Sermon Central
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16th Sunday After Pentecost. September 25th, 2022. Series
Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Sep 21, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: Year C, Proper 21 (complete).
Jeremiah 32:1-3, Jeremiah 32:6-15, Psalm 91:1-6, Psalm 91:14-16, Amos 6:1, Amos 6:4-7, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31
A). A PLEDGE FOR A SURE FUTURE.
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, Jeremiah 32:6-15.
The wonderful words of hope which are found in Jeremiah 30-33 were spoken whilst Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the prison in the king of Judah's house (Jeremiah 32:2). Jeremiah was accused of committing treason, no less, because he spoke of the imminent defeat and final demise and captivity of the present regime (Jeremiah 32:3-5).
Jeremiah was given God's words to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, before he could ever fulfil the second part of his ministry, which was to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). We cannot plant churches unless we first confront people with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, their own need to repent, and the reality of the judgement to come. Following this there are the comforting words of God's grace, of the forgiveness of sin, the imputation of Christ's righteousness to all who will believe, of the hope of glory, and the certainty of heaven.
God spoke a very personal word to Jeremiah concerning a cousin who was about to visit him in prison, not for his comfort but with a view to selling him some land (Jeremiah 32:6-7). This must have seemed quite bizarre to Jeremiah considering his own incarceration on the one hand, and the imminent prospect of exile for the whole nation. Yet he knew it was the voice of God when, sure enough, his cousin came offering him the right of redemption for some land he owned (Jeremiah 32:8).
Although the business was private, yet it involved a transaction which necessarily took on a very public nature. The purchase was sealed with all due order, even in prison, with witnesses and the appropriate evidence of purchase deposited with Jeremiah's faithful amanuensis, Baruch (Jeremiah 32:9-14).
On their part, the witnesses may have thought it strange that this prophet who had predicted exile was still content to buy land in a doomed territory. However, the private proposition gave rise to the public transaction, and the public transaction gave rise to the prophetic proclamation of a prospective restoration (Jeremiah 32:15).
The explanation of God's instruction to Jeremiah to buy land in such a time was that it was a pledge, a guarantee, a seventeen shekel down-payment, if you will, on God's promise that they would eventually return to the land (cf. Jeremiah 32:43-44).
When the New Testament was written, the word “exodus” had become a euphemism for death. It is used as such in 2 Peter 1:15. Likewise, Jesus discussed His own “exodus” with Moses and Elijah in the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:31). This He accomplished in the cross of Calvary, purchasing our salvation, and sealing the promise with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the pledge, a down-payment if you will, a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until we enter the fullness of our redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14).
B). A PSALM OF TRUST.
Psalm 91:1-6, Psalm 91:14-16).
The opening verse of this Psalm seems to state the obvious: “those who take their shelter under the Most High are sheltered by the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).
Yet there is a reason for this turn of speech: even those who are deemed ‘the people of the LORD’ are at best rebellious children, and struggle against His parental protection (Luke 13:34).
If you are truly trusting in God, then be at peace: stop struggling to get out of the nest!
Quiet faith snuggles in, and takes assurance in the LORD: “My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:2).
This is spoken as a personal experience, and opens out into a testimony of His keeping power.
Whether understood literally or metaphorically, the examples in the middle of the Psalm stand as a testimony of the comprehensiveness of God’s protection.
The “snare of the fowler” (Psalm 91:3) could represent the traps that people lay in order to catch Christians in their words.
They did it to Jesus, and ‘the servant is not greater than his Lord’ (John 15:20).
‘Always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within you’ (1 Peter 3:15).
“Deadly pestilence” (Psalm 91:3) could be translated as ‘noisome words’ – slander perhaps?
Whichever way, God’s cover reaches far beyond that of the mother bird of Psalm 91:4.
It is greater than any insurance policy that you might buy for yourself: put your trust here and His faithfulness (truth) will be your defence.
Psalm 91:5-6 speaks twice of the terrors of the night, and twice of the dangers of the day (Cf. Psalm 121:6).
“The arrow” of Psalm 91:5 could be either physical or spiritual, or both at once.
