A Song, A Dance, A Savior
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle B
Simon Wiesenthal in his book, The Sunflower, relates a discussion that took place at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp when he was a young Jewish prisoner.
Wiesenthal was sound asleep one night when Arthur, another young prisoner, a sort of dreamy skeptic, grabbed him by the shoulder and began to shake him awake.
"Simon, do you hear?"
"Yes," he stammered, "I hear."
"I hope you are listening; you really must hear what the old woman said."
"What could she have said?"
"She said ...'God was on leave.' What do you think of that Simon? God is on leave."
"Let me sleep. Tell me when he gets back." When Simon awakened he began to reflect about the conversation with Arthur and walked to find him. When he found Arthur, he questioned him, "What were you talking about last night?" Arthur replied that Josef, an honorable prisoner whom Wiesenthal highly respected, had asked an old woman if she had any news. The woman simply looked up to heaven and prayed, "Oh, God Almighty, come back from your leave and look at thy earth again."
That statement got Wiesenthal's attention and as he reflected on what the old woman had said, he wrote: "One really begins to think that God is on leave. Otherwise the present state of things wouldn't be possible. God must be on leave. And he has no deputy."1
Exiled, Israel at times felt that God had taken a leave of absence and that they were left to the wicked design of their Babylonian masters. Yes, they had been disobedient. Admittedly, Israel had forsaken God; now she languished in a foreign country, hoping beyond hope that God would somehow come back from his leave of absence and remember, redeem, and restore his people. It is Jeremiah the prophet who will bring to those exiles a message of hope. For forty long years he has foretold of doom and destruction which has earned him the nickname, "Old death and destruction." With the beginning of chapter 30, the mood of the prophet shifts, and he begins to write of a gracious God who has not forgotten his people, but who will bring comfort in the form of deliverance from exile and restoration of their homeland. Chapters 30 through 32 are often called "The Book of Comfort." They are powerful statements of hope.
In Jeremiah 31:7-14, there is an exuberance, a joy, and optimism that only God can give to the restored, returning exiles. The passages not only speak of an historical event in the life of Israel, but they speak also words of hope, encouragement, and comfort to those of us who feel like exiles and need somehow to find our way back to God.
Notice what Jeremiah does ...
He Leads Us In A Song
It seems very strange to hear the words of a song coming from the lips of Jeremiah. His words up to this point have been harsh, condemning, and critical of the nation's faithlessness. He describes Jerusalem as a harlot, and Israel's leaders as a voice without prayer, empty cupboards, wells without water. His themes are violence, grief, judgment, and punishment. Suddenly, Jeremiah has become a choir director, and he invites the whole nation to join him in praise (v. 7). The prophet uses the following expression to summon the nation to join his choir, "Sing aloud, raise shouts, proclaim, give praise, sing!" This is a song of celebrative declaration for God's rescue of the people. God has gathered his people from the farthest points of the world, and God alone, has gathered his people. Displaced people are coming home! The weak, the vulnerable, the lame, the blind, and pregnant. Jeremiah wants the choir to sing because God is faithful, and he is leading his people into the promised joy of their Lord. The Christmas carol "Here We Come A-Caroling" describes the song of Jeremiah when it states, "Love and Joy come to you." Jeremiah leads in a song of "love and joy." We need Jeremiah's song today to counterbalance the weeping and gloom of our broken, despairing world of exile so that we, like Jeremiah's Israel, might be led into the promised joy of our Lord.
Ronald Barclay Allen in his book When Song Is New describes an event which illustrates the song of Jeremiah:
A year ago I was ministering in a church in southwest Minnesota. I learned that a little boy from a farm across the border in Iowa had wandered into the fields of corn that encircled his house. A massive search began that was to last for three days and was to involve thousands of people. They searched for him Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Night came on that Saturday. With it came a prevailing sense of gloom. The boy's parents stood on their back porch and thanked the people who had worked so hard. They had searched six miles square. The fields nearest the house had been searched five or six times each. But little Justin, only two-and-a-half, had not been found. The parents thanked the people for their prayers on behalf of their little boy. Then they commended their child to God and told the people not to return the next day. The search was off.
But one farmer kept on looking. After all others had stopped, he continued to search. Forty-five minutes after the search had been canceled, this intrepid farmer found Justin. The little boy was frightened and whimpering. He was dehydrated and covered with mosquito bites. He was taken to the hospital and was found to be sound and was released, sucking on a popsicle for moisture.
The next morning a film crew from the local television station filmed the morning worship service where the family gave praise to God in their community of faith. And did they sing! And in their joy in the work of the King in their midst, all who saw that broadcast later in the same day joined in the song. Song was made new in our hearts as we witnessed the grace of God in response to countless prayers on behalf of a lost little boy.2
Jeremiah the choir director led the nation in a song of praise and thanksgiving because of God's faithfulness, but he also wants the people to ...
Dance A Dance Of Praise
Dancing a dance of praise was part of Israel's heritage. Many scholars feel that the real beginning of Israel's history is not found in Genesis, but in the exodus from Egypt. When the people of God were safe from Pharaoh's army, they sang, but they also danced. Miriam, the sister of Moses who was a prophetess, danced a dance of joy for God's mighty deliverance. As she danced, other women joined her in a dance of praise to celebrate the saving acts of God. The Old Testament is punctuated with the praise dances of those who encountered the God of steadfast love.
Jeremiah imagines all of the exiles journeying together in one great homecoming parade led by God himself. When the exiles arrive home, they find a land that is well-watered, crops that are fruitful, and animals which are flourishing, and there will be no more drought. God has made abundant living possible. Newness abounds because God has ransomed Israel and redeemed his people.
The idea of redemption found in this passage reminds us that in Jesus Christ we have our redemption. Redemption is a family matter. According to Old Testament law, a redeemer had to be a near-kinsman. Jesus became our near-kinsman on the first Christmas. His purpose in coming was to redeem humankind from the curse of sin.
The mood of those returning from exile has changed. God has taken away the mourning and sorrow which was characteristic of the exile, and replaced them with dancing and merriment and comfort.
Even the priests who have been in opposition to Jeremiah and gave him so much grief and who received of the offered sacrifices have an abundance. Everyone will be satisfied with God's goodness.
What a time for dancing a dance of praise. We dance the dance of praise to the God who has power to transform and has promised to do so.
Jeremiah led in a song about God's faithfulness, he has called for a dance of praise, but he also wants to ...
Remind Us Of A Savior's Care
Jeremiah uses two metaphors to remind us of God's care. He uses the words, "lead," "brooks of water," and "straight paths," which bring to mind the picture of a good shepherd who seeks those who are lost in order to bring them home (v. 9). There is also a reference to the "first born," the one who is loved and valued and who received God's special protection, care, and gifts. The shepherd who is the protector is also the Father who values. This shepherd had scattered his flock but now he gathers them home from exile. It is the shepherd who seeks and saves the lost ones. This is a picture of God's care and concern, not only for Israel, but of his concern for you and me. God wants those who have wandered into exile in any generation to be gathered to him. It is his desire that all exiles will come home to his joy.
This Old Testament story of song, dance, and Savior finds more obvious fulfillment in the opening chapters of Luke's Gospel. Here Jeremiah's hopes are realized. Young Mary and Priest Zachariah burst forth in eloquent praise to God who cares and is concerned about his people.
It is old Simeon who realizes that in the baby who is brought to the Temple by his parents is the fulfillment of Israel's hope and the answer of God to the lostness of humankind. Simeon reminds us that God cares and is concerned for his people because God's great promise has come true. Emmanuel, "God with us," has come in Jesus Christ who shows us how much God cares. He is our Savior.
In Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," it is the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" that deeply disturbs Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens describes the scene:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come conveyed him ... into a churchyard.
The Spirit strove among the graves and pointed down to one.
Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge was scared into changing his life and performing acts of kindness and goodwill.
The doom and gloom prophecies of Jeremiah could not frighten Israel into being the people of God. The country was overcome by foreign armies, and the leaders were carried into exile. During Jeremiah's lifetime the story ended in death and destruction. It looked as if God had gone on leave and left no one in his place. That was not the last word, for Jeremiah believing in God's goodness wrote:
He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow (Jeremiah 31:10b, 13b).
Jeremiah invites us to join him in a song, a dance, and celebrating a Savior who cares about his people. The song is God's love song. It is our love song. So let us dance the dance of praise, for our God reigns and he cares.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
____________
1. Simon Wiesenthal, The Sunflower (New York: Shocken Books, 1976), p. 13ff.
2. Allen Barclay Ronald, When Song Is New (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983), pp. 236-237.
Wiesenthal was sound asleep one night when Arthur, another young prisoner, a sort of dreamy skeptic, grabbed him by the shoulder and began to shake him awake.
"Simon, do you hear?"
"Yes," he stammered, "I hear."
"I hope you are listening; you really must hear what the old woman said."
"What could she have said?"
"She said ...'God was on leave.' What do you think of that Simon? God is on leave."
"Let me sleep. Tell me when he gets back." When Simon awakened he began to reflect about the conversation with Arthur and walked to find him. When he found Arthur, he questioned him, "What were you talking about last night?" Arthur replied that Josef, an honorable prisoner whom Wiesenthal highly respected, had asked an old woman if she had any news. The woman simply looked up to heaven and prayed, "Oh, God Almighty, come back from your leave and look at thy earth again."
That statement got Wiesenthal's attention and as he reflected on what the old woman had said, he wrote: "One really begins to think that God is on leave. Otherwise the present state of things wouldn't be possible. God must be on leave. And he has no deputy."1
Exiled, Israel at times felt that God had taken a leave of absence and that they were left to the wicked design of their Babylonian masters. Yes, they had been disobedient. Admittedly, Israel had forsaken God; now she languished in a foreign country, hoping beyond hope that God would somehow come back from his leave of absence and remember, redeem, and restore his people. It is Jeremiah the prophet who will bring to those exiles a message of hope. For forty long years he has foretold of doom and destruction which has earned him the nickname, "Old death and destruction." With the beginning of chapter 30, the mood of the prophet shifts, and he begins to write of a gracious God who has not forgotten his people, but who will bring comfort in the form of deliverance from exile and restoration of their homeland. Chapters 30 through 32 are often called "The Book of Comfort." They are powerful statements of hope.
In Jeremiah 31:7-14, there is an exuberance, a joy, and optimism that only God can give to the restored, returning exiles. The passages not only speak of an historical event in the life of Israel, but they speak also words of hope, encouragement, and comfort to those of us who feel like exiles and need somehow to find our way back to God.
Notice what Jeremiah does ...
He Leads Us In A Song
It seems very strange to hear the words of a song coming from the lips of Jeremiah. His words up to this point have been harsh, condemning, and critical of the nation's faithlessness. He describes Jerusalem as a harlot, and Israel's leaders as a voice without prayer, empty cupboards, wells without water. His themes are violence, grief, judgment, and punishment. Suddenly, Jeremiah has become a choir director, and he invites the whole nation to join him in praise (v. 7). The prophet uses the following expression to summon the nation to join his choir, "Sing aloud, raise shouts, proclaim, give praise, sing!" This is a song of celebrative declaration for God's rescue of the people. God has gathered his people from the farthest points of the world, and God alone, has gathered his people. Displaced people are coming home! The weak, the vulnerable, the lame, the blind, and pregnant. Jeremiah wants the choir to sing because God is faithful, and he is leading his people into the promised joy of their Lord. The Christmas carol "Here We Come A-Caroling" describes the song of Jeremiah when it states, "Love and Joy come to you." Jeremiah leads in a song of "love and joy." We need Jeremiah's song today to counterbalance the weeping and gloom of our broken, despairing world of exile so that we, like Jeremiah's Israel, might be led into the promised joy of our Lord.
Ronald Barclay Allen in his book When Song Is New describes an event which illustrates the song of Jeremiah:
A year ago I was ministering in a church in southwest Minnesota. I learned that a little boy from a farm across the border in Iowa had wandered into the fields of corn that encircled his house. A massive search began that was to last for three days and was to involve thousands of people. They searched for him Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Night came on that Saturday. With it came a prevailing sense of gloom. The boy's parents stood on their back porch and thanked the people who had worked so hard. They had searched six miles square. The fields nearest the house had been searched five or six times each. But little Justin, only two-and-a-half, had not been found. The parents thanked the people for their prayers on behalf of their little boy. Then they commended their child to God and told the people not to return the next day. The search was off.
But one farmer kept on looking. After all others had stopped, he continued to search. Forty-five minutes after the search had been canceled, this intrepid farmer found Justin. The little boy was frightened and whimpering. He was dehydrated and covered with mosquito bites. He was taken to the hospital and was found to be sound and was released, sucking on a popsicle for moisture.
The next morning a film crew from the local television station filmed the morning worship service where the family gave praise to God in their community of faith. And did they sing! And in their joy in the work of the King in their midst, all who saw that broadcast later in the same day joined in the song. Song was made new in our hearts as we witnessed the grace of God in response to countless prayers on behalf of a lost little boy.2
Jeremiah the choir director led the nation in a song of praise and thanksgiving because of God's faithfulness, but he also wants the people to ...
Dance A Dance Of Praise
Dancing a dance of praise was part of Israel's heritage. Many scholars feel that the real beginning of Israel's history is not found in Genesis, but in the exodus from Egypt. When the people of God were safe from Pharaoh's army, they sang, but they also danced. Miriam, the sister of Moses who was a prophetess, danced a dance of joy for God's mighty deliverance. As she danced, other women joined her in a dance of praise to celebrate the saving acts of God. The Old Testament is punctuated with the praise dances of those who encountered the God of steadfast love.
Jeremiah imagines all of the exiles journeying together in one great homecoming parade led by God himself. When the exiles arrive home, they find a land that is well-watered, crops that are fruitful, and animals which are flourishing, and there will be no more drought. God has made abundant living possible. Newness abounds because God has ransomed Israel and redeemed his people.
The idea of redemption found in this passage reminds us that in Jesus Christ we have our redemption. Redemption is a family matter. According to Old Testament law, a redeemer had to be a near-kinsman. Jesus became our near-kinsman on the first Christmas. His purpose in coming was to redeem humankind from the curse of sin.
The mood of those returning from exile has changed. God has taken away the mourning and sorrow which was characteristic of the exile, and replaced them with dancing and merriment and comfort.
Even the priests who have been in opposition to Jeremiah and gave him so much grief and who received of the offered sacrifices have an abundance. Everyone will be satisfied with God's goodness.
What a time for dancing a dance of praise. We dance the dance of praise to the God who has power to transform and has promised to do so.
Jeremiah led in a song about God's faithfulness, he has called for a dance of praise, but he also wants to ...
Remind Us Of A Savior's Care
Jeremiah uses two metaphors to remind us of God's care. He uses the words, "lead," "brooks of water," and "straight paths," which bring to mind the picture of a good shepherd who seeks those who are lost in order to bring them home (v. 9). There is also a reference to the "first born," the one who is loved and valued and who received God's special protection, care, and gifts. The shepherd who is the protector is also the Father who values. This shepherd had scattered his flock but now he gathers them home from exile. It is the shepherd who seeks and saves the lost ones. This is a picture of God's care and concern, not only for Israel, but of his concern for you and me. God wants those who have wandered into exile in any generation to be gathered to him. It is his desire that all exiles will come home to his joy.
This Old Testament story of song, dance, and Savior finds more obvious fulfillment in the opening chapters of Luke's Gospel. Here Jeremiah's hopes are realized. Young Mary and Priest Zachariah burst forth in eloquent praise to God who cares and is concerned about his people.
It is old Simeon who realizes that in the baby who is brought to the Temple by his parents is the fulfillment of Israel's hope and the answer of God to the lostness of humankind. Simeon reminds us that God cares and is concerned for his people because God's great promise has come true. Emmanuel, "God with us," has come in Jesus Christ who shows us how much God cares. He is our Savior.
In Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," it is the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" that deeply disturbs Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens describes the scene:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come conveyed him ... into a churchyard.
The Spirit strove among the graves and pointed down to one.
Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge was scared into changing his life and performing acts of kindness and goodwill.
The doom and gloom prophecies of Jeremiah could not frighten Israel into being the people of God. The country was overcome by foreign armies, and the leaders were carried into exile. During Jeremiah's lifetime the story ended in death and destruction. It looked as if God had gone on leave and left no one in his place. That was not the last word, for Jeremiah believing in God's goodness wrote:
He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.
I will turn their mourning into joy.
I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow (Jeremiah 31:10b, 13b).
Jeremiah invites us to join him in a song, a dance, and celebrating a Savior who cares about his people. The song is God's love song. It is our love song. So let us dance the dance of praise, for our God reigns and he cares.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
____________
1. Simon Wiesenthal, The Sunflower (New York: Shocken Books, 1976), p. 13ff.
2. Allen Barclay Ronald, When Song Is New (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983), pp. 236-237.
