PROCLAIM GOD’S WORD
JEREMIAH 31:10-13 DECEMBER 29, 2002
JEREMIAH 31:10-13
10"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: `He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD-- the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.
13Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. Maybe if you’re like me, you might feel like you get a little bit short-changed or gypped. Let me explain. That first Christmas, what excitement and joy there must have been as first of all the angel came and spoke to Elizabeth and Zechariah about John the Baptist being born. Then the angel came and spoke to Mary and Joseph about Jesus being born. Everybody was getting more and more excited. On that Christmas day, Christmas evening, the angel came and spoke to the shepherds. At first they were a little bit scared and frightened, but then they listened and they understood. So they went to see what had all taken place, which the angels had told them about. Then we are told the reaction after Christ was born…that Mary pondered all of these things and treasured them in her heart. And the shepherds? “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told"(LUKE 2:20). Now you and I don’t get to see all of those things visibly as those first participants did. They saw the angels; they saw God’s glory revealed to them. But, like the shepherds, like Mary, like Zechariah and Elizabeth and Joseph, we get to hear those great and glorious things. Maybe we aren’t as short-changed as I often think. In our text, the prophet Jeremiah reminds us of what the people of the Old Testament looked forward to and how they were able to hear God’s message and then as He says:
PROCLAIM GOD’S WORD TO THE NATIONS
I. All mankind is redeemed
II. Every believer rejoices
I. All mankind is redeemed
Jeremiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes great words of encouragement for the children of Israel. He reminds them that the Lord is always on their side. Our text begins by saying, 10"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands.” The Old Testament people didn’t see the angels either on that first Christmas. They lived long before that all took place, but they had the Word of God. Jeremiah tells them to listen to it and then proclaim it. Then he tells them what this Word says: `He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’ From time to time throughout the history of Israel, the people were scattered—scattered from their homeland, scattered from the Promised Land because of their disobedience and their rejection of God. Yet even though they were scattered throughout the world and the countryside, the Lord said He was still with them.
And he says He will gather them together once again. Their sins would not separate them forever. God was with them to gather them together. Certainly at the end, they would be gathered together in heaven. Even on earth He gave them that promise. He doesn’t just say that He’s going to gather them together so they can all be together, but He says then also that He will watch over them like a shepherd who tends his flock. We may remember that the people of the Old Testament for the most part were shepherds. They knew how much they cared for each and every one of their sheep. What a joy it was for them to hear Jeremiah say, ‘and now the Lord is going to do the same for you. He’s going to care for each and every one of His sheep as much as a shepherd does on earth, and even more so.’
Then he goes on to tell them that because He, the Lord, is with them and will gather them and will watch over them, they will find comfort and joy. Toward the end of our text he says: ‘I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.’ How was he able to do that? He was able to do that because He would gather them together and He would redeem them. 11For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. Here we have one of those words ‘redeem’—most of us grew up knowing what that means, yet this is a beautiful example of where scripture explains that for us. In that same verse it is used as a synonym. It uses ‘ransom’. You and I understand the word ‘ransom’…to buy back at a price. That’s the same meaning for ‘redeem’.
Jeremiah told the children of Israel that they would be ‘bought back’. They would be ‘redeemed’ from their wicked ways. They would be ransomed from the power of sin, death and the devil. He said, ‘He would redeem them from the hand stronger than they.’ Thus, their mourning and sorrow would turn to comfort and joy. They would celebrate by looking ahead to the Christmas that was to come.
You and I celebrate by looking back at the Christmas that came, realizing that the Lord is still the same, that He gathers us together, that He might buy us back from our enemies that are greater than us. Our enemies of course, are the enemies of sin, death and the power of the devil. God is greater than all of them. He has gathered us together and He watches over us with infinite care.
As we bask in the glory of God’s creation, as we reflect on the light of our salvation, that we celebrate a Christmas birth, you and I might not feel scattered. In our society, we’re quite mobile and we scatter to the ends of the earth, but we don’t feel scattered and away from God. Yet if we look very closely at our life, and ask ourselves, ‘what does scatter us from God? What does separate us from God’s love?’ Again, we would see that it is our own sinful nature. We are born into this world, not as friends of God but, as scripture tells us, as enemies of God. As enemies of God, we stand opposed to Him at every turn of our lives. At times our sins can very easily separate us and scatter us from God. Isaiah, the prophet, says: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear"(ISAIAH 59:2). Yes, on this side of eternity, our sins and our sinfulness, cause us not to see perfectly God’s face, cause us not to understand perfectly God’s will all the time.
Yet what does the Lord promise us? Just like His promise to Israel, even though we have been scattered, even though we let our sins separate us from His love, He gathers us once again into His fold. He brings us back and He redeems us with the precious blood of His Son, our Savior. That is our God. Psalm 30 verse 5 says: "For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"(PSALM 30:5). He says, as we are sorry over our sins and realize our wickedness, the Lord comforts us with His forgiveness. His anger lasts—only a moment. His favor—a lifetime! You and I rejoice in the lifetime of God’s favor in our life.
Believe me when I tell you this morning it is a great joy to be able to celebrate Christmas with the real understanding that Christ is our Savior. No matter how often we hear it, it still brings joy to our hearts. It brings purpose to our living. It brings life to us on earth. Sadly, as we look around us, not everyone understands this simple joy of salvation. Not everyone understands what all the fuss is about on Christmas because it is really all for the celebration of the birth of our Savior. It is a joy for you and I to understand by God’s grace that God has died for me as an individual. It’s an even greater joy then to realize that Christ, when He died for the sins of me, as an individual, also paid for the sins of the whole world. We’re told in scripture: "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, (our personal Savior) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world"(1 JOHN 2:2). Sometimes we might forget that. We think, “Yes, He died for me.”
Christ also died for the sins of the whole world and that’s why Jeremiah says in our text today to hear that great message and then proclaim God’s good news to the whole world that Christ died for the sins of the world, that Christ redeemed all mankind. We do that in one simple way as Jeremiah points out; we proclaim God’s word when we realize that every believer rejoices.
II. Every believer rejoices
You can picture for yourself the children of Israel as they were scattered from their family and friends. We may think of a few different times when that happened…when Moses had to leave Egypt because of what he had done; the Lord called Abraham away from his family; we think of Jacob who leaves--time and again different examples. It was a heart-wrenching decision, a heart-wrenching call to follow from the Lord. It meant they would move away without the communication that you and I have today. They were actually cut off from their family and friends, that which was their heritage. Now you can imagine the joy when the Lord says, ‘and all those that have been scattered, I’m going to bring back together, to unite by God’s grace in faith. I’m going to redeem them.’
Jeremiah gives us just a little bit of taste of the joy that they will experience. 12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion. They will gather around the temple to worship on the mountains around Jerusalem and the mountains will resound with the echoes of joy and rejoicing because the Lord has done this. They will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD-- (Jeremiah describes that bounty) the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. He lists all those blessings for these people of Israel. These people are nomads and travel in the wilderness. These people are nomads and travel to find good pasture for their sheep. He says now they will be settled down and they will enjoy the grain, oil, wine and the flocks and herds. That too would be a blessing for these people. They will be like a well-watered garden, (the importance of water they knew about—and you and I also know about a well-watered garden). A well-watered garden produces fruit. It provides blessing for those around the garden. Because of that he says, and they will sorrow no more. 13Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness. Joy upon joy! Every believer will rejoice because of the salvation of the Lord. He says they will have blessings that are temporal (earthly) and blessings that are eternal.
You and I are like the children of Israel. We rejoice because of the blessings the Lord has given us. It is easy to do that when we think everything is going well and we feel healthy and good; when our family is around us and all those other great blessings. What about those times when we might not think everything is so good? As we struggle in our society, when the world around us tells us there is an economic downturn, it seems like the future isn’t so certain. When we suffer through a drought that seems not to leave us, can we rejoice? Do we rejoice? Probably not as much as we ought to. In the book of Habakkuk (a short book with only three chapters that you could read this afternoon) it says, ‘And the farmers will look and there are no grapes on the vine, there is no wheat in the field, no cattle in the stalls, no flocks.’ Then how does the prophet sum all this up? "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength" (HABAKKUK 3:18,19a). Sometimes we limit ourselves in looking at our earthly blessings so closely, we forget that we can rejoice day in and day out in the Lord our strength, the sovereign Lord who has redeemed us. That is our reason for rejoicing!
Oh yes, we’re happy when we have family and friends around, but we’re also happy and joyful because the Lord has forgiven us our sins. That is our real reason for rejoicing even in the midst of things that don’t seem so joyful. In the midst of our earthly struggles, trials and tribulations, we rejoice because we have a God who loves us and is merciful. Listen to this beautiful verse from Micah the prophet: "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy"(MICAH 7:18). All the other false gods in the world like to show anger. Our God is described as one who does not like showing anger but delights in showing mercy. We rejoice! We rejoice because the Lord God is merciful to us. Rather than let us languish here on earth, which is full of wickedness and sin, he finally takes us to our eternal inheritance. Rather than let us suffer without a Savior, he provides us with the Christ-child born at Bethlehem for our sins and the sins of the world.
The Lord, through the prophet Jeremiah says we hear that message and we can proclaim it. We proclaim it in our lifetime, not very often with our words, but most often with our actions. The people around us see us rejoice. Do they see joy in our lives, not just once in awhile, not just when we’re happy, but joy in our lives all the time because of God’s forgiveness? That describes our true proclamation as Christians who live in a world darkened with fears of the economy and all other things—war and rumors of war. You and I need to shine as lights of joy in a saddened world…all because of what Christ has done for us. Paul reminds us in Corinthians: "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again"(2 CORINTHIANS 5:15). Christ the Lord changed His life so that you and I could have lives that are changed…lives not filled with sadness, but filled with fruits of joy and rejoicing because Christ has bought us back from the powers of sin, death and the devil.
We proclaim God’s word in our life in many ways; sometimes with our words, sometimes with our actions—not because we have seen Jesus in a manger visibly, but we have seen Him through God’s word. We have heard it and we know it is true. We believe it in our hearts by God’s grace and this is our true joy today and everyday. The Lord says, ‘Rejoice in your salvation. Treasure the divine more than the earthly…namely that Christ the Lord is born.
Paul sums it up for us: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. We think about that a lot in our lifetime—those are the earthly things. We can’t help but think about them because we are a part of this earth. We have flesh and bones and we live here. The Lord says it’s not just a matter of eating and drinking, but what is the kingdom of God? It’s of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"(ROMANS 14:17). That’s what makes you and I and every believer different from the rest of this world. We know that the real meaning of life is not those things we see, but what God has given to us—righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. As we hear that word of God, the Lord says we can proclaim it because He has redeemed us and He has provided us with reason for rejoicing today, every day, and right into eternity. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
