TITLE: DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER
SCRIPTURE: JEREMIAH 26:8-15
There is a saying that is heard frequently, “DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!” What it means is whatever the messenger is delivering, it’s not their fault, it’s not their message.
• If you don’t like the message, then go to its source and take it out on that source
That is the way it was with the Prophet Jeremiah found in our text. Countless times he was treated as if he were the author of his message and the reaction was usually Anger – Hostility - And Even Threats On His Life.
• Once he was beaten and put into stocks
• Although in the verses following today’s Old Testament lesson Jeremiah does escape death, at the end of the chapter another prophet of the Lord, carrying the same message, was put to death by the king
• Later the king destroyed Jeremiah’s manuscript of prophecies so that he had to start all over again
• Another time, he was thrown down into a cistern that fortunately was not filled with water, and was left there for some days
It was enough to make Jeremiah want to get out of the business. Even he hated the message that he had to bring because it was one of such terrible destruction.
• In fact, he pleaded with the Lord to release him
• Like JOB, he despised the day that he was born
• He had the message to tell, and he had no other option
• He found himself unable to hold back the Word of the Lord
Yes, my brothers and sisters, when people get upset at someone who has told them something they didn’t like to hear, the person will sometimes respond with “DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER.” Sometimes that means -
• “Look, I’m just a spokesperson. Your quarrel isn’t with me, but with the person who sent me and gave me the message. Take it up with them if you want”
• “I didn’t create this problem. I have merely told you the truth about the problem — and attempting to silence me won’t make that truth go away”
Jeremiah was a major prophet in the Old Testament. He was sent to wake up the people of God. The children of Israel were falling away from the Lord God. They began to worship false gods, so the Lord sent Jeremiah to preach a message of repentance and to preach a message of the law. It was so bad, in fact, that he had only one word from the message he had to proclaim. He came and proclaimed that they were certainly going to face doom and destruction.
In our text for examination, we have a case in which people very literally wanted to kill the messenger. This text before us this morning begins to unfold sometime into the ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah. Pious King Josiah has died, and after the very brief reign of Jehoahaz, wicked Jehoiakim is now king. As is often the case, as the leader went, so did the followers.
King Jehoiakim was wicked, and so the people of Israel became wicked. God saw this and sent Jeremiah to go into the temple courts -- into a high traffic area, so many people would hear him and speak a message to the people. Jeremiah is told to speak for God and to say, "IF YOU DO NOT LISTEN TO ME AND FOLLOW MY LAW, WHICH I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU, AND IF YOU DO NOT LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF MY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS, WHOM I HAVE SENT TO YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN (THOUGH YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED), THEN I WILL MAKE THIS HOUSE LIKE SHILOH AND THIS CITY AN OBJECT OF CURSING AMONG ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH."
• Isn’t this the reason that people sometimes want to kill the messenger because they bring such miserably harsh, confrontational messages?
• Jeremiah’s message was one of confrontation and accusation charging the Israelites with repeatedly failing to obey God's law and repeatedly refusing to listen to His words when spoken through the prophets
These words had to sting and I doubt very much Jeremiah smiled when he said them. Jeremiah’s message was a very different message than the “you’re all ok with God, because you’re his chosen people—and it’s no wonder that god chose you, since you’re such good people anyway” which was the message coming from the false prophets. As you might imagine, this wasn’t well-received by the people—and especially by the chief priests and the false prophets. They decided to literally kill the messenger, saying, “YOU MUST DIE!”
But listen to the reason they give for this - "THIS MAN SHOULD BE SENTENCED TO DEATH BECAUSE HE HAS PROPHESIED AGAINST THIS CITY." An interesting charge, don’t you think?
• He isn’t charged with blasphemy or even with lying
• They don’t say, “You must die because you’re telling lies!”
• Instead, the charge amounts to, “Your words made me feel bad. You hurt my feelings”
The Jews of j=Jeremiah’s time would have fit perfectly into society today. For is there a greater crime that can be committed in today’s America than to hurt someone’s feelings by speaking the truth of God’s law to them? Hardly. Such people must be silenced and condemned for “hate speech!” But it’s not just “those people out there” who respond in this way to God’s messengers. We also are tempted to act and have in fact acted just as the Israelites did when God sent Jeremiah to speak to them.
• When the Lord sends a Pastor to tell us that it’s a sin to despise God’s Word by failing to regularly hear it, we say or at least think -- “I’ve been a member of this church a lot longer than he has!”
• When the Lord sends a Deacon to tell us that if we continue to live impenitently in a particular sin, we will be under God’s judgment, aren’t we tempted to think - “Wow, was he rude. I can’t believe the tone of voice he used with me!”
• When the Lord sends a Family member to tell us that so long as we keep on exaggerating our expense account at work, we are living in sin — sin for which God will damn us to Hell --- aren’t we tempted to think - “Like they’ve never sinned!”
a prophet’s life was not an easy one. Being a prophet was a calling from the Lord and probably an unwelcome one at that. Let’s do a roll call for a few minutes to press my claim -
• In all probability, rather than pronouncing judgment upon Israel and Judah, the Prophet AMOS would have preferred going back to his sheep and fig trees
• Nevertheless, he accepted God’s call
• Seen as a traitor and conspirator, he was tortured
• ELIJAH had to flee from the wrath of Jezebel
• JOHN THE BAPTIST was beheaded
• MICAIAH was tossed into prison for predicting the death of Ahab and Israel’s defeat
• DANIEL was thrown into a lion’s den
• JONAH spent some time in the belly of a whale
• The King of Aram blamed ELISHA for his troubles and wanted him beheaded
• Rabbinical tradition has it that King Manassah executed ISAIAH by having him sawn in half
• JEREMIAH, tasked with delivering an unpopular and convicting message, ended up depressed and cursed by his own family, beaten, arrested, and dropped into a muddy cistern
These prophets were unpopular because they fearlessly told the truth instead of what the people wanted to hear. They revealed the people’s sins and warned of their consequences. the prophets weren’t all gloom and doom; woven through their words of warning and judgment were words of Hope - Renewal - and Redemption.
• In spite of that, much of what they said was ignored
• Let’s face it, REPROACH - SACRIFICE - REPENTANCE are never popular messages
• Sent to Confront rather than Comfort, their messages were often unwelcome and ignored
• What those who persecuted them failed to realize is that, while they may have temporarily silenced the men’s voices, the truth of their messages didn’t disappear!
Not everything we read in the Bible is going to be comforting and cheerful - it is, however, true.
• Not everything we hear from the pulpit is going to give us a warm and fuzzy feeling - but, if we have a good Bible-based Pastor, it needs to be heard
• Not everything the Holy Spirit tells us is going to be approving - but it will be edifying
• Not everything God instructs us to do will be easy - but it will be worthwhile
• Not everything said by our brothers and sisters in Christ will be appreciated - but it will be honest
• God gives warnings so we won’t have to suffer His wrath
• Rather than ignoring, persecuting or killing God’s messengers, we would be better off listening to them and heeding their words
Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people - "THE LORD SENT ME TO PROPHESY AGAINST THIS HOUSE AND THIS CITY ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE HEARD. NOW REFORM YOUR WAYS AND YOUR ACTIONS AND OBEY THE LORD YOUR GOD. THEN THE LORD WILL RELENT AND NOT BRING THE DISASTER HE HAS PRONOUNCED AGAINST YOU. AS FOR ME, I AM IN YOUR HANDS; DO WITH ME WHATEVER YOU THINK IS GOOD AND RIGHT. BE ASSURED, HOWEVER, THAT IF YOU PUT ME TO DEATH, YOU WILL BRING THE GUILT OF INNOCENT BLOOD ON YOURSELVES AND ON THIS CITY AND ON THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT, FOR IN TRUTH THE LORD HAS SENT ME TO YOU TO SPEAK ALL THESE WORDS IN YOUR HEARING."
All too often we think if we can find some way to attack the messenger, it makes the message automatically invalid. But when the message comes from God, what we think about the messenger -
• Whether we would like to think he was rude
• Whether he actually was rude
• Whether she is beyond reproach
• Whether she’s committed enough sins in her past to make even the Apostle Paul reconsider whether he has been replaced as the chief of sinners
• Whether the messenger is so wet behind the ears that he’s spent fewer years alive than you’ve spent in the working, “real world”
• Whether the messenger is so old and out of touch that they think a “search engine” is a type of train
• When the message comes from God, none of what we think about the messenger matters!
• When the message comes from God, the message stands on its own, for it is the truth
we might grumble and complain, but we can rejoice in the fact that God’s word does not change because it is simply God’s word. As believers, we are given the privilege to have understanding that the Bible is God’s Word and whatever God’s Word says is true. We are thankful for that. Paul tells us in I THESSALONIANS 2:13 "AND WE ALSO THANK GOD CONTINUALLY BECAUSE, WHEN YOU RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH YOU HEARD FROM US, YOU ACCEPTED IT NOT AS THE WORD OF MEN, BUT AS IT ACTUALLY IS, THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH IS AT WORK IN YOU WHO BELIEVE"
• We are thankful that God’s word remains the same
• We are thankful that God’s word is at work in each one of us
• We are thankful that it is not the word of men but the Word of God
Let me digress for a few moments. When we Christians bring a message and claim that it is from God, let us be 100% sure that it is indeed taken from the Holy Scriptures. I am so perturbed by all these Preachers – Prophets – Pastors – Musicians proclaiming “God told me to tell you.” Can I just say it no he didn’t!!! You need to stop Playing with God!
• We had better be able to tell our hearers that if they have a quarrel with us, they really have a quarrel with God
• We had better be able to tell our hearers that we have spoken God's words and not our own words
If we present as God’s Word something that God hasn’t actually said, if we can’t say "THUS SAYS THE LORD" or, as Jeremiah said, "THE LORD HAS SENT ME TO YOU TO SPEAK ALL THESE WORDS" then we are no better than the false prophets at the time of Jeremiah. But when we Pastors - Sunday School Teachers - Parents – Spouses - Christian Friends — speak from God’s Word, then we can confidently and authoritatively say with Jeremiah, “THE LORD HAS SENT ME TO SPEAK ALL THESE WORDS.”
When we hear God’s messengers, whether they be a pastor - an elder - or simply a concerned friend or spouse, whether or not we disregard their message, the warnings in that message are still true because they come from God. therefore, let us not quarrel with that message — for to quarrel with a message sent from God is to quarrel with God himself.
• Let us instead hear their call to repentance, and let us humble ourselves before the Lord
• May we confess the times we have neither followed his law nor heeded the words of those he sends to call us to repentance
• May we confess that we deserve to be punished for our sins, both now and in eternity
To refuse to do these things - to refuse to heed the sure warnings of God’s messengers would be tragic because it would condemn us to eternal death in hell, eternal suffering in hell, eternal separation from God. To ignore God’s messengers would be doubly tragic because not only do they bring God’s sure warnings, but they also bring God's sure promises. In the end, that's why God sends his messengers to speak His Word -- that we might heed their warnings and their calls to repent, and that we might then also hear and believe their promises.
• God does not announce His condemnation of and His punishment for sin to people because He wants them to suffer it -- but because He wants them to repent and avoid it
--God’s message of the law has not changed
--We don’t like to hear the law either
--It does sting and hurt
--It reminds us as we come before God, we have nothing to offer Him at all but our sins
--As we look at the holiness of God, we see our imperfectness, our ungodliness
--Our evil thoughts, our wicked words and our sinful actions, the law tell us that time and time and time again
--THERE ARE NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO NOT ONE
--The law reminds us we are sinners
--It makes us aware that we sin daily and we sin much
--The law cannot save us because the law condemns
--That is the message that comes from God’s Word
--There are those who would try to avoid the message of the law by closing their ears and running away from it
--Yet the law finds them out and the law says doing the law can’t save us
--Yes, it is not pleasant to hear the law, but until we hear the law and until we understand that we can’t stand on our own before God
--Until we understand that, we cannot appreciate the Gospel
--We need to see that we cannot help ourselves that we cannot save ourselves
--We can’t do enough good works, we can’t buy our way into heaven, and we can’t even pray our way into heaven
--The Lord saves us by His Grace
--He saves us by the comfort of His Gospel
--We appreciate that when we understand just how low we’ve gone because of our sinfulness
--God raises us up with the healing of His Gospel
--This is God’s Gospel that heals us, which lifts us up, that moves us then to change our lives, to change our hearts
--No longer do we find it so appealing to live in the sinfulness of this world and satisfy just our own desires
--No longer do we want to fulfill lusts that lurk in our sinful hearts. Instead, because of God’s Gospel, we’re motivated to live lives of love that lead to salvation
--We look out for one another
--We are concerned about our fellow man and we realize that no matter how much we sin, the Lord invites us to come and find forgiveness
--Yes, the law stings, it hurts, it condemns us -- but then the Gospel lifts us up, it heals us, it saves us by God’s Grace
