Sing a Song of Jesus

 

Read Psalm 2*

Sermon: “Sing a Song of Jesus”

As I read Psalm 2, I realized that is a ‘Song of Jesus’.  Let us examine it a verse at a time.

1 Why do the nations gather together?  My first thought of Nations coming together made me think of the United Nations.  Here is the opening wording of the UN Charter:

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

And then I thought of the European Union.  Here is the statement of purpose of that union:

The peoples of Europe, in creating an ever closer union among them, are resolved to share a peaceful future based on common values.

Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.

The Union contributes to the preservation and to the development of these common values while respecting the diversity of the cultures and traditions of the peoples of Europe as well as the national identities of the Member States and the organization of their public authorities at national, regional and local levels; it seeks to promote balanced and sustainable development and ensures free movement of persons, services, goods and capital, and the freedom of establishment.

I didn’t hear anything that sounded even close to “Hear O Israel, our God is one God.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your.”  Did you?  Nothing where these gatherings of nations professed their allegiance to the Living God in the same way Israel did and still does.

Our American Declaration of Independence at least recognizes “the Creator” as it includes the line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our rights are not given by Man but by God.  They are unalienable which means that they cannot be taken away by Man.

Why do the nations come together?  The answer is, out of fear, because they don’t trust each other.  They want to establish some form of human protection for themselves. Because they fear a common enemy. They also want to set common goals.

The psalmist wants to know why the nations (that is all the earth) reject God?  Why do they make plans that differ from the plan of God? 

The answer is that any contract, covenant, or agreement that doesn’t take into consideration God’s plan, is a useless plan. God never breaks a covenant. History demonstrates that Man will eventually break every agreement.

Do you remember the story of the tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1-9?  Here the people of earth gathered together to build a tower capable of reaching Heaven. Up until this point in the Bible, the whole world had one language - one common speech for all people. The people of the earth became skilled in construction and decided to build a city with a tower that would reach to heaven. By building the tower they wanted to make a name for themselves and also prevent their city from being scattered.

The story is about Mankind pitting its will against the will of God. And it didn’t turn out well for mankind.  Imagine that!

In the New Testament book of Acts (4:25-28) Luke quotes from this psalm

You said through the Holy Spirit, who spoke through your servant David (our ancestor), ‘Why do the nations act arrogantly? Why do their people devise useless plots?  Kings take their stand.  Rulers make plans together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

Luke then goes on to point out how the prophecy in this psalm points to Jesus as the Messiah.

“In this city Herod and Pontius Pilate made plans together with non-Jewish people and the people of Israel. They made their plans against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 

Jewish and non-jewish people banding together to try and combat God’s will.  Trying to make plans against “Jesus, whom you anointed.”   Remember that line about Jesus being anointed by God, we’ll get back to it.

The psalmist continues: Kings take their stands.  Rulers make plans together against the Lord and against his Messiah by saying,  “Let’s break apart their chains and shake off their ropes.”

I find it frightening that our own nation is headed toward or is already at that point where we say, “Let’s break apart their (that is God the Father and His Messiah, Jesus) chains and shake off their ropes.”

This is contrary to the teachings of Jesus who said, “Take My yoke upon you.”  The meaning here is to shake off our old yoke of sin and disobedience and be bound together with God because, he said, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Make no mistake, there is work to be done.  We can continue in our own way and our own will, just as the Kings and Rulers of the psalm did.  Or we can be bound together with God and let him do the “heavy lifting.” 

We are to be bound together in Christian love also.  We are commanded, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus didn’t just stop at saying, “Love one another.”  He added this condition, “As I have loved you.”  That is an all encompassing love.  A love that is given freely with no reservations, no conditions, and no strings attached.  We are to love those who love us and those who hate us.  We are commanded to love those like us and those different from us.  I figured out a rule of thumb here: If God created them, we are to love them.  So the only people outside the group I am to love would be … … … 

Being bound together reminds me of the hymn, “Bind us together, Lord.” Bind us together, Lord.  Bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together in Love. There is only one God, There is only one King, There is only one Body.

Next the psalm writer gives God’s reaction to Man’s plans.

4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs.  The Lord makes fun of them.

I have to say that this verse took me aback a bit.  Even though I know it is a psalm, a song, a poem and some poetic license is allowed, the idea of God laughing at Man’s vain attempts to go our own way was disturbing to me.  Then I also read Psalm 37:12-13 which says, “The wicked person plots against a righteous one and grits his teeth at him. The Lord laughs at him because he has seen that his time is coming.”  Okay, I guess, if I try to see it through the eyes of God,  I can see the comedic action here.  Do you remember the old silent films with the Keystone Cops?   They were a bunch of misfit cops who ran around getting in each other’s way and creating chaos instead of apprehending the “bad guys”.  Whatever they tried never seemed to work out well for them.  I imagine from God’s point of view, we must seem like that a great deal of the time.

5 Then he speaks to them in his anger.  In his burning anger he terrifies them.

There are plenty of scriptures (mostly Old Testament) that speak about God’s anger toward individuals and nations.  I have a little trouble reconciling what I know of God’s love and God’s mercy with God’s “burning anger.”  Then I found the following posted on the web by an unnamed author.  I found it helpful.  I hope you do also.

“If the Lord is always merciful to everyone, then He can never be angry and vengeful. In God Himself there is "no variation nor shadow of turning." (James 1:17) Yet He appears in a variety of ways according to the spiritual state of the individual. "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd." (2 Samuel 22:20; Psalm 18:25)

It almost seems as if God's actions towards each of us depend on our actions toward God and others. If you forgive others, He will forgive you; if you do not forgive others, He will not forgive you. (Matthew 6:15; 18:35) If you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. (James 4:8) If you forget Him, He will forget you. (Hosea 4:6) If you forsake Him, He will forsake you. (2 Chronicles 15:2) And apparently, when people act with vengeance, they can expect vengeance from God. (Ezekiel 25:15,16)

It is as if each kind of person looks at God through differently tinted glasses. A person wearing blue glasses will see everything blue. "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled." (Titus 1:15) A person who is himself vicious and vengeful will tend to see others, including God, as vicious and vengeful. "The children of your people say, `The way of the Lord is not fair.' But it is their way that is not fair!" (Ezekiel 33:17; 18:25)”

In 2 Peter 3:9 it is summed up this way, “The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act.”

Verse 6 of our psalm reads “I have installed my own king on Zion, my holy mountain.”  Clearly, the psalmist is declaring that God himself will place a king over Israel.  The prophet Samuel, at God’s command, anointed the first two human kings of Israel.  I said human kings because, remember that until that time, Israel was a theocracy.  It was different from all other earthly nations in that it was ruled by God alone.  The “business” of the nation was overseen by judges chosen by God.  The people begged to become like other nations and have a king.  Here is the story from first Samuel chapter eight.

“Samuel considered it wrong for them to request a king to judge them. So Samuel prayed to the Lord.  The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me. They’re doing just what they’ve done since I took them out of Egypt—leaving me and serving other gods.  Listen to them now, but be sure to warn them and tell them about the rights of a king.”

Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything the Lord had said.  Samuel said, “These are the rights of a king:  He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots.  He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots.  He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake.  He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials.  He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials.  He will take your male and female slaves, your best cattle, and your donkeys for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks.  In addition, you will be his servants.”

That sounds like a pretty fair description of an earthly ruler to me.  However the really important part of this passage is when God tells Samuel, “They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me.”

Now, in verse seven we learn who God will appoint as the new king

I will announce the Lord’s decree.  He said to me: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.

Here are some important verses about Christ the King.

Hebrews 1:5-6  “God never said to any of his angels, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”  And God never said to any of his angels, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”  When God was about to send his firstborn Son into the world, he said, “All of God’s angels must worship him.”

Luke 1:31-33  God, speaking through his angel, said to Mary, “You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.  Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

Matthew 3:16-17  “After Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up from the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove to him. Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love—my Son with whom I am pleased.”

Jesus had this to say about himself in John 9:35-37, “Jesus heard that the Jews had thrown the man out of the synagogue. So when Jesus found the man, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  The man replied, “Sir, tell me who he is so that I can believe in him.”  Jesus told him, “You’ve seen him. He is the person who is now talking with you.”

Jesus was recognized as the new king when he rode into Jerusalem.  John 12:12-13 records it this way, “On the next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.  So they took palm branches and went to meet him. They were shouting, “Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!”

In verse eight of the psalm God makes this promise to His King, “Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your own possession.”

Now hear Jesus’ response in John 17:4-24 “On earth I have given you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do.  Now, Father, give me glory in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

“I made your name known to the people you gave me. They are from this world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They did what you told them. Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you, because I gave them the message that you gave me. They have accepted this message, and they know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

“I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours.  Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. I have been given glory by the people you have given me.  I won’t be in the world much longer, but they are in the world, and I’m coming back to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so that their unity may be like ours.  While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me. I watched over them, and none of them, except one person, became lost. So Scripture came true.

“But now, Father, I’m coming back to you. I say these things while I’m still in the world so that they will have the same joy that I have.  I have given them your message. But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.  They don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

“Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth.  I have sent them into the world the same way you sent me into the world. 1I’m dedicating myself to this holy work I’m doing for them so that they, too, will use the truth to be holy.

“I’m not praying only for them. I’m also praying for those who will believe in me through their message. I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did this so that they are united in the same way we are.  I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have loved them in the same way you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given to me to be with me, to be where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made.

9 You will break them (the disobedient nations) with an iron scepter. You will smash them to pieces like pottery.” Our reading from Matthew’s gospel verses 41-43 gives us an insight into verse 9 of the psalm, “Then the king will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me! God has cursed you! Go into everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me into your homes. I needed clothes, and you didn’t give me anything to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t take care of me.’”

10 Now, you kings, act wisely.  Be warned, you rulers of the earth! For thousands of years before Christ’s earthly incarnation and for thousands of years since, you…we have been warned. We have repeatedly been told that a time will come when God will no longer strive with men. There will be a time of judgement. The book of 2^nd Peter eminds us, “God didn’t spare angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, where he has secured them with chains of darkness and is holding them for judgment. God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval.

Verse 11 tells us to, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

In 1 Corinthians 15: 22b-25 we learn the fate of those who belong to Christ as well as those that do not belong to him. “In Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.  Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

The last verse in this psalm reads, “Kiss the Son, or he will become angry and you will die on your way because his anger will burst into flames.  Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.”

John 3:36 echoes the last line of the psalm by saying, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant anger.”

The choice seems clear to me. I will echo what was said by Joshua in Joshua chapter 24, “Fear the Lord, and serve him with integrity and faithfulness. Get rid of the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord.  But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Even if you choose the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, my family and I will still serve the Lord.”

As for me and my family, we will server the Lord.

 

Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations gather together?  Why do their people devise useless plots?

2  Kings take their stands.  Rulers make plans together against the Lord and against his Messiah by saying,

3  “Let’s break apart their chains and shake off their ropes.”

4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs.  The Lord makes fun of them.

5 Then he speaks to them in his anger.  In his burning anger he terrifies them by saying,

6 “I have installed my own king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7 I will announce the Lord’s decree.  He said to me: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.

8 Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your own possession.

9 You will break them with an iron scepter. You will smash them to pieces like pottery.”

10 Now, you kings, act wisely.  Be warned, you rulers of the earth!

11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, or he will become angry and you will die on your way because his anger will burst into flames.  Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.

“Praise Ye The Lord”

Read Psalm 146*

 

Befor the sermon, I want to give you a little background about the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” because I believe that the truth in this hymn is also found in our Psalm 146 reading.

In 1871, Horatio Spafford, a prosperous lawyer and devout Presbyterian church elder and his wife, Anna, were living comfortably with their four young daughters in their home in a north side suburb of Chicago.

The Spaffords hosted and sometimes financially supported many guests. Horatio had been active in the abolitionist crusade and the cottage was a meeting place for activists in the reform movements of the time such as Frances E. Willard, president of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union, and evangelical leaders like Dwight Moody, who ignited a religious revival in America and Europe.

Spafford, a senior partner in a thriving law firm, invested in real estate north of an expanding Chicago in the spring of 1871. When the Great Fire of Chicago reduced the city to ashes in October of the same year, it also destroyed Spafford's sizable investment.

Two years later the family decided to vacation with friends in Europe. At the last moment Horatio was detained by business, and Anna and the girls went on ahead, sailing on the ocean liner S.S. Ville de Havre. On November 21, 1873, the liner was rammed amidship by a British vessel and sank within minutes.

The four children drown. However, Anna was picked up unconscious on a floating spar by the crew of the Lochearn, which itself was in danger of sinking. Fortunately, the Trimountain, a cargo sailing vessel arrived to save the survivors.

Nine days after the shipwreck Anna landed in Cardiff, Wales, and cabled Horatio, "Saved alone. What shall I do…"

After receiving Anna's telegram, Horatio immediately left Chicago to bring his wife home. On the Atlantic crossing, the captain of his ship called Horatio to his cabin to tell him that they were passing over the spot where his four daughters had perished. He wrote to Rachel, his wife's half-sister, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs."

Horatio wrote this hymn, we’re singing today, as he passed over their watery grave.

Here was a man who had suffered losses, physical, financial, and emotional.  And yet his faith allowed him to write, “It Is Well With My Soul”.

Do an internet search if you’d like more information about this man.

Opening Hymn: ““It is Well With My Soul”

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,                                                 When sorrows like sea billows roll.                                                             Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say                                                          It is well,  It is well, with my soul.

Refrain:                                                                                                                 It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)                                                   It is well, it is well, with my soul.                                           

2.  My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought:                                                                                                               My sin, not in part but the whole,                                                                          Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.                                                    Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain:

3.  Oh Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight                                       The clouds be rolled back as a scroll.                                                                 The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,                                              Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:

Sermon: “Praise Ye The Lord”

Psalm 146 is one of five Psalms called “Hallelujah Psalms.”  They all begin and end with the phrase “Praise ye the LORD!”  That phrase is the translation of the Hebrew word “Hallelujah!”

Israel had just recently returned from a terrible time of bondage in Babylon when this psalm was written.  They had returned to find their shining city on a hill, Jerusalem, was in ruins.  Their temple, the center of their spiritual life, was stripped of its ornaments and sacred items and was but a few walls and scattered stones.  Their joy of release of bondage and their homecoming was tempered with the knowledge of the labor that lay before them.

They gathered craftsmen and laborers and began the rebuilding.  Slowly the walls came together around their beautiful city.  The temple was reconstructed and redecorated.  The few sacred items that had survived were brought back and new ones created.  They could now begin to truly worship God as they and their ancestors had done before.

Israel’s neighbors had sought to destroy not only their nation but the people themselves.  Many had been killed or assimilated into the cultures of the surrounding nations.

As they slowly returned to their homeland, they also began to once again turn to the God of their ancestors.  They lamented what had been lost, which is natural.  However, they also began to praise God for what he had brought them through.  As their nation was rebuilt, so also was their identity as the Children of the one true God.  They remembered the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, your God is one God.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

It was then this this psalm was written.

Do you understand why I gave you the background story about the writing of “It Is Well With My Soul”?  What Israel had gone through as a nation, is like unto what all people everywhere and in every generation go through.  Suffering and loss is not what God intended for his people.  However, due to the willful disobedience of Adam and Eve, God’s perfect world was broken.  This is the world in which we now live.  If you believe that, say amen.

Let us look at Psalm 146 and see what we may learn about praising God in all times and situations, so that we may also have the deep down knowledge that “All is well with my soul”. 

Lesson One:  The people came to understand that, though prophets of God had warned them to turn from their disobedience and return to God, they had wandered from the true path that God laid out for them.  Centuries later, the apostle Paul said it quite simply, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  That realization as a nation and as individuals gave them the perspective to accept that it wasn’t so much a punishment from God, as the consequence of not staying true to God.  Only as we recognize our sin and admit to it, can we truly repent and ask for forgiveness.

Lesson Two:  God is worthy of our praise, of our hallelujah.

As the Israelites came to realize that it was only through God’s goodness and his Grace that they were returned to their land.  They sang praises to his name.  We too have been saved by grace, through faith -- and this in not from ourselves, it is the gift of God.  (paraphrased from Ephesians 2:8)  It is because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can sing “Amazing Grace”, “Rock of Ages”, “It is Well With My Soul”, and many others.

Lesson Three:  “I want to praise the Lord throughout my life.  I want to make music to praise my God as long as I live.”  Praising God in not conditional on our circumstances or our feelings.  Understand that though it is well with our soul, we are not exempt from the pain and suffering of this life.   Amen? However, as followers of God in Christ, we have been delivered from an eternity separated from the love of God, an eternity in Hell.  Praise God!

As the Jews rejoiced because they were freed from bondage, we too can rejoice as we are freed from our chains of sin.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that we are but visitors in this earthly life, that our true home is in heaven.  The span of our earthly life is less than a tick of the clock of eternity.  When we are standing in the magnificent presence of God, we will praise him throughout all eternity. 

I sometimes think of this life as “practice” or “rehearsal”.  We often think we are in the middle of “life” when in truth we are still in the locker room or the green room off stage. Our true life hasn’t even begun. This is our training ground … let us make the most of it.

Lesson Four: Be careful of where you place your trust: “Do not trust influential people, mortals who cannot help you.  When they breathe their last breath, they return to the ground.  On that day their plans come to an end.”

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”  We have all heard that before. Amen? And it usually precedes something going terrible wrong.

Over nearly 70 years, I have placed my trust in a lot of people, a lot of organizations, and a lot of great thinkers.  I have placed a lot of faith in myself as well.  One thing I’ve learned is, that at some point, all trust in earthly people, places, and things is misplaced because, as I’ve said, we live in a broken world. 

We may not be intentionally misled.  However, another thing I’ve learned is, a stupid idea said by a smart man, is still a stupid idea.  A wrong direction is still a wrong direction even if everyone agrees that it is the right way to go.  Personally, I will never intentionally mislead you.  However, despite my good intentions, I could still be wrong.  Don’t rely on me.  Rely on God.  

Most of us know the Old Testament story of Job.  I was amazed when I actually read it through.  What amazed me was the advice that his friends were giving him as he was going through his testing.  They were true friends and really wanted to help, to ease his suffering.  It says in chapter 2:11-13 “When Job’s three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home—Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah, Zophar of Naama. They had agreed they would go together to sympathize with Job and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads.  Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw that he was in such great pain.”

These sound like the kind of friends that you would want with you in times of trouble. Amen?

His friend, Eliphaz, said to him, “Now think about this: Which innocent person ever died an untimely death? Find me a decent person who has been destroyed.  Whenever I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, they gathered its harvest. God destroys them with his breath and kills them with a blast of his anger.” The implication was that Job must have done something that displeased God and he should make it right before he was destroyed.

“Then Bildad replied to Job, … If you search for God and plead for mercy from the Almighty, if you are moral and ethical, then he will rise up on your behalf and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home. Again it is implied that Job had done something to displease God.

“Then Zophar replied to Job,  “Shouldn’t someone answer this flood of words? Should a good public speaker be acquitted? Should your empty talk silence others so that you can make fun of us without any shame? You say, ‘My teaching is morally correct,’ and, ‘As you can see, I’m innocent.’  I only wish God would speak and open his mouth to talk to you. He would tell you the secrets of wisdom, because true wisdom is twice as great as your wisdom, and you would know that God forgets your sin.”

All of this was good solid advice based on everything that they knew.   In other circumstances, it would have been great advice.  However, it was completely wrong.  My point is, although people may be well meaning and even helpful at times, they don't know the path that God has chosen for us. 

Lesson five:  “Blessed are those who receive help from the God of Jacob. Their hope rests on the Lord their God, who made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them.”

Our true hope rests in the Lord alone.  As believers, this should be self evident.  Who would you rather trust, the man who seeks shelter from the storm or the one who commands the storm, “Peace, be still”? 

The God who created the vast universe and the smallest sub atomic particles loves and cares for me and for you.  He even knows the number of hairs on our heads.  I find that, in equal amounts, humbling and comforting.

Lesson six:  “The Lord remains faithful forever.”   I said earlier that at some point, all trust in earthly people, places, and things is misplaced.  However in psalm 103 it says, “From everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children.”

From everlasting to everlasting is the kind of faithfulness in which we can trust.  Right?

It isn't from “beginning to end”.  It starts before the begining and zooms right past the end.

Lesson seven:  The Lord cares.  The psalmist gives a list of ways that God provides for all people.

Justice for the oppressed. The history of the Jewish people is a history of oppression.  Over and over they were carried away to distant lands or their homeland was occupied by other nations.   Israel has seen oppression since the beginning of their nation.  From the time of the Philistines of the Old Testament to the Roman occupation during the time of Christ, the pattern continued.  In more recent history there has been the persecution and execution of European Jews during the holocaust.  The modern nation of Israel was established within my lifetime and continues to be fraught with conflict and war.

So too were the early Christians persecuted, enslaved, and executed.  Even today, when one third of the world’s population claim to be Christians, are we persecuted, sometimes covertly and sometimes openly.  It is not surprising since the Kingdom of God has always been at war with the rulers of this world.  God’s will verses Man’s will is the whole story of the Bible in a simple sentence.

Though conflict and oppression are a constant part of the life of the church, we are never abandoned.  We read this promise in Isaiah 30:18-19 “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he rises up to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!  People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.”

Again we see God’s justice at work in Psalm 34:17-18 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

God provides food to the hungry.  I can easily think of several remarkable times that God has directly provided food for the hungry.  Exodus 16 details when God provided manna and quail to the Israelites fleeing Egypt. During their time in the wilderness water was also provided for them in spectacular ways.

In the new testament we find that Jesus’ first recorded miracle was him providing drink at a wedding.  All four of the gospels give the account of Jesus feeding of 5000 people with a boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two fish.  The gospels of Matthew and Mark also record a second time when Jesus feed the people who had followed him into a remote place.  This time it is recorded that he feed 4000 with seven loaves and a few fishes.  After his resurrection, Jesus found his disciples had gone back to fishing.  He prepared a meal of fish for them on the shore.

I have had my own miraculous cases of food arriving just when I needed it.  Oh, the heavens didn’t open and rain down bread upon me.  God used human agents as his messengers but that did not make it any less miraculous.  We are commanded, among other things, to feed the hungry as though we were feeding Jesus.

Freedom for the prisoners:  Wow!  Where to start? Maybe with Joseph being thrown into a deep pit and then sold into slavery by his brothers,   How about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being cast into a fiery furnace?  Or maybe just Daniel in the lions’ den.  Sampson breaking his chains?  Paul and Silas when the earth shook, the doors of the prison opened, and their chains fell off.  No, there are just too many examples to try and list them all.

Sight to the blind: at least three times in the gospels are examples of Jesus healing the blind.  In one example the man’s friends brought him to Jesus for healing. (Mark 8:22-25).  In Luke 18:35 Jesus stopped his journey to Jericho to heal a blind beggar along the side of the road.  And in John 9 Jesus uses his healing of a man blind from birth as a “visual aid” (sorry about the pun) to teach his disciples a truth about God’s plans.  But let’s not forget that Saul of Tarsus was blinded in an encounter with the risen Christ and later in Damascus something like fish scales fell from his eyes and he could see.  But Paul’s sight was more than physically restored.  His spiritual eyes had also been opened.

Straightens the backs of those who are bent over: This statement is much more than just about the physical healing.  It is also about the downtrodden in society, those that live on the fringes of society, those that are outcasts, those that are different, those that live in fear, paranoia, and depression.  These are people who have had their backs broken by their burdens.  In many cases the Lord is the only hope they have.  Certainly the ten lepers mentioned in Luke 17:11-19 that Jesus healed fit this category.  They had to not only deal with their disease but also the rejection of society.  Yet Jesus approached them and touched them.  He laid hands on them and healed them.  God cares.

Loves the righteous:  Can we just agree on this one?  Search your own Bible for the thousands of examples.  If I took time to cover them, we’d be here a very long time indeed.

Protects the foreigners: One of the commands repeated over and over in the Old Testament was to care for the strangers within your borders.  It was also to be a remembrance that the Jews had also been foreigners in strange lands.  We know that in this country, with the exceptions of the native people, we are all descendants from foreigners.  I had my DNA tested.  Here are the results for my personal history:

· 48% Western Europe (germany, france etc.)

· 28% Great Britain

· 13% Ireland

· 3% Scandinavian

· 2% Western Asia

· 2% Iberian peninsula  Spain/Portugal

· 2% European Jew

· 1% Finland / NW Russia

· 1% Pacific Islander Melanesian

· 1% Northern Africa

I am going to sidestep the issue of “illegal” foreigners in our land and just restate that we are to remember that we too were foreigners and we are to treat those within our borders with respect and dignity as commanded by God. 

Along with the oft repeated command about the foreigners,we are also to provide relief for the the orphans and widows.  These three groups of people are so important to God that He reminds the Israelites (and by extension us) multiple times.

Special laws forbade farmers from harvesting all of their crops.  They were to leave enough in the fields that the widows and orphans could gather enough food to feed themselves. 

Jesus in his parable of the sheep and the goats declares that those who feed, cloth, shelter, heal the least of His brothers, will be credited as doing it for the Lord himself.  And those who don’t, will be condemned. 

The Psalm ends with the declaration that “The Lord rules as king forever.  Zion, your God rules throughout every generation.  Hallelujah!”

 

*Psalm 146 GOD’S WORD Translation

1 Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord, my soul!                                                               2 I want to praise the Lord throughout my life.  I want to make music to praise my God as long as I live.                                                                                       3 Do not trust influential people, mortals who cannot help you.                           4 When they breathe their last breath, they return to the ground.  On that day their plans come to an end.                                                                                    5 Blessed are those who receive help from the God of Jacob. Their hope rests on the Lord their God,                                                                                                6 who made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them.  The Lord remains faithful forever.                                                                                                     7 He brings about justice for those who are oppressed.  He gives food to those who are hungry.  The Lord sets prisoners free.                                                     8 The Lord gives sight to blind people.  The Lord straightens the backs of those who are bent over.  The Lord loves righteous people.                                            9 The Lord protects foreigners.  The Lord gives relief to orphans and widows.  But he keeps wicked people from reaching their goal.                           10 The Lord rules as king forever.  Zion, your God rules throughout every generation.  Hallelujah!

Yes or No? Stay or Go

Hebrew Scripture Reading: Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors--Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor--lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.
"Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."

Gospel Reading: John 6:56-69
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you?” Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Sermon:  “Yes or No?  Stay or Go”
Let me start with a short prayer.  You pray for my speaking and I’ll pray for your hearing.  God, I pray that You will give me the right words to say. Then I will speak boldly when I reveal the mystery of the Good News.  I pray that despite what I say today, that these people hear your words.  Amen

In these Old Testament and the New Testament scriptures, a decision is demanded.  Using a current idiom, I’d call these as “Come to Jesus meetings.”  They were said with love but there is a clear ultimatum in both stories.  Yes or no?  Stay or go? 

Come to Jesus Meeting is an apt name for these because Jesus demanded a clear commitment.  He called many people.  He called fishermen, tax collectors, tradesmen, revolutionaries, religious leaders, lawyers, and many more.  Some dropped what they were doing and followed.  He called some who turned away sadly.  Some turned away angry. Some said things like, “I’ll follow, but first let me go … (whatever excuse they offered)”  Jesus made it clear that those who said things like, had made their choice.
We are going to be traveling around through time a little bit so … If we get into our scriptural time-machine, we can go back almost three thousand years to the time after Moses had died and Joshua had led the children of Israel into the Promised Land.  Just relax and breathe in and out normally.  This will only take a second. Really, this time machine is the safest way to travel.

As we arrive, things have just, finally, settled down after the fighting. The land was promised by God and He assured the victories.  However, he required the people to fight the battles.  I’m pretty sure that there is a good sermon right there. 

However, we have arrived after the battles were won, the cities and territories established, the crops and vineyards were planted and the people were beginning to enjoy this land flowing with milk and honey.  Smell that nice fresh air, we don’t have anything like that back in the twenty first century!

Joshua is now over one hundred years old.  He looks pretty spry for a guy his age!  He is the last of the generation who first came to the boarder of the Promised Land.  The generation that refused to follow God’s command to enter the land.  They were afraid of the people who lived there because they were bigger and stronger.  The spies who went in, came back with the report that even though it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey, the cities were large and well fortified.  And the people were so big that the spies said that “we were like grasshoppers to them.”

They let their fear rule them rather than their faith.  Now I’m sure that there’s a sermon in that!  Their refusal to follow God’s command is the reason that they wandered in the dessert for forty years.  They had been unfaithful, so God led them around the dessert until that whole generation (with the exception of Moses, Caleb and Joshua) had died.  Because of their unfaithfulness, they were not allowed into the land that God had promised.  And not only were they not allowed in, but their children and grandchildren had to delay entering the Promised Land for forty years!  I think there’s another sermon there too!

But, Joshua, now an old man, has just called all the leaders of all the tribes together and has a message for them.  He lays it all on the line by telling them, “Before God called Abraham he had followed other gods.  The descendants of Abraham, after settling in Egypt, had also turned and followed false gods.”  Joshua is letting them know that, as a people, they have not always been faithful followers of the one true God.

Joshua now reminds the people that they are heirs of the covenant that God had made with Abraham. God said, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Here is their “Come to Jesus Meeting” as Joshua tells the people to make a choice, a commitment, a reaffirmation of the covenant between his people and God.  At the same time he makes it clear that his choice now is and ever will be, “Me and my household, we will serve the LORD." 

The people responded, “What are you talking about?  We would not / could not abandon the Lord to serve other gods. After all the Lord our God brought us and our ancestors out of slavery in Egypt. Do you remember how He did these spectacular signs right before our eyes. He even guarded us wherever we went, especially as we passed through other nations. The Lord forced out all the people ahead of us, including the Amorites who lived in this land. We, too, will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

They may have been children when they fled Egypt or they may have been born during the forty years in the wilderness, but they had grown up with God literally leading them as a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night! They had seen water gush from a rock in the dessert.  God fed them bread from heaven and meat to eat.  They were there when the tabernacle was created and God spoke from above the Ark of the Covenant. They had seen the power of God when he gave them victory over their enemies.

Having witnessed all of these things, it seems only natural that they would choose to follow God!  Right?  I mean, who would be stupid enough to not choose God when you had witnessed all of that?  Makes sense, right?

But hang on a moment, get back in the time machine.  We are going to go back in time another fifty to sixty years.  We are going to see how faithful their, Fathers, Mothers, Grandparents were. 

See, that didn’t take long!  We have arrived safely at the base of Mount Sinai and you’ll notice that it is covered in a dense cloud.  That cloud is an avatar of God, a symbolic representation of His Holy Self.  Don’t get too close.  Sinful man cannot come into the presence of Holy God and live.

We have arrived about three and a half months after they fled from Egypt.  If these folks look a little “shell shocked”  remember they have just lived through the ten plagues of Egypt:

They have just recently seen the Red sea parted so that they could walk through it on dry land.  As soon as they had reached this side of the Red Sea, it closed over the pursuing Egyptians.

Moses has told them to wash their clothing so that they can be ritually clean while he consecrates them to God.  Look, there he goes up the mountain where he will receive the ten commandments from God.

Now look what the people are doing in his absence.  They have melted their golden jewelry and created a golden calf to worship!   Listen!  Do you hear what they are saying?  The are praising this man-made idol and are giving it the credit for bringing them out of Egypt. It has been less than four months from captivity and they have already abandoned God! 

Yep!  These people were that forgetful, ungrateful, and easily swayed. You can almost hear them asking, “What has God done for me today?” 

Wait!  Wait!  I see that look in some of your eyes.  A little light bulb just lit up over your heads.  But don’t start searching your own soul or examining your own relationship with God … not yet!  I have a few more illustration to make before you do that.  No peeking ahead!

Okay, let’s get in our time-machine and travel ahead about six hundred years to the time when Jesus walked the earth as a man.  Everybody ready?  Remember to keep your hands inside your seats until we have come to a complete stop. 

There!  We have arrived to about thirty-two years after Jesus was born.  Everybody okay, nobody dizzy?  Great!

If look a little over there to the right of the synagogue you’ll see Jesus in discussion with his disciples.  Or more correctly, the apostles, the twelve core members of his followers.  Jesus has had hundreds and hundreds of disciples following him.  They have crowded so close that several times he was forced into a boat. They have followed him up a mountain.  They even followed him to his home and crowded in so close that his family was fearful. At one point, some men tore the roof from his home to bring a sick friend to him.  They’ve pressed in so close to him that when he stopped and asked, “Who touched me?” his disciples responded, in disbelief that he had asked that question, it seemed to them that everyone had touched him.  In fact, I found a source that says there are around thirty-four scriptures that mention the crowds coming to Jesus.  While it is true that some of those may be duplicated between the four gospels, that still is a lot of crowding.

These disciples followed him for various reasons but mostly because of the signs that he preformed. They had seem him heal the sick, the leprous the blind, the lame and even raise the dead.  He had turned water to wine, feed thousands of people on a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. 

Some followed because they believed that he would be the next king of Israel and free them from the Roman occupation. 

Some followed because of the way he taught with such power and authority. 

Some came because the parables that he told engaged them and caused them to think in ways that they had never considered. 

A few followed because they wanted to trap him into saying or doing something that would turn the people away from him and also stand up in a trial. 

And some … some followed because they believed he was sent from God. 

As we see Jesus today, people are walking away.  The message he gave today in the synagogue in Capernaum had caused a division. The theme of Jesus being the Bread of Life and the Living Water were ones that he had used many times before.  Today the sermon was a little more graphic and it upset people.  “Eat my flesh and drink my blood,” was too hard of a lesson to learn. 

Jesus tells them that the flesh is nothing … the spirit is everything. If you remember back in the book of Genesis; God created man from the dust of the ground.  And then breathe the breath of life, literally the Spirit of Life into him.  Without the spirit, Man is just a pile of dust.

Jesus has just asked the inner twelve for their decision,  Yes or no?  Stay or go?  Peter answers for them all.  And I can just imagine Peter, in his load rough voice, answering.  Not just answering but answering loud enough that his voice carries to those walking away.  “Lord, who could we possible go to?  Your words give eternal life.  Besides, we believe … and more than believe … we know that you are the Holy One of God.”
You and I know from our perspective from the future that the crowds will once more assemble for him on Palm Sunday and we know that most will once again turn away at the trial and crucifixion.  As we get back into our time machine, we see that those once crushing crowds are beginning to drift away leaving only those true believers to continue to faithfully follow. 

This was a true, “Come to Jesus Meeting” and a large number of disciples walked away.  In one way or another, Jesus had not met their expectation.  Yep!  People were still that way during Jesus’ time.  They were still that forgetful, ungrateful, and easily swayed. “What has Jesus done for me today?” 

Now hang on because the bumpiest part of this ride is about to start.  We are returning to our own time.  This is where we are going to be looking around us and inside us.

We are also inheritors of the covenant God first made with Abraham.  We even have the advantage that a major part of that promise has already been fulfilled by the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  We now have the two thousand years of proof of things that they only hoped for.  Certainly, it must be easier for our generation to live up to our end of the covenant.  Right?  We’ve done our job and taken the good news to every corner of the world.  One third of the world’s population call themselves Christians.

If that is still true, someone explain this graph to me.

What is happening?  This is how it appears to me … there are a lot of people who are Christian in name only.  I could be wrong. …  I’d like to be wrong.  But what I’m seeing is people wrapping themselves in the name, Christian, as though it were a magic suit of armor. 

Well I’ll tell you right now that it does not work that way. You can’t get by with just playing “dress up.”  This is a war. If you want a suit of armor, you still have to put it on one piece at a time.  I’ll tell you the same thing that Paul told the church in Ephesus,
“Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world.  For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.
So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God’s approval as your breastplate.  Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace.  In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Also take salvation as your helmet and God’s word as the sword that the Spirit supplies.
Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people.

Consider this your Come to Jesus Meeting.  We are required … No!  We are commanded to care for ourselves, each other, the widows, the orphans, the aliens in our land, and all of God’s children.  Love them, feed them, shelter them, clothe them, heal them … but most of all … tell them the good news that Christ Jesus died that they might live.  The flesh is nothing the Spirit is everything. 

We’re just going to take another short journey, this time into the future.  We’re not going to land, we’re not allowed.  But we’re going to do a flyover just to see what is happening.  Don’t blink ‘cause this’ll have to be really quick.

Look! All of humanity is here.  Everyone who ever was or ever will be is here.  Do you see?  Every knee is bowing and every tongue crying out, “Jesus is Lord!”  However, listen to his response.  To some he is saying, “Well done you good and faithful servant!”  Those are going into the light of eternal life.   However, to others he is saying, “Depart from me you cursed, for you did not do as I commanded to love your neighbor as yourself!”  and those are going into the outer darkness, a complete separation from God.  Our time here is up we must now return to our own time.

I pray, Lord, don’t let this generation be forgetful, ungrateful, and easily swayed. Don’t let us ask, “What has Jesus done for me lately?”  Let us, instead, ask, “What can I do for Jesus today?”  I tell you, “Now is God’s acceptable time!  Now is the day of salvation!”  Have you made your choice?  Yes or no?  Stay or go? 

Woe to the Shepherds

 

Jeremiah 23:1-6

      Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
     The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."

 

Sermon: “Woe to the shepherds”

In the book of Jeremiah God calls him to be His prophet and to stand up against the false prophets of the day. God tells him that, “They have spoken falsely of the Lord, and said, ‘He will do nothing. No evil will come upon us, and we shall not see sword or famine.’ The prophets are nothing but wind, for the word is not in them.”^5:12-13 He is called to stand up to the leaders of Israel and Judah and call them whores. He tells them how disappointed and angry God is with them for breaking the covenant that he had made with Israel. He even tells them that God is sickened by their pretentiousness at calling Him their Father since they have so blatantly turned from His teachings.^3:4-5

Jeremiah is nearly all about how God was going to remove his hand from the land and let their enemies over run them and carry them off to captivity in distant lands. But God holds out a hope that He will be able to instruct a new generation and they will recreate the broken relationship between God and His people. Again and again He begs His children to repent calling out, “Return, O faithless children. I will heal your faithlessness.”^3:22

The prophet Jeremiah lived about six centuries before the birth of Jesus. His writings were about the troubles he saw in his own time. He (through the power of God) laid the blame for all the problems on the very people tasked with leading them. Six hundred years later Jesus made the same observations in His time on earth. And a simple look at our own time shows that the same things are still occurring. God’s people are being lead astray by the very people who should be leading them to God.

In Jeremiah’s time there were “prophets” who were telling the people what they wanted to hear; that all was well and good and there was nothing to fear. Jeremiah, on the other hand, was prophesying about the coming dispersal of the Jews to other lands and the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Not only does Jeremiah predict this, he also (as the voice of God) lays the blame on the supposed religious leaders and people in power. God says, “Their houses are full of treachery; therefore they have become great and rich, they have grown fat and sleek, they know no limits in deeds of wickedness, they do not judge with justice the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.”^5:27-28 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain, and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.”^6:13

Through his prophet, God also gives the good news that He will gather His people from every land and will provide a king from David’s family that will deal wisely, be just and righteous. The Lord said, “For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and ever.”^7:5-7

In the first chapter of Jeremiah it recounts his “call”. “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” And what was Jeremiah’s reaction? “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”^1:4-5 But God chose to give this boy the power over nations and kingdoms to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”^1:10

The messages that Jeremiah brought to the rulers of the people were harsh. God was accusing them of pulling away from him and following after false gods. That would be bad enough, but he also convicts them of leading others away from him. Instead of being good shepherds of God’s people, they were leading them to death and destruction. He said, “Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers have transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.”^2:5 In poetic language, God says that He has these two things against them: abandoning Him and His teachings and laws, leading His children to destruction.

Now let’s skip ahead six centuries and see what Jesus has to say about those who handle the law, the rulers and the prophets. In Matthew 15 we read where the Pharisees and scribes (read that as rulers and keepers of the Law) ask Jesus why His disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus responds, “And why do you break the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition?”^15:2-3 Does that not sound like exactly what Jeremiah was condemning Israel for in ages past? Jesus goes on to warn his disciples to beware the teachings of the Pharisees and Saducees.^16:12 He also warned them and us, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray.”^{Matt 24:4-5} He laments over their unwillingness to return to God when he says, “O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kill the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”^{Luke 13:34}

Throughout the gospels we read of the Pharisees coming to Jesus with trick questions about paying taxes (both temple and Roman), about adultery, about divorce, about marriage in heaven, about working on the Sabbath, and on and on. Never, never, never! does it end well for those seeking to entrap Jesus. Every time that they think they have a fool proof plan, a plan that which ever way Jesus answers, they will be able to charge him with breaking either the Jewish law or the Roman law, he turns it around on them. How frustrated they must have been. No wonder that Jesus tells the people that, because the rulers sit on the throne of Moses (figuratively), what they say is to be obeyed. But he also warns not to do as the Pharisees do because they make impossible rules that they themselves can not follow but by which they will judge the people.

Okay, now I’m a little afraid to do this, however, shall we take a look at our own time? What has changed in the twenty one centuries since Christ walked the earth? Or for that matter in the twenty seven since Jeremiah? Keep in mind that in Jeremiah’s and Jesus’ times the religious leaders were also the political rulers. In our day, of course we have a division between church and state. To examine our time, we are going to need to take a look at the condition of religious and political leaders.

Because of the mandate of our camping club, this worship is non-denominational and non-partisan. That means, I’m trying to tip toe through a mine field here. But it scares me to death to read Jeremiah and hear him issuing the same condemnation to us. Are we dealing justly with the widow, the orphan the poor, and the alien in our land? Do we say “Father, you are the friend of my youth. But continued to do all the evil we can?”^3:4-5 Let me ask you, with out naming names, can you give examples of our leaders, religious and secular that appear to be disconnected from God and/or leading the people away from God?

I really want your input here. I’ll start by saying that I hear and read too many evangelists and pastors preaching a religion of prosperity. That is, telling people that if they follow their teachings (and buy their books, DVDs, and whatever) that their lives are going to be all cake and ice cream. That money will come pouring in and they’ll never be sick. That just doesn’t match up with the realities of life. If you want to know what being a Christian means, look at the lives of Jesus’ apostles. They lived hard, persecuted lives and most died untimely deaths. God promises that he will be with us during life’s trials … not that we will not have to go through them.

(take some time here to facilitate a discussion with the congregation.

Be careful to not allow it to become a “name calling” rant)

There were some good points brought up. It is fairly easy for us to point out the errors that others are making. Jesus warns that before we remove the splinter from our bother’s eye, we must first remove the log that is in ours.^{Mat 7:5} So, before we become too smug, let me remind us that every Christian … e-v-e-r-y Christian has a God given task to perform for the glory of God. So remember, as a Priesthood of Believers ^{1Pet 2:5}, we are all … all leaders. Yep! This is where I begin to meddle.

I don’t know what the Lord has called you to do. I just know that you are called to be and active part of God’s plan. So, whatever you are called to do I just know that there are no none-working parts of the body of Christ.

I was called to preach. And I promise to never, knowingly give you false information. And sometimes it scares me that I might misspeak or unknowingly mislead you. I pray before each time I preach that, no matter what I say, His words will be heard. I know that it works because I’ve had people come up to me after a service and excitedly tell the service that they heard, and I think to myself, “That’s sounds great, I wish I’d have said it.”

The great commission … the last commandment given by Jesus was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” “Go to the whole world and proclaim the good news.” The good news is that God kept his promise that he would raise up a leader from the line of David. Jesus the Christ came and paid the price and settled the debt that was owed to God. We have proof where the people of the Old Testament had only hope. That commandment to “go and tell” is for every Christian. “But wait,” you say, “I’m not a missionary. I can’t go into the whole world.” That may be true, however you can go into YOUR world. We each come into contact with people all the time. We may be the only Christian that some people will ever know. Our mission field need not be in some distant land. It may be in our own home, neighborhood, work place, club, grocery store … get the picture?

We have a job to do. Not all jobs are the same. However, all jobs are of equal importance to the Kingdom of God. Scripture says, “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.^{Eph 4:11}” “Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.^{1 Cor 12:28}” Remember that we are the body of Christ ^{1Cor 12:27} in this present age. And all of us are to use our God given talents to further His kingdom.

Now that we understand that we all are a leaders … shepherds, how do we insure that we are leading down the right path? If you are looking for and easy answer like, go to church regularly, forget it. It takes work to be prepared. It is necessary to be immersed in the Word of God, the Bible.

There are so many Bibles … so many translations. Find several that you can understand. For many people the King James Version with it’s Old English and archaic terms, just doesn’t make sense. I grew up with two versions of the Bible: King James and the New World Translation (which is used by Jehovah’s Witnesses). It was in reading both and seeing differences (discrepancies) between them that first got me to reading many translations of the Bible. A good study Bible with Parallel translations is very useful.

Since I can not read the original writings of any of the many contributors to the Old and New Testament books, I must rely on other’s research. Because I am relying on the work of others, I am careful to compare with other works. If I begin to see that the author(s) of a certain version are letting their own interpretation or denominational bias influence the translation, I discard it. .

Do not be fooled into thinking that only preacher, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries need to study the Bible. I don’t care if your place in the kingdom of God is a “non speaking part.” You may be the one called upon to sweep the floor or drive a truck. If you are doing it for God, you need to know what God expects of you. You have to read the instruction book, the owner’s manual, the Bible. There is no other way to be positive that you are not following the wrong shepherd.

Now understand that reading the Bible is not the same as studying it. “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” ^{2 Tim 3:16} Do not read it like you would a book of fiction. Read it more like a cookbook. Look for the proper ingredients to build your life on God’s foundation. Read it to gain understanding and to accomplish something. When you read a passage of scripture stop and think about it. Seek to understand the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of the passage and most importantly ask, “What does this mean to me?” There are many good “daily devotionals” to help you get started. I recommend that you use one. However, they do not replace your own study of the scriptures. Only by studying to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth”^{2 Tim 2”:15} can we be sure of being on solid ground. Jesus has said that, “My sheep know my voice.”^{John 10:27} Studying is the only sure way to learn the voice of the Master Shepherd.

Okay, now we are becoming grounded in the word, now pray. Pray. Pray. Pray. We are to stay connected with God. Prayers do not need to be long, elaborate and eloquent. Prayers just need to come from your heart and your mind. We know how to stay connected with friends and family … we have cell phones, smart phones, iPads, computers, social media, land lines and hand written letters. Put God on your speed dial (figuratively). Go to God in small instant prayers. I’ve been known to look at a beautiful sunset and say, “Yeah, God!” I’ve seen a reckless driver and whispered, “Lord, keep him and those around him from harm.” Sometimes, at the end of my rope, I’ve just said, “Help!” We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit available to us and He will guide, council and comfort us if we but listen.

Years ago I heard a woman telling about one time when she was standing in a checkout line. She was quietly thinking of some blessing in her life and the word, “Jesus” slipped from her lips. The cashier quickly asked, “What’s the matter?” Isn’t that sad that she automatically thought this woman was cursing? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if enough people would say a word of praise out loud that those hearing us would automatically think we are praying instead of cursing? Stay connected with God through prayer. Talk to him as you would a friend, a teacher, or a parent. Pray for others. Make a list if you need to. Pray for yourself, your family, your friends, your coworkers, the pastor, the teachers, the police, the firemen, the politicians and people in power locally, nationally and world wide.

Stay connected with Godly people. “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” ^{Heb 10:25} Remember that we are separate from the world, it is not our home, we are only passing through it. And the journey is easier with fellow travelers. We have been commanded to love one another as Jesus loves us.^{John 13:34 & 15:12} It was important enough that the gospel of John records Jesus saying it twice. And it isn’t a suggestion … it is a command. Find a Christian community where you can go to help and be helped, to be counseled and to council. Some days we’re the sheep and some days we are the shepherd.

Okay, here may be the hardest part of all. I said that we are separate from the world however, that does not mean we are not in the world. We need to reach out to those who are still lost, to those who have not heard or have not accepted the good news. Once we are standing on the solid ground of scripture we can lift others out of the muck and mire of this sinful world. Share! By your words, your actions, and deeds show the Christ within you to the world. And look for Christ in others. For example: it is a good thing to help someone in need; however, it is a great thing to do it as though you were doing it for Jesus. “As you have done to the least of these my brothers, you have done it for me.” ^{Mat 25:41} Give, never expecting anything in return.^{Luke 6:34} Deal justly with the widow, the orphan the poor, and the alien in our land? So that we never hear the indictment, “Woe to you shepherd”. Amen.

 

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