You shall die! Kill the prophet! Crucify Him! Crucify Him. And so Jesus died because He preached the truth. But you re here today in God s house because of that death. You have ears that hear the Word of God. You have hearts that heed God s call to repent. Far from resisting the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. You know the truth of God s love and grace for sinners in Jesus, and that truth has set you free from bondage to sin. All of this is because Your Savior died for you on the cross. By nature we resist the Holy Spirit and reject the Word of God by nature your first thought is to reject the messenger. But you ve been given a new nature thanks to God s grace and the death of His Son. In Christ s death, sinful rebellion was crushed right along with the head of satan. In the waters of Holy Baptism, you were crucified with Christ you died to sin. Page 4
with Christ your sinful nature drowned and a new person, created in the image of Christ, rose from that watery grave with Jesus. You were given new ears to hear the Word of God and new hearts that recognize God s call to repent isn t meant to hurt you, but to save you. Yet sin is very much a part of our lives as Christians. Daily, the sinful nature wants to rise up and recapture what God s truth has set free. Every day, sin wants to close your ears and harden your hearts to God s truth. So God gives you gifts to strengthen your faith in Jesus and to keep you on the path of righteousness. Not only does He give you the gift of His Word and the Sacrament of Christ s body and blood, He gives you this church and her members who in love rebuke you when you fall into sin encourage you in your Christian life. But He also gives you your pastor. Not only is your pastor called to administer Word and Sacrament, he s also called to speak the truth even if it hurts. He s called to preach the Law that shows you your sin and calls you to repent, and the Gospel that shows you your Savior and His promise to forgive your sins. Your pastor preaches the truth of God s Word so that you remain free in Christ Jesus. In Jesus Name. Page 5