Sermon Tone Analysis
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Today we are assembled to see a thing, a mighty act - whether it is the downfall of a prophet or the death of a King, we have come to see a spectacle.
This is the world that Christ enters into and mercifully accomplishes His work.
In Jeremiah 23 we hear this context to our Old Testament reading:
There is all sorts of soft, polite, and untrue prophecy going on in the times of Jeremiah (INVASION) so much so that Jeremiah is told to rebuke them with quite stern words:
He goes on:
This is not good news.
This feels a bit like the teacher that leaves a note on a test that you thought you aced that says “see me after class, not your best work.”
The question we must ask ourselves is, “What happens when someone or something tells us the truth and we don’t like it?”
In Jeremiah it is pretty clear what they want to do:
Of course the terrible truth here is that the very people Jeremiah has come to save are the ones who want to kill him.
The stark reality for each of us is that we would either distort the message, like the so called prophets of Jeremiah or destroy the messenger - the man himself.
This is where we must become foreigners in a strange land, embracing a message that seems foreign.
A message that is counter to what we once believed.
As Christians we believe that God has redeemed everything but we also believe that everything is soiled with sin.
Thus what is attractive to us may just be the very thing that is trying to destroy us.
Do you remember those Zicam nose swabs from back in the day?
They were awesome.
I mean really helped get through a cold faster- the only problem was that they destroyed your sense of smell- thus they had to change the formula and it may have been better just to be sick an extra two days.
Clement of Alexandria is a theologian who was born in about 150 AD.
He reflects in one of his works on how the christian should interact with their surroundings:
we ought to live as strangers and expatriates in the world … not using the creation to satisfy our passions but high-mindedly and with thanksgiving.
That is to say, that the good works of God will appear quite strange to us for a long time as we acclimate to our redemption.
The things we do as a community will cause some visitors to be puzzled and yet strangely endeared to us.
Visitors to our church and our homes should feel a bit like they are on a field trip.
We should do alien things, things that are an affront to our selfish sensibilities, things that move beyond mere desires.
The Lord gives us what we need and often calls us to things that seem quite distasteful and even wasteful to those not born of the Spirit.
Do you remember what happens with the prophet Jeremiah?
Just as the Babylonians are about to destroy the land of Israel, Jeremiah invests.
He settles up and gives away about half a pound of silver for a field that he may never enjoy.
Did you catch the surprising alien work in our Gospel Message today?
It is a few Pharisees that preserve Jesus for a moment.
They swam against the prevailing current.
They did a strange and alien thing.
Think about how different our lives would be if we lived like that.
Do you know anyone that never quite seems to be in the room?
I know I do this sometimes, and I really am sorry.
It’s like they are always scanning the room for someone or something else and you just happen to be the best option available.
As a Pastor I am regularly approached by non-profits because they know that I hold access to you, and can encourage you to give.
This drives me nuts!
No desire to partner with or enjoy God’s people - we are turned into mere utility.
What would our world look like if instead of trying to get our piece or enslave everything to our little projects we chose to enrich them?
How different would the church be if we didn’t see people as ‘giving units’ or potential volunteers.
As St. Paul says:
Graciously, this is not how our God sees us.
He sees us a people renewed and worth defending.
The gospel account today hold’s another something interesting in it:
Where Jeremiah buys a field, Jesus purchases a people.
Jesus wants to enrich the people of God with all that He has.
Jesus wants to assemble us, to sanctify us, and to give us God’s own presence.
Jesus willingly enters a city that wants to embrace Him just long enough to kill him.
They want to see him do some works, cast out some demons, heal some people and then... the big show.
You of course recognize this account.
In just a few weeks we will hear the final days of Jesus that begin with the crowds
When we get what we want it too often ends in destruction.
It turns out Israel didn’t want a king like Jesus, it turns out that the cost of following Him was too high.
Oddly, all it took for the crowds to change their minds was for them just to like something better.
They liked Barabbas better.
We want, we like, the scandal, the downfall of a King that is exchanged for a robber.
We like that story better.
How often do we quit a church or a friendship or a job simply because something that we didn’t like was done.
Not something overtly wrong - just something we did not like was done and it severs us.
Worse, we abandon communities and people just because we like something or someone else more.
This is what happened to Jesus.
Assembled for a spectacle.
Assembled to get something.
Assembled to see something we wanted, something we liked.
The death of Jesus is exactly what we asked for and it is exactly what killed the author of life.
Friends, I pray that you know the depth of God’s grace in this your lives.
We assemble each week to get something and God lavishly gives us more than we ask for.
We come with ferocious intents, indecent hearts, and selfish hands and each week God redeems every inch of it.
He lays claim to us for His good and beautiful purpose.
Today, may the Lord get exactly what He wants.
All of us.
Amen.
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