There Couldn't Be, Could There?
Sermon
What If What They Say Is True?
First Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (Middle Third) Cycle C
Jeremiah tells us that there was a time and a place when God was upset, when the heavens were shocked, and appalled, and utterly desolate (2:12). It sounds like it was a time and place when God was weeping, a time and a place when God hurt. Can you believe that there could be such a time, such a place, such a God?
In this time and place God was upset because the people had strayed. God's very own people had turned away. They had gone after worthless things (2:5). Things that seemed important, but really weren't; things that seemed to matter, but really didn't. They wasted lots of time and lots of energy going after these things. In the end, it seems, they also wasted a lot of themselves. Pursuing worthless things, it seems, only makes you worthless in the end. Why would people do that? Why would they stray from a worthwhile God to go after worthless things? Didn't they know better?
Perhaps they just forgot. Perhaps they just forgot what God had done for them. You know how it is. Things happen. Life can get pretty crazy at times. The demands can be pretty intense. So maybe they just forgot that God had brought them out of the land of Egypt (2:6), that God had rescued them from years of bondage, that God had redeemed them from slavery. It probably just slipped their minds that God had saved them, that God had done for them what they could never do for themselves. They just simply overlooked the ways God had led them through the wilderness, through those times of darkness and doubt and confusion and uncertainty, the ways God had pulled them out of the deep pits, the ways God had sustained them in the barren desert where nothing can live for long, the ways God had walked with them through the valley of the shadow of death. They probably just forgot, that's all.
Still, it's hard to imagine, isn't it? Turning away from God when God had given them so much, loved them so much, provided so much for them? Forgetting about God when God had brought them into a plentiful land (2:7), a place and a life full of potential and possibility and goodness? Forgetting about God when God had blessed them beyond measure, giving them abilities and talents, comforts and luxuries, peace and prosperity -- things nobody deserves, things nobody can earn. They had been given so much and yet they strayed so far from the one who had blessed them so. Hard to imagine, isn't it?
You would think some would have known better. You would think some would have remained faithful. The priests, perhaps (2:8)? The professional holy people, the religious authorities, the clergy? After all, wasn't it their job to remember the tradition, to hold fast to the story, to cling close to God? How could they wander? How could they stray? Religion was their life, handling the sacred texts, immersing themselves in the law. Surely they must have remained faithful, right?
Well, let me tell you firsthand, in the religion business, things happen. Things happen in such a way that it often seems a lot more business than religious. In fact, this job often seems as much about numbers and dollars as any other profession. Who God is and what God has done for us are topics easily lost when the conversation turns to how many people came and how much something costs. Watching budgets, managing buildings, maintaining programs squeezes out time for prayer and study and worship and service and faith.
In addition to the business side of religion, there's also the people side. Wherever two or three are gathered, let alone several hundred, there will be a hurt feeling here, a misunderstanding there, a mistake, a disagreement, a grudge. Egos get bruised and pride gets squashed and backs bristle and lines get drawn and soon being a "professional holy person" starts to feel more like being a referee, a hostage negotiator, or a traffic cop.
So, no, I'm not surprised in this time and this place of which Jeremiah speaks that the priests have wandered off, too. Things happen. Vocation gets lost in the shuffle. And, whatever your job, forgetting about God is pretty easy when it seems there's so much to do. Believe me.
But surely in this time and this place some should have remained close to God. What about the rulers (2:8)? Shouldn't they have known better? Shouldn't they have remained steadfast to God? Shouldn't they have been wise enough to do the right thing? Shouldn't they have been counted on to follow God's law?
It's not too hard to imagine a time and a place where leaders have made questionable judgments, taken misguided steps, and acted on foolish impulses, is it? So it's not too hard to believe that it might have happened in the time and a place that Jeremiah is talking about.
What about the prophets (2:8)? Those preachers of zeal and dedication who so often appear to be the only ones with the truth, the prophets who so often are the only ones who will take a stand for what is right, those men and women who boldly proclaimed God's word whatever the cost -- wouldn't they remain true, even when so many have wandered, the prophets, the preachers?
Well, again let me give you an insider's view here: preaching can easily be hijacked by the preacher's personal preferences, pet peeves, attachments to social issues, or individual needs and concerns. A word that seems profoundly prophetic to the preacher can sound simply self-serving to everyone else. You've heard it. I've heard it. In fact, I've done it. It's not hard for prophets and preachers to get lost in the swirl of words and emotions and end up going after false gods. So it's not hard to imagine that it happened in the time and place that Jeremiah is telling us about.
So the people have gone and the priests have gone and the rulers have gone and the prophets have gone. Everyone has gone, gone after things that have no worth, so that they themselves have become worthless. God watches and weeps and wonders if this has ever happened before (2:10). God disbelievingly asks, "Has a nation changed its gods even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit" (2:11). What a sadness for God to watch this happen. What a tragedy to watch people who had so much squander it so completely. As children of God, they had everything. As those who have forsaken God, they now have nothing. And they don't even know it.
Could there really be such a time, such a place, such a people?
No wonder the heavens were appalled and shocked and utterly desolate (2:12). For it is unbelievable that God's people would get so caught up in what they were doing, what they thought was important, what they thought was needed, that they forgot all about who they were and whose they were. It is amazing that people loved by God, called by God, blessed by God would go after their own desires and whims and interests instead of the way that God had marked for them. It is astounding that those made in God's image, would wrap themselves in images of their own making. It is incomprehensible that those created to glorify and enjoy God would instead glorify and gratify themselves. It is inconceivable that people given infinite and ultimate worth by God would themselves venture far and wide after things that are worthless, giving themselves, body and soul, to things that have no value, no profit.
Could there really be such a time, such a place, such a people?
No wonder the heavens were appalled and shocked and utterly desolate (2:12). No wonder God was upset. No wonder God calls what they have done evil. For they have forsaken God. They have turned away. They have turned away from the fountain of living water (2:13). No wonder God calls what they have done evil.
What is a wonder, perhaps, is what God calls the second evil. The first evil is what they have done to God. The second evil is what they have done to themselves. Turning from the living water of God, the sure, reliable, abundant source of life, they have instead tried to build cisterns for themselves (2:13). God calls this the second evil because these cisterns cannot sustain the people. The barrels they have built for collecting water will not work. They cannot sustain life. It is an evil they have committed against themselves. The works of their own hands are inadequate. The people cannot survive on their own. They cannot survive apart from God. The cisterns they built cannot last. They are cracked. They cannot hold water. They cannot hold life.
What do you suppose will happen to those people?
What do you suppose will happen to us?
Where do you suppose we could get some living water?1
____________
1. Cf. John 4:7-15.
In this time and place God was upset because the people had strayed. God's very own people had turned away. They had gone after worthless things (2:5). Things that seemed important, but really weren't; things that seemed to matter, but really didn't. They wasted lots of time and lots of energy going after these things. In the end, it seems, they also wasted a lot of themselves. Pursuing worthless things, it seems, only makes you worthless in the end. Why would people do that? Why would they stray from a worthwhile God to go after worthless things? Didn't they know better?
Perhaps they just forgot. Perhaps they just forgot what God had done for them. You know how it is. Things happen. Life can get pretty crazy at times. The demands can be pretty intense. So maybe they just forgot that God had brought them out of the land of Egypt (2:6), that God had rescued them from years of bondage, that God had redeemed them from slavery. It probably just slipped their minds that God had saved them, that God had done for them what they could never do for themselves. They just simply overlooked the ways God had led them through the wilderness, through those times of darkness and doubt and confusion and uncertainty, the ways God had pulled them out of the deep pits, the ways God had sustained them in the barren desert where nothing can live for long, the ways God had walked with them through the valley of the shadow of death. They probably just forgot, that's all.
Still, it's hard to imagine, isn't it? Turning away from God when God had given them so much, loved them so much, provided so much for them? Forgetting about God when God had brought them into a plentiful land (2:7), a place and a life full of potential and possibility and goodness? Forgetting about God when God had blessed them beyond measure, giving them abilities and talents, comforts and luxuries, peace and prosperity -- things nobody deserves, things nobody can earn. They had been given so much and yet they strayed so far from the one who had blessed them so. Hard to imagine, isn't it?
You would think some would have known better. You would think some would have remained faithful. The priests, perhaps (2:8)? The professional holy people, the religious authorities, the clergy? After all, wasn't it their job to remember the tradition, to hold fast to the story, to cling close to God? How could they wander? How could they stray? Religion was their life, handling the sacred texts, immersing themselves in the law. Surely they must have remained faithful, right?
Well, let me tell you firsthand, in the religion business, things happen. Things happen in such a way that it often seems a lot more business than religious. In fact, this job often seems as much about numbers and dollars as any other profession. Who God is and what God has done for us are topics easily lost when the conversation turns to how many people came and how much something costs. Watching budgets, managing buildings, maintaining programs squeezes out time for prayer and study and worship and service and faith.
In addition to the business side of religion, there's also the people side. Wherever two or three are gathered, let alone several hundred, there will be a hurt feeling here, a misunderstanding there, a mistake, a disagreement, a grudge. Egos get bruised and pride gets squashed and backs bristle and lines get drawn and soon being a "professional holy person" starts to feel more like being a referee, a hostage negotiator, or a traffic cop.
So, no, I'm not surprised in this time and this place of which Jeremiah speaks that the priests have wandered off, too. Things happen. Vocation gets lost in the shuffle. And, whatever your job, forgetting about God is pretty easy when it seems there's so much to do. Believe me.
But surely in this time and this place some should have remained close to God. What about the rulers (2:8)? Shouldn't they have known better? Shouldn't they have remained steadfast to God? Shouldn't they have been wise enough to do the right thing? Shouldn't they have been counted on to follow God's law?
It's not too hard to imagine a time and a place where leaders have made questionable judgments, taken misguided steps, and acted on foolish impulses, is it? So it's not too hard to believe that it might have happened in the time and a place that Jeremiah is talking about.
What about the prophets (2:8)? Those preachers of zeal and dedication who so often appear to be the only ones with the truth, the prophets who so often are the only ones who will take a stand for what is right, those men and women who boldly proclaimed God's word whatever the cost -- wouldn't they remain true, even when so many have wandered, the prophets, the preachers?
Well, again let me give you an insider's view here: preaching can easily be hijacked by the preacher's personal preferences, pet peeves, attachments to social issues, or individual needs and concerns. A word that seems profoundly prophetic to the preacher can sound simply self-serving to everyone else. You've heard it. I've heard it. In fact, I've done it. It's not hard for prophets and preachers to get lost in the swirl of words and emotions and end up going after false gods. So it's not hard to imagine that it happened in the time and place that Jeremiah is telling us about.
So the people have gone and the priests have gone and the rulers have gone and the prophets have gone. Everyone has gone, gone after things that have no worth, so that they themselves have become worthless. God watches and weeps and wonders if this has ever happened before (2:10). God disbelievingly asks, "Has a nation changed its gods even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit" (2:11). What a sadness for God to watch this happen. What a tragedy to watch people who had so much squander it so completely. As children of God, they had everything. As those who have forsaken God, they now have nothing. And they don't even know it.
Could there really be such a time, such a place, such a people?
No wonder the heavens were appalled and shocked and utterly desolate (2:12). For it is unbelievable that God's people would get so caught up in what they were doing, what they thought was important, what they thought was needed, that they forgot all about who they were and whose they were. It is amazing that people loved by God, called by God, blessed by God would go after their own desires and whims and interests instead of the way that God had marked for them. It is astounding that those made in God's image, would wrap themselves in images of their own making. It is incomprehensible that those created to glorify and enjoy God would instead glorify and gratify themselves. It is inconceivable that people given infinite and ultimate worth by God would themselves venture far and wide after things that are worthless, giving themselves, body and soul, to things that have no value, no profit.
Could there really be such a time, such a place, such a people?
No wonder the heavens were appalled and shocked and utterly desolate (2:12). No wonder God was upset. No wonder God calls what they have done evil. For they have forsaken God. They have turned away. They have turned away from the fountain of living water (2:13). No wonder God calls what they have done evil.
What is a wonder, perhaps, is what God calls the second evil. The first evil is what they have done to God. The second evil is what they have done to themselves. Turning from the living water of God, the sure, reliable, abundant source of life, they have instead tried to build cisterns for themselves (2:13). God calls this the second evil because these cisterns cannot sustain the people. The barrels they have built for collecting water will not work. They cannot sustain life. It is an evil they have committed against themselves. The works of their own hands are inadequate. The people cannot survive on their own. They cannot survive apart from God. The cisterns they built cannot last. They are cracked. They cannot hold water. They cannot hold life.
What do you suppose will happen to those people?
What do you suppose will happen to us?
Where do you suppose we could get some living water?1
____________
1. Cf. John 4:7-15.
