A BROKEN HEART
JEREMIAH 8:18-9:1
SEPTEMBER 28, 2003
INTRODUCTION: In his retirement, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. Because Jefferson trusted that students would take their studies seriously, the code of discipline was lax. Unfortunately, his trust proved misplaced when the misbehavior of students led to a riot in which professors who tried to restore order were attacked. The following day a meeting was held between the university’s board, of which Jefferson was a member, and defiant students. Jefferson began by saying, "This is one of the most painful events of my life," was overcome by emotion, and burst into tears. Another board member asked the rioters to come forward and give their names. Nearly every one did. Later, one of them said, "It was not Mr. Jefferson’s words, but his tears."
Today in the Word, March 29, 1993.
Cry(Angie Aparo)
If I had just one tear running down your cheek Maybe I could cope maybe I’d get some sleep
If I had just one moment at your expense Maybe all my misery would be well spent
Yeah.... Could you cry a little Lie just a little
Pretend that you’re feeling a little more pain
I gave now I ’m wanting Something in return
So cry just a little for me
If your love could be caged, honey I would hold the key
And conceal it underneath the pile of lies you handed me
And you’d hunt those lies They’d be all you’d ever find
And that’d be all you’d have to know For me to be fine
Yeah.... And you’d cry a little Die just a little
and baby I would feel just a little less pain
I gave now I’m wanting Something in return
So cry just a little for me
Give it up baby I hear your goodbye
Nothins goin save me I can see it it your eyes
Some kind of heartache Darlin give it a try
I dont want pity I just want what is mine
Yeah... Could you cry a little Lie just a little
Pretend that your’re feeling a little more pain
I gave now I’m wanting Something in return
So cry just a little for me
Yeah... Cry just a little for me woo ooo, could you cry a little for me
yeah, yeah
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Our text calls us to a place of deep emotion. Jeremiah the Prophet is a man with a big heart. The Power of the Text comes from the emotions of the writer, the weeping prophet. A man whose heart was broken over the plight and condition of the people he was called and is called to minister too. So, let us now look through the eyes of one who is “broken in heart” and hear and heed his call.
I. A BROKEN HEART COMES FROM LISTENING (vv. 18-19c)
A. LISTENING IS HEARING WHERE PEOPLE ARE
The people are crying and Jeremiah is listening
1. from a land far away: the illusion of exile is before him although it has not taken place yet, The Babylonian are on their way to bring the punishment God has planned for His Wayward People.
2. The People knowing that the end is near cry out to God as if to say, “Where are you??”
3. “Is the Lord not in Zion??” Is her King no longer there?
4. Verses 14 and 15 of this chapter explain where God is and isn’t!! “Why are we sitting here? Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there! For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and given us poisoned water to drink, BECAUSE WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST HIM. We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there was only terror.”
5. Verse 16 allows us to know that the People of Israel have seen the Enemy on the Horizon! The snorting of the enemies Horses is heard from Dan!
B. LISTENING IS HEARDING HOW THE PEOPLE ARE
Jeremiah has heard the cries of his people, not as just merely hearing, but really listening. His heart is broken
1. Jeremiah knows that the people lives, there very lives, are at stake.
2. His response is a word to us today, “My heart is faint within me!”
3. Jeremiah is so upset, He calls on the “Comforter,” his comforter in sorrow. Only God can comfort him he is so grieved.
4. Note the dual role of God! To the disobedient He brings terror, to the obedient he brings comfort. Jeremiah and the people share the same situation, however.
C. LISTENING IS HEARING THE WORLD AROUND US NOW!
Do we listen to the cries of those around us??
1. Are people around us still crying??
2. Are lives still at stake??? Is destruction still on the horizon??
3. Have we heard!!! Have we responded with a broken heart fainting within us??
II. A BROKEN HEART COMES FROM SEEING (vv. 19d-21)
A. SEEING IS THE PERSPECTIVE OF GOD
Seeing is understanding
1. God speaks: “Why have they provoked me to anger?”
a. God’s desire is for us to have a relationship with him, remember the NT reading today: I Tim. 2:3-4 “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
b. God states that only sin separates us from Him, the following after what is worthless!!
c. The bottom line is that Sin makes God angry and Sin will not be tolerated. Sin has consequences!!
2. Jeremiah knows why God is about to punish His people.
a. Jeremiah sees God’s actions clearly
b. according to verse 19, the people don’t see what has happened, there sin is not visible to them.
B. SEEING IS TH EPERSPECTIVE OF THE PEOPLE
Another lament: Life is passing us by.
1. Jeremiah sees the signs of the times (ALSO VERSE 13!!)
2. Possibly the people see their lives before them unfulfilled.
3. “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved (VERSE 20).”
a. There are a couple of thoughts here. One is that it is time for ROSH HASHANAH: The observance of the New Year. This would be the time the rain returns to water the freshly planted barley. The thought was that the rains had not returned and the summer harvest had been scorched by a drought.
b. The thought behind the thought is the realization that the Party is over and we just AIN’T GOINA MAKE IT!!
c. There is an understanding that there is only one life to live and it soon will pass, but only what is done for Christ will last.
III. A BROKEN HEART LEADS TO TEARS (vv. 21- chapter 9:1)
A. TEARS ARE OWNERSHIP OF THE PRESENT
At this point in the text, we come to the true heart of the Prophet for the People.
1. Jeremiah does not abandon his people!! He claims them as His own. Since my people are crushed, I am crushed.
a. The crushing is two fold. A depressive realization that the end is near. b. A physical crushing by the enemy.
2. Jeremiah goes on: “I mourn and Horror grips me.” Can you feel his pain. He can feel the Pain of the People. JEREMIAH SHARES THE PAIN.
3. Do we ever feel the pain of the world around us. Do we mourn over what is happening to OUR PEOPLE!!!?? Are we to self consumed to claim anyone but our selves.
B. TEARS ARE THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION (VV. 22)
Again Questions are asked and it is not apparent who is asking, the people or Jeremiah.
1. The point is still the same, we are in ruin, our lives are falling apart and where is God??
2. The sickness of the people has come to the point that there is no cure, no salve, no balm to cover my sores. By the way, Gilead was known to be a place of renowned herbal remedies, and no remedy can help at this point!! Also, No doctor can intervene. There is no one who can help.
ILLUSTRATION: do you remember the woman with the issue of blood. Mark 5:24ff.
3. “Why then is there no healing for the wound of my People?” This is a reflection of the people back in verse 15: “We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there was only terror.” The people have moved beyond the place of healing and they know it and Jeremiah knows it!!!
4. By the Way, the answer to the questions asked should be Yes!! There is a physician who can help, there is a remedy for the illness, but because of the sin of the people, the ANSWER MUST BE NO!!!
C. TEARS ARE A BROKEN HEART 9:1
Jeremiah has had all he can take and His plea is that he could wash away all the pain and destruction with His tears.
1. He has heard, seen, and understood the plight of his people, and of himself, for he is one of the people. He is a broken man!
2. Back to the idea of a drought, Jeremiah yearns to be the water that will heal the land.
3. But the bottom line in Jeremiah’s understanding is that Yahweh is the living water that needs to be poured out once more on the People. He remembers God’s word that was given to him: “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 (2:13).”
CONCLUSION: The bottom line is Jeremiah heard and saw the people around him. So much so and so clearly that his heart was broken to the point of tears. He like Hosea, was grieved completely by what was going on around him, even to the point of wanting to be poured out for the healing of his own people. Where does this leave you and I? To what have we closed our ears, eyes and hearts? To what are we willing to see and respond? God is calling us to be His light and Love in a broken world. A world He has placed us in on purpose.
