Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Jeremiah 31:27-34 "A New Covenant"
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 22, 2019
This is my final sermon in a series called Jeremiah – Prophet to the Nations. Jeremiah was called by God to call God's people to read and obey God's law. This was part of a covenant that God had established with his people. God promised to bless his people with an economic system based on private property owned in perpetuity by families in what was called the “Promised Land.” In exchange for this land, God required obedience to his law.
But political leaders failed in upholding their end of the covenant by refusing to have people read and obey God's word. And the covenant was broken.
In 587BC the Empire of Babylon took their land and destroyed Jerusalem and their political system. The people were taken into exile for a generation or two. But Jeremiah, the Prophet to the Nations, had some good news for them. We will get to this, but first, let's pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
When Moses descended from Mt. Horeb with the Ten Commandments, he announced to the people of God the terms of the covenant, contract, promise between them and God. Here is what he said.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
And so it was the responsibility of family leaders to ensure that God's word would be read and obeyed generation to generation. Moses put it this way.
24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
Kings and governmental officials, tribal and city elders, priests and prophets were all to work together to ensure that each generation read and obeyed God's word. And God promised to bless his people.
Deuteronomy 7:12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. 15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease.
But this didn't happen. The King, the elders, the priests, and prophets all turned from God and stopped reading and obeying his law. Listen to this about King Manasseh.
2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5 In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
With that, the Book of God's Law was sent to storage. No one read it. No one did what it said. And God was very angry.
12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
But God gave them one more chance when King Josiah sent his officials to the temple on an accounting matter and this happened.
2 Kings 22:8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
2 Kings 22:11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
And that’s when God raised up a Prophet to the Nations named Jeremiah who told them to read the Book of the Law and do what it says if you want to continue to receive the blessing God promised in the covenant.
Jeremiah 11:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
And with that Jeremiah proclaimed to the people of Jerusalem and Judah that they were to return to God. They were to read his law and obey it. But the people refused. They mocked Jeremiah calling him a madman and put him in jail. With the covenant broken and his prophet ignored, God decided to remove his people from the land and end the political system that was set up to ensure that his Word would be read and obeyed. God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon to accomplish this task. He destroyed Jerusalem. And God's people found themselves in exile. Then God sent Jeremiah to proclaim his good news to the people he loved.
Jeremiah 31:27 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.
And with that God comforted his people with the promise that they would return to their homes and farms. They would rebuild what the Babylonians had destroyed. After a generation in exile, God was unwilling to punish a new generation for the sins of their fathers. God put it this way.
29 “In those days people will no longer say,
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.
The new generation being born in Babylon would return to their ancestral homes and farms and restart. But there would be a change. The returning exiles would return not to the old covenant their ancestors had with God, but to a new covenant. The old covenant had broken down because the King, elders, priests, and prophets had all failed to have people read and obey God's law. This political and religious system had come to an end because it was no longer useful to God. And God needed a new way to ensure that his people would read and obey his law. So God decided to do two things. The first was to forgive and forget their sin. No longer would God punish them for what they had done in the past. Only what they did from now on would be important. And the second thing God did was to put his Holy Spirit in their hearts so that they would want to read and obey his law. The Holy Spirit would take the place of Kings, and elders, and priests and prophets. The Holy Spirit would encourage people to read the law and do what it says. Here is how Jeremiah put it.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to[d] them,[e]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
God has promised to send his Holy Spirit to shape us into people who want to read and obey his law. And God has promised to all who receive this Holy Spirit that their sins will be forgiven. This covenant was fulfilled on the night when Jesus was betrayed when at dinner he lifted up a cup and said:
Luke 22:20 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
For all who believe in Jesus and make Him the Lord of their lives God promises to forgive your sins and to give you the Holy Spirit to begin your transformation to new life. No longer do we need a King, or an Elder, or a Priest or Prophet to tell us to read the Bible and do what it says. That system is over. God's Holy Spirit, in us, forms us into a community called the church and brings us together in worship, prayer, and Bible study. The Holy Spirit uses what we do here in church to shape us, as a potter shapes a lump of clay, into the image of God. Through this process, we become more and more like Jesus Christ. We are the people of the new covenant. Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, we accept you as the Lord of our lives. We ask you to fill us with your Spirit. We pledge to cooperate with that Spirit by reading the Bible and doing what it says. We thank you for the love of the Father that we have received. And we promise to love and serve you and to love our neighbor. Amen.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Sermon Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Private Property
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Private Property
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 15, 2019
This is my fourth sermon in my series entitled “Jeremiah - Prophet to the Nations”. Jeremiah was called to his important work by God before he was even born, predestined as the Prophet to the Nations. He warned the nations not to rely on false gods and material things, because in the long run, all these things would prove to be unreliable. He told the nations of the world that God created then and holds them in His hands just as potter holds a lump of clay.
Today we will look at the economic system God gave the nations of the world. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
The economic system that was developed by God and given to us is based on the principle of ownership of private property by families. The Promised Land was given to Israelite families. Each family was given its own inheritance. And a family could never lose its land. Land could be mortgaged, but all mortgages were forgiven every seven years. Land could be sold, but all sales contracts were voided every fifty years. The land was given to families generation to generation forever. This was God’s economic plan.
And this plan was part of a covenant between God and his people. God gave families land so that they would love and serve Him and be a blessing to others. This is the foundation of biblical law.
Deuteronomy 4:39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
But the people in Jeremiah’s day had abandoned this covenant. They no longer kept their end of the contract. They didn’t use the land to love and serve the Lord. They worshiped other God. They didn’t use the land to bless others. And so now with the contract broken God was about to take the land away. Let’s pick up the story in Jeremiah 32.
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,
So, the Babylonians have arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. The people have fled from their homes and farms to receive protection from the wall of the city. The gates are closed. The Judean army is stationed at the top of the wall to keep the Babylonians from coming over. They hope there is enough water in the cistern, but as we know it is cracked and leaking. They started out with enough food, but with a whole growing season trampled under the boots of Babylonian soldiers shortages will start soon. The situation is bleak. Jeremiah is in jail.
With the Babylonian army surrounding the city, and the Judean homes and farms under their control, it appears that the God-given economic system of private property owned by families is coming to an end. God has taken the land away from the families and has given it to the Babylonians. The covenant between God and his people has been broken. God provided his people with land, but they did not use it to love and serve the Lord and bless others. And so God removed them from the land, sending them to exile in Babylon.
The covenant between God and his people seems to be finished. And if this is the case then what happens next could not have been expected.
6 Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.”
What did God just say? This is really odd. Jeremiah was just told by God that his uncle wants to sell his farm to him. He is selling the land to a member of his family thus keeping the land in the family. This is all part of the covenant between God and his people. But that covenant is over. What is going on?
With the Babylonians literally at the door that economic system is over. The King of Babylon now owns Hanamel farm. It is obvious why Hanamel wants to sell it. It is worthless, but if he can convince his cousin Jeremiah to buy it, then at least he will have some cash. But no one in his right mind would ever make a deal like this. Why would anyone purchase a farm that a powerful enemy now possesses? But that is exactly what Jeremiah does.
8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.
13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.
With that God’s Prophet to the Nations proclaimed some really good news. The biblical economic system of private property, land belonging to families, would not come to a permanent end. Yes, the Babylonians have taken the land. Yes, families will be removed from the land and taken into exile. This is because they have forgotten the covenant and their responsibility to love and serve God and to love and bless their neighbors. But after a generation in exile, the covenant between God and his people will be restored and families will return to their land.
Our nation was established by its founders on the biblical principle of private ownership of property. The philosopher John Locke said in his book, The Two Treatises of Civil Government:
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions… (and) when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.”
According to Locke, all people have a God-given right to life, liberty, and property. The purpose of Government is not to own, take away or use our property. The purpose of government is to preserve our biblical right to own personal property. Thomas Jefferson put it this way in the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
With that America was established on the biblical principle of privately owned property. And according to Jeremiah, the Prophet to the Nations, God has given us the right to private property. This right is permanent, but it is also conditional on us using our property to love and serve God and to bless others.
Today in our nation there are many people who want to hold onto private property but have forgotten the covenant with God. Like the people of Jeremiah’s day, they no longer love and serve the Lord. They are no longer a blessing to others. And so they run the risk of having their property taken away and given to others.
There are other people in our nation who believe in the communal ownership of property. They believe that the Government should own property and use it for its own purposes and our benefit. But this is the opposite of the biblical economic system that was instituted by our founders. The purpose of government is not to take our property but to preserve our God-given right to own personal property. So, like Jeremiah, I urge you to continue the covenant we have with God by using your property to love and serve the Lord and to bless all of God’s children. The good news is that if you do this, God will continue to bless you with private property. Let’s pray.
Lord God, we thank you for the blessing of private property. Help us to use our property to love and serve you by blessing others. Help us to always remember and obey the terms of this covenant. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Sermon Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Private Property
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 15, 2019
This is my fourth sermon in my series entitled “Jeremiah - Prophet to the Nations”. Jeremiah was called to his important work by God before he was even born, predestined as the Prophet to the Nations. He warned the nations not to rely on false gods and material things, because in the long run, all these things would prove to be unreliable. He told the nations of the world that God created then and holds them in His hands just as potter holds a lump of clay.
Today we will look at the economic system God gave the nations of the world. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
The economic system that was developed by God and given to us is based on the principle of ownership of private property by families. The Promised Land was given to Israelite families. Each family was given its own inheritance. And a family could never lose its land. Land could be mortgaged, but all mortgages were forgiven every seven years. Land could be sold, but all sales contracts were voided every fifty years. The land was given to families generation to generation forever. This was God’s economic plan.
And this plan was part of a covenant between God and his people. God gave families land so that they would love and serve Him and be a blessing to others. This is the foundation of biblical law.
Deuteronomy 4:39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.
But the people in Jeremiah’s day had abandoned this covenant. They no longer kept their end of the contract. They didn’t use the land to love and serve the Lord. They worshiped other God. They didn’t use the land to bless others. And so now with the contract broken God was about to take the land away. Let’s pick up the story in Jeremiah 32.
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,
So, the Babylonians have arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. The people have fled from their homes and farms to receive protection from the wall of the city. The gates are closed. The Judean army is stationed at the top of the wall to keep the Babylonians from coming over. They hope there is enough water in the cistern, but as we know it is cracked and leaking. They started out with enough food, but with a whole growing season trampled under the boots of Babylonian soldiers shortages will start soon. The situation is bleak. Jeremiah is in jail.
With the Babylonian army surrounding the city, and the Judean homes and farms under their control, it appears that the God-given economic system of private property owned by families is coming to an end. God has taken the land away from the families and has given it to the Babylonians. The covenant between God and his people has been broken. God provided his people with land, but they did not use it to love and serve the Lord and bless others. And so God removed them from the land, sending them to exile in Babylon.
The covenant between God and his people seems to be finished. And if this is the case then what happens next could not have been expected.
6 Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.”
What did God just say? This is really odd. Jeremiah was just told by God that his uncle wants to sell his farm to him. He is selling the land to a member of his family thus keeping the land in the family. This is all part of the covenant between God and his people. But that covenant is over. What is going on?
With the Babylonians literally at the door that economic system is over. The King of Babylon now owns Hanamel farm. It is obvious why Hanamel wants to sell it. It is worthless, but if he can convince his cousin Jeremiah to buy it, then at least he will have some cash. But no one in his right mind would ever make a deal like this. Why would anyone purchase a farm that a powerful enemy now possesses? But that is exactly what Jeremiah does.
8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.
13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.
With that God’s Prophet to the Nations proclaimed some really good news. The biblical economic system of private property, land belonging to families, would not come to a permanent end. Yes, the Babylonians have taken the land. Yes, families will be removed from the land and taken into exile. This is because they have forgotten the covenant and their responsibility to love and serve God and to love and bless their neighbors. But after a generation in exile, the covenant between God and his people will be restored and families will return to their land.
Our nation was established by its founders on the biblical principle of private ownership of property. The philosopher John Locke said in his book, The Two Treatises of Civil Government:
“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions… (and) when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.”
According to Locke, all people have a God-given right to life, liberty, and property. The purpose of Government is not to own, take away or use our property. The purpose of government is to preserve our biblical right to own personal property. Thomas Jefferson put it this way in the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
With that America was established on the biblical principle of privately owned property. And according to Jeremiah, the Prophet to the Nations, God has given us the right to private property. This right is permanent, but it is also conditional on us using our property to love and serve God and to bless others.
Today in our nation there are many people who want to hold onto private property but have forgotten the covenant with God. Like the people of Jeremiah’s day, they no longer love and serve the Lord. They are no longer a blessing to others. And so they run the risk of having their property taken away and given to others.
There are other people in our nation who believe in the communal ownership of property. They believe that the Government should own property and use it for its own purposes and our benefit. But this is the opposite of the biblical economic system that was instituted by our founders. The purpose of government is not to take our property but to preserve our God-given right to own personal property. So, like Jeremiah, I urge you to continue the covenant we have with God by using your property to love and serve the Lord and to bless all of God’s children. The good news is that if you do this, God will continue to bless you with private property. Let’s pray.
Lord God, we thank you for the blessing of private property. Help us to use our property to love and serve you by blessing others. Help us to always remember and obey the terms of this covenant. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Sermon Jeremiah 18:1–11 Clay in the Potter’s Hand
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Jeremiah 18:1–11 Clay in the Potter’s Hand
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 8, 2019
I am continuing today with my sermon series called Jeremiah: Prophet to the Nations. We have seen so far that Jeremiah was selected by God for this important task before he was born. Likewise, we are predestined to play an important part in God’s plan and purpose for creation. Then we heard as Jeremiah spoke to the nation of Judah that they should not put their faith in things they made like false gods and water cisterns. Things break and often cannot save us when we really need it. Our only real savior is Jesus Christ. And as believers, we can depend on him. Today we will listen as Jeremiah once again talks to the nation of Judah and explains to them the relationship between God and the nations of the world. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Jeremiah 18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
The image Jeremiah wants in our minds is that of a potter. Before him is a wheel slowly turning. On the wheel is a lump of clay. As the wheel turns the potter shapes the clay with his hands into a pot. Some potters can quickly mass-produce many pots in a day. But some potters are artists and with great skill bring to life beautiful works of pottery. You may remember the scene when Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze worked clay on a potter’s wheel in the movie Ghost.
As the potter works with the clay it becomes closer and closer to the pot he imagined. He squeezes it and shapes it to make it suitable for its intended purpose. But sometimes the clay is just too difficult to work with. It fights back. It begins to wobble. The pot is ruined, and the potter pushes the clay back into a lump and starts over. With this image in mind of a master potter working with clay and starting over again, let’s go back to Jeremiah.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
So according to Jeremiah the relationship between the nations of the world and God is just like a lump of clay and a master potter. Nations of the world are created by God. They are held in God’s hands. God shapes them according to his will and purpose. And God can destroy them and start over if he has to. The nations of the world are held by God in his hands. God can use them or destroy them at his will. And so with this understood Jeremiah has a message for Judah.
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’
God is trying to shape Judah just as a potter shapes a pot. God wants Judah to repent of its sin. If it does this God will make it into a thing of splendor. But if Judah refuses to turn from their evil ways then God will have no choice but to start over and create a new nation that will achieve his purposes.
So, what it is that Judah has done which has God almost ready to start over? Well, we know from Jeremiah that the nation is not caring for the poor and needy and widows and orphans and aliens as it should. But there is something else that is going on here. And for that let’s turn to the previous chapter of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 17: 19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.
The nation of Judah is not keeping the Sabbath day holy. People are engaging in the usual commerce bringing merchandise in and out of the city on the Sabbath, and God is angry at this. If they don’t repent and stop working on the Sabbath, God will have no choice but to start all over with a new nation that will keep his law.
27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
They better get their act together and stop working on the Sabbath day. This seems to be pretty important to God. Why do you think God is so concerned about the Sabbath?
When the people of God were slaves in Egypt they were forced to work seven days a week. They were prevented from worshiping God. So God sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them from this slavery. They were sent to speak with Pharaoh with these words:
Exodus 5:1 … Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
God was using Moses and Aaron to shape Egypt for his plan and purpose. But Pharaoh refused and ignored God’s instructions. And his nation was destroyed when his chariots were stuck in the mud on the bottom of the Red Sea when the waters returned and the King and his men all drowned. After the Hebrews were freed from Egypt they worshiped God and received from God his holy law.
Exodus 20: 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The nation of Judah was breaking this law and returning God’s people to slavery by denying them a Sabbath rest and a time to worship their God. This is the sin God was calling them to repent. They were to give their workers a Sabbath rest and a time to worship God. Otherwise, God might have to start over with a new nation.
Thankfully here in New Jersey, we have no problem giving people a Sabbath rest and time to worship every Sunday. No employer in this state would ever think of forcing employees to work Sunday morning and miss church. Or would they? Of course, that is exactly what they do. Employers are doing in this town the same thing that the nation of Judah was doing in Jeremiah’s day. We are forcing Christians to work on Sunday mornings and miss church.
Last week I stopped by a produce stand to buy some peaches. I asked the young lady working there if she went to church. She said that she used to go to church but doesn’t anymore. I asked her why. She said that since she started to work she has had to work every Sunday morning. So she can’t come to church. I handed her my card and told her I was pastor of this church. And I invited her to come here whenever she could.
I have asked many people to come to worship on Sunday mornings. And many tell me the same thing. “I would love to come to church, but I can’t. I have to work.” If you work retail you probably have to work on Sundays. Restaurants and convenience stores are all open today. And some farms have their workers in the fields on Sunday.
There is one exception. Chick-fil-A is closed today. This is what it says on its corporate website.
Q: Why is Chick-fil-A closed on Sunday?
A: Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. He has often shared that his decision was as much practical as spiritual. He believes that all franchised Chick-fil-A® Operators and Restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That's why all Chick-fil-A Restaurants are closed on Sundays. It's part of our recipe for success.
One employer knows what God wants. There may be others. I call on the business community of New Jersey to repent and give their employees Sunday off so they may rest, enjoy their families and worship God. The promise of God is that if we do this we will be blessed. But we risk God’s wrath if we continue to ignore his command to give employees Sunday off so they may go to church for worship. Here is the promise to the business community from God through Jeremiah, his prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 17: 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord.
If the businesses of New Jersey repent and give their employees Sundays off then God will bless them with more visitors, more sales, and more profits than they ever thought possible. Obeying God’s Sabbath law would be the best business decision they could ever make. Failure to obey God may result in loss of business and bankruptcy. I urge you to tell the owners of the businesses here in this area that God wants their employees to have Sunday mornings off. God wants their workers to worship him in churches and that will bring us greater prosperity if it happens. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven we confess that we enable the businesses of our city to stay open on Sunday mornings. We repent of this sin and will tell the stores, restaurants and hotel owners in this city that if they obey God and give their employees Sunday morning off then God will bless them with greater profits. We pray this in the name of your son our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon Jeremiah 18:1–11 Clay in the Potter’s Hand
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 8, 2019
I am continuing today with my sermon series called Jeremiah: Prophet to the Nations. We have seen so far that Jeremiah was selected by God for this important task before he was born. Likewise, we are predestined to play an important part in God’s plan and purpose for creation. Then we heard as Jeremiah spoke to the nation of Judah that they should not put their faith in things they made like false gods and water cisterns. Things break and often cannot save us when we really need it. Our only real savior is Jesus Christ. And as believers, we can depend on him. Today we will listen as Jeremiah once again talks to the nation of Judah and explains to them the relationship between God and the nations of the world. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Jeremiah 18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
The image Jeremiah wants in our minds is that of a potter. Before him is a wheel slowly turning. On the wheel is a lump of clay. As the wheel turns the potter shapes the clay with his hands into a pot. Some potters can quickly mass-produce many pots in a day. But some potters are artists and with great skill bring to life beautiful works of pottery. You may remember the scene when Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze worked clay on a potter’s wheel in the movie Ghost.
As the potter works with the clay it becomes closer and closer to the pot he imagined. He squeezes it and shapes it to make it suitable for its intended purpose. But sometimes the clay is just too difficult to work with. It fights back. It begins to wobble. The pot is ruined, and the potter pushes the clay back into a lump and starts over. With this image in mind of a master potter working with clay and starting over again, let’s go back to Jeremiah.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
So according to Jeremiah the relationship between the nations of the world and God is just like a lump of clay and a master potter. Nations of the world are created by God. They are held in God’s hands. God shapes them according to his will and purpose. And God can destroy them and start over if he has to. The nations of the world are held by God in his hands. God can use them or destroy them at his will. And so with this understood Jeremiah has a message for Judah.
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’
God is trying to shape Judah just as a potter shapes a pot. God wants Judah to repent of its sin. If it does this God will make it into a thing of splendor. But if Judah refuses to turn from their evil ways then God will have no choice but to start over and create a new nation that will achieve his purposes.
So, what it is that Judah has done which has God almost ready to start over? Well, we know from Jeremiah that the nation is not caring for the poor and needy and widows and orphans and aliens as it should. But there is something else that is going on here. And for that let’s turn to the previous chapter of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 17: 19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.
The nation of Judah is not keeping the Sabbath day holy. People are engaging in the usual commerce bringing merchandise in and out of the city on the Sabbath, and God is angry at this. If they don’t repent and stop working on the Sabbath, God will have no choice but to start all over with a new nation that will keep his law.
27 But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”
They better get their act together and stop working on the Sabbath day. This seems to be pretty important to God. Why do you think God is so concerned about the Sabbath?
When the people of God were slaves in Egypt they were forced to work seven days a week. They were prevented from worshiping God. So God sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them from this slavery. They were sent to speak with Pharaoh with these words:
Exodus 5:1 … Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
God was using Moses and Aaron to shape Egypt for his plan and purpose. But Pharaoh refused and ignored God’s instructions. And his nation was destroyed when his chariots were stuck in the mud on the bottom of the Red Sea when the waters returned and the King and his men all drowned. After the Hebrews were freed from Egypt they worshiped God and received from God his holy law.
Exodus 20: 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The nation of Judah was breaking this law and returning God’s people to slavery by denying them a Sabbath rest and a time to worship their God. This is the sin God was calling them to repent. They were to give their workers a Sabbath rest and a time to worship God. Otherwise, God might have to start over with a new nation.
Thankfully here in New Jersey, we have no problem giving people a Sabbath rest and time to worship every Sunday. No employer in this state would ever think of forcing employees to work Sunday morning and miss church. Or would they? Of course, that is exactly what they do. Employers are doing in this town the same thing that the nation of Judah was doing in Jeremiah’s day. We are forcing Christians to work on Sunday mornings and miss church.
Last week I stopped by a produce stand to buy some peaches. I asked the young lady working there if she went to church. She said that she used to go to church but doesn’t anymore. I asked her why. She said that since she started to work she has had to work every Sunday morning. So she can’t come to church. I handed her my card and told her I was pastor of this church. And I invited her to come here whenever she could.
I have asked many people to come to worship on Sunday mornings. And many tell me the same thing. “I would love to come to church, but I can’t. I have to work.” If you work retail you probably have to work on Sundays. Restaurants and convenience stores are all open today. And some farms have their workers in the fields on Sunday.
There is one exception. Chick-fil-A is closed today. This is what it says on its corporate website.
Q: Why is Chick-fil-A closed on Sunday?
A: Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. He has often shared that his decision was as much practical as spiritual. He believes that all franchised Chick-fil-A® Operators and Restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That's why all Chick-fil-A Restaurants are closed on Sundays. It's part of our recipe for success.
One employer knows what God wants. There may be others. I call on the business community of New Jersey to repent and give their employees Sunday off so they may rest, enjoy their families and worship God. The promise of God is that if we do this we will be blessed. But we risk God’s wrath if we continue to ignore his command to give employees Sunday off so they may go to church for worship. Here is the promise to the business community from God through Jeremiah, his prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 17: 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord.
If the businesses of New Jersey repent and give their employees Sundays off then God will bless them with more visitors, more sales, and more profits than they ever thought possible. Obeying God’s Sabbath law would be the best business decision they could ever make. Failure to obey God may result in loss of business and bankruptcy. I urge you to tell the owners of the businesses here in this area that God wants their employees to have Sunday mornings off. God wants their workers to worship him in churches and that will bring us greater prosperity if it happens. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven we confess that we enable the businesses of our city to stay open on Sunday mornings. We repent of this sin and will tell the stores, restaurants and hotel owners in this city that if they obey God and give their employees Sunday morning off then God will bless them with greater profits. We pray this in the name of your son our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Sermon Jeremiah 2:4-13 Cracked Cisterns
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Jeremiah 2:4-13 Cracked Cisterns
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 1, 2019
This is my second sermon in a series I have called, “Jeremiah, Prophet to the Nations”. Last week we heard God’s call to Jeremiah to begin this work. Jeremiah was part of God’s plan from the very beginning. He had been chosen as a prophet before he was born. And so now this teenager with no experience will bring God’s word to the nations of the world. Today, we will look at Jeremiah’s first prophecy from God to the nation of Judah. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
God freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. He parted the Red Sea for them to escape, and guided them for forty years in the wilderness. The wilderness is dry, a desert. And shortly after they entered it they experienced their first problem. They ran out of water.
Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[f]) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
So God provided his people with what they needed, water. Then, sometime later it happened again.
Exodus 17:1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Over and over again for a period of forty years, God provided Israel with everything it needed. Whenever they were threatened with thirst or hunger or war God was always there to save them. God could always be counted on. So after forty years, you would think that the descendants of those people would always remember what God had done for them. But they didn’t. They forgot all about their God. And they even started following their Canaanite neighbors up to the hilltop to worship Baal, the Weather God, who never did anything for anyone. Why would they forget the God who had saved their ancestors? Well, before I try to answer this, let’s listen to what God had to say to them through Jeremiah, his Prophet to the Nations.
Jeremiah 2:4 Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the LORD says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
9 “Therefore I bring charges against you again,”
declares the LORD.
“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar[a] and observe closely;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the LORD.
13 “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.
So the Nation of Judah has forsaken God, the spring of living water, to worship the false god Baal. And, they have dug their own cisterns. Cisterns are large cavities in the ground which are used to store rainwater. God has said that the Judeans erred by digging cisterns. He said that cisterns are no better at saving us from thirst that the old fictitious weather god of Canaanites What is so bad about digging cisterns?
Sometime shortly after arriving in the Promised Land, someone made an important discovery. The found out that if iron ore from the ground was placed in a charcoal fire impurities in the iron would burn away and the iron would become soft and malleable. He also figured out that when iron was still hot it could be shaped into just about anything. Farmers came and wanted iron plows so they could cultivate more land. Generals came and wanted iron arrowheads, iron-tipped spears, iron helmets and shields, and iron chariots. Builders came and wanted iron tools to cut limestone into large blocks which could be assembled to build massive palaces and temples. The Iron Age had begun.
Then someone figured out that iron tools could be used to dig a large hole in the limestone underneath his property to store water. He made it bell-shaped to minimize evaporation and pollution. And he filled it by redirecting rainwater into it during the rainy winter season. And he had plenty of water for the whole summer.
Cisterns revolutionized how we store water. Before cisterns, we were dependent on rainfall to fill the streams and rivers and the aquifers under the land. But with cisterns we could have water whenever we wanted. We were in control. And this continues today. All of us can get as much water as we want by simply turning on the tap, or by purchasing a case of water from WAWA. And all of this began three thousand years ago when iron tools were first used to build cisterns.
So why is God warning us about building cisterns? Before cisterns people depended on God for the water they drank. And they worshiped God in gratitude for the water they received. But once they built cisterns they no longer believe that God was needed. They had their own ability to make water available whenever they wanted. They didn’t need a God who provided water for them. So they forgot about God.
So too with us. We have everything we need. We have our health, and good health care if we need it. We have good incomes, and plenty in savings, if we run into trouble. We have insurance and retirement accounts. And we have good social services. We have everything we need. Why would we want any blessings from God? That is why only a small fraction of our population is in church today. People have everything they need. There is nothing they need from God. And they think that they have received no blessings from God for which they would be grateful. So, we won’t see them here this morning.
The Nation of Judah thought the same way. They were in control of things like water. There was nothing they needed from God. So why worship and glorify him? But Jeremiah came with a warning. Their cisterns were broken. There are many small earthquakes in the Middle East. One of these probably damaged the Jerusalem cistern. It was leaking. And it did not have as much water in it as everyone thought. God knew that the time would come when the Babylonians would return and encircle the city. The siege would last months. And Jerusalem did not have enough water in their cracked cistern. They would either perish of thirst or surrender to the Babylonians.
The problem was that they thought that they could depend on themselves to provide for their every need. But they couldn’t. They needed a savior who would provide them with water when they needed it. They needed the God of their ancestors who provided them with water in the wilderness. This was Jeremiah’s message. He warned the nation to return to its God before it was too late.
The same is true for us. We think that we have enough savings and insurance to provide for every need, but we don’t. Maybe, hopefully, we won’t exhaust our resources. But we may. And if that happens we better have strong faith in the only God who provides his people with what they need. That is why it is so important for people to be here, in church. In church we hear the old stories of what God has done in the past. We receive the assurance that God will do for us in the future. And in gratitude for that assurance, we worship God today.
So technology causes us to believe that God is no longer needed. Science will give us everything we need. But God is needed because no matter how much we are prepared for any calamity, all preparation will ultimately fail. We cannot always save ourselves and must trust in the salvation of God. In Jesus Christ, that salvation is assured. So with joy and gratitude today we worship the living God. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we have plans and prepare for whatever may befall us. We have money and good health and everything we need. But we know that whatever we have is not good enough. And so we fall back on the assurance of your salvation. This we pray in our savior’s name. Amen.
Sermon Jeremiah 2:4-13 Cracked Cisterns
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
September 1, 2019
This is my second sermon in a series I have called, “Jeremiah, Prophet to the Nations”. Last week we heard God’s call to Jeremiah to begin this work. Jeremiah was part of God’s plan from the very beginning. He had been chosen as a prophet before he was born. And so now this teenager with no experience will bring God’s word to the nations of the world. Today, we will look at Jeremiah’s first prophecy from God to the nation of Judah. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
God freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. He parted the Red Sea for them to escape, and guided them for forty years in the wilderness. The wilderness is dry, a desert. And shortly after they entered it they experienced their first problem. They ran out of water.
Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[f]) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
So God provided his people with what they needed, water. Then, sometime later it happened again.
Exodus 17:1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Over and over again for a period of forty years, God provided Israel with everything it needed. Whenever they were threatened with thirst or hunger or war God was always there to save them. God could always be counted on. So after forty years, you would think that the descendants of those people would always remember what God had done for them. But they didn’t. They forgot all about their God. And they even started following their Canaanite neighbors up to the hilltop to worship Baal, the Weather God, who never did anything for anyone. Why would they forget the God who had saved their ancestors? Well, before I try to answer this, let’s listen to what God had to say to them through Jeremiah, his Prophet to the Nations.
Jeremiah 2:4 Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the LORD says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
9 “Therefore I bring charges against you again,”
declares the LORD.
“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar[a] and observe closely;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the LORD.
13 “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.
So the Nation of Judah has forsaken God, the spring of living water, to worship the false god Baal. And, they have dug their own cisterns. Cisterns are large cavities in the ground which are used to store rainwater. God has said that the Judeans erred by digging cisterns. He said that cisterns are no better at saving us from thirst that the old fictitious weather god of Canaanites What is so bad about digging cisterns?
Sometime shortly after arriving in the Promised Land, someone made an important discovery. The found out that if iron ore from the ground was placed in a charcoal fire impurities in the iron would burn away and the iron would become soft and malleable. He also figured out that when iron was still hot it could be shaped into just about anything. Farmers came and wanted iron plows so they could cultivate more land. Generals came and wanted iron arrowheads, iron-tipped spears, iron helmets and shields, and iron chariots. Builders came and wanted iron tools to cut limestone into large blocks which could be assembled to build massive palaces and temples. The Iron Age had begun.
Then someone figured out that iron tools could be used to dig a large hole in the limestone underneath his property to store water. He made it bell-shaped to minimize evaporation and pollution. And he filled it by redirecting rainwater into it during the rainy winter season. And he had plenty of water for the whole summer.
Cisterns revolutionized how we store water. Before cisterns, we were dependent on rainfall to fill the streams and rivers and the aquifers under the land. But with cisterns we could have water whenever we wanted. We were in control. And this continues today. All of us can get as much water as we want by simply turning on the tap, or by purchasing a case of water from WAWA. And all of this began three thousand years ago when iron tools were first used to build cisterns.
So why is God warning us about building cisterns? Before cisterns people depended on God for the water they drank. And they worshiped God in gratitude for the water they received. But once they built cisterns they no longer believe that God was needed. They had their own ability to make water available whenever they wanted. They didn’t need a God who provided water for them. So they forgot about God.
So too with us. We have everything we need. We have our health, and good health care if we need it. We have good incomes, and plenty in savings, if we run into trouble. We have insurance and retirement accounts. And we have good social services. We have everything we need. Why would we want any blessings from God? That is why only a small fraction of our population is in church today. People have everything they need. There is nothing they need from God. And they think that they have received no blessings from God for which they would be grateful. So, we won’t see them here this morning.
The Nation of Judah thought the same way. They were in control of things like water. There was nothing they needed from God. So why worship and glorify him? But Jeremiah came with a warning. Their cisterns were broken. There are many small earthquakes in the Middle East. One of these probably damaged the Jerusalem cistern. It was leaking. And it did not have as much water in it as everyone thought. God knew that the time would come when the Babylonians would return and encircle the city. The siege would last months. And Jerusalem did not have enough water in their cracked cistern. They would either perish of thirst or surrender to the Babylonians.
The problem was that they thought that they could depend on themselves to provide for their every need. But they couldn’t. They needed a savior who would provide them with water when they needed it. They needed the God of their ancestors who provided them with water in the wilderness. This was Jeremiah’s message. He warned the nation to return to its God before it was too late.
The same is true for us. We think that we have enough savings and insurance to provide for every need, but we don’t. Maybe, hopefully, we won’t exhaust our resources. But we may. And if that happens we better have strong faith in the only God who provides his people with what they need. That is why it is so important for people to be here, in church. In church we hear the old stories of what God has done in the past. We receive the assurance that God will do for us in the future. And in gratitude for that assurance, we worship God today.
So technology causes us to believe that God is no longer needed. Science will give us everything we need. But God is needed because no matter how much we are prepared for any calamity, all preparation will ultimately fail. We cannot always save ourselves and must trust in the salvation of God. In Jesus Christ, that salvation is assured. So with joy and gratitude today we worship the living God. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we have plans and prepare for whatever may befall us. We have money and good health and everything we need. But we know that whatever we have is not good enough. And so we fall back on the assurance of your salvation. This we pray in our savior’s name. Amen.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Sermon – Jeremiah 1:4–10 Chosen By God
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Jeremiah 1:4–10 Chosen By God
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
August 25, 2019
I beginning today a sermon series entitled “Jeremiah, Prophet to the Nations.” Jeremiah spoke to the nations of the world at a time of turmoil. And with war, violence in our streets, and global terrorism we too live in a time of turmoil. And so today the nations of the world need to hear from God. They need a prophet who will lead them through this time of death and destruction into the new thing that God is about to do. Jeremiah’s words and actions have been written down and preserved for us for such a time as this. And we will get to them, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
The seventh century before Christ began during the time of Assyrian domination of large territories including Judah and it’s capital, Jerusalem. The Assyrian empire had dominated the region for generations. The Kings of Judah, although descended from David, were little more than puppet rulers. They even allowed the Assyrians to place carvings of their gods in the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem. The Lord God of Israel had almost been forgotten.
But by the end of the 7th century, Assyria was in decline. And for a brief moment, the nation of Judah was free. God raised up for this nation a great king. His name was Josiah. Josiah took advantage of their newly found independence to restore the Jerusalem temple. The old Assyrian idols were removed. And during the renovations, a scroll was found in a storage room. When they opened the scroll they read these words.
Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning when God created[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
When they read this, they realized that the Lord God of Israel was actually the creator of the world. So they brought the scroll to King Josiah who read it. He then realized that this was the long lost book of the law of Moses. They realized that the nation had stopped obeying God’s law. There were no annual feasts and festivals as proscribed by God. There was no worship. Children were not being taught God law. And so Josiah ordered that the law, the Torah, be read and obeyed throughout his kingdom. And a renaissance of faith in God began.
But the political independence of Judah was not to last. Pharaoh led the army of Egypt north to capture the nation of Judah. They wanted to engage in the lucrative international trade that came up the Kings Highway from Ethiopia through Egypt, passing Jerusalem before heading toward Damascus. They also wanted the Mediterranean port of Joppa. In 609BC Egypt and Judah met on the battlefield. King Josiah was killed and his army destroyed. Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh placed Jehoiakim on the throne in Jerusalem. But this did not bring peace to the region.
General Nebuchadnezzar led the army of Babylon against the Egyptians and defeated Pharaoh in the decisive battle of Carchemish in the summer of 605BC. At the conclusion of the battle, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to be crowned king. Judah became a vassal state of Babylon. On March 16, 597BC Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, surrendered to the Babylonian army. Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon along with thousands of Judeans. Left behind were the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, the disabled and anyone Babylon didn’t want. And Babylon installed Zedekiah as their puppet King of Judah.
Into this situation, God sent a prophet to the nations. Let’s see how God called him to this work.
Jeremiah 1:4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
God had chosen his prophet for the nations before he was even born. Jeremiah was to be an important part of God’s plan for the world. Jeremiah was chosen to bring God’s word, and what God revealed to him, to the nations of the world. Jeremiah had been chosen as a prophet. And God’s decision to choose Jeremiah came even before he was conceived in his mother’s womb. God had already chosen Jeremiah when he created the world. Jeremiah was to be an important part of God’s purpose and plan.
God has a plan for the world. And we are part of that plan. The part we will play was chosen for us by God before we were born, before we were conceived, before creation itself. We were selected to do something very important for God. This is what Calvin called predestination. We are predestined by God to serve in His plan for creation. Predestination in no way limits our freedom. We are free to choose to ignore God if we want. We can choose not to be part of God’s plan. But why would we? There is a purpose for our lives. That purpose is to be part of what God is doing in the world. We live out our purpose in life by being a part of God plan. If we walk away from God, then there is no plan and no purpose for our lives. But if we follow God, and do what he says, then our lives have a purpose. And with a purpose, we have a reason for our existence.
So let’s turn back to the book of Jeremiah and see what his reaction is to God’s purpose for his life.
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
Who? Me? I’m just a teenager. I don’t know anything about being a prophet. How can I be a prophet to the nations? To which God responded:
7 But the Lord said to me,
7 “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”
So whatever God has planned for us, He will equip us to carry it out. We will have the gifts we need to do what God wants us to do.
I was never a writer. I went to college to study math and physics. I managed businesses and worked with computers. I never wrote for a living. But God’s plan was for me to be a pastor. So I was trained in seminary and twelve years ago began writing sermons every week. I am still not a real good writer. But somehow each week God tells me what to say to you. It took me a long time to figure out how I fit into God’s plan. But once I did I found purpose in my life.
Twelve years ago I was ordained by National Capital Presbytery as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Let’s listen to young Jeremiah’s ordination to the office of Prophet to the Nations.
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant
The message that Jeremiah is to bring to the nations of the world is that it is the Lord, God of Israel created you. And as your creator, He has the ability to destroy you and create something new. All kingdoms and nations and states are temporary. They are created by God to achieve God’s purposes on earth. So long as they are useful to God, God will sustain them. But when a nation is no longer useful to God then it will be wiped away and replaced with something new.
This message was to be delivered to King of Judah, who had the responsibility to care for the widows and orphans, the poor and needy, the disabled, all who Babylon had left behind. This message was also to be delivered to the nations surrounding Judah, and the great Babylon itself. God is the creator of all nations. All nations have the responsibility of following God’s direction. If nations are useful in carrying out God’s plan, God will sustain them. If nations choose to ignore God, God will destroy them and establish new nations in their place.
This warning is for all nations of the world, even those that exist today. God’s words as spoken by Jeremiah are for America. We are to listen to God’s voice. We are to be part of God’s plan. God gives our nation a purpose. If America is useful to God in rolling out His plan then God will sustain it with his mighty power. But if America is no longer useful to God he will replace it with something that is.
This was the guiding principle of the original European settlers here in America. They believed strongly that they had been chosen by God to settle this land. And they believed that the land they were entering was the promised land, the land God was providing. They saw themselves as participants in the plan God has for all of creation. And so it was their faith that prompted them to settle a new land.
So what have we learned? All of us and all the nations on earth are created by God for a purpose. We are part of God plan, chosen before we were born. If we are useful to God in implementing that plan God will sustain us. If we are not useful God will destroy us and create something new.
I urge you to live your lives according to the plan God developed for you before you were born. Pray, worship and read the Bible to understand what that plan is for you. And then lead your lives according to lives you were chosen to live. Do this and your lives will be blessed, full and rich with promise. Let’s pray.
“Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only provided for thine ancient Church, by choosing Jeremiah as thy servant, but hast also designed that the fruit of his labors should continue to our age, O grant that we may not be unthankful to thee, but that we may so avail ourselves of so great a benefit, that the fruit of it may appear in us to the glory of thy name; may we learn so entirely to devote ourselves to thy service, and each of us be so attentive to the work of his calling, that we may strive with united hearts to promote the honor of thy name, and also the kingdom of thine only -- begotten Son, until we finish our warfare, and come at length into that celestial rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only Son. Amen.” (Calvin http://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/jeremiah/1.htm)
Sermon – Jeremiah 1:4–10 Chosen By God
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
August 25, 2019
I beginning today a sermon series entitled “Jeremiah, Prophet to the Nations.” Jeremiah spoke to the nations of the world at a time of turmoil. And with war, violence in our streets, and global terrorism we too live in a time of turmoil. And so today the nations of the world need to hear from God. They need a prophet who will lead them through this time of death and destruction into the new thing that God is about to do. Jeremiah’s words and actions have been written down and preserved for us for such a time as this. And we will get to them, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
The seventh century before Christ began during the time of Assyrian domination of large territories including Judah and it’s capital, Jerusalem. The Assyrian empire had dominated the region for generations. The Kings of Judah, although descended from David, were little more than puppet rulers. They even allowed the Assyrians to place carvings of their gods in the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem. The Lord God of Israel had almost been forgotten.
But by the end of the 7th century, Assyria was in decline. And for a brief moment, the nation of Judah was free. God raised up for this nation a great king. His name was Josiah. Josiah took advantage of their newly found independence to restore the Jerusalem temple. The old Assyrian idols were removed. And during the renovations, a scroll was found in a storage room. When they opened the scroll they read these words.
Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning when God created[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
When they read this, they realized that the Lord God of Israel was actually the creator of the world. So they brought the scroll to King Josiah who read it. He then realized that this was the long lost book of the law of Moses. They realized that the nation had stopped obeying God’s law. There were no annual feasts and festivals as proscribed by God. There was no worship. Children were not being taught God law. And so Josiah ordered that the law, the Torah, be read and obeyed throughout his kingdom. And a renaissance of faith in God began.
But the political independence of Judah was not to last. Pharaoh led the army of Egypt north to capture the nation of Judah. They wanted to engage in the lucrative international trade that came up the Kings Highway from Ethiopia through Egypt, passing Jerusalem before heading toward Damascus. They also wanted the Mediterranean port of Joppa. In 609BC Egypt and Judah met on the battlefield. King Josiah was killed and his army destroyed. Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh placed Jehoiakim on the throne in Jerusalem. But this did not bring peace to the region.
General Nebuchadnezzar led the army of Babylon against the Egyptians and defeated Pharaoh in the decisive battle of Carchemish in the summer of 605BC. At the conclusion of the battle, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to be crowned king. Judah became a vassal state of Babylon. On March 16, 597BC Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, surrendered to the Babylonian army. Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon along with thousands of Judeans. Left behind were the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, the disabled and anyone Babylon didn’t want. And Babylon installed Zedekiah as their puppet King of Judah.
Into this situation, God sent a prophet to the nations. Let’s see how God called him to this work.
Jeremiah 1:4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
God had chosen his prophet for the nations before he was even born. Jeremiah was to be an important part of God’s plan for the world. Jeremiah was chosen to bring God’s word, and what God revealed to him, to the nations of the world. Jeremiah had been chosen as a prophet. And God’s decision to choose Jeremiah came even before he was conceived in his mother’s womb. God had already chosen Jeremiah when he created the world. Jeremiah was to be an important part of God’s purpose and plan.
God has a plan for the world. And we are part of that plan. The part we will play was chosen for us by God before we were born, before we were conceived, before creation itself. We were selected to do something very important for God. This is what Calvin called predestination. We are predestined by God to serve in His plan for creation. Predestination in no way limits our freedom. We are free to choose to ignore God if we want. We can choose not to be part of God’s plan. But why would we? There is a purpose for our lives. That purpose is to be part of what God is doing in the world. We live out our purpose in life by being a part of God plan. If we walk away from God, then there is no plan and no purpose for our lives. But if we follow God, and do what he says, then our lives have a purpose. And with a purpose, we have a reason for our existence.
So let’s turn back to the book of Jeremiah and see what his reaction is to God’s purpose for his life.
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
Who? Me? I’m just a teenager. I don’t know anything about being a prophet. How can I be a prophet to the nations? To which God responded:
7 But the Lord said to me,
7 “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
8 Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.”
So whatever God has planned for us, He will equip us to carry it out. We will have the gifts we need to do what God wants us to do.
I was never a writer. I went to college to study math and physics. I managed businesses and worked with computers. I never wrote for a living. But God’s plan was for me to be a pastor. So I was trained in seminary and twelve years ago began writing sermons every week. I am still not a real good writer. But somehow each week God tells me what to say to you. It took me a long time to figure out how I fit into God’s plan. But once I did I found purpose in my life.
Twelve years ago I was ordained by National Capital Presbytery as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Let’s listen to young Jeremiah’s ordination to the office of Prophet to the Nations.
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant
The message that Jeremiah is to bring to the nations of the world is that it is the Lord, God of Israel created you. And as your creator, He has the ability to destroy you and create something new. All kingdoms and nations and states are temporary. They are created by God to achieve God’s purposes on earth. So long as they are useful to God, God will sustain them. But when a nation is no longer useful to God then it will be wiped away and replaced with something new.
This message was to be delivered to King of Judah, who had the responsibility to care for the widows and orphans, the poor and needy, the disabled, all who Babylon had left behind. This message was also to be delivered to the nations surrounding Judah, and the great Babylon itself. God is the creator of all nations. All nations have the responsibility of following God’s direction. If nations are useful in carrying out God’s plan, God will sustain them. If nations choose to ignore God, God will destroy them and establish new nations in their place.
This warning is for all nations of the world, even those that exist today. God’s words as spoken by Jeremiah are for America. We are to listen to God’s voice. We are to be part of God’s plan. God gives our nation a purpose. If America is useful to God in rolling out His plan then God will sustain it with his mighty power. But if America is no longer useful to God he will replace it with something that is.
This was the guiding principle of the original European settlers here in America. They believed strongly that they had been chosen by God to settle this land. And they believed that the land they were entering was the promised land, the land God was providing. They saw themselves as participants in the plan God has for all of creation. And so it was their faith that prompted them to settle a new land.
So what have we learned? All of us and all the nations on earth are created by God for a purpose. We are part of God plan, chosen before we were born. If we are useful to God in implementing that plan God will sustain us. If we are not useful God will destroy us and create something new.
I urge you to live your lives according to the plan God developed for you before you were born. Pray, worship and read the Bible to understand what that plan is for you. And then lead your lives according to lives you were chosen to live. Do this and your lives will be blessed, full and rich with promise. Let’s pray.
“Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only provided for thine ancient Church, by choosing Jeremiah as thy servant, but hast also designed that the fruit of his labors should continue to our age, O grant that we may not be unthankful to thee, but that we may so avail ourselves of so great a benefit, that the fruit of it may appear in us to the glory of thy name; may we learn so entirely to devote ourselves to thy service, and each of us be so attentive to the work of his calling, that we may strive with united hearts to promote the honor of thy name, and also the kingdom of thine only -- begotten Son, until we finish our warfare, and come at length into that celestial rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thine only Son. Amen.” (Calvin http://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/jeremiah/1.htm)
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Sermon Psalm 80 – Make Your Face Shine on Us
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 80 – Make Your Face Shine on Us
August 18, 2019
At some point in our lives, we will need a savior. Our problems will get out of hand. We won't be able to solve them. We will look to others for help but it won't be enough. And then we need a savior when there is no one else to turn to.
The list of problems we face as a church is endless and growing. We have problems with ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders. We suffer from chronic pain, birth defects, and incurable diseases. We have friends and family with terminal diseases. We have floods, and droughts, and hurricanes that cause damage. We worry about our church, membership, and finances. And are getting older every day. Sometimes we can solve our own problems. Sometimes we can solve our problems with the help of others. And sometimes we need a savior. Thankfully we have a savior, Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
In the 8th century before Christ, the people of God were divided into two nations. The southern kingdom was called Judah. Its capital was Jerusalem. And in Jerusalem, there was a temple for the worship of Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Its capital was Samaria. The people of the northern kingdom worshiped golden calves erected by the king at religious shrines in Bethel and Dam. Israel had abandoned the worship of their God, Yahweh, and worshiped other pagan gods.
The northern kingdom, Israel, needed a savior. The Assyrian army arrived and encircled the capital. They were threatening to destroy the nation. Israel could not save itself. And there were no neighbors powerful enough to save them either. The gods they worshiped were completely ineffective. They needed someone to come and save them. They needed a savior, but who?
Then they remembered the God they had worshiped generations before. A God who had saved them in similar circumstances. Unfortunately, they had abandoned this God years ago. But, maybe, he would remember his people. Perhaps this God could be persuaded to help them again. So a group was assembled to travel south to Jerusalem to ask Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, for help.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they made their way to temple to plead their case with God. It was believed that God resided in the temple in a room called the Holy of Holies. God's throne was a box, the arc of the covenant which the people of God had carried in the wilderness for 40 years. Inside was the Law of Moses. God sat on top of the box between the cherubim. The group from the northern kingdom evidently entered the Holy of Holies to ask God for help. This is what they said.
Psalm 80:1 NRSV Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us! 3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
After generations of unfaithfulness, the people of the northern kingdom have finally returned to the God of their ancestors. And they ask him for his presence with them as they face the Assyrian enemy.
We have this same hope for a savior. We know that our God does not prevent problems from happening. We have too many problems to believe that. Rather than prevent problems our God promises to be with us as we face our problems. The benefit of your faith is that whatever problem you face God will be there with you. His face will shine upon you. You have a savior who will come to your aid. All you have to do is to call on him in prayer.
Then the people from Israel presented to God the prayers of their people. Let's listen.
Psalm 80: 4-7 4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. 6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
They offered up prayers to God asking that God remember that the people of the northern kingdom were still his people. They told God that his people were suffering. And therefore God's reputation would suffer when others saw the suffering of his people. God needed to come to save them to demonstrate his power to the world. Otherwise, the Assyrians will defeat them and mock their God. And so they asked God to save his people and to remember what he has done for them in the past.
Psalm 80:8-14a 8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; 11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. 14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see;
They reminded God that he had saved his people from slavery in Egypt and had promised them the land they now occupy. But now that very land that God had promised to them is occupied by non-believers. The Assyrians now live in their cities and farm their farms. So the nation's religious leaders pleaded with God to uphold his end of the covenant. They begged God for his help.
Psalm 80 14c-19 have regard for this vine, 15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b] 16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;[c] may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
And so they are waiting for a savior: God's son, who sits at God's right hand and comes to earth as the Son of Man. The savior is the same as our savior, Jesus Christ.
Sadly, God ignored their plea and allowed the Assyrians to conquer the northern kingdom and resettle the people of Israel in other parts of their empire. God ignored their prayer. Why were their prayers ignored? I think I know why.
Nowhere in Psalm 80 is there a prayer of confession. At no time in their prayers to God did they admit that they had done wrong by worshiping other gods at the shrines of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan. And they made no promise to stop these evil ways and return to their God. All they did was to make demands on God and complain that he was not protecting them well enough. And God responded by ignoring them. God wants a confession, a change of heart, and a return of his people to obedience and he didn't get it.
So, if we want a savior to come when we need a savior we must confess our sin and change our behavior from evil to good. If we confess and repent and turn to God, then God will forgive us and send us a much-needed savior.
And who is this savior that we wait for?. When the priests of Israel entered into the Holy they cried out “Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”, they were using a Hebrew world “leshua.”, which means save us. The name of the Lord God of Israel was, “jah”, which was shortened from Yahweh. So they put these together, “Jah shua”. They cried out “God save us, Jah shua. When this Hebrew word, Jah shua came into Latin became “Iesus”. And the Latin Iesus came into Early Middle English as “Jesus”. So the English name “Jesus” is the same as the Hebrew jah shua, God saves. So who is the savior that we are waiting for? Who is this Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God? Who is this anointed one who comes to earth? His name is Jah shua, Iesus, or Jesus. Jesus Christ is the savior who is coming. Let's pray.
Father in heaven we confess that we have not always followed you. We have not always obeyed your commandments and followed your will. We are sorry and promise to do better. We ask Lord that our savior, Jesus Christ, shine his face upon us, be with us in our troubles, and save us. This we pray in Jesus’ glorious name. Amen.
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 80 – Make Your Face Shine on Us
August 18, 2019
At some point in our lives, we will need a savior. Our problems will get out of hand. We won't be able to solve them. We will look to others for help but it won't be enough. And then we need a savior when there is no one else to turn to.
The list of problems we face as a church is endless and growing. We have problems with ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders. We suffer from chronic pain, birth defects, and incurable diseases. We have friends and family with terminal diseases. We have floods, and droughts, and hurricanes that cause damage. We worry about our church, membership, and finances. And are getting older every day. Sometimes we can solve our own problems. Sometimes we can solve our problems with the help of others. And sometimes we need a savior. Thankfully we have a savior, Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
In the 8th century before Christ, the people of God were divided into two nations. The southern kingdom was called Judah. Its capital was Jerusalem. And in Jerusalem, there was a temple for the worship of Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Its capital was Samaria. The people of the northern kingdom worshiped golden calves erected by the king at religious shrines in Bethel and Dam. Israel had abandoned the worship of their God, Yahweh, and worshiped other pagan gods.
The northern kingdom, Israel, needed a savior. The Assyrian army arrived and encircled the capital. They were threatening to destroy the nation. Israel could not save itself. And there were no neighbors powerful enough to save them either. The gods they worshiped were completely ineffective. They needed someone to come and save them. They needed a savior, but who?
Then they remembered the God they had worshiped generations before. A God who had saved them in similar circumstances. Unfortunately, they had abandoned this God years ago. But, maybe, he would remember his people. Perhaps this God could be persuaded to help them again. So a group was assembled to travel south to Jerusalem to ask Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel, for help.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, they made their way to temple to plead their case with God. It was believed that God resided in the temple in a room called the Holy of Holies. God's throne was a box, the arc of the covenant which the people of God had carried in the wilderness for 40 years. Inside was the Law of Moses. God sat on top of the box between the cherubim. The group from the northern kingdom evidently entered the Holy of Holies to ask God for help. This is what they said.
Psalm 80:1 NRSV Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us! 3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
After generations of unfaithfulness, the people of the northern kingdom have finally returned to the God of their ancestors. And they ask him for his presence with them as they face the Assyrian enemy.
We have this same hope for a savior. We know that our God does not prevent problems from happening. We have too many problems to believe that. Rather than prevent problems our God promises to be with us as we face our problems. The benefit of your faith is that whatever problem you face God will be there with you. His face will shine upon you. You have a savior who will come to your aid. All you have to do is to call on him in prayer.
Then the people from Israel presented to God the prayers of their people. Let's listen.
Psalm 80: 4-7 4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. 6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves. 7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
They offered up prayers to God asking that God remember that the people of the northern kingdom were still his people. They told God that his people were suffering. And therefore God's reputation would suffer when others saw the suffering of his people. God needed to come to save them to demonstrate his power to the world. Otherwise, the Assyrians will defeat them and mock their God. And so they asked God to save his people and to remember what he has done for them in the past.
Psalm 80:8-14a 8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; 11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. 14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see;
They reminded God that he had saved his people from slavery in Egypt and had promised them the land they now occupy. But now that very land that God had promised to them is occupied by non-believers. The Assyrians now live in their cities and farm their farms. So the nation's religious leaders pleaded with God to uphold his end of the covenant. They begged God for his help.
Psalm 80 14c-19 have regard for this vine, 15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b] 16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;[c] may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
And so they are waiting for a savior: God's son, who sits at God's right hand and comes to earth as the Son of Man. The savior is the same as our savior, Jesus Christ.
Sadly, God ignored their plea and allowed the Assyrians to conquer the northern kingdom and resettle the people of Israel in other parts of their empire. God ignored their prayer. Why were their prayers ignored? I think I know why.
Nowhere in Psalm 80 is there a prayer of confession. At no time in their prayers to God did they admit that they had done wrong by worshiping other gods at the shrines of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan. And they made no promise to stop these evil ways and return to their God. All they did was to make demands on God and complain that he was not protecting them well enough. And God responded by ignoring them. God wants a confession, a change of heart, and a return of his people to obedience and he didn't get it.
So, if we want a savior to come when we need a savior we must confess our sin and change our behavior from evil to good. If we confess and repent and turn to God, then God will forgive us and send us a much-needed savior.
And who is this savior that we wait for?. When the priests of Israel entered into the Holy they cried out “Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”, they were using a Hebrew world “leshua.”, which means save us. The name of the Lord God of Israel was, “jah”, which was shortened from Yahweh. So they put these together, “Jah shua”. They cried out “God save us, Jah shua. When this Hebrew word, Jah shua came into Latin became “Iesus”. And the Latin Iesus came into Early Middle English as “Jesus”. So the English name “Jesus” is the same as the Hebrew jah shua, God saves. So who is the savior that we are waiting for? Who is this Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God? Who is this anointed one who comes to earth? His name is Jah shua, Iesus, or Jesus. Jesus Christ is the savior who is coming. Let's pray.
Father in heaven we confess that we have not always followed you. We have not always obeyed your commandments and followed your will. We are sorry and promise to do better. We ask Lord that our savior, Jesus Christ, shine his face upon us, be with us in our troubles, and save us. This we pray in Jesus’ glorious name. Amen.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Sermon – Luke 12:32-40 – "Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be"
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Luke 12:32-40 – "Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be"
August 11, 2019
We are continuing today with our look at Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of Luke. Last week we learned that forgiving and reconciling with people is far more important than our own economic security. Today we will hear Jesus’ teaching about money. And, as you might expect, Jesus’ idea about money is quite different than ours. This is because in the Kingdom of God everything is turned upside down. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Today, here in America, people are filled with fears. Businesses are facing increased competition from abroad, higher taxes, higher minimum wages, and higher tariffs on imported goods. The effect of this is a drop in profitability and consequently less hiring. Also, increased immigration has increased competition for the jobs that are available. New college graduates wonder if the education they received actually prepares them for the job market they are facing. More established workers wonder if their skills and experiences are still relevant today. And retirees wonder if there are enough workers to support the Social Security retirement system and what government deficits will do to our retirement savings. All of this causes our fear to grow. And with growing anxiety, we need to hear from our savior. So let’s listen to Jesus.
Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You walk into your favorite store. As you go up and down the aisles you see it. It is beautiful. It takes your breath away. And you have the perfect spot for it. But you walk away looking at other things, when, all of a sudden, you find yourself looking at it again. You just have to have it. So you look at the price tag and quickly walk away. It is way too expensive. It doesn’t fit your budget. There might be trouble at home if you buy it. But you have to buy it. You have the perfect spot for it. It will look so good there. So you buy it. And when you go home you put it in its spot. You look at it and experience a thrill. It is so beautiful. And it is perfect for this room.
A few days later you have some friends over for tea. You hope they will notice it and how beautiful it is. When no one notices it you pick it up and show it to your friends. They agree it is beautiful. And you have found the perfect spot for it. Everyone is overjoyed.
Then a few months pass with it proudly on display until one day when something seems wrong. It is beautiful, just not as beautiful as before. And it really doesn’t fit that spot very well anymore. So you move it to a less conspicuous place in the house and put something new in that spot.
A few years pass and you notice it collecting dust on a shelf. It is so old and really doesn’t do anything for you anymore. So you pick it up and put it in the attic until you find someplace to put it.
A few decades pass and your daughter comes over to help you move into a retirement home. She is cleaning out your attic and finds it. She remembers growing up with it. And she brings it to you and asks if you want to bring it. You don’t want that old thing in your new apartment. So you put it in the church’s rummage shed where it will be sold for $1 and the proceeds used for local missions.
This is the way the world usually works. Where your heart is, there your money will go. If you value things you will spend your money on things. Whatever you value most, that is where your money goes. And this is the place where wise preachers will tell you that if Jesus is in your heart then your money should go to the church.
But according to Jesus in the Kingdom of God, the opposite is true. Our culture says, “where your heart is, there your money will go.” But Jesus says, that in the Kingdom of God, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus tells us the opposite of what we normally think. It works this way. Usually, we think that our wants and desires determine what we buy. But Jesus says what we buy affects our wants and desires. If money follows your desires then you will buy things that you want. But what happens if desires follow spending as Jesus suggests?
Suppose you gather up all the things you have acquired and sell them and then give the money to people who need it, the poor, the homeless, any person living on the margins of society. What would this do to your heart? Your heart would soften. You would become kinder and more generous. The way you spend your money affects your thoughts and feelings. So by giving your money to those who need it, you become a different person. You are transformed.
But, of course, we can’t do that. We love our money. We love the things we can buy with it. But money can be lost and things wear out and get old. They no longer bring you pleasure. But if you work alongside God, to care for the ones God loves, if you give your money away to those who need it, then you experience great joy, and your fears melt away. Here is how Jesus put it.
Luke 12:22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying, add a single hour to your span of life?[d] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;[e] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his[f] kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
To seek the kingdom of God, we spend our time and resources to care for those in need. And as we spend our money to care for others our hearts change, our fears go away, and we become more and more like Christ. Jesus says that we become servants of the kingdom. And as servants, we will be richly blessed by God.
Listen to this story about St. Francis. St. Francis was the son of a nobleman and desired fame and glory. But God had something different in mind for his life. One day while St. Francis was praying, Jesus spoke to him from the crucifix on the altar of the church. Jesus said, “Francis, do you see that my house is in ruin. Go and restore it for me.” When Francis heard these words from Jesus, he knew what he had to do. He stole some fabric from his father’s shop and sold it. Then he used the money to repair the church. Of course, Francis’ father was angry and called the police.
After months of hiding, Francis presented himself to the bishop. The bishop said to Francis that he had to restore the money he had stolen from his father. Francis stood there calmly without fear. Something had changed in his heart. He was like a new man. Francis stood up before the bishop and announced that he was a servant of God. All of his money belonged to God. And then Francis removed all his clothes and threw them and what money had on the floor in front of the bishop and his father. C.K. Chesterton described the scene in this way:
“ “He went out half-naked into the winter woods, walking the frozen ground between the frosty trees; a man without a father. He was penniless, he was parentless, he was to all appearances without a trade or a plan or a hope in the world; and as he went under the frosty trees, he burst suddenly into song.”
St. Francis gave up everything he had. He lost his old life of privilege. But he gained a new life. He shared everything he had for the rest of his days. And he lived a life of joy.
(https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/RogerOwens08-11-13.pdf)
If we give up what we have, God will care for us. Jesus put it this way.
35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
Jesus’ promise is that if you care for the marginalized with your treasure, then your heart will change, your fears will go away, and God will come to take care of you. The image Jesus has given us is that of God putting on an apron and serving a banquet to us. We, who care for others, are cared for by our God.
So what have we learned from Jesus today? Where our treasure is there our hearts will be. So use your money for God’s purposes, and your hearts will be transformed. You will become kinder and more generous. Your fears will go away. And God will care for you. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, help us to change our perspective about money. We allow our hearts to dictate where our money goes. Help us to use our money for your purposes and through that change our hearts. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Luke 12:32-40 – "Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be"
August 11, 2019
We are continuing today with our look at Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of Luke. Last week we learned that forgiving and reconciling with people is far more important than our own economic security. Today we will hear Jesus’ teaching about money. And, as you might expect, Jesus’ idea about money is quite different than ours. This is because in the Kingdom of God everything is turned upside down. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Today, here in America, people are filled with fears. Businesses are facing increased competition from abroad, higher taxes, higher minimum wages, and higher tariffs on imported goods. The effect of this is a drop in profitability and consequently less hiring. Also, increased immigration has increased competition for the jobs that are available. New college graduates wonder if the education they received actually prepares them for the job market they are facing. More established workers wonder if their skills and experiences are still relevant today. And retirees wonder if there are enough workers to support the Social Security retirement system and what government deficits will do to our retirement savings. All of this causes our fear to grow. And with growing anxiety, we need to hear from our savior. So let’s listen to Jesus.
Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You walk into your favorite store. As you go up and down the aisles you see it. It is beautiful. It takes your breath away. And you have the perfect spot for it. But you walk away looking at other things, when, all of a sudden, you find yourself looking at it again. You just have to have it. So you look at the price tag and quickly walk away. It is way too expensive. It doesn’t fit your budget. There might be trouble at home if you buy it. But you have to buy it. You have the perfect spot for it. It will look so good there. So you buy it. And when you go home you put it in its spot. You look at it and experience a thrill. It is so beautiful. And it is perfect for this room.
A few days later you have some friends over for tea. You hope they will notice it and how beautiful it is. When no one notices it you pick it up and show it to your friends. They agree it is beautiful. And you have found the perfect spot for it. Everyone is overjoyed.
Then a few months pass with it proudly on display until one day when something seems wrong. It is beautiful, just not as beautiful as before. And it really doesn’t fit that spot very well anymore. So you move it to a less conspicuous place in the house and put something new in that spot.
A few years pass and you notice it collecting dust on a shelf. It is so old and really doesn’t do anything for you anymore. So you pick it up and put it in the attic until you find someplace to put it.
A few decades pass and your daughter comes over to help you move into a retirement home. She is cleaning out your attic and finds it. She remembers growing up with it. And she brings it to you and asks if you want to bring it. You don’t want that old thing in your new apartment. So you put it in the church’s rummage shed where it will be sold for $1 and the proceeds used for local missions.
This is the way the world usually works. Where your heart is, there your money will go. If you value things you will spend your money on things. Whatever you value most, that is where your money goes. And this is the place where wise preachers will tell you that if Jesus is in your heart then your money should go to the church.
But according to Jesus in the Kingdom of God, the opposite is true. Our culture says, “where your heart is, there your money will go.” But Jesus says, that in the Kingdom of God, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus tells us the opposite of what we normally think. It works this way. Usually, we think that our wants and desires determine what we buy. But Jesus says what we buy affects our wants and desires. If money follows your desires then you will buy things that you want. But what happens if desires follow spending as Jesus suggests?
Suppose you gather up all the things you have acquired and sell them and then give the money to people who need it, the poor, the homeless, any person living on the margins of society. What would this do to your heart? Your heart would soften. You would become kinder and more generous. The way you spend your money affects your thoughts and feelings. So by giving your money to those who need it, you become a different person. You are transformed.
But, of course, we can’t do that. We love our money. We love the things we can buy with it. But money can be lost and things wear out and get old. They no longer bring you pleasure. But if you work alongside God, to care for the ones God loves, if you give your money away to those who need it, then you experience great joy, and your fears melt away. Here is how Jesus put it.
Luke 12:22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying, add a single hour to your span of life?[d] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;[e] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his[f] kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
To seek the kingdom of God, we spend our time and resources to care for those in need. And as we spend our money to care for others our hearts change, our fears go away, and we become more and more like Christ. Jesus says that we become servants of the kingdom. And as servants, we will be richly blessed by God.
Listen to this story about St. Francis. St. Francis was the son of a nobleman and desired fame and glory. But God had something different in mind for his life. One day while St. Francis was praying, Jesus spoke to him from the crucifix on the altar of the church. Jesus said, “Francis, do you see that my house is in ruin. Go and restore it for me.” When Francis heard these words from Jesus, he knew what he had to do. He stole some fabric from his father’s shop and sold it. Then he used the money to repair the church. Of course, Francis’ father was angry and called the police.
After months of hiding, Francis presented himself to the bishop. The bishop said to Francis that he had to restore the money he had stolen from his father. Francis stood there calmly without fear. Something had changed in his heart. He was like a new man. Francis stood up before the bishop and announced that he was a servant of God. All of his money belonged to God. And then Francis removed all his clothes and threw them and what money had on the floor in front of the bishop and his father. C.K. Chesterton described the scene in this way:
“ “He went out half-naked into the winter woods, walking the frozen ground between the frosty trees; a man without a father. He was penniless, he was parentless, he was to all appearances without a trade or a plan or a hope in the world; and as he went under the frosty trees, he burst suddenly into song.”
St. Francis gave up everything he had. He lost his old life of privilege. But he gained a new life. He shared everything he had for the rest of his days. And he lived a life of joy.
(https://chapel.duke.edu/sites/default/files/RogerOwens08-11-13.pdf)
If we give up what we have, God will care for us. Jesus put it this way.
35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
Jesus’ promise is that if you care for the marginalized with your treasure, then your heart will change, your fears will go away, and God will come to take care of you. The image Jesus has given us is that of God putting on an apron and serving a banquet to us. We, who care for others, are cared for by our God.
So what have we learned from Jesus today? Where our treasure is there our hearts will be. So use your money for God’s purposes, and your hearts will be transformed. You will become kinder and more generous. Your fears will go away. And God will care for you. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, help us to change our perspective about money. We allow our hearts to dictate where our money goes. Help us to use our money for your purposes and through that change our hearts. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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