Crossroads
Jeremiah 6:16
Jeremiah 6:16… "This is what the LORD says: ’Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’ But you said, `We will not walk in it.’"
This message of Jeremiah is given in the context of strong accusations and warnings because of the unfaithfulness of the people of God.
1:16 - "I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshipping what their hands have made."
2:13 - "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."
3:14 - "’Return, faithless people,’ declares the LORD, ’for I am your husband. I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan--and bring you to Zion.’"
4:22 - "My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good."
5:30,31 - "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"
It is in this context of calling a wayward people back to God that Jeremiah confronts Jerusalem. Is that the type of people who are hearing the message of Jeremiah today? Are we the intended audience?
Chances are, for the most part, we represent people who have already returned to God, and we don’t need to hear a scathing, message intended for backsliders.
However, in this verse is some excellent advice regardless of where we may be in our relationship with the Lord. There are decisions being made every day - we frequently find ourselves at a "crossroad", and need guidance and wisdom in making godly decisions.
Notice with me that the verse can easily be divided into three parts:
1. Stand and Look;
2. Ask and Walk;
3. Rest or Refuse.
I. Stand - Look
In a moment of decision, it’s important to stop and give careful consideration.
ILL… RR Crossings… There aren’t many left, but RR crossings on our country roads say it well, "Stop, Look, Listen".
The problem we constantly face is that we have become a culture of haste.
Joke … decision time for a gorilla… Maybe you’ve heard about the gorilla in a zoo holding a Bible in one hand & a book about evolution in the other. He was looking confused, so someone asked, “What are you doing?” The gorilla answered, “Well, I’m trying to decide if I’m my brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother.”
Just prior to the turn of the century, this commentary was printed in the "New York Times":
ILL… "The 20th century is being called the ’hundred-year madness’. It started with horses and hours. It ends with Maseratis and microseconds, with cars speeding across highways, airplanes streaking across skies, microprocessors burning across desktops and magnificent metal birds called Discovery, Endeavor and Columbia circling the earth. This century’s mad dash of innovation has produced all of these things -- and the most frantic human era ever.
"We phone. We fax. We page. We e-mail. We stuff day planners. We race from one end of life to the other, rarely glancing over our shoulders. Technology, mass media and a desire to do more, do it better and do it yesterday have turned us into a world that hurries.
"Stop and smell the roses? No more. Instead, better wake up and smell the coffee. What an exhilarating, exhausting world we’ve created - a world of seven-day diets and 24-hour news channels and one-hour photo processing and 30-minute pizza delivery and 10-minute facials and two-minute warnings and Minute Rice.
"Fast food. Fast computers. Fast cars in fast lanes. Nestle Quik and Quik Marts and quick-cut commercials. A superhero faster than a speeding bullet and a bullet train faster than a speeding car. VCRs with five fast-forward settings. Sound bites and the rat race and instant coffee and microwave popcorn and radio stations that make a breathless promise: `You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world.’
"Get rich quick. Get fast-tracked. Get your 15 minutes of fame. Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse. Run on empty. Just do it.
"People do recognize this kind of hurry in their lives. They talk of fixing it, but they do not have the time.
A survey conducted for Hilton hotels found 71 percent of Americans think time is moving too quickly, but only half of them would slow down if they could. And even fewer -- 43 percent -- don’t think thinning their packed schedules would make them happier."
This is a snapshot of the world we live in. I am afraid that often the church falls into the same trap. We have become too hurried to stop and look, carefully consider the path we are about to go down.
Now could be the time for an important decision in your life. Please take the time necessary to carefully consider the alternatives.
We understand that our sight is limited and flawed, and we must depend on the guidance of Him who sees it all. Nevertheless, there is a partnership; we must use the faculties that have been given, and then trust in God for the ultimate direction.
When it comes to making this ultimate decision about life, Jesus says,
Matthew 7:13, 14… "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
II. Ask - Walk
Men especially have trouble with the asking part.
Joke … Dan Betzer tried to help women understand their husbands. He explained it this way, "If we’re out on a trip and we say, ’I’m not lost, I know exactly where we are,’ we’re really saying, ’No one will ever see us alive again.’"
We men just don’t want to admit it - we don’t want to humble ourselves to ask for directions. We sure don’t want our wives to tell us where to go!
However, let us make sure we get the picture. Adam Clarke, in his commentary on this verse, expresses it well when he writes:
"A traveller is going to a particular city; he comes to a place where the road divides into several paths, he is afraid of going astray; he stops short, endeavors to find out the right path: he cannot fix his choice. At last he sees another traveller; he inquires of him, gets proper directions, proceeds on his journey, arrives at the desired place, and reposes after his fatigue. The soul needs rest; it can only find this by walking in the good way. The good way is that which has been trodden by the saints from the beginning: it is the old way, the way of faith and holiness. BELIEVE, LOVE, OBEY; be holy, and be happy. This is the way; let us inquire for it, and walk in it."
Find out about the old paths - This too is foreign to our culture. We don’t want the old, we want the new. Old Fashioned, Old Foggie, Old Man, Old Woman, Old Hat - these are all negative, expressions. Old is passé, New is the order of the day.
Joke… A pastor and his wife decide to have the church deacons and their wives over for dinner. It was quite an undertaking, but the pastor and his wife want to be "Salt and Light" for the leaders of their church. When it comes time for dinner, everyone is seated and the pastor’s wife asks her little four year old daughter if she will say grace. (As a note to new parents: Don’t do this!)
The girl says "I don’t know what to say."
Her mom tells her, "Just say what I say honey."
Everyone bows their head and the little girl says, "O dear Lord, why am I having all these people over for dinner! Amen!"
This is also true when it comes to religion. The mood in America is "Do your own thing - create your own religion." How many times have we heard someone say, "I believe in God, but I like to do it my own way."
We have pinned a name on it, it’s the doctrine of the "New Age" - I am my own god.
In the quest for Independence, we have cut ourselves off from our past, and each is doomed to find his own way with no guidance from the ancients.
When we stand at the crossroads, we are called on to consider the old paths, the ones prescribed of old by God.
III. Rest - Refuse
For those who take the good way, the ancient path, the way trodden by those who have been faithful through the years, there is a promise of rest.
Matthew 11:29 - "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
What we understand is that what is available for the destination is also present for the journey. At the end, there will be complete and eternal rest, but there is a piece of it that applies to our daily walk.
Jeremiah’s message ends with this terrible epitaph - "We will not walk in it." What can be of greater rebellion than this, to know the way, and refuse to walk in it.
Conclusion:
Once the decision has been made, there is a different kind of "Crossroad" - it’s a "Cross" road. The throngs flocked to Jesus because He fed them, and they wanted to see signs and wonders. However, He would not submit to their "felt" needs nor to their curiosities. Instead, He said, "take up the cross and follow me." It’s a "Cross" road we are asked to trod.
Matthew 16:24,25… "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."
