Sermon Tone Analysis
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August 21, 2022
FROM JUDGEMENT TO HOPE - Jeremiah 2
Israel Forsakes God
Rev’d Lynda Johnson
Do you remember last week Chris made the comment towards the end of his sermon, that
he loves the call passages in the Bible.
I do too.
But, there’s a problem with call passages.
And it’s a pretty basic problem.
Here’s the drill … you have to do what you’ve been called to do.
Do you remember Isaiah’s call?
He saw the Lord high and lifted up, glory filling the temple.
And he said to God - "here am I!
Send me!
What a wonderful call passage!
What about Ezekiel - he had an overwhelming vision of creatures and glory and precious
stones and fire and brilliant light and he fell down in worship.
Amazing!
And we heard Jeremiah’s call last week - very different, but intimate and loving - before I
formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you
as a prophet to the nations.
Call passages are fantastic!
But what did Isaiah have to actually do?
Well, Isaiah had to tell people that they will never see, never hear, never understand, and
he was told that he had to make the people’s hearts callous, so they would never
understand.
What kind of a job description is that?
What did Ezekiel have to do?
Well he got told that he was going to the Israelites who were rebellious, that they had
revolted, that they were stubborn and obstinate, he got told again that they were rebellious,
and actually he got told again that they were rebellious.
God said to him, Speak to them
whether they listen or not, and did I tell you that they were rebellious.
Oh, and I’ll make your forehead like the hardest stone, so don’t be afraid of them.
And that
was just the beginning.
So here we are today, in Jeremiah chapter 2, the chapter after his call in chapter 1.
The hints in chapter 1 weren’t so good.
God said to Jeremiah, Do whatever I say and don’t
be afraid.
I’ll tell you what you’ve got to say.
My words will be in your mouth.
Let’s see how it starts for Jeremiah.
Well, it all starts pretty lovey dovey, as God, speaking through him, reminds them of the
wonder and beauty of their early devotion.
Young love is great isn’t it?
Look at vv. 2 and 3.
I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.
Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them, declares the Lord.
Page 1 of 5
Israel was devoted to her God, and God was fiercely devoted to protecting and providing for
his beloved and chosen nation.
Surely you’d think these memories would bring about a spark of longing in Jeremiah’s
hearers.
Lately I have been re-watching an old tv series on 7+ - All Saints - is a hospital drama in the
ED and you can imagine what sort of issues they have to contend with.
But there’s also the
personal story of the patients.
And in an episode I watched this week a man was in the ED
and his wife came to see him all distressed and concerned, but then not too long after
another woman came in, also claiming to be his wife.
Yes, the man eventually told the staff
that he was married to them both.
Well, the staff worked hard to keep the women apart and
protect the patient, but the inevitable happened, and the two women met.
Needless to say it
wasn’t pretty.
But God continues through Jeremiah, with some truth-telling.
Betrayal has happened.
This divine/human marriage which began so beautifully, has a
tragic story.
There were lots of things wrong with Israel, but the worst of it was this violated relationship.
That fundamental truth, is what God is most offended by.
When something or someone else takes the place of God, that is by far, the worst thing, the
very worst sin.
It breaks the first commandment, the commandment that everything else is hinged to.
This nation had committed itself to being the people of God.
It had signed the covenant so
to speak.
But Israel had completely forgotten what that meant and had rejected everything that the
covenant with God stands for.
The people knew everything they need to know about God, but they had thrown it all away.
They followed worthless idols as v.5 says.
This God who had brought them out of Egypt, and led them through wilderness, deserts,
ravines, drought, darkness, who’d led them through places no-one knew, and gave them
food, fertile land and a rich inheritance, this God had been forgotten.
Even the religious people, the priests, hadn’t asked anything about God, and hadn’t
reminded the people about God. and the prophets had betrayed God and prophesied about
Baal.
They had all gone after the non-gods; the worthless idols.
And the one living God takes them to court, and lays down the charges.
It’s as if God is a prosecuting lawyer, making his case.
And he says … my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols……
….. my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.
And God declares to the universe - 'be appalled at this!'
My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living water;
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