Jeremiah 29:1-14
(Open Bible: Exile&Return- Justice)
I want to begin this morning by reading part of Psalm 137, as we
continue to explore the 'Open Book' themes*
By the waters of
Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the
poplars we hung up our harps, for there our captors asked of us songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said to us: "Sing one of the
songs of Zion"!"
How can we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land? If I
forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my
tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do
not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
Our theme this
morning is 'justice' and is based around the biblical story of the
exile and return of the Jews. We recall that they, the southern tribes,
had been taken captive into Babylon in the early part of the 7th
century BC. And there they felt the weight of oppression and felt the
power of injustice as is evidenced in the words of the Psalm. And what
more ironic place than Babylon- 'Babel'- the place where, after the
Flood, the human race had rebelled against God and the place that was
the centre of pagan and idolatrous worship.
We can note two reactions in the words of the psalm. In the
latter part of the psalm, which I didn't read out, they burn with anger
as they remember the cruelty of their captors. Here, they weep as they
remember what they have lost- the sheer joy of Jerusalem. Let us never
fail to have anger at the perpetrators of evil. Vengeance may belong to
God: vengeance and justice are not the same thing. Vengeance may not be
ours: revenge is ugly and destructive. But the maintainence of God's
just is, and if we become lukewarm about the evils of society, we are
neglecting the injunction of Scripture.
Our reading this morning from the Old Testament, from Jeremiah 29 is
part of a letter Jeremiah wrote from Jerusalem to those in exile. He
writes to them in exile, but let us, before considering what he says to
those in captivity in Babylon, those suffering tyrrany and injustice at
the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, remember that this Jeremiah was the
prophet who had warned of coming exile; he had warned of coming doom in
the face of a host of false prophets who had cried out "Peace, peace",
when Jeremiah knew there would be no peace; prophets who had
cried out "The temple, the temple of the Lord". They were saying in
effect that all must be well. They had the temple and that would be the
essence of their protection. But the essence of Jeremiah's message was
that trouble was coming. Trouble was coming and they'd be carried off
into Babylon. And there was a certain justice in this. They had become
as bad as those people of Babel. They had rebelled against God. They
had set up idolatrous worship. They might have the Temple, but they
were all wrong and what was going on was an abomination and it was God
who would judge unless they repented. But poor Jeremiah suffered for
this. The people didn't like his message. They were hell-bent on their
idolatrous, immoral lifestyle and welcomed rather the 'soft soap' of
the false prophets.
There's a lesson for the church in all this.
1. Israel were God's covenant people. 1 000 years earlier at Sinai a
solemn covenant had been struck by God with the Israelites. Blood had
been shed on the altar and on the people as a sign of this covenant,
and they were God's chosen; chosen to play a vital role in God's work
of redemption and freedom, which is another of the 'Open Book'* themes.
But they had reneged again and again on the terms of the covenant and
forgotten that God is a God of justice: they themselves had practised
injustice. They had forgotten the words spoken at Sinai. God had
declared to them Now, if you obey
me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be
my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be
for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19:5-6)
Let us remember that the apostle Peter wrote these words in his first
epistle:
But you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to your God. (2:8)
For we too are a people with whom God has made a covenant: a covenant
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In that shed blood, the work of
redemption is complete. In him we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Eph 1:7). We HAVE redemption, freedom,
but our work is part of God's plan too: the work of God's people to declare the wonders of him who called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light. ( 1 Pet 2:9). But today we see a church
which has in so many ways failed her calling. We find so many church
leaders failing to speak out against injustice; we find a church where
so many of its leaders seem not to really believe the truth of God's
word; we see a church where so many of its leaders fail to proclaim the
truth of the Gospel. Can we not wonder if we find the judgment of a
holy God falling on the church?
The 19th century preacher and evangelist, Charles Spurgeon wrote
this about Psalm 137, and i quote:
So, do true believers
mourn when they see the church despoiled, and find themselves unable to
succour her: we could bear anything better than this. In our times [and
it's surely true a century later], the Babylon of errors ravages the
City of God and the hearts of the faithful are grievously wounded
as they see the truth fallen in the streets, and unbelief rampant among
the professed servants of God.
2. Then we have the
false prophets, and how much pleasanter their word is! The false
prophets who tell us, as they have done for nearly a decade now that
revival and a might outpouring of God's Spirit is just round the
corner. The Bible, rather, says this:
If my people, who are called by my
name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven and will forgive their
sin and heal their land (2
Chron 7:14)
So: What did God of justice say to his people who had been taken
captive, and were living in exile and misery? Is there any hope left?
Is there any hope for an apostate church which in many ways seems to
be, if not in physical exile then is a spiritual exile? We recall that
before God spoke to Samuel, we are told that in those days the word of the Lord was
rare (1 Sam 3:1). The Word of the
Lord is rare today- the true word of the Lord. Is there any hope left?
The words which Jeremiah wrote to the captives were definitely words of
hope.
First of all: Don't give up! Build; marry; increase, do not decrease in
number. It's a word to any who suffer injustice. It was a word to the
Israelites in captivity because of God's judgment on an immoral and
idolatrous leaders. And, just maybe, it's a word to us. Don't cave in!
If you feel in an unfair and hopeless situation: Don't give up! But
don't listen to the false prophets. Their voices are so beguiling.
Their words seem to offer an immediate fix. Listen: God rewards those
who persevere. Seven times to seven churches in Revelation, Jesus says
"To him who overcomes". The solution is that judgment and exile are not
the final words in God's justice.
The false prophet- and how many there are today, will say "God
is love. To speak of a God who judges is out-moded. That's the God of
the Old Testament, but we know better!". Annie was so right when she
spoke the other week of Moses before the Burning Bush. She was right to
remind us just how easily and casually we slip in and out of God's
presence. "Take your shoes off. You are on holy ground". Our God is a
holy God, and he judges not because he is capricious but because he is
the God who he is. If we say, "God isn't bothered about sin, about
evil", what message would that be to those who are at the butt end of
today's injustices, if we say "God doesn't care"? What message would
that convey to the children who suffered so terribly in Sierra Leone?
To those who still live in fear of bomb and bullet in Northern Ireland?
God is holy. God loves justice and must punish sin and iniquity: the
two go hand-in-hand.
But, that is not the final word. God's justice also seeks to build up.
Not in a laissez-faire sense,
but in a true building-up into something better. The final 'Open Book'*
theme will be "Forgiveness; The Cross and Resurrection" God CAN restore
because he sent his Son into the world to suffer our judgment at
Calvary. So God could say to the Israelites in exile, For I know the plans I have for
you..plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope
and a future (v11)
And that would be God's word to us. But God's word is
contingent. It depends on our response, just as did his promise to
those exiles in Babylon 2 500 years ago.
God's promise is to those who seek him with their whole heart. Do you
grieve for the state of the church? Do you grieve at injustice? Do you
find it hard to sing a joyful song to the Lord when you survey all
around you? Then, God's word is a word of promise; a rod that you will
find him; a word that the lost years will be restored.
If you stand alongside those who suffer any form of injustice
then they will probably not accept this word: in a sense why should
they; how can they? But you can stand alongside them. You can intercede
for them. To 'intercede' is to 'stand in the gap'. It is to seek the
Lord's face FOR THEM, that they will be restored.
Exile and return. These can have many facets, some of which we have
just had in mind.
Judgment and justice: these belong together, and I would finally
address the place of the church in a society which is under God's
judgment, and a church which lies in danger of the selfsame judgment.
For many centuries, the British way of life was one based on and
centred round God's laws; a society where his Name was honoured. But
since the mid-19th century things have changed. The seed-bed was
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. This has now replaced Creation as
the accepted truth of our origins: we see ourselves no longer as
men and women created in God's image, but as ascended, evolving apes.
If we go wrong in Genesis 1 to 3, then we shall go wrong altogether;
the basis of God's laws and justice is withdrawn and society flounders.
This has consequences, and if you read Romans 1:18-32 you will see
modern society mirrored there.
As a church we find ourselves like those exiles of old in Babylon. The
world asks us to entertain them. How can we? We are here to proclaim a
God who is just but who is also Saviour. If we do no more than
entertain the world, we shall descend to their level. If the church
does not also stand against the evolutionary lie; if it accommodates
itself to the current world-view, then we will come ever more under
God's judgment- ever more into the spiritual wilderness of exile and
powerlessness. But we are called to be holy- not an 'ivory tower'
holiness, but proclaiming God' saving truth; salt and light to a
sick world. If we lose our saltiness we are good for nothing.
That I would say is God's word to us as we think about justice. We can
offer hope to the suffering only so long as we retain our holiness, set
apart for the living God of justice
This sermon was one of a series centred on a Bible
Society 'Open Book' to promote the Bible.