Bucking Up
Commentary
Did you ever have someone come to you when you were down in the mouth and ready to throw in the towel and suggest you ought to buck up, try harder, dig in, hang in there? It is good to be encouraged, of course, but sometimes one seems at the end of the rope and such a word is more frustrating, more aggravating, not what we want to hear.
Jeremiah is down, weary from his task.
Luke's people are beaten to a pulp and more -- the promised return of Jesus has not taken place. They seem to be without hope.
The writer of Hebrews addresses a people out of heart and needing a fresh understanding of their plight and what the future holds.
A part of the answer, of course, is a word of encouragement. But that alone is not enough.
All of us know we have certain resources of our own we can call upon when there is a need. It is true sometimes we can take care of ourselves.
At other times we run beyond our own resources and need to have a word from others. The much quoted lines are true:
We share each other's woes,
Each other's burdens bear,
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
And that helps.
But it is not enough.
If we are to buck up, to endure, to hang in there, we will have moments when we need to be certain we hear the voice of promise he will be with us now.
Not that he will be with us in heaven, or in the hereafter sometime, but he is with us now. Little wonder Luke's second volume could be better called the Acts of the Holy Spirit in The Church rather than the Acts of the Apostles. Little wonder the writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as a present companion in life.
If we are to buck up, then we must look up. That means we must get our eyes off our feet and not look to the heavens for rescue, but at all the places where we live our lives. It is there he offers his Spirit, his comfort, his strength, his gifts which enable us to do what we are called to do.
OUTLINE I
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Introduction: Poor old Jeremiah. Here is a man much put upon. His is a thankless task. It is important to study the times of Jeremiah and see what he was facing. His hearers did not want to hear what he had to say and yet he had to say it. He is not the only prophet on the block. Check our Hananiah. What Hananiah says goes down better with the people in Jerusalem.
On the One Hand. Jeremiah goes about telling the truth and all it gets him is grief. No one wants to hear his bad news. They are like those who listen to Micah. They say "one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us." (Micah 2:6) Convinced they were invincible as long as God dwelt in their temple in Jerusalem, Jeremiah's message simply did not compute. So he had to suffer their jeers, their protests, their rejection, and their punishment. No use in preaching on this section of Jeremiah if you don't read the whole book beforehand.
2. On the Other Hand. Jeremiah would, it seems, rather just forget the whole thing, steal away to himself, and let things take their natural course. Alas, he cannot. Within him burns the call of God to speak the truth to his people. God will not leave him alone. He knows even though the people do not want to hear, the message he bears is what they must hear. What a terrible thing to have within one a truth which must be spoken, that will not be held in, and, yet, to know when one speaks of it he will be ridiculed and persecuted.
Conclusion: Surely all of us who have found ourselves in such binds have a soft place in our hearts for Jeremiah. Even so, we know there are times when we too must speak -- when we know what we have to say will not be warmly welcomed. Here we must be careful. Two checkpoints are in order: (1) Are we truly speaking for God or is what we have to say our own opinion or prejudice which we seek to sell? (2) Is our concern really for the other persons who hear us, or for some personal concern? These are questions Jeremiah had to answer. And so do we.
OUTLINE II
Controversy As a Sign
Luke 13:49-56
Introduction: Luke knows his readers have been steeped in the concepts of apocalypticism. They look for portents in the skies, red moons, and blazing suns. They expect signs both cosmic and worldly to herald the coming of the promised kingdom of God. Luke is convinced they are looking in all the wrong places.
What They Expect. Jesus (and Luke) know of their expectations. They have had their minds trained in the picture language of Daniel, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra. (You can do some work for yourself on these. Clue: see Interpreter's Bible commentary on Revelation.) They are looking for signs of the coming kingdom and thus are blinded to all signs that the kingdom is already in their midst.
2. What They Miss. There is controversy in the community over who he is, whether he will return, when, etc. That very controversy ought to tell them something. They should understand his kingdom is not a kingdom of this world, as they expect, but a kingdom above every other kingdom. Encounter and conflict are inevitable since his kingdom is a challenge to the values and goals of every other earthly kingdom. All they see is the conflict. They fail to see the reason for it. They are blind to the presence of the kingdom now.
3. What They Need. They need to get their eyes off the skies and on what is taking place about them. God does not appear on the balcony of heaven to announce his coming. He is present in the everyday ordinary happenings of their lives. It is there they are to seek him.
Conclusion: All generations seem the same. We expect to see God either in an opening in the heavens or over at church. He is always showing up in places where we do not expect him -- in our homes, at the office, and on the street. The call is to look for him there, even in controversy.
OUTLINE III
Somebody is Watching
Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17
Introduction: What a wonderful picture of the spiritual life. Let it be what it is. Paul imagines each of us is down on the track, engaged in the race of life, and there, in the stands above us, are onlookers watching what we do. Already the fastest mark has been set. All are measured by it. None will ever achieve it; that is not the point anyway. This race has as its goal running on the same track where he ran and sharing something of that for which he yearned.
1. Witnesses. There are the witnesses from the past. There are those who have already run the race and received their reward. Paul seems to picture them as peering over the balcony of heaven to see how we do, to cheer us on, to give us support, and to hope we are winners, too.
2. Witnesses. There are witnesses in the present. Many are out there watching who we are and what we do. They wonder if our living will match up to our confession. And, let us be sure we do not set ourselves up as persons to be admired. We let them know we follow another and look to him. Here are echoes of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine that others may see your good works and give glory to our Father ..."
3. Witnesses. Since so many from the past are counting on us and many from the present depend on us we are to brace up, "lift our drooping hands" and give the race our very best. This was no small task for those of this writer's day. If it is true this letter was written about the same time as the Book of Revelation, then Luke's readers are in deep trouble. It is no small thing to lift drooping (worn out, tired, dejected, exhausted) hands. Read verses 14-16 and hear all those temptations which must have come to those who suffered under the persecutions of Domitian. The message is a call to faithfulness, to hang in there, and a reminder that their reward is sure. The writer of Hebrews has had it with the lapsi -- the backsliders -- and has not much sympathy for them, so he gives them a tough word. You can find his real thinking on this matter in chapter 6:4-6.
Conclusion: Remind your hearers they may not be suffering the hardships of Luke's readers, but there are those who are watching, nevertheless. They see. They draw conclusions.
Jeremiah is down, weary from his task.
Luke's people are beaten to a pulp and more -- the promised return of Jesus has not taken place. They seem to be without hope.
The writer of Hebrews addresses a people out of heart and needing a fresh understanding of their plight and what the future holds.
A part of the answer, of course, is a word of encouragement. But that alone is not enough.
All of us know we have certain resources of our own we can call upon when there is a need. It is true sometimes we can take care of ourselves.
At other times we run beyond our own resources and need to have a word from others. The much quoted lines are true:
We share each other's woes,
Each other's burdens bear,
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
And that helps.
But it is not enough.
If we are to buck up, to endure, to hang in there, we will have moments when we need to be certain we hear the voice of promise he will be with us now.
Not that he will be with us in heaven, or in the hereafter sometime, but he is with us now. Little wonder Luke's second volume could be better called the Acts of the Holy Spirit in The Church rather than the Acts of the Apostles. Little wonder the writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as a present companion in life.
If we are to buck up, then we must look up. That means we must get our eyes off our feet and not look to the heavens for rescue, but at all the places where we live our lives. It is there he offers his Spirit, his comfort, his strength, his gifts which enable us to do what we are called to do.
OUTLINE I
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Introduction: Poor old Jeremiah. Here is a man much put upon. His is a thankless task. It is important to study the times of Jeremiah and see what he was facing. His hearers did not want to hear what he had to say and yet he had to say it. He is not the only prophet on the block. Check our Hananiah. What Hananiah says goes down better with the people in Jerusalem.
On the One Hand. Jeremiah goes about telling the truth and all it gets him is grief. No one wants to hear his bad news. They are like those who listen to Micah. They say "one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us." (Micah 2:6) Convinced they were invincible as long as God dwelt in their temple in Jerusalem, Jeremiah's message simply did not compute. So he had to suffer their jeers, their protests, their rejection, and their punishment. No use in preaching on this section of Jeremiah if you don't read the whole book beforehand.
2. On the Other Hand. Jeremiah would, it seems, rather just forget the whole thing, steal away to himself, and let things take their natural course. Alas, he cannot. Within him burns the call of God to speak the truth to his people. God will not leave him alone. He knows even though the people do not want to hear, the message he bears is what they must hear. What a terrible thing to have within one a truth which must be spoken, that will not be held in, and, yet, to know when one speaks of it he will be ridiculed and persecuted.
Conclusion: Surely all of us who have found ourselves in such binds have a soft place in our hearts for Jeremiah. Even so, we know there are times when we too must speak -- when we know what we have to say will not be warmly welcomed. Here we must be careful. Two checkpoints are in order: (1) Are we truly speaking for God or is what we have to say our own opinion or prejudice which we seek to sell? (2) Is our concern really for the other persons who hear us, or for some personal concern? These are questions Jeremiah had to answer. And so do we.
OUTLINE II
Controversy As a Sign
Luke 13:49-56
Introduction: Luke knows his readers have been steeped in the concepts of apocalypticism. They look for portents in the skies, red moons, and blazing suns. They expect signs both cosmic and worldly to herald the coming of the promised kingdom of God. Luke is convinced they are looking in all the wrong places.
What They Expect. Jesus (and Luke) know of their expectations. They have had their minds trained in the picture language of Daniel, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra. (You can do some work for yourself on these. Clue: see Interpreter's Bible commentary on Revelation.) They are looking for signs of the coming kingdom and thus are blinded to all signs that the kingdom is already in their midst.
2. What They Miss. There is controversy in the community over who he is, whether he will return, when, etc. That very controversy ought to tell them something. They should understand his kingdom is not a kingdom of this world, as they expect, but a kingdom above every other kingdom. Encounter and conflict are inevitable since his kingdom is a challenge to the values and goals of every other earthly kingdom. All they see is the conflict. They fail to see the reason for it. They are blind to the presence of the kingdom now.
3. What They Need. They need to get their eyes off the skies and on what is taking place about them. God does not appear on the balcony of heaven to announce his coming. He is present in the everyday ordinary happenings of their lives. It is there they are to seek him.
Conclusion: All generations seem the same. We expect to see God either in an opening in the heavens or over at church. He is always showing up in places where we do not expect him -- in our homes, at the office, and on the street. The call is to look for him there, even in controversy.
OUTLINE III
Somebody is Watching
Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17
Introduction: What a wonderful picture of the spiritual life. Let it be what it is. Paul imagines each of us is down on the track, engaged in the race of life, and there, in the stands above us, are onlookers watching what we do. Already the fastest mark has been set. All are measured by it. None will ever achieve it; that is not the point anyway. This race has as its goal running on the same track where he ran and sharing something of that for which he yearned.
1. Witnesses. There are the witnesses from the past. There are those who have already run the race and received their reward. Paul seems to picture them as peering over the balcony of heaven to see how we do, to cheer us on, to give us support, and to hope we are winners, too.
2. Witnesses. There are witnesses in the present. Many are out there watching who we are and what we do. They wonder if our living will match up to our confession. And, let us be sure we do not set ourselves up as persons to be admired. We let them know we follow another and look to him. Here are echoes of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light so shine that others may see your good works and give glory to our Father ..."
3. Witnesses. Since so many from the past are counting on us and many from the present depend on us we are to brace up, "lift our drooping hands" and give the race our very best. This was no small task for those of this writer's day. If it is true this letter was written about the same time as the Book of Revelation, then Luke's readers are in deep trouble. It is no small thing to lift drooping (worn out, tired, dejected, exhausted) hands. Read verses 14-16 and hear all those temptations which must have come to those who suffered under the persecutions of Domitian. The message is a call to faithfulness, to hang in there, and a reminder that their reward is sure. The writer of Hebrews has had it with the lapsi -- the backsliders -- and has not much sympathy for them, so he gives them a tough word. You can find his real thinking on this matter in chapter 6:4-6.
Conclusion: Remind your hearers they may not be suffering the hardships of Luke's readers, but there are those who are watching, nevertheless. They see. They draw conclusions.
