Jeremiah's Complaint

Sermon Notes, Sunday, June 21, 2020, Pentecost 4 It is called Jeremiah's complaint. "O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. Jer. 20:7 Mocking is our national pastime in the absence of baseball. We've passed the threshold of disagreement and into the arena of mock. If you disagree with me, I will mock you. If you're affiliated with a different political party than me, we will mock each other and each other's parties. If you are younger or older, of a different sex or sexual orientation, of a different nationality or race, someone who considers themselves your opposite will mock you. And we return the mocks with as much enthusiasm as they are given. A quick unfiltered look at my Facebook page revealed the following posts: How long before the statue of Rocky Balboa gets pulled down? He beat up three black men and a communist. Share if you think I'm totally incompetent. Signed: Donald Trump I am convinced that Bill Gates is part of a huge conspiracy to stop people from getting communicable diseases. This is the biggest scandal since Andrew Carnegie built libraries. And these are the mild ones. The ones with a touch of humor in them. I could go on, but you get the picture. Mocking has become a way of life in America. Jeremiah would have felt right at home here and now. Chapter 20, where our lesson comes from this morning, gives us the details needed to understand Jeremiah's complaint. He's been prophesizing just what the Lord told him to say. That Judah's days are numbered. That she has sinned grievously against her God, and not repented. That soon she will be utterly destroyed and her citizens marched off into captivity. For proclaiming that message, he's been jailed and tortured. Our passage today comes less than 24 hours after he was locked in the stocks by order of Pashhur, chief officer of the temple. Jeremiah speaks the truth he's been given to speak, and for it he's mocked and imprisoned. But that's not the worst of it. No, the worst for Jeremiah is that he's been beaten and tricked in an unfair contest with God. God is angry with his chosen people. Jeremiah gets that. But why does he let them attack him? Why does he have to suffer for the Lord in addition to speak for him? For Jeremiah there's only one remedy: God's punishment of Judah before his very eyes. Jeremiah's complaint is the same as Jonah's on the road to Nineveh. God's wrath will be their vindication. Their fear is that his mercy may prevail. That would be a double-edged deceit. Jeremiah would have suffered for God alone while the real offenders are forgiven. He doesn't think that will be the case. God's wrath is mounted high and already his avenging angel is at the gates of Jerusalem. So Jeremiah sings: "Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers." That's his own life he celebrates, seemingly unaware that the life of Judah, the remnant of God's chosen people, also hangs in the balance. That their deliverance is as dear to the Lord's heart as his own. There's an answer to Jeremiah's complaint, and it comes from the voice of Jesus. In our Gospel reading today from Matthew, Jesus continues his instruction to the disciples on how they are to engage the world. His disciples will face the same ridicule and mocking that Jeremiah faced. In that respect nothing has changed. That's the cost of speaking God's truth to the world. They won't like it. They will resent you for saying it. As it was for Jeremiah so it will be for you , my disciples. Nor has it changed for us today. We too can expect to be mocked for the Gospel. Jesus says, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles." Jesus 'answer to Jeremiah's complaint is to persevere. Don't stop doing what you're doing because it is God's will, and God's Spirit speaks through you. Do not be afraid of those who mock you. Do not even be afraid of those who can kill you. Do be afraid of the one who can both kill your body and your soul eternally. Jesus frames the conflict for what it is: the war between good and evil, light and dark, God and Satan. It's bigger than Jeremiah and it's bigger than the foes of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's job is to persevere with the truth. If he does so, the prize is his. "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." The war is God's war, but the battle within the battle is Jeremiah's to win or lose. Jeremiah did persevere to the end of his life. The disciples picked up the battle and persevered to the end of theirs. Today, it's our battle. I began by mentioning several humorous mocks I retrieved from the internet, but I didn't mean to diminish the seriousness of the times we are in. We are in a war. Satan chose this time and this place, our America, to strike against God. He has his weapons engaged: race conflict, viral pestilence, sexism, infanticide, anger, division within the church, fear and loathing, the church's timidity to speak. Institutions that have served us well are cracking and falling apart. Voices from the margins shout and push to the center. While at the center, fires rage. A church is set on fire and its priests hide, afraid even to condemn the lawlessness. America has its sins and one of those is racism. But we will never overcome racism by committing other sins. Only through true repentance and amendment of life by the grace of the Holy Sprit will our racism, both overt and hidden be conquered. Israel ignored Jeremiah's warnings. She continued in unrepentant sin until Babylon conquered her and drove her into abject exile. Just as Jeremiah prophesied. But then, what Jeremiah feared did take place. God's mercy prevailed and he restored the remnant back to Jerusalem. And from the remnant, he delivered the Messiah who would save his people and all who believed him from sin forever. That is the eternal story of history, still being worked out. Still being challenged until Jesus declares the victory. May we do our part in this time and this place to hasten the day. In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.