Jeremiah 31:7-14 br...
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Jeremiah 31:7-14
Henri J. M. Nouwen, examining the Latin roots of the word "consolation," reminds us that it is composed of con (with) and solus (lonely or alone). To offer consolation is to be with someone who is lonely, abandoned. In Bread for the Journey (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), a compilation of Nouwen's writings, we read:
We can and must console the mother who lost her child, the young person with AIDS, the family whose house burned down, the soldier who was wounded, the teenager who contemplates suicide, the old man who wonders why he should stay alive. To console does not mean to take away the pain but rather to be there and say, "You are not alone, I am with you. Together we can carry the burden. Don't be afraid. I am here." That is consolation. We all need to give it as well as to receive it.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
The scripture speaks of God returning a remnant of his people to the land of Israel. They are a different sort, not the proud and the powerful but instead the survivors that include the blind and the lame, mothers of children and those who are pregnant. These are not the strong, silent type but instead they are those who weep in shadows. These are the people with which God is going to rebuild a nation. God is going to redeem his people from the powerful that kept them captive and bring them back to a garden of well-being.
Twenty years ago we sat in our living room and discussed the families of our father and mother. A total of ten offspring had produced a large family tree. After recalling what we could of people that we had not seen in almost fifty years we decided to bring all of them together for a family reunion that would last a weekend. The amazing thing is that over the next couple years and several weekend reunions we were able to account for almost everyone of the living including the families of our aunts and uncles. It was a great occasion as we learned how we had dispersed over the country from east to west and north to south. The only thing we had in common were great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. The last names had changed in many instances but the bonds of love soon eliminated the differences and exposed the faith and family we had in common.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
In preparation for graduation, the pastor who would deliver the baccalaureate message requested a meeting with some of the students. He explained that it would help him prepare his message to the graduating class if he met with several of them. "What would you like me to cover?" he asked.
One student raised a hand and said, "What is God saying to us?" That response surprised the pastor. The student continued, "We will hear much advice over the next couple of weeks from leaders in the field. We will hear the keys of success but what we really want to know is what God is saying to us."
It was a humbling moment for the pastor. The student was correct in his assessment. We hear how to be a good neighbor and how to become the person you've always wanted to be. But what is God saying to us at the start of a new year?
The prophet Jeremiah did not mince words. He was not trying to win any popularity contest but proclaimed the word of God. His audience did not always want to hear what God was saying to them. Perhaps that is why we shy away from listening for God's word to us at the beginning of a new year.
Our lesson from Jeremiah contains a word of hope. "Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.' " God remains with us.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
After the US-lead invasion of Iraq, thousands of doctors fled that country due to killings and kidnapping of doctors. It is estimated that over 600 medical personnel, including over 130 doctors, had been killed since 2003. The health-care system was left in ruin, with only 16,000 workers in a system requiring up to 100,000 workers. But as security is slowly improving, doctors are beginning to return from exile. By August of 2008, it was estimated that of the 8,000 doctors who fled, about 650 had returned with more returning each month. That certainly is good news.
Jeremiah talks of the day when exiled Israel would return. It wouldn't be improved security that would lure them home, but the Lord who would seek and guide them home. It would be a good news day for Israel.
Ephesians 1:3-14
In Stephen Harrigan's novel, The Gates of the Alamo, the character Edmund remembers his mother, who died the next week in childbirth, saying to him when he was very young, "I will tell you a secret ... You are splendid." If an individual has one memory to carry or one evaluation of self to recall, the most lasting and helpful would be that someone believes he or she is splendid.
Some people, because they were raised in a negative church culture or because when they were young their preacher yelled in the sermon (which they interpreted as anger), believe that God hates them.
The most exciting, freeing, and empowering belief, however, is that God "destined us for adoption as his children." For those who cower when considering God, they need to picture God walking through their orphanage, stopping and pointing to them, and saying, "I believe you are splendid. I choose you for my child."
Ephesians 1:3-14
Paul proclaims a time of thanksgiving for the gift of Jesus Christ. He speaks of the blessings of sharing a brotherhood and sisterhood through the plan made perfect in God's adoption of all believers. It makes no difference whether you are Jew or Gentile because we are all the adopted children of God. God made the mystery of his being known through the person of Jesus and blessed it with a great inheritance that will bring eternity to us within our lifetime.
My Father is rich in houses and lands
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
My Father's own Son, the Saviour of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is reigning forever on high,
And will give me a home in heaven by and by.
I once was an outcast, stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth;
But I've been adopted, my name's written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
I'm a child of the King, a child of the King;
With Jesus my Saviour, I'm a child of the King.
-- Source unknown
Ephesians 1:3-14
"Do not save me from death; save me from life!" the character Lilia cries to Joshua in Cecil DeMille's epic, The Ten Commandments. Taken from the Israelites and forced to serve an Egyptian overseer, Lilia prepares to die as the angel of death passes over Egypt. But Joshua will have none of that. He sneaks to the overseer's house at the last moment to paint the door with blood and save the life of the woman he loves. It doesn't matter that by becoming the overseer's woman she has become outcast to the Israelites. It doesn't matter that she is violated, rent with sin, or hurting. "To all I love, I am dead, Joshua," Lilia laments. "The hour of deliverance has not come for me." Lilia may have given up hope for her life, but Joshua has not. He still loves her, no matter what misfortunes life has thrown in her path. Like Joshua, Jesus refuses to give up on the ones he loves -- us. No matter how violated, sinful, or hurt we are, Jesus forgives and loves us. Joshua put lamb's blood over Lilia's door to remind her who she is; Jesus has painted his blood on our hearts to remind us whose we are.
Ephesians 1:3-14
We are who we are, not because of our own doing, but by the grace of God. So often our human tendency is to want to take credit for that which is truly a gift from God. Maybe you are an outstanding musician. Certainly much of what you have accomplished has come from your own diligent practice. But, the gift that you have developed truly emanates first from God.
Perhaps you are endowed with a remarkable ability for math. You certainly had to study to achieve your knowledge, but your gift with numbers comes from God. Maybe you are one of those who can fix anything, whether it's a leaky pipe or an electrical problem. You may have had years of experience and training on the job. But your innate ability to know what to do and when to do it actually is a gift from God.
We each have an area of giftedness in our lives. Our gifts are neither earned nor deserved. They are simply given by our generous creator God and our loving Savior. So you see, every person in this room has a reason to praise God. Or as the apostle Paul so aptly states, we "live for the praise of his glory."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
What would a Christmas pageant based on the gospel of John look like? It could be a real boon to budget-conscious churches. You wouldn't need bathrobes or cardboard crowns; no manger of old two-by-fours, stuffed with straw; no foil-covered shoeboxes, either, representing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You wouldn't even need actors.
All you would need is a single candle.
The church would be bare and dark; the chancel stripped of pulpit, chairs, flowers, communion table: everything that's usually up there. All you'd need is a small, insignificant table, on which would sit a single, unlit candle.
The worshipers would file in and sit for a very long time, silent as a Quaker meeting. They would sit long enough to begin to feel uneasy at the silence and maybe even a little scared of the dark (childhood fears returning). At long last, a person would march solemnly in, and without a word, light that single candle.
No one, of course, would seriously try to put on a Christmas pageant like that, based on John's gospel. But, having imagined it, we can see how different John's Christmas story is. No color, music, or pageantry -- just one blazing, incontrovertible truth, a single statement so profound that maybe the only way to appreciate it is to sit in utter darkness and watch the candle-lit shadows play across the ceiling: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
There's a story about a kindergarten teacher who asked a boy what he was drawing. Without pausing to look up, he said, "A picture of God." The teacher smiled and responded, "But nobody knows what God looks like." The boy carefully put down his crayon, looked her squarely in the eye, and declared, "After I'm finished here they will."
(from Em Griffin, The Mindchangers [Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1976], p. 16)
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
An outdoor billboard, near a busy interstate highway, has the message, "Jesus is Real" in large letters. On the bottom of the sign is the name of the sponsoring church as well as an invitation to attend one of their services. With thousands of people passing that sign daily the church was hoping to catch people's attention with the message that Jesus is real.
Another church in that community explored the possibility of advertising their church on the billboard. After gathering the necessary information it was decided that it cost too much. The money could be used for mission work. The church sent work teams to continue relief work in the Gulf states after devastating hurricanes. Their Christmas offering went for a water purification system for a remote village in Africa.
It might seem like an unfair question, but which of these two churches became Jesus in the flesh? The church that paid over a thousand dollars for a billboard or the church that sent work teams to the southern states and raised money for other mission projects?
The gospel of John opens with lofty language about God coming in the flesh to save humanity. "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Rachel worked hard to establish a new support group. She telephoned, wrote to, and talked personally with many local officials and politicians for funding. She put out flyers in bulk mailings, ads in the paper, and put up cards in the local store calling for members. And it worked. By the sixth meeting the group was up to twenty members and growing. Funding was secured from several companies; meeting space was donated by the city. Rachel was ecstatic. But as the membership grew, they began to pull in another direction than Rachel. Rachel was more interested, it seemed, in public image and securing funding for research than in support. The membership was more inclined to be a personal support group; they were there because they needed each other. By year three, the majority of the membership voted to split from Rachel, and before the third year was out Rachel was expelled from the very group she founded.
As in Rachel's group, it seemed that Jesus' way, the narrow way, was not in keeping with the wishes of the world. Sadly, although Jesus created the world, that very world "voted him out" and went their merry way.
Henri J. M. Nouwen, examining the Latin roots of the word "consolation," reminds us that it is composed of con (with) and solus (lonely or alone). To offer consolation is to be with someone who is lonely, abandoned. In Bread for the Journey (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), a compilation of Nouwen's writings, we read:
We can and must console the mother who lost her child, the young person with AIDS, the family whose house burned down, the soldier who was wounded, the teenager who contemplates suicide, the old man who wonders why he should stay alive. To console does not mean to take away the pain but rather to be there and say, "You are not alone, I am with you. Together we can carry the burden. Don't be afraid. I am here." That is consolation. We all need to give it as well as to receive it.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
The scripture speaks of God returning a remnant of his people to the land of Israel. They are a different sort, not the proud and the powerful but instead the survivors that include the blind and the lame, mothers of children and those who are pregnant. These are not the strong, silent type but instead they are those who weep in shadows. These are the people with which God is going to rebuild a nation. God is going to redeem his people from the powerful that kept them captive and bring them back to a garden of well-being.
Twenty years ago we sat in our living room and discussed the families of our father and mother. A total of ten offspring had produced a large family tree. After recalling what we could of people that we had not seen in almost fifty years we decided to bring all of them together for a family reunion that would last a weekend. The amazing thing is that over the next couple years and several weekend reunions we were able to account for almost everyone of the living including the families of our aunts and uncles. It was a great occasion as we learned how we had dispersed over the country from east to west and north to south. The only thing we had in common were great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. The last names had changed in many instances but the bonds of love soon eliminated the differences and exposed the faith and family we had in common.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
In preparation for graduation, the pastor who would deliver the baccalaureate message requested a meeting with some of the students. He explained that it would help him prepare his message to the graduating class if he met with several of them. "What would you like me to cover?" he asked.
One student raised a hand and said, "What is God saying to us?" That response surprised the pastor. The student continued, "We will hear much advice over the next couple of weeks from leaders in the field. We will hear the keys of success but what we really want to know is what God is saying to us."
It was a humbling moment for the pastor. The student was correct in his assessment. We hear how to be a good neighbor and how to become the person you've always wanted to be. But what is God saying to us at the start of a new year?
The prophet Jeremiah did not mince words. He was not trying to win any popularity contest but proclaimed the word of God. His audience did not always want to hear what God was saying to them. Perhaps that is why we shy away from listening for God's word to us at the beginning of a new year.
Our lesson from Jeremiah contains a word of hope. "Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.' " God remains with us.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
After the US-lead invasion of Iraq, thousands of doctors fled that country due to killings and kidnapping of doctors. It is estimated that over 600 medical personnel, including over 130 doctors, had been killed since 2003. The health-care system was left in ruin, with only 16,000 workers in a system requiring up to 100,000 workers. But as security is slowly improving, doctors are beginning to return from exile. By August of 2008, it was estimated that of the 8,000 doctors who fled, about 650 had returned with more returning each month. That certainly is good news.
Jeremiah talks of the day when exiled Israel would return. It wouldn't be improved security that would lure them home, but the Lord who would seek and guide them home. It would be a good news day for Israel.
Ephesians 1:3-14
In Stephen Harrigan's novel, The Gates of the Alamo, the character Edmund remembers his mother, who died the next week in childbirth, saying to him when he was very young, "I will tell you a secret ... You are splendid." If an individual has one memory to carry or one evaluation of self to recall, the most lasting and helpful would be that someone believes he or she is splendid.
Some people, because they were raised in a negative church culture or because when they were young their preacher yelled in the sermon (which they interpreted as anger), believe that God hates them.
The most exciting, freeing, and empowering belief, however, is that God "destined us for adoption as his children." For those who cower when considering God, they need to picture God walking through their orphanage, stopping and pointing to them, and saying, "I believe you are splendid. I choose you for my child."
Ephesians 1:3-14
Paul proclaims a time of thanksgiving for the gift of Jesus Christ. He speaks of the blessings of sharing a brotherhood and sisterhood through the plan made perfect in God's adoption of all believers. It makes no difference whether you are Jew or Gentile because we are all the adopted children of God. God made the mystery of his being known through the person of Jesus and blessed it with a great inheritance that will bring eternity to us within our lifetime.
My Father is rich in houses and lands
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
My Father's own Son, the Saviour of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is reigning forever on high,
And will give me a home in heaven by and by.
I once was an outcast, stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth;
But I've been adopted, my name's written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
I'm a child of the King, a child of the King;
With Jesus my Saviour, I'm a child of the King.
-- Source unknown
Ephesians 1:3-14
"Do not save me from death; save me from life!" the character Lilia cries to Joshua in Cecil DeMille's epic, The Ten Commandments. Taken from the Israelites and forced to serve an Egyptian overseer, Lilia prepares to die as the angel of death passes over Egypt. But Joshua will have none of that. He sneaks to the overseer's house at the last moment to paint the door with blood and save the life of the woman he loves. It doesn't matter that by becoming the overseer's woman she has become outcast to the Israelites. It doesn't matter that she is violated, rent with sin, or hurting. "To all I love, I am dead, Joshua," Lilia laments. "The hour of deliverance has not come for me." Lilia may have given up hope for her life, but Joshua has not. He still loves her, no matter what misfortunes life has thrown in her path. Like Joshua, Jesus refuses to give up on the ones he loves -- us. No matter how violated, sinful, or hurt we are, Jesus forgives and loves us. Joshua put lamb's blood over Lilia's door to remind her who she is; Jesus has painted his blood on our hearts to remind us whose we are.
Ephesians 1:3-14
We are who we are, not because of our own doing, but by the grace of God. So often our human tendency is to want to take credit for that which is truly a gift from God. Maybe you are an outstanding musician. Certainly much of what you have accomplished has come from your own diligent practice. But, the gift that you have developed truly emanates first from God.
Perhaps you are endowed with a remarkable ability for math. You certainly had to study to achieve your knowledge, but your gift with numbers comes from God. Maybe you are one of those who can fix anything, whether it's a leaky pipe or an electrical problem. You may have had years of experience and training on the job. But your innate ability to know what to do and when to do it actually is a gift from God.
We each have an area of giftedness in our lives. Our gifts are neither earned nor deserved. They are simply given by our generous creator God and our loving Savior. So you see, every person in this room has a reason to praise God. Or as the apostle Paul so aptly states, we "live for the praise of his glory."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
What would a Christmas pageant based on the gospel of John look like? It could be a real boon to budget-conscious churches. You wouldn't need bathrobes or cardboard crowns; no manger of old two-by-fours, stuffed with straw; no foil-covered shoeboxes, either, representing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You wouldn't even need actors.
All you would need is a single candle.
The church would be bare and dark; the chancel stripped of pulpit, chairs, flowers, communion table: everything that's usually up there. All you'd need is a small, insignificant table, on which would sit a single, unlit candle.
The worshipers would file in and sit for a very long time, silent as a Quaker meeting. They would sit long enough to begin to feel uneasy at the silence and maybe even a little scared of the dark (childhood fears returning). At long last, a person would march solemnly in, and without a word, light that single candle.
No one, of course, would seriously try to put on a Christmas pageant like that, based on John's gospel. But, having imagined it, we can see how different John's Christmas story is. No color, music, or pageantry -- just one blazing, incontrovertible truth, a single statement so profound that maybe the only way to appreciate it is to sit in utter darkness and watch the candle-lit shadows play across the ceiling: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
There's a story about a kindergarten teacher who asked a boy what he was drawing. Without pausing to look up, he said, "A picture of God." The teacher smiled and responded, "But nobody knows what God looks like." The boy carefully put down his crayon, looked her squarely in the eye, and declared, "After I'm finished here they will."
(from Em Griffin, The Mindchangers [Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1976], p. 16)
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
An outdoor billboard, near a busy interstate highway, has the message, "Jesus is Real" in large letters. On the bottom of the sign is the name of the sponsoring church as well as an invitation to attend one of their services. With thousands of people passing that sign daily the church was hoping to catch people's attention with the message that Jesus is real.
Another church in that community explored the possibility of advertising their church on the billboard. After gathering the necessary information it was decided that it cost too much. The money could be used for mission work. The church sent work teams to continue relief work in the Gulf states after devastating hurricanes. Their Christmas offering went for a water purification system for a remote village in Africa.
It might seem like an unfair question, but which of these two churches became Jesus in the flesh? The church that paid over a thousand dollars for a billboard or the church that sent work teams to the southern states and raised money for other mission projects?
The gospel of John opens with lofty language about God coming in the flesh to save humanity. "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth."
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Rachel worked hard to establish a new support group. She telephoned, wrote to, and talked personally with many local officials and politicians for funding. She put out flyers in bulk mailings, ads in the paper, and put up cards in the local store calling for members. And it worked. By the sixth meeting the group was up to twenty members and growing. Funding was secured from several companies; meeting space was donated by the city. Rachel was ecstatic. But as the membership grew, they began to pull in another direction than Rachel. Rachel was more interested, it seemed, in public image and securing funding for research than in support. The membership was more inclined to be a personal support group; they were there because they needed each other. By year three, the majority of the membership voted to split from Rachel, and before the third year was out Rachel was expelled from the very group she founded.
As in Rachel's group, it seemed that Jesus' way, the narrow way, was not in keeping with the wishes of the world. Sadly, although Jesus created the world, that very world "voted him out" and went their merry way.
