Text: Jeremiah 32:36-41
Textual
Introduction: The people of Judah were
facing tough times; their nation had been devastated by war. Jeremiah encouraged the people to look beyond
their circumstances.
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Sermon
Introduction: We don’t allow buildings
ruined by fires, storms, and earthquakes to long remain as eyesores on our
landscapes. Almost immediately efforts
began to clean up the rubble of the World Trade Center. Oklahomans have already begun cleaning up the
wreckage in Moore. Bulldozers and dump
trucks have been brought in to clear away the damage so building can begin
again.
We can do that with physical ruins, it is
not so easy with other kinds of ruins.
§ It is not so easy with the ruins of
individuals. We all know those whose lives are in
shambles. Think of those you know who
never got over the death of a dream.
Picture that man or woman who allowed a loss or wound to turn them into
bitter caricatures of their former selves.
Don’t forget those who ruined their own lives by self-destructive
indulgence.
§ It is not so easy with the ruins of
families. There’s no doubt the family is in
crisis. We persist with faulty thinking
about marriage and family, family-destroying thinking. Most couples getting married today will have
lived together before their wedding.
They believe that not living together makes them more likely to
divorce. The truth is, those couples who
live together before marriage are far more
likely to divorce than those couples who did not live together.
§ It is not so easy with the ruins of
churches. These churches may continue to have services
in beautiful buildings. Some of them may
even be growing numerically. Yet,
something is wrong. They have lost their
reason for being, their focus. They
speak of love and fellowship but what they say is hollow. They have abandoned so much of the biblical
message they have nothing left to say, yet they are puzzled if no one wishes to
listen when they speak.
§ It is not so easy with the ruins of
nations. We can’t always judge by outward appearances
when something goes wrong with the heart and soul of a nation. In Western Europe, nations that once sent
missionaries are now considered mission fields.
Historians say England was spared a bloodbath like that of the French
Revolution because of the Evangelical Revival of the 18/19th centuries; now,
its great churches sit empty. Amsterdam,
once known as a center of Christian thought, is now known for its red-light
districts and marijuana shops. Can any
power renew a nation?
Let’s get back to Jeremiah and his
audience, an audience made up of men and women who could look around and see
literal ruins. They could see the ruins
of the holy city and its temple. They
could see homes looted and burned. It
was to such people Jeremiah came and once again told them to look beyond their
circumstances. He could do so because he
came with a message from God.
JER
32:36 "You are saying about this city, `By the sword, famine and
plague
it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the
LORD,
the God of Israel, says:
God is not correcting, amending, or even
amplifying the prophet’s message; He is
completing it. As all the prophet was
saying about coming judgment began to take place, God was saying, “Don’t think
this is the end.”
This passage and others like it are at
the heart of a debate over the question:
Just what does God intend to do with Israel? I’m not going to try to answer that. Instead, I’ll just remind you good Christians
disagree about the answer.
I am not saying such questions are
unimportant, but it would be easy to become bogged down in pursuing an
answer. That would be a shame, because
it would cause us to miss a crucial point Jeremiah is making: God is the God who restores those who
open themselves to his transforming power.
Historically, what’s certain is that
following the seventy-year exile in Babylon, the Jews would be allowed to
return and begin to rebuild their homeland.
Under such leaders as Nehemiah, Ezra, Malachi, and others the city and
temple would be rebuilt. In time, the
nation would once again become a testimony to God.
These developments were fulfillment of one
part of God‘s promise preached by Jeremiah:
I
will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my
furious
anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let
them
live in safety.
Yet, as important as the physical
restoration was, a greater restoration was going on. That restoration took place in the hearts of
the people of Israel.
[38] They will be my people, and I will be
their God.
To begin with, the old promise associated
with the Sinai covenant—and with the new covenant—at last would become a
reality. They would begin to realize the
privilege and responsibility of being God’s people. But there was more.
And
I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their
own good and for the good of all their descendants.
And
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for
them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never
leave me.
The people would be transformed by
God. Their hearts would be resolute in
their devotion to God, they will honor God--in thought and act. Following God would bless generations to
come. This yearning for single-hearted
devotion for God would inspire many in the rebuilt Israel. Even the much-maligned Pharisees began with
this as their goal--to follow God in every aspect of their lives. They forgot the power of human pride so, in
time, they became hardened and rigid in their piety. Still, we will see such spiritually-focused
individuals at the Christ’s birth--Zacharias, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, and, of
course, Mary and Joseph.
Jeremiah makes clear that such devotion
is planted in the heart by God. He also
makes it clear that God yearns to bless the people he restores beyond their
wildest dreams. Why should God do
this? The prophet answers: Doing the work of restoration gives God
joy!!!
[41]
I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly
plant
them in this land with all my heart and soul.
The prophet pictures God as “rejoicing”
at the opportunity to do good for his people, rejoicing at the chance to
restore the one who opens his life to him.
If this is a new way for you to think
about God, you should know something.
The bulk of the biblical material suggests that God would always rather
bless than curse.
Charles Feinberg reports this is the only
place in the Bible where “with all my heart” is used of God. God finds joy in repairing what we have
broken.
If you yearn for renewal, you should be
encouraged by this reality. We should be
confident because God’s character makes him inclined to make us better, better
after our foolish rebellion has ruined us, better after our prideful attempts
at self-improvement have failed.
Jeremiah’s audience would not live to see
the prophecy fulfilled, but they went on to face their difficulties knowing
they served a God who rejoiced at the opportunity to restore and rebuild.
Every page of the New Testament echoes
that picture of God: God is a God who restores
those who open themselves to his transforming power.
That’s the message I want you to remember
this morning.
Certainly it is a message our
missionaries should carry to people in the grip of spiritual darkness. But I believe it is also a message for us.
It’s a message for individuals who
believe their lives are beyond help and hope.
It’s a message for families who feel they
are coming apart.
It’s a message for every church which has
lost its way.
It’s a message for that nation which
fears its greatest glory is in the past.
I don’t know how God will do his
work of renewal, rebuilding, and restoration in an individual, a family, a
church, or a nation but I know he will do it for all who will open their
lives to him and it will begin as they become focused on him.
