Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The lessons appointed for this Sunday are very apropos for the time in which we are living.
I’m sure that you are all very familiar with the fact that we now have a color-coded warning system for terrorism in the United States.
Green means that we are at a low risk of terrorist attack. Blue is a general risk, Yellow is an "elevated condition," meaning there is a significant risk of attack, Orange signifies a high risk of attack, and Red means a "severe risk" of attack.
Since those codes were established over 3 months ago, I believe we have been in a constant Yellow alert status.
In fact, almost every day we hear of a threat of some sort. Most are unconfirmed, but they are enough to make us, perhaps a bit uneasy.
On the other hand, we’ve heard so many of them, do we sometimes wake up in the morning, hear that we are at yellow alert, that there has been another unconfirmed threat somewhere in the United States and go……SO?
Or Where?
Have we become nonchalant regarding these threats, especially out here in the west? I mean, after all, we have our own problems. There are major forest fires burning in most of the Western States.
I know that I can plead guilty to not paying nearly as much attention as I use to when someone talks about terror.
I bring this up, because in our OT lesson for today, we have the prophet Jeremiah, who on a religious level, may have been the Tom Ridge of his day.
Jeremiah, if you recall, was a reluctant prophet. In the footsteps of Moses, you might say.
Just like Moses, when called, Jeremiah’s first response was, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I’m only a child.”
Well, God’s response was one that we hear throughout the Scriptures. He told Jeremiah; “You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you to say…..and here’s the really important part…..Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”
So Jeremiah followed the command of the Lord his God and started to prophesy. And boy did he say some scary things.
Jeremiah lived and prophesied during the reign of the last five kings of Judah. In other words, just before the exile to Babylon.
One theologian in a commentary on Jeremiah wrote this: "It was Jeremiah’s lot to prophesy at a time when all things in Judah were rushing down to the final and mournful catastrophe; when political excitement was at its height; when the worst passions swayed the various parties, and the most fatal counsels prevailed. It was his to stand in the way over which his nation was rushing headlong to destruction; to make a heroic effort to arrest it, and to turn it back; and to fail, and be compelled to step to one side and see his own people, whom he loved with the tenderness of a woman, plunge over the precipice into the wide, weltering ruin."
This is what Jeremiah saw coming. This is what he told the people of the land of Judah. The people, the kings, the priests. To anyone who would listen, Jeremiah was giving a RED alert.
Judah was way beyond Yellow. They had surpassed Orange. They were going down and Jeremiah was telling them so.
Just before our lesson for this morning, Jeremiah had been at it again.
At the command of the Lord, he had gone to a region known as Topheth and taken with him a clay jar.
Please listen to just a few short verses from Chapter 19
"Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, `This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the LORD.
RED ALERT!
When Jeremiah returned from Topheth, he was met by a priest by the name of Pashhur.
Pashhur had heard what Jeremiah had been saying so he had him arrested, beaten and put in the stocks in the front of the Temple.
The purpose was to teach Jeremiah a lesson. They wanted Jeremiah to shut up!
They were tired of hearing his ranting and raving about what was going to happen to them. He had been at it for a long time and nothing had happened.
To make a long story short, when Jeremiah got out of the stocks he was not a happy man. He told Pashhur that the Lord had a new name for him. No longer would he be called Pashhur, but from now on his name would be Magor Missabib.
Magor Missabib. That’s quite a name. Especially when you learn what it means. It means, terror all around.
This priest was now going to be a constant reminder to everyone of the terror that was to befall them.
Jeremiah also told him that he was going to be exiled to Babylon and that he would die by the sword.
So there!
That brings us to our text.
This is the last and the longest of Jeremiah’s laments. It could also be called a confession.
I’m not going to go over it line by line, but the gist of it is that Jeremiah is a little bit whiny.
He said, You, meaning God, You called me. You wanted me. You got me. I did what you wanted and what did it get me?
When I say what you command, I get ridiculed. I get mocked. I get threatened. I get beat up. I get thrown down wells. I get put in the stocks.
But what’s even worse. When I say to myself “I’ve had it. No more. I’m not going to speak another word.” I can’t keep it inside. I have to speak Your Word.
It’s gotten to the point where even my friends go around calling me Magor Missabib. Magor Missabib. Magor Missabib.
They’re all just waiting for me to fail.
But suddenly, right in the middle of this pity party for Jeremiah, it’s like he comes to his senses.
He says, “the Lord is like a mighty warrior. No one can harm me.”
And our verses end with the cry; “Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the needy from the hands of the wicked.”
Jeremiah was learning what it was to be a prophet of God.
In our Gospel text this morning, we have a continuation from last week. Jesus was sending out the twelve on a very specific mission to the lost children, the lost sheep of Israel.
When Jesus sent them out, he also gave them a warning.
They would be preaching the same message that he had been preaching. They would be doing the same things he had been doing, healing the sick, curing diseases.
And since they would be acting like Jesus, they could expect the same treatment.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everywhere you went, you spoke the truth about Jesus? You just couldn’t help but have His Word on your lips.
Wouldn’t it be great as you spread the Good News, wherever you went, people would roll out the “red carpet.” They would open their doors, invite you into their homes. They’d feed you great meals. They’d be excited to hear the Word and when you left, they would shout out the promise that they would see you at worship on Sunday…..and mean it!
Wouldn’t that be great?
But that’s not the real world.
Jesus sent the twelve out and He warned them that they would be called Beelzebub…Satan, just like him.
They would be spat upon. They would be mocked. They would be beaten. They may even be killed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now, it may come as no surprise to you at this point, that this Sunday is referred to by some as “the Sunday of Grimness,” or as one professor put it, the “non-Theology of Glory” Sunday.
What Jesus was promising to those He was sending out is not something to which most people would aspire.
In fact, it’s something that most people would run from.
But Jesus also told the apostles something else. And this is the point that I would really like to stress in the message this morning.
Jesus told the disciples the same thing that the Lord told Jeremiah, “Don’t be afraid.”
He gave them examples that, perhaps at first glance didn’t mean much, but upon further examination, they say all that needs to be said about our Father in heaven.
One of the few joys that I have during my days that I spend trapped inside my office is the fact that I have one wall that is nothing but glass.
It’s given me the opportunity to watch all the new building that has taken place in River Park over the past 7 years.
But the other thing it allows me to do is observe nature. Fortunately, right outside of my window, I have a grassy area and some fruitless pear trees.
I get to observe the miracle of nature as God intended it. As the seasons pass the leaves fall from the trees, only to return as a sure sign of spring and new birth.
Of course, with grass and trees, come birds. I’ve watched sparrows and other birds as they gather grass and build their nests in the trees. I’ve witnessed the first awkward flights of young birds as they venture from their nest. I’ve seen the desperate and fierce battles fought by the “parent” birds against predators. I’ve listened as mocking birds attempt to entice the birds away from their nests.
All of this takes place under my watchful eye, but even more so, it takes place under the eye of God. God knows the action not only of the birds down on Fallbrook Ave., but of every bird, every animal, every creature great and small on the face of the earth.
He knows the movement of the planets and the stars. He knows and controls everything in the universe He created.
And Jesus says that not even one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father.
Now, perhaps you are not a bird watcher. Perhaps you have no great love of nature. Maybe you have just take all of the wonders of this world for granted. That doesn’t make you a bad person, but Jesus doesn’t want that to keep you from understanding his point. So, he gave another example that everybody can associate with. (Granted some of us more so than others.)
He talks about the hair on our heads. God knows exactly how many hairs you have on your head. He knows this and everything else about you as an individual.
The point that Jesus is trying to make is this.
God cares for and loves the sparrows and other creatures of this world.
How much more;
·as creatures created in His own image,
·as creatures created to give Him praise and glory,
·as creatures that He has entrusted to spread the wonderful news of salvation through His Son Jesus,
does He love us?
Friends in Christ Jesus, Jesus was speaking to us as well as the apostles.
He was telling us that when we go forth with the message of love and salvation, given freely through His suffering and death on the cross, that we will not always be met with joy and thanksgiving.
Satan is working hard in this world to persuade people to reject this Good News.
Because of the forcefulness and intoxication of Satan, Christians will be persecuted.
You will be mocked. You will be laughed at. Your friends may stop inviting you to accompany them if you persist on talking about Jesus.
Unfortunately, even in some churches, Satan is having his way. No longer are pastors free to talk about the consequences of sin. Confession of sins is not comfortable, so it is avoided.
At the first mention of hell, you are likely to be scorned. If you persist on talking about the wrath of God or the final judgment of believers and non-believers and what lies ahead for both, you might hear the quiet chant of Magor Missabib aimed in your direction.
But God is telling you, “Do not be afraid.”
Friends, we cannot stop constantly planting the seed of the Word.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he wrote this: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
With the help of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life with God, let ours be those beautiful feet, that without fear or trepidation, preach the Good News of Christ Jesus.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
