Start a Fire
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Jeremiah, often called the “weeping prophet” because of his sorrow over the persistent message of God’s judgment, prophesied to the nation of Judah from the reign of King Josiah in 627 B.C. until sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. He dictated his prophecies to a scribe named Baruch (36:4, 32). Jeremiah’s task as a prophet was to declare the coming judgment of God. However, throughout the book we also see God’s concern for repentance and righteousness in individuals as well as nations. This dual focus is seen in God’s instructions to Jeremiah: he was “to pluck up and to break down” but also “to build and to plant” (1:10). Jeremiah sees a future day when God will write his law on human hearts, and “they shall all know me,” and “I will remember their sin no more” (31:33–34).
In Jeremiah 20 we read of a call and response type of moment between 2 men- Pashhur and Jeremiah. Two men who both were in many ways associated with God in their roles, their lives, and in the city around them. On one hand we have Pashhur and the other hand we have Jeremiah.
Pashhur was seen as a man of God by position. He was the governor of the Temple. He was an official who would preside over the activities and worship in the Temple. Many would have seen him as a man of God because of his office, and great weight was given to his decrees because of who he was in the eyes of the government and who he was in the workings of the Temple.
Jeremiah, on the other hand, was a man of God because of his heart. Jeremiah spoke on behalf of the Lord, but many struggled with his message because his message was not always so wonderful. In fact, Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because he was always pronouncing judgement upon Israel.
So, let me set the context for you a bit. In Jeremiah 19 the prophet stands in the midst of the temple and proclaims a standard Jeremiah prophecy. Specifically, he says that God is going to bring disaster to Israel because they are so spiritually dead and stubborn. So Pashhur, maybe out of anger or maybe out of posturing, throws him into the stocks by the Benjamin gate overnight as a punishment for speaking such horrible things against the nation and the good devout Jews.
Here’s the thing, friends, sometimes speaking the truth of God will come with some hard and unfair consequences. We know that speaking up for the truth of Christ is not easy. These days it is very unpopular to share a Christian or Biblical understanding of a lot of things- sanctity of life, sexuality, substance use, discipline- all of these views have been attacked and many of us have personally felt the ridicule that can come with standing up for a Christian view of this world.
That is real, and it is true. It seems like every day it gets a little harder for us to stand up for Christ in this nation and in this world. That is a true story, but it is story that belongs on a shelf next to all the other stories. In other words, if we wrote a book about how hard it is to be Christian in 2022 we would write that book and place it on a shelf next to all the books that have been written about how hard it is to be a Christian in every generation since the fall of man. A close reading of the Bible shows us that it has always been hard to stand up for God.
Daniel- thrown to Lions
Shadrach Meshack and Abednego- thrown in the fiery furnace
John the Baptist- Beheaded
Stephen- Stoned
So, if you think the Bible portrays standing up for the truth of Christ as something that is easy, you might want to read it again. I mean, I know some Christians who think the world is going to end if they put a Scripture verse on their FB wall and someone calls them a bad name- Jeremiah was placed in the stocks all night long BY A PRIEST!
After he is released Jeremiah then makes a proclamation on Passhur- in a play of words he says that his name will now be Terror on every side. This is a play on words for Jeremiah- pronouncing that his name would change from Passhur- which means fruitful on every side, to Magor-Missabib meaning terror on every side.
This is one of the things that struck me the hardest about this story; it is up to us to stand for the truth; it is up to God to enforce it! Think about it, Jeremiah was not only ridiculed for his faith, he was placed in stocks and publically humiliated. But notice 2 things about Jeremiah’s reaction.
First, he did not back down from truth. When the people around him stood against him he did not recant and he did not back down. Standing up for what God had spoken could have easily cost him everything, yet he remained. We live in a world that is layered with sin, and in many ways it is anti-God; at least anti-God of the Bible.
Christians everywhere have been trading solid Biblical truth in for culturally relevant messages for a long time now, this is nothing new, but it seems to be more apparent- or at least we see it more in our everyday lives because of technology, the changing ethics of our world and other factors. But make no mistake we are not the first people to feel this tension and we are certainly not the last. In fact, Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” Every person who wants to live a goodly life will face persecution- Period, end of story.
Why? Because Jesus said it plainly in Luke 16 -you cannot serve 2 masters. This world- sin- the Devil- they want to be your master; this world wants your allegiance it wants to rule you, dominate you, and control you. In fact, remember in Romans Paul says that we were slaves to sin- what happens when a slave tries to break from their master? The master does anything they can to keep their control over the slave- of course it would be same when we pledge our allegiance to Christ and resist the rule of this world.
And like Jeremiah our call is to stick with the Word of Christ. In fact, that is exactly what Timothy is encouraged to do by Paul if we continue reading in 2 Tim 3:
while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul never shies away that there are evil people in the world, and in some moments it will seems as though they are winning- he even says that their deception will get worse and worse- but you! But you church- hold fast! Continue to believe the Word of Jesus.
But notice that Jeremiah trusted the Lord to enforce that truth. I will be honest, if I was put in the stocks all night and was let loose, I would probably LOOOOSE it. I would be angry and mad; I would be looking for a fight and looking for a way to get back and get even. But Jeremiah, not Jeremiah- he turns to the Lord. He does not take matters into his own hands, or try and vindicate the Lord, no he places the enforcement of the truth back on God.
Friends, let us never forget that while we need to proclaim the truth of God it is God’s job to deal with those who reject his truth- not ours.
I remember talking with someone once and they asked what I thought about Christians who gossiped, slandered, practiced drunkenness and other things- my reply to them was that it is my job to teach and encourage and stand for Christian behavior- it was God’s job to figure out what to do with the rest!
There is one more shift in this text that seems important for us today, and it takes place in 7-13.
Jeremiah is lamenting his position. People are mocking him and ridiculing him. He has been prophesying the Lord’s Words and people are not believing him. I bet he was pretty discouraged at times, ready to give up and throw in the towel. Ready to give up this whole prophesying thing. I know there are times and seasons as a pastor that I can get discouraged and ask God- What is the point?
But did you catch Jeremiah’s cry in v9? “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”
I wonder, is this us, church? Is the Word of Christ, the teachings of the Bible, the Message of God so alive and so potent in us that it burns like a fire in our bellies? Do the Words of Christ mean so much to us that we could not hold them in, even if we had to?