Sermon June 27, 1999 A Lightened Burden based on Jeremiah 20:7-13
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Especially, the last verse: Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the
Have you ever spent time reading the directions on the products you buy? Sometimes they can be quite strange. On a Sears hair dryer it says: "Do not use while sleeping." Some Swann frozen dinners say: "Serving suggestion: Defrost." On a hotel-provided shower cap in a box it says: "Fits one head." On a Tesco desert it says: "Do not turn upside down," though this is printed on the bottom of the box.
Sometimes the directions are just silly. Other times, directions need to be followed to the last detail. This is how it should be with us and our directions from our Lord. Today, we will focus on the directions we have from our Lord to be witnesses. We are to share the Good News we have come to know with other people. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. We are to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.
In our text we hear from a faithful witness, Jeremiah, the ld Testament prophet. We
ear one of his laments or complaints to God. You might say that Jeremiah was setting a poor example by complaining to God. This may offend your idea of what is proper to speak to God. Yet, complaining to God was very proper in the Old Testament times. We can find it many times in the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, but also in Habbakuk, Job, and in Jeremiah. In fact, Jeremiah has a reputation for his complaints and is often called the "Weeping Prophet."
Jeremiah, who's name means "the Lord appoints," was sent on a mission and given instructions from God. As a prophet, that is one who brings God's message to the people, he carried out his work roughly during the years 640 to 587 BC. He wrote the book of the Old Testament containing the greatest number of words: the book of Jeremiah. In addition, he also wrote Lamentations.
Jeremiah was sent with this commissioning from the Lord: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant." (Jer 1:9-10) So Jeremiah was sent to be the Lord's witness. He had to share the Lord's Word which pulled down and built up. The Word that pulls down is the Law and the Word that builds up is the Gospel.
Jeremiah was to suffer greatly in delivering God's message. He was to first bring the message of the Law, to point out the sins of the people. They did not receive this message, instead rejecting it, and so Jeremiah did not deliver the Gospel for the most part. So strong was the reaction to his message, however, that he suffered much physical abuse.
In Chapter 19, Jeremiah brings the message of the terrible destruction of Jerusalem that awaits if the people do not return to the Lord. They were unfaithful and were serving other gods. Jeremiah's message was very unpopular. As a result, the chief priest beat Jeremiah and put him in a stockade. To see how great Jeremiah's burden was, however, you need to consider this. As soon as he was released, God gave him a strong message directed at the chief priest. Jeremiah was told to call him by a derogatory name. The Lord's personal message to this chief priest, delivered through Jeremiah, also predicted that he would be carried off to exile in Babylon when Jerusalem was overtaken. This happened in 597BC. What the Lord promised to this chief priest was carried out just as Jeremiah had spoken it.
After Jeremiah gives this message to the chief priest Jeremiah goes into his complaint. It is a complaint about his task of being a prophet. "O LORD, you deceived; me, and I was deceived you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long." He complains that the Lord called him to be a prophet, but He didn't tell him all the persecution he would face. Jeremiah feels deceived. The message Jeremiah has to deliver is destruction and violence. The people ridicule and mock him because they reject his message.
Jeremiah is feeling like he would like to give it up, but he has a problem with that also. "But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah tries to hold God's message in, and not witness and proclaim it, but it is like a fire burning in him. He must speak it.
Still, he knows he will face persecution. "I hear many whispering, 'Terror on every side! Report him! Let's report him!' All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, 'Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.'" Even though Jeremiah experienced persecution, he went on with his faithful witness to God's Word.
Jeremiah's complaint to the Lord was that he didn't like the results of his witnessing. His complaint can make us also think of our own witnessing. Do you face persecution because of your Christian witness. Have you ever been beaten and placed in a stockade because you shared the hope you have in Jesus Christ? It is probably more likely that each of us needs to consider where we fail in doing what the Lord sends us to do.
Our witnessing can be done in many different areas of our life. Some of the areas we tend to forget are those closest to us. We are witnesses to our fellow members right here. To those sitting beside you in the pew, or in front or behind you. We are called to share our faith in Jesus Christ as our only Savior from sin. We are to build each other up here and confirm our faith.
Another often forgotten area is in the family. How many parents of teenagers say they cannot keep their children involved in church. They do not feel they can even talk to them about it. They do not feel they have the authority to require their children to go to church. Consider this question: If your teenager picks up a gun and is going to shoot themselves, would you just let them do it? Would you let your teenager end their life? I think we would all try to stop them.
Now you may be thinking, what does this have to do with witnessing? Surely it is not the same situation as a suicide attempt? No, it is not the same situation. Failure to witness to our teenagers, failure to keep them involved in their church and growing in their faith is not the same as suicide. Rather, it is much worse. See, without Christ, without salvation, our youth face eternal death. This would be a spiritual suicide, where they would choose to suffer in hell eternally forever.
This need to witness to our family members does not just occur between teenagers and their parents. It occurs with parents and children of all ages, even grown up. Many parents say they don't want to offend their grown children and sever their relationship. However, that which is of greatest importance is their relationship with their Lord.
We find all members of our families are those to which we can and ought to be witnessing. Grandparents to grandchildren, grandchildren to grandparents, children to parents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins. Certainly we don't want to forget spouses witnessing to each other. If Christ is the foundation of your married life, and He should be, then share Him with your husband or wife. Witness to each other.
Perhaps the most forgotten area of witnessing is to witness to yourself. I am not talking about standing in front of a mirror and talking to yourself. Rather, make yourself available to God so that He might speak His Word to you and give His witness to you. This Word is available in the Lord's Supper today. It is in our liturgy and hymns. It is in the Scriptures and our Bible Studies. We are not to hide away, so that we keep ourselves from being witnessed to by God.
When we consider these areas of witnessing, we see that even among those who are closest to us, we fail to be the strong witnesses as we should. Jeremiah jumped into the heat of witnessing by sharing a message which brought him persecution again and again. We find ourselves too shy, too afraid, too busy, or too lazy to witness. We find ourselves failing to obey our Lord's command.
Perhaps we must start now, by hearing, by being witnessed to, that we are sinners. We come to realize how we fall short of what the Lord of hosts, the mighty warrior, wants us to be doing. We see our need to be saved and rescued.
Then we can know that our salvation is from the Lord. He comes to save us in Jesus Christ, the innocent one who took the burden of our sins. He was persecuted where we deserved to be persecuted. He was punished and we are set free. We can know that the Lord is with us and will save us even though we are corrupted with sin. Even though we fail to witness as we should, the Lord forgives us and gives us new strength to go at the task again. The Lord is our comfort.
The Lord was a comfort to Jeremiah also. First he complained and then he was comforted by the Lord. This is something which often goes with the complaints or laments in the Old Testament. They come back to the comfort. Here is what Jeremiah writes: "But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten. O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause." Jeremiah's comfort comes from the Lord. The Lord is there with him through the persecution. He has presented his case before the Lord, and the Lord will punish those who reject the message Jeremiah brings. The Lord takes the vengeance, however, and not Jeremiah. He leaves it in the Lord's hands. Jeremiah's burden is lightened.
Finally, Jeremiah ends the lament by singing praise to the Lord. "Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked." He lifts up our God because he is the kind of God who saves the needy. He rescues those who are in need of a savior. The arrogant, self-righteous ones, who believe they can save themselves, will not be saved. Those who are humble, knowing their needs, are the ones the Lord will save.
Jeremiah complained to the Lord because he faced much persecution as a result of the witnessing he did. The Lord comforted him by being with him and saving him from persecution. We, on the other hand, find ourselves falling short of the witnessing task we are given. These sins and all other sins persecute us, yet the Lord promises to deliver us from it also. Our savior came to lift the persecution of our sins. Our burden is lightened by the one who is with us and is our mighty warrior against sin, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.