When people don't listen

Ignoring the warning

On the 5th January 1975, it was just another ordinary day in Hobart. People were travelling around the city in their cars. Boats were going up and down the River Derwent. It was a Sunday, and as evening approached, there was little traffic on the roads. The Tasman Bridge stood tall and proud over the River Derwent, with just a handful of cars crossing over.

On the river below the bridge, the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra was heading upstream to offload it’s full cargo. This ship had veered off its normal course, and when the captain finally realised, he tried to navigate through an eastern section of the bridge, but rammed straight into one of the pillars. The supporting structure was gone and a 127m section of the bridge came crashing into the water.

It was about 9:30pm and due to the massive size of the bridge, the few cars that were crossing the bridge remained blissfully unaware of the gap in the bridge. The arc of the bridge meant it was hard to see. To make matters worse, it was a foggy night making it even harder to see.

Unfortunately, some cars drove straight off the gap to their death.

Frank and Sylvia Manley were one such couple driving on the bridge that night. They were driving their Holden HQ Monaro up the bridge. They noticed just in time. They slammed on their brakes on stopped with the front of their monaro swinging on the edge of the broken bridge. Murray and Helen Ling similarly saw something was wrong and stopped just in time, only for another car to ram him from behind, and pushed him to the brink like the Monaro. They too escaped.

These couples that had escaped death by the smallest of margins now knew they had a job to do. They had to warn the drivers still coming to stop before it was too late. They furiously waved at the upcoming cars. The next car that came had to swerve to miss Mr Ling. That car flew over the edge to his death. Another car also ignored his warning, and dropped to their death.

The warning was there. I obviously don’t know exactly what was going on in the mind of these two drivers that ignored the warnings, but you might imagine they’re probably thinking how they don’t want to be slowed down by some minor accident. They were probably busy. Needed to be somewhere quick. These people just want to slow me down.

Herre’s the thing though… it made no difference whatsoever what these drivers thought. The bridge was out and if they didn’t stop, they would die. The could accept the warning or reject it. The facts remained the same regardless.

That probably sounds ridicously obvious, but in a world where your truth is your truth, sometimes it needs to be said.

In Christianity, we find a warning. The path you are currently on leads to destruction.

Sometimes we can shy away from this language because it sounds a bit too negative, but if you do not walk the path of the Lord and keep his commands, then your eternity is with the evil one. Your destination is hell.

And in case you think you’re good deeds are sufficiently in line with God, let me just be clear, they’re not. Thinking you’re good enough is like the car that swerved around the person on the bridge, and confidently driving over the bridge.

This is not a case of you just missing out on heaven because you slipped up on a few of those hidden clauses that God put in his laws. No, it’s far more serious than that. When we look at our hearts, we find a rebellious spirit… a heart that says ‘my ways better’. Quite possibly we can put on a good front and look pretty good to others, but we’ve veered so far from God’s way, that the gap in the road is coming up quick.

But the Christian warning does more than just cause us to stop. It provides a safe way through.

Because it says, even though you can’t do this on your own, Jesus has provided a way. Your heart might be stained, but Jesus has washed it clean.

But it requires you first to stop in the direction you are going.

You need to heed the warning.

Jeremiah’s Warning

Now, let me just pause here, because I want to look at a good example of how people either accept or reject a warning.

So let’s go to our passage in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 36 places us in the fourth year of King Johoiakim.

Now, those of you who are really astute and have been following the series, you might recognise that this takes us back in time.

The point where we were last week was at the time when the exiles had been taken from Jerusalem, and we were fast approaching the the walls and the temple being torn down. And while we were at that point, Jeremiah was anticipating the time of their return.

Well today, we’re going to rewind. We’re going back to the year 605 BC. I’ve mentioned this date a few times throughout this series. It’s the date that Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians really exert their dominance - speicifically with a decisive victory over Egypt.

It was the year that Jeremiah had first prophesied that Jerusalem would spend 70 years in exile.

Now, why are we going back in time?

Well, one thing you need to note is that Jeremiah is not written chronologically.

If you follow the logic of Jeremiah, he had just written that section about their time in exile and their return, but then in chapters 34 and 35, we start this theme of warnings.

It starts in chapter 34 with a warning to king Zedekiah just before Jerusalem is to be destroyed. In this chapter, the warning is not heeded, and it ends badly. In chapter 35, we see an example of people who do follow what they have been told.

So there is a sense in which, Jeremiah is speaking to those in exile reminding them that they still have a choice. There is still a warning, and you can either accept it or reject it.

Chapter 36

Which brings us to the specifics of Jeremiah 36 in the year 605BC.

Jeremiah has been prophesying to Israel for about 22 years now.

Much of this prophecy would have been verbal up to this point, but now, you’ll see in verse 2, he hears from the Lord that he needs to write it all down.

Roughly speaking, what would have been written down would correlate with the first 20 odd chapters of what we have as Jeremiah, although not exactly as we’ll see shortly.

This written down form will help people to hear the message afresh.

They might have had a good oral tradition where they are good at remembering words spoken to them, but perhaps when they are words you don’t want to remember, it’s probably much easier to take it out of mind.

But Jeremiah’s going to remind those who need to know by writing it down.

Interestingly, we also get a little insight into how it’s written down. Jeremiah doesn’t write it himself. He’s got a scribe called Baruch son of Neriah, and Jeremiah dictates all of the words to him.

And so now, we’ve got this scroll with all of these important words written on them.

The next task, get the scroll to those who need to be reminded of the words.

Unfortunately, circumstances are going to mean that Jeremiah will not be able to be the one to send the scroll in.

Baruch on the other hand is not so restricted.

Well, at least nine month pass since Jeremiah was first given the command to write down the words. If you look at verse 9, we’re now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim, in other words, it’s now the year 604 BC.

A day of fasting is proclaimed, and Baruch reads from the newly inked scroll.

We now get a bit of a chain reaction happen.

Someone calls Micaiah hears it. Turns out, his Dad is the secretary. And actually, his grandfather was Shaphan which just so happens to be the one who helped one of the earlier kings do a bunch of good reforms.

Micaiah has been stirred to action so he goes to his Dad who is sitting with a bunch of important officials and says what he’s just heard.

This people are then stirred to action. They ask for the scroll to be taken to thhem.

They say - the King must hear this.

You know, so far, this is the kind of response you would hope for when you hear the warning that’s been given.

But yet, they also seem a little sceptical about how the king is going to respond. We can figure this because if you look at verse 19, they recommend that Jeremiah and Baruch go into hiding.

The kings response

And so, we come to the part where the scroll is finally read to the king.

It’s winter time, and the king is sitting beside the fire place to warm himself up.

Jehudi is tasked with reading the scroll to the king.

I’m think that Jehudi is probably feeling a bit nervous about this - after all, as I mentioned a moment ago, there’s already a strong suspicion that the king is not going to react well.

But Jehudi stands there - holds up the scroll, and starts reading.

Now, as you open a scroll, you tend to get about three of four columns in which you read from.

Jehudi reads a bit… then the king say - wait!

Now I imagine the king standing up and moving towards Jehudi. He pulls out a knife. Everyone probably a little on edge… not quite sure what he’s about to do.

But he takes his knife to the scroll. He rips off the part that has just been read, and he shows an utter contempt for it by throwing the scrap in the fire.

Jehudi’s probably standing there, not quite sure what to do, but the king resumes his seat and gestures for him to keep reading.

He reads the next section, and the king repeats what he did last time. Interestingly, he allow Jehudi to read the whole thing, and the entire scroll ends up in the fire.

The very words of God have just been callously thrown in the fire.

Application

Well, let’s pause this action here, because as we think about this from our perspective, I want to do so from two different points of view. I’m going to first consider this from us as the receipients of the warning from God, but then secondly, as us, the givers of the warning.

Being the recipient

So, let’s start by thinking of us as the recipients.

Now, here’s the thing, most of us sitting here probably think - I already know what God wants - this warning is for those masses of people in our society that are sitting out their rejecting Christianity. They are the ones that need to hear this.

And true, there are many people who need to hear this.

But let’s not skip past ourselves too quickly.

After all, this king was part of the chosen people. He was on God’s side. Just remember, as King, he is God’s annointed. God had placed him there.

So when someone comes trying to correct his understanding, it’s not him who has to change, it’s the giver of the message.

How often do we do this?

The truth is, we start to justify our actions. When we treat someone harshly, it’s because they deserve it. They’ve done wrong. When someone calls you to account, well… they’re the one in the wrong.

It’s not that we think we’re perfect. Most of us will usually recognisie that there are things we need to work on. Unfortunately, we often have blind spots.

When we’re blind to them, it’s obviously hard to change. The real question is: what do we do when someone makes us aware of these issues in our lives?

Do we get defensive? Do we figuratively cut the message up and throw it on the fire?

This doesn’t mean that every accusation someone makes against us is necessarily valid. Sometimes people will speak out of ignorance.

But we need to take a posture that is ready to hear. We can’t act like king Jehoiakim who rejects anything that doesn’t suit his worldview.

Now, let me just quickly add a little side note here. If you are a believer and you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, then you are forgiven. When I’m talking about these unknown sins in our lives, I’m not so much talking about your salvation - that is secure in Jesus.

What I am more talking about, is the way in which the undiagnosed sin in your life can cause a lot of havoc in your life. It colours the way your talk and interact with people. It changes how you think and act. You might be saved, but when you don’t deal with the sin in your life, it can have a massive effect.

Being the giver of the warning

It’s important that we hear this as a warning to us personally, but let’s also have a look at the other side of this. You see, as believers we have a responsibility to warn others of the danger of sin.

Now on this occasion, I want to mostly think about those who are not believers, not so much the pointing out of faults in other believers. On that matter, we need to be very very careful and not become judgemental because we want to knock others off their little perch. A big temptation.

The truth is, we’re surrounded by people in every direction of people who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Many, maybe even most of them are decent, law-abiding (or mostly law-abiding) citizens. But, they have turned their back on the One True God, and as a result, they are destined to spend eternity in Hell. It’s almost hard to say because the thought of which is very upsetting.

In the case of Jeremiah, he wrote down the words of God to pass on.

We’re in a privleged situation where we have God’s Word written down for us already in the Bible.

We have the opportunity to share this with others.

We can (and should) do this respectfully, but in such a way that keeps the truth the truth - that is, that if we continue to reject God, we will spend eternity away from Him.

Now is not the time to go into the details of how we might go about this, instead, I want to think about one of the fears that might get in the way of sharing with others - the fear that they might reject us.

You see, sometimes, maybe even often, you will share the good news, and just like King Jehoiakim, that message will be rejected.

Sometimes they might do this politely. But sometimes, their reaction might be nasty.

I remember in High School when the Gideons visited the school and gave everyone a small bible. I then remember going to the toilet and someone had thrown their bible into the urinal. Such utter contempt for something so precious.

But you know what? God Word can (and does) endure far worse than this, and it continues to be true.

We will naturally feel disappointed when people reject the message, but you don’t need to fear it.

You see, I didn’t finish the story from Jeremiah 36 before… After the king had burned the entire, guess what - guess what? God just tells Jeremiah - rightio, I want you to write it down again.

His destruction of the scroll didn’t stop what was going to happen to him. In fact, the truth only becomes more apparent as he faces greater punishment.

The Word of God is alive and active, and nothing can keep it down.

You don’t need to be afraid if people treat God’s Word with contempt. I know it’s upsetting, but God is bigger than this. God Word will not come to an end, just because someone rejects it.

When people do reject the warning from God, we just keep praying for them. We should always respect them, and at times, this will mean not constantly hassling them. But we don’t give up on them. We just allow God’s Word to do it’s thing. Our task is to tell it to them, whether they accept it or reject it, well… that’s up to them.

Conclusion

In God’s Word, we find a warning. Each person on this planet has the opportunity to either accept it or reject. Whether it is accepted or rejected, the warning still stands.

Sometimes that warning might seem inconvenient, but take the time to listen, because when that warning comes from God, it is so important that we do listen. The consequences can be massive.

The beautiful thing is that God’s warning also comes with a promise of help. It’s not just a warning that disaster is looming, it’s a promise that restoration is possible. And this makes all the difference.

Let me pray...