Immutable

IMMUTABLE Lamentations 4:11-22 August 8, 2021 You have probably heard this before - the only constant, is change. Change is ongoing, and it is inevitable. It doesn't matter whether you are someone who embraces and encourages change. Or, if you are someone who fights against change tooth and nail. Change happens. If you lock yourself in a room, and completely disengage from the outside world, you still get older day after day. So, even in your own perfectly controlled environment, change still happens. And, of course, if you leave that little room and come back out here in the world with the rest of us, change happens even faster. The big news the last two weeks is Covid variant Delta. A new and faster moving Covid. Now, I'm not an immunologist, or a virologist, but I am a student of history. So, here's what I know. Covid is here to stay. We will never know a world without Covid again. Variant D will not be the last variant. New and improved Covid strains will evolve for the rest of our lives. So, if you're waiting for change to stop, if you're waiting for a time without Covid to resume your previous life, it's not going to happen. How the world does business continually changes. Initially, everything was barter. I give you two beaver pelts; you give me a woven basket. Then, we began bartering precious metals - gold and silver. That evolved into paper currency, which represented the precious metals. Next came credit cards. You and I won't trade anything, we'll let the banks do that. And now, money is going digital. I don't fully understand digital currency - but that change is coming - whether I like it or not. Christianity, the faith you and I share, constantly changes.1 In particular, it evolves and adapts to trial and tragedy. Throughout history, oppressive governments have told churches, you cannot meet. If you come together and we find you, we will kill you. But, they still found a way to meet. The last 18 months have been unique in that, prior to the vaccinations, if the church came together we might kill each other. So even tiny little country churches like ours, had to find a way to continue without being together. We began livestreaming. Never saw that coming. But, in the Christian church, challenge produces change. There is one thing, and only one thing, which does not change. That is God. One of the characteristics of God, is that he never changes. We call that quality immutability.2 In the book of Malachi, God says (3:6), "For I, the Lord, do not change." James, the little brother of Jesus, writes (1:17), "The Father of heavenly lights, in whom there is no variation or shadow of changing." That finds its way into the hymn 'Great is Thy Faithfulness'. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As thou has been, thou forever wilt be. The only unchangeable rock, you will ever be able to count on, is God. Each of the five poems in Lamentations features a different narrator, and a different perspective. Poem number 4 is written by a man who was fabulously rich.3 He had it all. And then, the Babylonians invaded Israel, and his world has changed in ways he never could have imagined. For example, he thought Jerusalem was eternal. It was God's city, and it was unchangeable.4 One hundred and twenty five years earlier, in 701 BC, the Assyrian army lay siege to Jerusalem. The king was Hezekiah, and Isaiah was his prophet. Hezekiah was going to send for the Egyptians to come help. But, Isaiah convinced him to trust God alone. Only God. Sure enough, God sends a disease among the Assyrian army, and 185,000 soldiers die. They Assyrians pack up and go home, and Jerusalem is saved. Now, the lesson here should have been to trust God. But, our rich narrator and his friends thought the lesson was - Jerusalem is invincible. No one can get in here. Life as we know it will never change because our city is invincible. Now, 18 months later, he's wandering the streets, wondering - what happened? Do you ever feel that way? How has your world changed in the last 2 years? Boy, mine has changed. Two years ago the United Methodist Church made human sexuality its defining issue. The majority of delegates to the Conference voted to keep the traditional stance and values. Now, 2 years later, we have set up rules for the coming split, and the traditionalists are the ones who have to leave. Two years ago, here in this church, we had 120 people in worship each week. We have 2 services, because we needed the space. We have 130 chairs in here. With 120 people almost every seat would be taken. Now, the church only has 60 participants. We have 2 services of 30 people. And, we lost most of our young families; families with children from ages 5 to 15. We went from being a young, vibrant, healthy church - to a typical older adult church, with a couple young families. And, that change is forcing more change. There is no reason for 2 services anymore. On the last Sunday of this month the Stewards Team will meet to discuss bringing what's left of the church back to one worship service. I cannot tell you right now what time it will meet, or what format it will follow. That's for the Stewards to decide. In the last 2 years my professional life has changed dramatically. The rich man is overwhelmed with change. But, he knows who the culprits are. He blames 3 different groups for this unwanted change. First, he blames the prophets and the priests. The religious community is guilty of bringing disaster into his life. Before the city of Jerusalem falls, he describes the religious men being driven through the city streets by angry mobs. Crowds are screaming at these men as they flee here and there, looking for safety. The rich man says their beautiful white priests' robes, are now stained with the blood of the people. They have become impure. He doesn't mean they have actually hurt people, or there is literal blood on their robes. He's speaking symbolically.5 This disaster has come upon him, because the Hebrews have not been worshipping God correctly. They have not been living righteous lives which are pleasing to the Father. Their understanding of faith is completely out of whack with what God desires. And, that is the fault of the religious establishment. The men who were supposed to teach us about God, lied to us. Notice, he doesn't blame God. He blames the men who served God. Every Jew was familiar with the system for dealing with sin.6 Sin occurs, and the sinner is defiled. He is now unacceptable to God. This requires purification of the body. That means blood. Animals must be sacrificed at the Holy Temple. The blood of these animals will purchase the purification of the sinful people. But, it also requires mental purification. You must admit your sin, and be repentant. Only then will God grant absolution - the forgiveness of your sin. And, the holy men - the priests and prophets - have not been repentant of their sin. They don't care about what they teach. So, the people, like the rich man, have been denied absolution. James the little brother of Jesus writes, "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly." I want you to know I take that warning very, very seriously. If I teach you anything other than the truth, I am no different than the priests and prophets. And, you have every right to be angry with me. Secondly, the rich man blames the government for change.7 On the right side is an imagining of king Zedekiah. He was the king when Jerusalem fell. Every year he sent a wagon of gold and silver to Babylon. This tribute was meant to keep the Babylonians from attacking. Rather than rely on God, like Hezekiah did, he relied on precious metal. But, he knew it was just a matter of time before he ran out of money. What to do? On the left is Pharaoh Psamtik II. When he first became Pharaoh he inherited a descent army. One day, a detachment of Egyptian soldiers (about 150 soldiers) came across a group of about 10-15 Babylonian soldiers. The fight was short and sweet. One hundred and fifty beats 15 every time. Back in Memphis the crowds went wild. Our Pharaoh is a military genius! Nobody beats the Babylonians, but he did. In Jerusalem, Zedekiah hears about this victory. He decides, before the money runs out, I need to negotiate an alliance with Psamtik and Egypt. I will give the Egyptians my gold and silver. And, when the Babylonians come, Psamtik the victorious will help me. He stops sending gold to Babylon, and starts sending gold to Egypt. A couple of years later, an Egyptian army of about 5000 soldiers fights against a Babylonian army of about 3000 soldiers. And, the Babylonians destroy them. It is a complete annihilation. Psamtik gets a dose of reality. When the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem, Zedekiah sends a messenger to Psamtik. You're going to come help us, right? We have Psamtik's court documents where he says - it will take 2 years for the Babylonians to capture Jerusalem. After that, the king will need to go home with his slaves. It will take a few more years for him to get ready for battle again. So, if I don't help Israel, I have 4 or 5 years of peace. Sounds good to me. Zedekiah is locked up inside Jerusalem, promising the people help, which never comes. The rich man understands, there is only one who keeps his promises. Everyone else can be convinced to abandon any treaty, contract, or deal. Only God keeps his promises. And, because God is immutable, and never changes, God will always be trustworthy. My government let me down, not God. Finally, the rich man blames the Edomites.8 You have heard of Father Abraham. His son was Isaac. Isaac had 2 sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob becomes the father of the Israelites. Esau becomes the father of the Edomites. These people are related. They share DNA. When the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem, the Edomites don't do anything to help. They watch like it's a soap opera. OOH!! The Babylonians are building siege towers. OOH! The Babylonians ate all the food growing nearby. OOH! The Babylonians are storming the gates! Not only that. But, when the siege was over, and the Babylonians took everyone away as slaves, the Edomites showed up to pick the bones. Their army came to Jerusalem and took everything the Babylonians left behind. The rich man says - look our cousins are here! Oh no, they're not helping. They're kicking us while we're down. They are taking great delight in our suffering. They are looting and pillaging. That's not what we expected at all. This is an unwelcome change. The rich man finishes his poem on a high note. He has watched his friends and neighbors taken away to Babylon to become slaves. His city is unrecognizable. His wealth and position failed to protect him. His holy men and government failed to protect him. His relatives failed to protect him. Every thing he knows has changed. Everything except God. God is immutable. God predicted this disaster, and God also predicted reconciliation. And so, the rich man says with confidence, this exile will end. The people will come home again. The city will be filled with families again. The Temple will hold worship again. God said so. When everything else lets me down; when everything else fails me; God can be trusted. Always. Not only is change inevitable and continual, the rate of change is increasing. Every year there is more change than any year before. And, when change becomes overwhelming, it can feel defeating. I don't know which changes you are embracing, or which changes terrify you. But, I would bet a million dollars all of us have some form of change anxiety. We are all looking for a rock in a stormy sea. Here is what history has taught me. This change is never going away. And, while the Church strives to be a source of comfort for you, even our little country church will always be buffeted by change. There is only one who can give us the stability and security we all crave. God. God does not change. God is dependable, trustworthy, and reliable. Whatever you are fearing right now - give it to God. It's the smartest move we can make. It's the only guarantee we have, in an ever changing world. 1 Ignatius G. P. Gous, "Rethinking the Past to Manage the Future: Participating in Complex Contexts Informed by Biblical Perspectives," Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 77 no. 3 (2021), 1-13. 2 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 163-168. 3 Raymond B. Dillard & Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 310. 4 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1252. 5 Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, "The Question of Indirect Touch: Lamentations 4:14, Ezekiel 44:19, Haggai 2:12-13," Biblica, 87 no. 1 (2006), 67-74. 6 Anne Johnson Wrider, "Water, Fire, and Blood: Defilement and Purification from a Ricouerian Perspective," Anglican Theological Review, 67 no. 2 (April 1985), 137-148. 7 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 1328. 8 Norman Gottwald, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1151. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2