INTRODUCTION
A. Well, if you’re like me, the story made you angry – livid – it really raised my hackles
1. April – Michael Sharkey – thought his home was in good hands
2. Left to fight for our country in Afghanistan – but while gone – squatters –his home
3. Despite his ownership – no contract with squatters to live there –moved in –change locks
4. Police did nothing – civil matter –not their department –hire a lawyer –frustrated/violated
B. And it was frustrating to watch the story develop – frustrating for Sharkey –law-abiding
1. Soldier who was serving our country –home owner –tax payer – HIS property
2. And it was frustrating because no amount of logic/reason seemed to impact squatter
3. House was empty/available – no reason to move out – no reason to do what wanted
4. That was –until news –a certain motorcycle club –hundreds of members –on their way
5. That was the motivation the squatter needed to clean up – get out – middle of the night
C. We have very strong feelings about right and wrong – clear ideas of personal property-rights
1. We don’t like the idea of someone claiming something –no right to
2. Not theirs, not paid for, not suffered for – simply doesn’t belong to them
3. And yet – when it comes to this book (Bible) – very often we do just that
4. Find a promise we like in here –something that sounds good –looks good on a card
5. And we “name it and claim it!” But if we’re honest –too often –squatting on a scripture
D. There are a lot of great promises in here – beautiful things –give us hope –help
1. But it’s essential that we understand how to read them and how to apply them
2. Some of the promises God made to original audience came with a price – we didn’t pay
3. To simply claim them because they sound good – wish they were true –dangerous
4. Misapplying, misappropriating – mistake – simply squatting on Scripture
5. And making it say something to us that it was never meant to say.
E. There is probably no verse more guilty of misappropriating than Jeremiah 29:11
1. If you don’t recognize book/chapter/verse –promise you –recognize the words
2. See them on greeting cards, posters, plaques, Facebook posts and tattoos
3. It’s a beautiful verse – an amazing promise –but divorced from context…
4. It is misleading – need to ask – What did God really say? Really saying to us?
5. TEXT: JEREMIAH 29:11 (PAGE 656)
F. As your preacher I am constrained to applying Scripture within proper rules of interpretation
1. I cannot simply lift a passage out of its setting – historical, spiritual, scriptural ….
2. And apply it like a Band-Aid to whatever wound you have. Whatever need we experience
3. So I look at a passage like Jeremiah 29:11 and I have to ask – what is this teaching me/us?
4. What do I learn from a scripture like this? What is here. . . . for me?
Trans: And the very first thing I realize is something I’ve told you many times:
I. IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S ABOUT GOD
A. The problem with the way too many people apply this verse –lift it right out of the Bible
1. Right out of the book of Jeremiah, right out of the time/place it was written
2. Right out of the midst of Jeremiah 29:10, 12 – the rest of Jeremiah
3. And they say, “This sounds good! This is God’s promise for me! This is what I want!”
4. What makes us think we can do that? Do we get to pick which ones apply to us?
5. Jeremiah 11:11, “Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.” –Anyone?
B. In the same way that squatters moved into Michael Sharkey’s home –didn’t pay for…
1. We didn’t pay for this verse – it’s not ours just because we land on it – claim it as own
2. In 597 BC King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah- rounded up 10,000 citizens – leaders-$$
3. Marched them off to Babylon – 500 miles from home –lost everything –what next?
4. From Jerusalem-Jeremiah wrote to them –told them – get on with your lives
5. Build homes, plant gardens –have kids–grandkids–be there 70 years
6. After 70 years –those of you left –return home –that was their hope/future
C. Actually –wasn’t their future, was it? 70 years? How many of those come back home?
1. This “hope” and “future” promise –was for their kids/grandkids
2. Not about personal fulfillment-your own happiness – your own plans
3. It’s about God – it’s about his plans for you – may look very different from your own
D. When you read this verse/apply it – realize –not about you – it’s about God
1. What it tells us is he’s a God with a plan for his people – won’t let 70 years stand in way
2. What are those plans? I don’t know – might take a while to figure that out –he has them
3. Ephesians 2:10, “or we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
4. Even when you can’t see what’s ahead you can trust him/leading-know he’s there
Trans: So it’s not about you, it’s about God. Looking at this verse we also learn:
II. IT’S NOT ABOUT “PROSPER,” IT’S ABOUT “PURPOSE.”
A. Probably noticed –reading here in ESV –worded differently than what usually see
1. NIV, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you”
2. NLT, “Plans for good” KJV, “Thought of peace” – more often than not, “prosper”
3. I think people like the sound of that – much more than the sound of “welfare”
4. I don’t think anyone is encouraged -God has plans for welfare for them
B. Welfare is really a much better understanding of the promise God made for them.
1. Taken from their homes –never to return -70 years bootlicking the Babylonians
2. Proud Jews –God’s chosen people – living in God’s chosen nation –suddenly gone
3. Jeremiah’s promise isn’t that they’re going to prosper in Babylon –make it big
4. Rather his promise is, “It’s not going to kill you” –you’re going to survive
C. We make a horrible mistake when we quote this verse to inspire prosperity
1. Because when we take it to heart – can really inspire despair – suddenly wonder
2. If God’s plan is for me to prosper –why not prospering? Why am I struggling?
3. What am I doing wrong? Is there really a plan for me? Is there really a God? Know him?
D. One of the big problems with this whole “name it and claim it/scripture squatting” thing…
1. Not about my plan – it’s about God’s plan for me – the purpose he created me for
2. I have to let him be Lord – I have to let him define what “prosper” means
3. Trust that he knows what’s for my good – my welfare
4. I have to submit to his plan – not claim something that was never meant for me.
Trans: So it’s not about you, it’s about God. It’s about his plan, his purpose, what he has chosen for you. The great thing is, once we understand that then:
III. WE’RE ABLE TO TELL THE STORY OF OUR OWN HOPE
A. I think one of the big problems with latching onto a verse like this – again – not about you
1. It’s not your story – it’s not your 70 years in exile – not your. . . hope
2. Hope for those in exile looked very different than hope for you/me – Peter/Paul
3. And while it’s great to know the stories – know what they trusted in…
4. Upon them we build hope/hope – we need to know our own story
5. We need to be able to tell others about our own hope.
B. 1 Peter 3:15, “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”
1. The reason for the hope that is in you isn’t found in Jeremiah 29:11 – is it?
2. It’s because of what God has revealed of himself to you and through you
3. It’s your own story that there were times when you didn’t feel like you could hold on-did
4. That you didn’t give up, didn’t give in – that God proved himself faithful to you
5. That’s when you can say, “Let me tell you MY story – let me tell you about MY Jesus”
C. Colossians 1:27, “the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”
1. When you learn to tell the story of your own hope – What Christ in you has done….
2. That will change your life – that will allow you to build hope upon hope
3. And that story will touch other people in ways a card or a Facebook post never can
4. Because they will see – in you – that this is real – this is someone they can trust
5. Where they can find their own hope.
CONCLUSION
A. Anyone can go to a store – buy you a card with Jeremiah 29:11 on it.
1. Anyone can find an image on the internet –post on Facebook- offer it as encouragement
2. But who has the right to Jeremiah 29:11? Who does it really belong to?
3. Matthew 5:17, ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
4. John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me”
5. Who does it belong to? Jesus – he bought it –fulfilled it –we’re squatting on his scripture
B. But what else did Jesus buy? He bought us – bought you, right?
1. John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
2. See, the answer to your problems, despair, depression, muck and mud of your life…
3. Is not Jeremiah 29:11 – the answer is Jesus.
c. You can quote Jeremiah 29:11 all day – pick any inspirational verse you want….
1. But without Jesus it’s just nice words – makes for a heartwarming sentiment
2. And without Jesus it’s lifeless –meaningless –and sooner or later will disappoint you
3. Because it’s about him – it’s about the one who created you for his own divine purpose
4. It’s about the one who truly gives you hope. Build your life on him.
