It is a privilege to be sharing with you this first Sunday of Advent. I know at St. Andrew’s we can relate to this time of advent, which comes from the Latin word for “coming. We are waiting for the coming of a new pastor – excited to have Rev. John Roxborogh joining us next month – and then in January, our new pastor will arrive.
So as we look at this passage in Jeremiah, we hopefully can relate to the desperate yearning and waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
Who am I? Doug Woodward. It is a privilege to be worshipping with you this morning. My wife and I and our three kids have been in Kuala Lumpur for just over 4 years and have been worshipping at the 8:30 service here at St. Andrews. I am a husband and bless to have my wonderful wife Tracy – and a father of our three wonderful kids. As all parents know, some days are more wonderful than others. For a trade, I am a teacher, where I work with middle school students at the International School of Kuala Lumpur in Ampang. But most importantly, like all of us, I am a sinner, here by God’s grace.
Let’s pray as we commit this time to the Lord. (Prayer)
Our sermon title this morning is: “The Coming of Hope in the midst of despair.” Perhaps a bit melodramatic. I know we come from many places this morning – and not all of them are in despair. In fact looking at most of your faces this morning, I don’t see a lot of despair – a lot of smiles and pretty faces. But I know that some of us are here this morning coming from great highs and other of us are in great struggles. But as we look at the passage in Jeremiah, we will see the despair of Ancient Jerusalem. Regardless of where we are today, we can relate to that disconnect where hope does not match with reality.
Our family certainly realized that disconnect between our hopes and reality this week as on Friday evening we put up our Christmas tree. We had, I think, high hopes of a marvelous Christmas time together with the family happily putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. But when it came to the final strand of lights, they wouldn’t quite fit — and we were exasperated, as we had to take off all of those lights and re-work them around the tree so that we could plug them in.
Indeed, Christmas is exciting time and we have such high expectations. Yet reality doesn’t quite match. We can see that with our hopes for Christmas. The news has been filled with that disconnect this week. Black Friday just passed – the biggest shopping day of the year when stores hope to go in the “black” with their big sales. We heard the story of a Wal-Mart shopper pepper spraying another shopper over an Xbox. In fact the news of the past week has been filled with pepper spray. The Occupy Wall Street protesters have been pepper sprayed as they protest for that hope — where businesses and the wealthy are not treated better than the others – the 99%. In the midst of this, it’s easy to see that the meaning of Christmas lost. It is the story of the Incarnation, the greatest event in human history where God, the Creator of the Universe broke into our world. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
So today I’m going to ask you to put on our thinking caps and perhaps some funky glasses to look at Christmas a bit differently. If want to pretend you are one of my middle school students, you can actually put on your pretend thinking cap and put on those glasses to give us a new perspective.
As I was preparing for this sermon, I learned some new things. Today we will look at Jeremiah : it is the longest book in the Bible, not in chapters, but in words.
The meaning of his name “Jeremiah” is not totally known, but most likely, it means “The Lord throws,” perhaps in the sense of Jeremiah being hurled or thrown into a hostile world.
Jeremiah, the prophet of woe, is very honest and lays bare his soul in some of his confessions (12:1 – why do the wicked prosper) and in chapter 15:18 when he says “my pain is unending.”
He was commanded by God not to marry or have children because of the impending judgment on Judah would wipe away future generations (16:1-4).
That’s who we are looking at. But where are we and when are we? We are in Judah right about 589 BC. Jeremiah is under prison guard after being rescued from a cistern. Jeremiah has been a prophet since he was a boy and now he is probably almost 70 years old. He’s outlived 5 kings: Josiah, Johoahaz, Jehoiakim, Johoiachin and now Zedekiah. In a few years, he will die, after we think he eventually moves to Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem. He is a prisoner in his own country, v.1 tells us. And Jerusalem is under siege by the mighty Babylonians. Judah is in the midst of a larger battle between Egypt and Babylon. The fall of the Assyrian Empire has brought a new, uncertain order.
And Jeremiah had the unpopular position of speaking truth from God. And the message besides repent and turn to God, was “No to freedom! Don’t fight the enemy!” Not a very popular political slogan, it was Jeremiah who said Jerusalem must wear the yoke of Babylon’s oppression.
Yet in the midst of this despair and uncertain times there is Hope. Jeremiah bought land (32:11-16) as a promise. The land will be redeemed and restored. God’s judgment though terrible is not the last word – Mercy and covenant faithfulness will triumph. And we look to hope – the coming of a deliverer.
Let’s read again our passage.
“In those days at at that time
I will make a righteous Branch
sprout from David’s line
he will do what is just and right in the land
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety
This is the name by which it will be called
The Lord our Righteousness.”
Restoration, redemption and renewal are the end of the story. But before we get there, Jeremiah will help us look at our several other points. This morning, we will look at this passage in three parts. First, we worship a Sovereign God. Second, there is the hope of an Ideal King.” And then – then the hope of a redeemer who can restore and renew.
1. We worship a sovereign God – There is a plan and this is very much part of the huge scope of history.
At the beginning and end of Chapter 33 (33:2) Jeremiah gives us with glimpses into God’s sovereignty, “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it – the Lord is his name. Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things.”
As Jeremiah harks back to God, the one who hung the stars in place and the one who created the world ex nihilo – from nothing – we get a glimpse of one of my favorite Christmas hymns.
– Here is Away in the Manger – the juxtaposition of maker of the Stars & a fragile shoot of Jesse
In verse 1, we sing,
“The stars in the sky
looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus,
asleep on the hay.”
Then in verse 2, we continue,
“I love Thee, Lord Jesus,
look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
till morning is nigh.”
The one who created the stars became flesh and is a little baby in the manger.
At the end of this chapter, in v. 25 “This is what the Lord says, “If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and Earth.”
This is a reference to the Noahic covenant from Gen 8:9-17 – This is God’s unconditional promise that there no more destruction of the entire Earth. (v. 22)
It’s interesting that the reference to day & night can be seen as a glimpse into human history: and reminds of the ups and downs of our lives as well. Hope comes and then Despair. Prosperity is followed by adversity like day & night – the blessing and the curse of this world.
Jeremiah in Chapter 33 is looking at the big picture – harking back to creation.
So what is the big picture?
So the question I’d like to ask this morning. “What is history?” This brings me back to January 1992. I was a senior history major at Taylor University and Professor Jones, my mentor asked all of us seniors to formulate our philosophy of history.
What is the story of history? Why does all of this happen? This is where we need to put on our thinking caps!
My quest to figure out history started with Edward Gibbons, known for The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire – cyclical nature of history that says that empires come and empires go – and history has these cyclical natures. Sure, true, but what about me, I asked? Am I just a pawn in these huge clashes of empires and civilizations? There must be a better philosophy.
My next stop was George Friedrick Hegel, the 19th Century German philosopher. He proposed the theory of the dialectic. There is a great idea – a thesis, and a counter idea the antithesis. These ideas clash a synthesis results – which becomes the new thesis – which then clashes with new ideas. One of many examples Hegel cited was in France, there was the idea of the monarchy – the thesis. That clashed with the French Revolution – an antithesis that that settles in the Napoleonic era – the synthesis. In Hegel’s view, this clash of ideas was always moving toward progress. Well, Hegel’s idea of progress largely fell in disregard as the 20th Century brought us the horrors of World War I and World War II. And for me, there was still no place for me – am I just a pawn in this clash of big ideas?
Then I came to Thomas Carlyle, who has the great man theory – history is but the biography of a few great men. Again, what about me? I don’t want to be some pawn lost in history as great men lead nations.
At that time, I finally settled on the German theologian, philosopher and historian, Karl Barth. Barth claimed that Christ is the anchor of history, both for individuals and for all of history. Prior to Christ – all of history was looking to the coming of the Messiah. After Christ’s coming, we are being redeemed by his act on the cross. This is true for history – and also for individuals – we are either waiting for Christ to change our life, or are living out the transformational power of the Gospel.
I’m not sure about the entirety of Barth’, but in some ways Jeremiah might agree.
Along with Ezekiel, Jeremiah was known as the “prophets of individual responsibility.” Yes, in the scope of human history, we matter.
Jeremiah 31:29-30, “In those days people will no longer say, “The Fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
Now, I’m not very familiar with this saying. I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually eat sour grapes and don’t talk about my kids teeth being set on edge. Instead I tell my kids to brush their teeth. Apparently, this was a popular proverb of that day that basically said the sins of the father will fall upon the son — that we are helpless to overcome the decisions of our ancestors. But the Lord emphatically turns that idea on its head.
“…Instead everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes – his own teeth will be set on edge.”
Even as empires come and go, even as ideas clash and new ideas appear, even as great men rise and lead nations, our decisions matter. We matter.
Ezekiel says it in the affirmative. After quoting the same sour grapes proverb, Ezekiel says (18:2-4), “As surely as I live declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son – both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
So as we look at Advent this season, let’s be reminded, that worship a Sovereign God who hung the stars in place. This is the wonder of the Incarnation.
Our second point is that there is the hope of an ideal King. This is a clear contrast with other kings of the time. .”he will do what is just and right in the land” This prophesy comes after a long succession of disobedient Kings. Since Manasseh, with the temporary exception of Josiah, Judah turned away from God.
It’s one thing to say all the things you COULD do if you were king. But it is quite another to be the ideal king.
More than 400 years before Jeremiah’s time, David’s son, Absolam would sit at the gates of Jerusalem hearing the complaints of the people and saying, “If only I were appointed judge in the land.” Many a politician has been challenged when campaign promises face reality.
Christ is a rightful king – not an usurper – he is of the line of David and the Davidic covenant (from 2 Samuel 7:5-16) is a covenant of royalty – the unconditional promise that a godly king like David, an heir of David, will bring peace – and enter us into our own promised land. He has legal title to the rightful throne.
This reference in v. 22 is to the Davidic covenant – like the Noahic Covenant, it cannot be broken – it is a royal grant.
An ideal king protects his subjects from injury – “Judah will be saved” “Jerusalem will dwell in safety.” This is the true prince of peace.
During Jeremiah’s lifetime, Judah has been a pawn in the Middle East battles – Assyria had destroyed the Northern Kingdom in 722. And now, about 130 years later, Judah is a tiny country between Egypt & Babylon. When the Assyrian empire fell, Egypt wanted to snatch up the remnants, and King Josiah died trying to keep the Egyptians from coming through Judah. Just 5 years after Josiah’s death, in 605 BC, Babylon defeats Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates and onto the stage of history comes a promising young general named Nebuchanezzar. Nebuchanezzar soon attacks Jerusalem in the episode that brings us the great story of Daniel and Shadrach, Mesach and Abendego – when they are taken off to Babylon as leverage to keep Judah under wraps.
The people long for the golden age of King David when there was peace, Israel was united and they had enough power to hold off larger armies. How the people longed for an ideal King.
Zedekiah, the king in this part of Jeremiah, ironically means “the lord is my righteousness” In today’s day and age, it could be a harsh satirical political ad – contrasting Zedekiah’s lack of righteousness with his name. But this is the same glimpse into the true hope we have in the fulfillment of Christ, born in Bethlehem. Abundant blessings from our real King.
In addition to this advent passage reminding us of a Sovereign God, it also points to the ideal King — not of a physical realm, but of true prince of peace and bringer of absolute righteousness.
So we’ve seen Jeremiah lead us see the Sovereign God that controls history and the ideal King that is the Prince of Peace.
Our third point is that of a Redeemer – one who will restore and renew.
In verse 10, we see absolute desolation, as was read in our Advent reading this morning.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without men or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted inhabited by neither men nor animals…”
Out of this desolation we hear in verse 15 that “I will make a righteous branch sprout from David’s line.” Clearly at this point, David’s line is all but gone – a far cry from the great leader of 400 years earlier. So really it is like life coming out of a dead tree stump.
“. . .shall be saved.” Do we recognize the depth of this? Israel could recognize this as least twice before, Babylon had taken off Israel’s best and brightest — first under Jehoakim, and then under his son, Jehoachin, who himself with his nobles and 10,000 of Judah’s finest were led off to Babylon after a failed revolt.
Out of this comes v. 11, “Yet in these deserted towns of Judah. . .there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty for the Lord is good; his love endures forever. “
The image of bride and bridegroom brings us back to verse 16. I’ll admit I’m way over my head in the Hebrew grammar – looking for the proper antecedent. My middle school students often get criticized for losing their antecedents. What is “it?” I ask as they say, “It happened because they . . . “ So I say in sad tones, “I’m so sorry, you lost your antecedent. Are you okay?” And, yes, they look at me with the same bewildered looks that you are giving me now. So what is this “it” referring to? And is it really “it?” Or as Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s 1871 commentary says, is it really “she”
Commentator Adam Clarke says it is really “he” – “he” the Messiah; “she” says the King James – referring to Jerusalem – the picture of the redemption of the church, Christ’s Bride the church. Let me explore this antecedent a bit. I love this picture of Christ’s bride, the church being the modern Jerusalem and what it reflects. Ephesians 5:30 “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, … and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
This is the picture of redemption and restoration. It is nothing to do with us – Jerusalem was in need of safety and Judah needed saved. We are in need of safety and need saved.
As Tim Keller says, “Jesus doesn’t love us because we are beautiful; we become beautiful through Jesus’s sacrificial love.”
Jeremiah is writing this as a prisoner in his own land – (33:1). Jerusalem was under a 30 month Babylonian siege. Yet the hope of Christmas was spoken in the midst of despair.
So I hope that our little journey today, we can look at Christmas in a different light – in light of God’s Sovereign Plan, in light of the ideal king whose perfect kingdom awaits us, and in light of our desperate need for being saved.
Let me finish with a story that illustrates the power of God and the need for a redeemer.
It’s the story of Samuel Morris story.
(http://17.taylor.edu/about/morris/story.shtml)
When I was about 11 or 12 years old, and probably whining to my mom, ‘I’m bored,’ my parents gave me a book to read — it was the story of Samuel Morris. Born more than 130 years ago, with the name, Kaboo, he was the eldest son of a Kru chieftain in Liberia. He was Prince Kaboo. When he was young, an enemy clan attacked and defeated the Kru, taking Kaboo as a hostage until a huge ransom was paid. A ransom so large that there was little way that the tribe could ever muster it. He was treated terribly, subjected to cruel labor, and regularly beaten. During one of the times when he was being whipped, he saw a bright light, his ropes fell off and he heard a voice from heaven telling him to flee.
He knew he couldn’t go back to his village because the impossible ransom still had to be paid, so he travelled through the jungle, sleeping in trees by day and moving at night – until he reached Monrovia, the capital. There he was invited to a church and met a young missionary woman from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. There prince Kaboo heard the story of Saul on the road to Damascus and recognized it as his own story.
There’s much more to the story about how, in his short life, he changed his name to Samuel Morris and how he impacted a University. But we can say that about 100 years after Samuel Morris arrived in America, I spent three wonderful years at Taylor University living in Samuel Morris Hall – the hall named after someone who vividly described what it means to be Redeemed by Christ, and someone who knows what it means to be “saved.”
Rescued from being a prisoner, Samuel Morris found safety in the only true place – in the Prince of Peace who was born as an infant in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.
As we celebrate the coming of Christmas, don’t look for a little baby, a shopping festival or even great times with family. The baby in the manger is not just a helpless babe, but my Redeemer. And your Redeemer.