Sermon Tone Analysis

Engage

I don't know about you, but when I'm about to watch a movie, I'm glued from the get-go whenever there's that opening screen that says, "Based on actual events."

In my mind, I'm thinking things like, "I bet this is gonna be crazy" or "This is going to be really interesting."

It usually makes me slide to the edge of my seat in anticipation of what's to come.

So, without further adieu...

A young girl was awakened by her mother's hurried nudges.

The whispers from the nervous voices in her house that night had been deafening, so when her long-awaited slumber was interrupted, that young girl wasn't in the best of moods.

She stretched and groaned and tried to readjust in her bed with the hopes of ignoring her mom and going back to sleep.

But she couldn't.

The voices of her parents and the clanging of bowls made going back to sleep impossible.

So, against her will, the young girl got out of bed to see what all the fuss was about.

The sun hadn't come up, but there was a frenzy about her parents' home.

Her mother was trying to gather together all the family's personal belongings, but her father kept shouting, "just the bowls and some clothes!" from the goat pen.

"But these are my grandmother's!" shouted her mother that was met by her father's response, "Only the bare minimum.

We've got to get moving, the first groups are already heading out."

"Mama, what's going on?" the little girl asked.

"We've been set free, sweet girl."

"Free?" "Yes, free."

"But where will we go?

This place is all we've known." said the little girl.

Her mother replied, "A place full of plenty and all to our own, but we don't have time to talk about that.

Father says we've got to go now.

Gather a few pieces of clothing and meet me outside."

And so the girl and her family joined the others of their people and set out from the only place they've known as home for generations.

At first, the excitement in the air was so exhilarating that leaving the comforts of home wasn't a thought for anyone, but after a few days along their journey, weariness set in.

Bodies were sweat-soaked from the walk.

Those aromas were enhanced by the goats and sheep that came along for the journey.

Many a mother would no sooner quiet one child from persistently asking, "are we there yet" when another would cry out from exhaustion, "I just want to go home!"

And as a few more days pass, a camp is set up along near the sea that the little girl and her people have been marching toward.

But the mood that was once excited but had given way to exhaustion was now overcome by fear.

Tension

"Mama, I thought you said we were free?" "We are, sweet girl."

"Then why does the army of our captors ride toward us?

Surely they didn't set us free, but they've driven us to this place where we cannot run.

Mama, are they going to kill us?

Why did we have to leave?

What are we going to do now?"

And this is right about when there's a commercial break or that screen that says...

But while I'll come back to this story, maybe the details aren't the same, but have you ever been in a situation where you've lost your way or there seems to be no way for you to go?

What hope is there when our circumstances, our situations, our lives seem to be hopeless?

Text

Thinking of journeys, we've been following along the downward spiral of Judah over the last month.

From the very top of the kingdom's leadership throughout all the ranks, there has been an utter and absolute societal decay.

The kings of Judah have completely rejected the word of God.

These were men who were expected to led and rule so that the people would be a light unto the nations, that living in obedience to God's word would shine the light of God's glory before those who were spiritually dying.

And instead of honoring the Lord who had given them the territory that the people of Judah now occupied, they rejected God and the grace of his provision.

Rejecting God has lasting consequences and what we've seen over the last few weeks of our studies as a church has been the expected fall of the kingdom.

God's protection is soon to be withdrawn and the pagan nation of Babylon will soon overrun Jerusalem, destroying everything that is dear to Judah.

God's been warning Judah of the eventuality of this through the prophet Jeremiah.

The message from God through Jeremiah has been quite plain: "repent of your sin and surrender your lives to me or I will bring devastation upon you."

Jeremiah's resisted the temptation to change the tune of this message that cuts certainly cut straight to the heart of everyone in Jerusalem, but most in Judah have resisted the message altogether.

Investing in Hope (vv.

1-15)

And as we saw last week, serving as God's messenger can mean rejection for the messenger himself.

Rejection for Jeremiah meant being sent to prison for staying faithful and standing firm in God's word and as our text opens, Jeremiah is still a prisoner of King Zedekiah.

Zedekiah hasn't been fond of the fact that Jeremiah's been saying that Babylon will take Jerusalem and Zedekiah will be a prisoner of the Chaldeans himself as we read in Jeremiah 32:3-4.

Since Jeremiah 37, time has gone by and the hour is drawing very near that Jerusalem will collapse.

No longer can the ignorant cynically dismiss that the end of Jerusalem looms.

Hope for the kingdom's survival has been dashed.

The mood among many is as defeated as those who surround the bedside of one drawing near to death, for though no one needs to even mention the word in that setting, death's eventuality and finality is well-understood by all.

And it's in the bleakest of situations that God speaks to Jeremiah and he tells him in Jeremiah 32:7 "7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.'"

And sure enough, 'ol cousin Hanamel makes a visit to Jeremiah's prison and invites his cousin to buy his field in Anathoth.

Now, I can only quickly go over some of what's happening in this exchange between Jeremiah and his cousin, but first and foremost, Anathoth is Jeremiah's hometown.

And if we can remember back to Jeremiah 11, we will discover that there's no water tower on the edge of town that says "Home of Jeremiah the Prophet."

No, Jeremiah isn't the town's golden boy, but rather he's despised so much that the people that knew him best threatened him, saying, Jeremiah 11:21 "Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand."

So this land is in a place that he's unwelcome because of what God has called Jeremiah to.

Secondly, Anathoth is north of Jerusalem and is already under the control of the Babylonians.

And there's this thing... Invading armies tend to think that their claim to land will overrule any claim that some other might have to the land.

Yet, Hanamel comes to Jeremiah talking about this land being Jeremiah's right to redeem.

For this land to be Jeremiah 32:7 "the right of redemption by purchase" for Jeremiah, this is a reflection of the law of redemption that we will find outlined in Leviticus 25.

Family land was considered to be a sacred inheritance and it was important to keep it from passing into the hands of someone else.

For Hanamel to offer the land to Jeremiah, it suggests no one wanted it any more or no one had children to inherit it.

Why his cousin wants to sell him the land, we cannot be certain of, but what we can be certain of is that because God told him to do it, Jeremiah does it.

And in buying the land, he makes for certain that there is a lasting record of the purchase.

So, let's take a step back for a moment and consider what's going on.

For decades Jeremiah has been preaching about God withdrawing his hand of blessing as an act of judging his covenant people for their disobedience and now everything God has led him to say is very present and very real.

Jeremiah knows that God hasn't failed him yet, that God hasn't been wrong yet, so when God tells him to invest in something that seems hopeless, he does it.

It seems crazy, right?

I mean, if you think about it, this is wilder than the oceanfront property in Arizona that King George sings about.

But Jeremiah's not the first guy to do something crazy for the Lord.

Think about Noah.

God tells Noah, "I need you to build a boat."

"Uhm, how big of a boat?" "Well, here are the dimensions," say God.

"I've got big plans for it."

So Noah starts after it.

Cutting down and milling trees for lumber.

He involves his sons in this.

And it's a family affair for what many believe to be about 75 years.

75 years.

And naturally, everyone thought Noah was crazy, but he stayed after what God told him to do.

God told him to gather food on the boat and he did it.

God told him to gather the animals and creatures and he did it.

And everyone thought he was crazy until that first clap of thunder after the hand of God closed the door of the ark.

› God commanded Jeremiah to spend some money.

God commanded Noah to sacrifice his reputation and time.

Friends, the investments that these men made were in a future hope.

When you're living for Jesus, even the closest of your family are going to challenge you.

"You're giving how much to that church?"

Or you'll hear after talking about coming to church Sunday and Wednesday, "I'm glad some people have time to spare.

I stay too busy to show up at church as often as you do."

But the life of the disciple involves giving ourselves in service to Jesus.