Sermon Luke 21:5-19 “An Opportunity to Testify”

Rev.  Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Luke 21:5-19  “An Opportunity to Testify”
November 17, 2019

The scripture I have for you today is from Luke 21:5-19.   Listen to the word of God.

Luke 21:5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.

Jesus seems to have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed.   For some reason, Jesus wants to talk about persecution, betrayal, and hatred.  You are probably wondering why we have to deal with this today.   But Jesus has a pearl of great wisdom in the midst of all this.   And 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.” (Calvin)

Jesus’s ministry on earth was coming to an end and he wanted to prepare his followers for what was coming.   Jesus knew that hatred for the Roman occupiers was growing among the Jewish population.   Jews believed that the Messiah would come leading a great army to overthrow the Romans and restore the Davidic kingdom of Israel.  Many people expected Jesus to be this kind of messiah.

    But Jesus was not on earth to lead a Jewish army against Rome.  Rather, he came to start a movement of peaceful resistance.   But he knew that violence was coming and that the Romans would respond by destroying Jerusalem and the beautiful temple they were in.  Jesus wanted to prepare them for the temple’s destruction and what would follow.   Jesus knew that just 35 years later the temple would be destroyed by the Romans and this would unleash a period of violence against both Christians and Jews.

So Jesus warned them to watch out for war as the world’s great powers collide.  He also warned them about earthquakes, famines, and plagues.  And Jesus told them that many of these things will come as surprises.   They won’t know when disaster will fall.   So they have to be ready for it to happen at any time. 

When the disciples heard all this they must have wondered what we are wondering right now.   Why must all these terrible things occur?  If Jesus can still a storm and raise people from the dead, then certainly he can prevent war and natural disasters.  Right?  Well, yes, unless, of course, Jesus has a really good reason for letting these terrible things occur.   So what might this really good reason be?  Jesus told us this in verse 13.

13 This will give you an opportunity to testify.

So according to Jesus, there will be war, persecution and natural disasters so that we will have the opportunity to tell others about what Jesus has done for us.

The world we live in is fallen.   It was created by God to be good.   But sin has destroyed it.   And so we now have war, persecution and natural disasters.   The world’s only hope is that it will be redeemed by the grace of God.  And the only way the world will know about the grace of God is if we tell them about the grace we have received.  So according to Jesus, the reason we have war, persecution and natural disasters is that these give us the opportunity to share our faith with others.

When nations engage in war, we can talk about our God who desires peace.   When Christian are persecuted around the world we can tell people about our prayers for their safety.   When people suffer from natural disasters we can talk about our God whose followers mobilize to help those who are suffering. 

So all we have to do is tell others about our experience with our gracious God.  But all of this is difficult.   We have a hard time talking about our faith.  We just can’t go up to people and talk about our faith.   We can’t bear witness to the grace of God in our lives to people we don’t know.   We can’t tell people about Jesus.  We do not have the ability to testify.

I have been working with a small group in our Sunday morning Bible study.   And we have been looking at this problem of being unable to testify about our faith in Christ.   So can any of you, from that class, remember the solution we found to this problem? … That’s right, we must first be empowered by the Holy Spirit before we can testify to others about our faith.  Jesus put it this way.

15 … I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.

So Jesus promises to empower us by giving us the words we will need to talk about our faith with others.   Whenever we are in conversations about war in the Middle East, impeachment in Washington, or fires in California, Jesus will help us through his Spirit to respond by testifying to the grace of God in our lives. 
In a couple of weeks, you are going to be gathering around tables with your family for Thanksgiving.   And no doubt the conversation will turn to war, politics, and natural disaster.   If we are willing, Jesus will give us the words we will speak about God’s grace in our lives. 

How will our family and friends respond to our testimony about Jesus?  Jesus knew exactly what will happen.

16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name.

So Jesus wants us to do something that will generate conflict around the Thanksgiving table.  Jesus wants us to testify to our faith knowing that some of our family and friends will be offended by what we say, may hate us and may even respond violently.  I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to do this around the Thanksgiving table.  But Jesus responded to our objections this way.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance, you will gain your souls.

Jesus’ promise is that if we testify about our faith to others he will protect us.  We are to remain persistent in our testimony as if our own souls depend on us sharing our faith.

Let me tell you a story about someone’s testimony of faith in the midst of suffering.    Thomas Dorsey was a songwriter and pianist.   To make ends meet he would perform in clubs at night and at church on Sunday mornings.   In August of 1932, Thomas left his pregnant wife in Chicago and traveled to St. Louis to perform at a large revival.   While in St. Louis he learned that his wife had died in childbirth.   His son died the next day.  While suffering intense grief Dorsey wrote and recorded his testimony about his gracious God.

“Precious Lord, take my hand.  Lead me on. Let me stand.  I am tired.  I am weak.  I am worn.   Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.  Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

As Christians, we live in a fallen world.   We suffer from war, persecution and natural disasters.   In our suffering, we are called to give our testimonies about the gracious God who loves us.  Jesus will empower us to give testimony by giving us the words to speak.  Jesus will protect us if the people we talk to feel offended and angry.   We are to be persistent and share our faith with others.   The testimony of our experience of a gracious God is what a fallen world really needs. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, keep us ever faithful.   Protect us from war, persecution and natural disasters.   Help us to speak a word of grace into this fallen world.  Empower us and give us the words to speak that will bring others to faith.   This we pray in your son’s name.  Amen.

Sermon – Malachi 3:6-12 – "The Tithe"

Rev.  Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Malachi 3:6-12 – "The Tithe"
November 10, 2019

This morning we will be talking about money.  I won’t be talking about the budget of the church or what you need to give to keep all of this going.   That is important and the session of the church wants you to at least think about these issues, but what I will be doing this morning is talking about our relationship with God and how God wants us to use our money.  This is a very different topic, but somewhat related to the church budget.  So I will ask you to be generous when you give to the church, but I will ask this out of the larger question of how God wants you to use your resources.  Before we get to this please pray with me.

“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.” (Calvin)

Today we will be looking at Malachi 3:6-12.

Malachi 3:6-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
6 For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”

8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11 I will rebuke the locust[a] for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

It’s the fifth century before Christ.  The people of God were living in a province of the Persian Empire named Yehud.  A governor was appointed by the imperial government, and taxes were very high.  The empire needed high taxes to fund building projects and military expeditions. The people of Yehud were not prosperous and not content.  It looked to them like the only way to get ahead was by lying and cheating.  God seemed to be missing.

The Temple of God had been rebuilt in Jerusalem.  This was to inaugurate a new age of glory and peace.  The Empire had permitted the reconstruction of the temple as a token of autonomy and so the people could maintain their identity as followers of Yahweh.  But the new age of glory and peace had yet to arrive.  The people found themselves just trying to maintain their religious traditions while living difficult lives.

In this context, the prophet Malachi delivered a difficult message from God.  He told the people that by their actions they had turned away from God.  Justice demanded that they be punished for their disobedience.  But the prophet assured them that God is faithful, and will return to Jerusalem if the people repent, turn from their evil ways and turn toward God.

Malachi’s words confused the people and they asked him: “How are we to return to God?”

The prophet’s response was that the people were robbing God.  God’s covenant with the people was clear.  God provided land to the farmers.  They had everything they needed from God, sun, rain, good soil and seed, to grow plentiful crops.  And the farmers were to bring ten percent of the harvest to the storehouses so that those with no land could eat.  The church workers, the widows, the orphans, the poor, the needy, the aliens in the land all needed to eat.  And the only way they could eat was, if the ten percent, the tithe, was delivered to the storehouses.  But given the economic conditions of the times, the high imperial taxes, and the poverty of the farmers, who could spare another ten percent?  So the farmers delivered what they could. 

But God said that was not enough.  Ten percent was the deal.  God had blessed the farmers with land, sunshine, and rain so that the crops would grow and the farmers should bless those without land with food to eat.  Ten percent of the farm output was needed in the storehouse to do this.  So Malachi told them to go back to their farms and bring the full tithe.

The people told Malachi, “We can’t do this.  After we pay our taxes we barely have enough to feed our own families.  How can we bring even more?  You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.”  And Malachi told them.  “Do it anyway.  Bring your tithe.  Test God.  See what happens.”

God’s promise was that if they returned to him, by obeying his command of the tithe, then the blessings of heaven would pour down upon them.  The windows of heaven would be opened, not with a devastating flood, but with a gentle rain to water the crops.  The brown stink bugs wouldn’t mess with their soybeans and wheat.  The dear wouldn’t eat their corn.  The chickens would be free from disease. And all would prosper in the land that God has given them.

For many years I didn’t give ten percent to the church.  I figured that I needed to invest in my business to make it grow.  And I rationalized that there were many people in my church who made a lot more than me. “They had plenty of resources to support the church, I thought.  For many years I gave just a token.

But as my relationship with God became closer I realized that I had to give ten percent.  It was the least I should do.  So for many years now, I have been giving 10% of my income to the church.  Every month I send 10% of my pay to Pittsgrove church.  Every month I have to pay for rent, food, utilities, gas, insurance, car repairs, and medical bills.  So our monthly budget is very tight.  We would live more comfortably if I did not tithe to the church.  But we keep our expenses down and live frugally because I fully expect that God will bless us more than we could ever imagine.

It is difficult to tithe to the church, especially today in modern America because we have forgotten the virtue of thrift. We once believed in living below our means.  John Wesley told us to “Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can.”  Benjamin Franklin said, “If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.”  Thrift is the virtue of spending less than your income and saving what’s leftover.  Today, “thrift” is confused with the word “cheap” and low quality as in “thrift stores.”  But that is a misuse of the word.  God wants us to be thrifty and live within our means.

Our culture tries to make the accumulation of wealth synonymous with greed.  Making money and showing a profit is somehow evil and a sign of corruption.  It’s true that the virtue of thrift can be twisted into the sin of greed by hoarding what we have.  But if we use what we have accumulated to care for others, if we obey the law of the tithe, then thrift never becomes greed.

A few years ago I read a biography of Andrew Carnegie.  My grandfather worked for a Frick coal mine which was owned by Carnegie.  Carnegie was thrifty and always kept his costs below his revenue.  By doing this he became one of the wealthiest people in the world.  And before he died he gave away 90% of his fortune.  He built 1,700 libraries across America, sponsor programs for peace, and funded schools all over the country.

The principle is that thriftiness allows us to be generous.  So if we are careful not to accumulate too much debt, if we always live within our means, and if we save for the future we will have the resources we need to be generous. 

Dr. John Templeton said in his book Thrift and Generosity: The Joy of Giving, “Thrift is not so much a matter of what we have, but of how we appreciate, value and use what we have.  Everyone, regardless of income level, has opportunities to exercise the virtue of thrift.  We practice thrift by monitoring how we spend our time and money and then by making better decisions.” This is good advice for America today.  Thirty years ago our savings rate was between ten and twelve percent.  Since 2005 the savings rate in America is below zero.  We are consuming our wealth and losing our financial freedom. 

The late Senator, Everett Dirksen once said, “Let God give me strength, that I might help  to get America back on the beam and elevate thrift to the pedestal it rightly deserves because thrift and opportunity have been the great horsemen of progress in America.”  So resist the allure of advertising that tells you to spend more than you have.  Resist the call of government to spend our way out of economic problems.  And remember that debt is toxic to your economic health.

So put your economic house in order.  Live within your means.  Get out of debt.  Increase your savings. And tithe 10% to prevent your thrift from turning into greed.  And the promise of scripture is that God will bless you with abundance, more than you could ever imagine.

Frank von Christierson was an international student from Finland who graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1930.  In 1960 he was serving two small Presbyterian Churches in Southern California.  They had small membership and great financial needs.  He wanted the members to understand the meaning of stewardship.  So he wrote a poem, which we sang earlier today.  Here is what Pastor Christierson wrote:

"As those of old their first fruits brought
Of vineyard flock and field
To God the giver all of good
The source of bounteous yield
So we today our first fruits bring
The wealth of this good land
Of farm and market, shop and home,
Of mind and heart and hand."
Amen.

Sermon Ephesian 2:8-9 “Salvation by Grace through Faith”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon Ephesian 2:8-9 “Salvation by Grace through Faith”
October 27, 2019

Today is Reformation Sunday.   This is the day we remember the great Protestant reformers from five hundred years ago.   These men were protesting the errors that had come into the church over its 1500 year history.   They advocated reforms that reflected biblical principles.  This was dangerous work.   And some of these men lost their lives.   But we still have some of their writings.   And today’s worship features prayers of the Protestant reformers.    The rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation was “Salvation by Grace through Faith”.    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)

A few years ago I was visiting a member of my church in a hospice facility in Salisbury MD.   Cliff had been a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and he, his daughter and son-in-law all attended Beaver Dam church.  But Cliff had been in declining health for a couple of years and the end of his life was near.

As I entered the hospice facility a nurse stopped me to talk about Cliff.   Cliff had been unresponsive for a day and a half.  He had nothing to eat or drink during that time.   She told me to not expect any response from Cliff.   He probably wouldn’t wake up again.   And she had removed his hearing aids so he probably couldn’t hear anything I was saying.   So with this is mind I entered Cliff’s room and began to pray.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket and clicked on the Bible app.   Then I went to the 23rd Psalm and read out loud:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.”

Then I looked up and Cliff’s eyes were wide open.   He turned his head to look at me.   And he said, “Pastor, where am I going?”
I responded, “O Cliff, your next stop is heaven!”

Why was I so sure, absolutely certain that Cliff was going to heaven? 

Most people think that the way to go to heaven is by being a good person.   They think that if you are good then God will love you and bring you to heaven.  In fact, there is a show NBC and Netflix called The Good Place based on this very idea.   Good people go to the Good Place and bad people go to the Bad Place.   Jesus had a discussion with someone who believed this way. 

Mark 11:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[d]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

According to Jesus, “no one is good”.  Only God is good.   So all of us are not good enough.   It is impossible for us to do enough good work to earn our way to heaven.  As Americans, we believe that we can do anything with hard work.   But restoring our relationship with God is not something we can do alone.   We cannot do enough good to save ourselves.

So, what do we do?  Let’s turn to our scripture for today.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Our only hope of salvation comes not through good works but by the grace of God.   God’s unmerited favor blesses us with forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.   Salvation is a gift, not something to be earned.
This brings us to a question.   Does everyone receive this gift or only some of us?   The answer is that only some of us receive the gift of salvation because our salvation by grace comes through faith.    So we must have faith to be saved. 
This brings us to another question.   Do we have enough faith to receive God’s gracious gift of salvation?  And how can we know if we have sufficient faith for salvation or not?    Let me suggest that there are three tests that you can give yourself to determine if God has graciously given you saving faith or not.  Let us look at the first test.

John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
(Jesus replied) 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

So Jesus came to earth from heaven and after his resurrection, he returned to heaven. No one could believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven unless they are blessed with faith from the Holy Spirit. If you believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven, then this is strong evidence that God has graciously blessed you with faith and the promise of eternal life.

So we have seen the first test.   If we believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven then we have received the saving faith that leads to eternal life.   Let’s go to the second test. 

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
38  “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

So, according to Peter, the second test we have to know whether or not we have received the gift of salvation is if we find ourselves repenting from sin and desiring baptism.

Repentance simply means to turn around.   One day you are pursuing your own sinful desires.  Then you turn around and desire to follow God and what God wants for your life.   You begin to read the Bible and pray every day to see where God is leading you.   You also attend worship every Sunday and go to Bible study.  If you find these things happening in your life then this is a sure sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God.

Peter also says that with repentance goes baptism.   In baptism, we pass under the baptismal water symbolically dying to our old sinful desires and then we emerge from the water to new life as children of God.   So if you desire baptism for yourself or your children, or if you have been baptized already then this too is a good sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God. 

So far we have two tests.   Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from heaven and returned to heaven?  And do we experience a strong desire to repent and be baptized?  If the answer to both of these questions is “yes”  then you can feel confident that God has blessed you with saving faith.
Now let’s turn to the third test from Paul.

Romans 10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

  9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

So here we have the third test.  Do we have the desire to publicly declare that Jesus is our Lord?   Will you stand before the congregation of the faithful and declare that you will follow Jesus?  If you do this then you can also declare that you have received the gracious gift from God of the promise of eternal life.
There is a second part of this test.   You need to answer this question.   Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?   Jesus’ resurrection is a historical fact.   There were many witnesses of the resurrected Jesus.   And many of these wrote down what they experienced.   Do you believe all this?   Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?  If so then you have a very high degree of assurance of your salvation.  And remember that every member of a Presbyterian Church has publicly declared his or her faith saying that Jesus is Lord and believing that he was resurrected from the dead. 

So we now have three tests.   Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from and returned to heaven?  Have you experienced repentance and baptism?   Have you professed with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?  If the answer to all three of these is yes then you can be absolutely assured of your salvation and the promise of eternal life.   If you are unsure of a positive answer to any of these questions then please come to see me because we need to talk and pray with each other. 

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we know that forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life is not something we can earn.   Our only hope is that you will give us the gift of salvation.  So give us faith that your Son came to earth and returned to heaven.   Help us to turn from sin and turn to you and be baptized.  Help us to profess publically that Jesus is Lord and believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.   For this great gift of salvation, we thank you and pledge to follow your Son and to receive your Spirit.  Amen. 

Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Prayer

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Luke 18:1-8 – Prayer
October 20, 2019

Two weeks ago, we talked about mustard seed faith which is planted in us by God and grows into mature faith throughout our lives.   Then last week we talked about the gratitude we owe as a result of all the blessings we receive from God.  Today we will see that prayer will shape our hearts so that we begin to work for justice.  But before we get to this,  please pray with me.

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. (Calvin)

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus[a] told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”[b] 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Our scripture today is about God’s call to justice.  We live in a world of grinding poverty where many people live in squalid conditions on less than a dollar a day.  We live in a country where many of us are unemployed, have no savings and depend on food stamps.  People are crying out for justice continually day and night.

Widows in ancient times were the poorest of the poor.  They had no job prospects and no family for support.  God required that the government of the day support the widows by mandating that their husband’s family care for them.  But when the husband’s family refused to take care of her, her only recourse was to go to a judge demanding justice.  Judges had been commanded by God to order the husband’s family to do their duty.  But they often refused the command and ignored God.  But, God was patient and called on widows to press her case over and over again.

The ancient Hebrews were no strangers to grinding poverty.  After most of the population of Judah was carried off to Babylon the ones left behind, the poor, the needy, the widows, and the orphans, all those who could not support themselves were left behind. 

In the face of grinding poverty, we, who have been blessed by God, are called to keep our eyes open for any injustice and, like the widow, make our demands for justice continually day and night.  If we see someone being treated unfairly, if we hear about someone being taken advantage of, if we find someone who has fallen through the cracks, then we are called to respond to injustice by demanding justice.

Jeremiah asked this question, “to deprive a man of justice would not the Lord see such things?” (Lamentation 3:36).  Of course, God sees injustice in the world and like the widow in our story today we are called to demand justice continually until justice is fully realized.

Let’s see what Jesus has to say about all of this.

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.

When I was a pastor in California in my first called I started a new Sunday evening worship service and dinner.   While passing out fliers in the community I noticed that the homeless population was growing in our community.   People were living in their cars.   On Sunday nights they would come to the church hoping for a hot meal.   We gave them that, but we also invited them to worship.   Our evening worship service became a worship service for the poorest people in the community.   Over 60 people came to Sunday evening worship.   We prayed for justice.

This scripture is about justice for the oppressed.   But it is also about prayer.  We see a widow praying for justice, but her prayer seems to have to effect.  All of us have prayed for things to happen.  Maybe a loved one is sick.  Maybe you are looking for a job or a spouse or you want children.  You pray over and over again and nothing happens.  And you begin to think that God must be sleeping or on vacation or something.  You pray and pray and pray and God’s seem to never respond.

Jesus is telling us today to keep praying every day, morning and night.  Be persistent.  Don’t stop.  God wants us to keep praying and will respond in God’s own time.  We have to be patient and continually pray, trusting that one day God will act.

The widow in our story today prayed for justice, day and night, every day and every night until one day the judge finally responded to her call for justice and acted on her behalf.  Rest assured in your prayers that God loves you and hears you when you pray.  God wants you to keep on praying continually and be patient, as God is patient until the world is ready for God to act.

As a pastor, I have met many people with loved ones suffering from chronic diseases.  These people have been praying for years.  Day and night they pray for healing.  They pray for wisdom for their doctors.  In their prayers, they hope that one day God will act.  But now they have to be patient and keep praying.

I know something about constant prayer.   I wanted to be married and have a family.   I prayed for this for years.   Year after year nothing happened.   Then at age 47, I went to seminary.   There I found Grace, the perfect pastor’s wife.

In the passage read earlier from Timothy, Paul tells us of a time to come.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

That time has arrived.   People are turning away from true faith turning toward anything that suits themselves.   People today believe that all religions are basically the same.   Jesus is just one way; there are many others.  What should we do in this environment?   Paul says that we must be persistent.

I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

That’s God’s call to us.  Keep praying, morning and night.  Pray over and over again.  Keep praying the same thing every day if you have to.  God never tires of what you have to say.  And be filled with the hope that one day God will act in God’s own way.

We need to patiently and continually pray, assured the God will respond.  We have to pray continually before we can see injustice in the world abolished.
So these go together: praying day and night to bring God’s justice to the world.

This then is the mission of the church.  We are called to pray unceasingly.  Pray every day, confident that God hears your prayers and one day will respond.  As we pray our hearts will change.  We will begin to see injustice in the world, and we will find ourselves motivated to end that injustice.  As we work for God’s justice on earth we will find the need to pray even more.  So prayer and justice go together.  Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, help us to keep praying.  Open our eyes, ears, and hearts to recognize injustice when we see it.  Help us to respond to that injustice.  And equip us in prayer.  We pray in Jesus’ name who prayed continually and worked to end injustice. Amen.

Sermon – Luke 17:11-19 – Thanksgiving

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Luke 17:11-19 – Thanksgiving
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
October 13, 2019

Last week we looked at Jesus’ teaching on faith.   We all have been given a mustard seed faith which must grow to sustain us as we live our lives.   So we engage in spiritual practices, worship, prayer, and Bible study, which nurture our growing faith.   Today we will watch as Jesus crosses boundaries to serve people, and in response these people are thankful.   We will look at the idea of thanksgiving, 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. (Calvin)

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”


We have all heard this story before.  Sunday school teachers love to tell it to children.  They point out that ten people were healed by Jesus, but only one returned to thank him.  The teachers tell the children to be like the one who returned to Jesus.  And they give the children a principle to live by:  Always give thanks whenever someone does something for you.  And this is very good advice.  Always have those thank you cards ready and remember to write them for those gifts and meals you receive from others.

But if we look closely at this parable it becomes a little troubling.  After all, didn’t the nine do exactly what Jesus told them to do?  Remember what Jesus said, “Go present yourselves to the priests.”  Nine lepers did exactly what they were told to do.  And one disobeyed Jesus.  So why are we admiring the one who was disobeying Jesus?  And why does Jesus seem to commend him for his disobedience while being critical of the others who obeyed his command?  Like much of what Jesus said we have to dig a little deeper to see what he is trying to say to us.

The narrator of this passage, Luke, tells us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  Jesus had begun this journey all the way back in Luke chapter nine.  And we know from Luke chapter nineteen that his route to Jerusalem passed through Jericho.  So he and his disciples were traveling down the Jordan River to Jericho and then took the Roman road from Jericho to Jerusalem.  This is the normal root for Jews, traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, who wish to avoid Samaria.  So how could it be, as our passage says today, that Jesus was on the border of Galilee and Samaria?  The answer is that Luke is not giving us a geography lesson.  He is doing something else. The border between Galilee and Samaria is not just a matter of territory.  It is also a religious and cultural barrier.  And this was the border the Jesus was crossing. 

Almost 20 years ago I traveled to the Holy Land on a mission and pilgrimage with my church.  The Jerusalem office of World Vision International took us into Gaza.  At the border, we were stopped by the Israeli army and told to get out of the bus.  Our passports were taken away.   We walked a few yards to an ancient bus that was waiting to take us into Gaza.  Off in the distance, I saw Palestinians making the mile and a half walk from the buses in Gaza that had brought them to the border to the buses that would take them to work in Israel.  I saw gigantic differences between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  They were separated by physical, economic, cultural and religious barriers at this border. 

So let’s look at the cultural and religious barriers that separated the Samaritans and Jews in the first century.  Samaria was the sight of an ancient city built in the ninth century before Christ by Omri, king of Israel.  It served as the capital of the northern kingdom until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century.  From that time on it was occupied by various ethnic and religious groups.  In the third century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the area and a new community was established.   This community became known as Samaritans.  Their religion was similar to Judaism but their Bible consisted of only the Torah, the first five books of our Old Testament.  They rejected all the wisdom and prophetic literature that we have in the Old Testament.  Culturally, they adopted many of the customs of the Greeks. 

Because of these religious and cultural differences, there were conflicts between the Jews and the Samaritans.  A major conflict occurred in the second century BC when the Greek ruler ordered that all temples begin worshiping Zeus.  The Samaritan temple, on Mt. Gerazim, was dedicated to Zeus.  This outraged the Jews and in the war that followed a Jewish general destroyed the Samaritan temple.  So centuries of hatred and mistrust had passed resulting in a great division between the Jews and the Samaritans.  And Jesus stood at the boundary between these two peoples.

There is another boundary in our story today.  This boundary was set up between the Jewish community and those with contagious skin diseases which the Bible lumps together under the term leprosy.  Just outside of a village, ten people with skin diseases stood at a distance from Jesus. They had been quarantined to protect the community from contracting their disease.  The Book of Leviticus has clear instructions about diagnosing skin infections and what must be done to limit the spread of infections.  It says,

Leviticus 13:45-46   45 "The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!'  46 As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.

All ten of the people with skin infections obeyed these instructions and cried out to Jesus for healing. The lepers hoped for healing from Jesus.  Probably they heard about the healing he had done in Galilee and wanted it for themselves.  So they approached Jesus and asked to be healed.

Those who were Jewish knew the story of the General Naaman of Aram whom the prophet Elisha had healed from leprosy because it was in the Hebrew Bible. Those who were Samaritans had no knowledge of this story because the Book of Kings was not in their Bible.  The Jews, therefore, knew that healing was possible from a prophet like Jesus.  But the Samaritans could only hope for something extraordinary to occur. 

We are told that Jesus did heal all ten of the lepers.  Nine of them, presumably Jewish, did exactly what both Jesus and the Book of Leviticus told them to do.  They went straight to a priest who would examine them for any sign of the infection and if none was found would reintroduce them into society. 

But one of the lepers was so overwhelmed with gratitude he went to Jesus to praise God.  This act revealed the leper’s belief that Jesus had healed him.  He was probably a Samaritan.  We don’t know why this leper did not go with the others to be checked out by a priest as the others had done.  Maybe he thought that Jesus was his priest.  What we do know is that Jesus crossed a boundary.  A Jewish rabbi became the priest for a Samaritan, and a healed Samaritan became a faithful follower of Jesus Christ with praise and gratitude in his heart for all the blessings he had received from God. 

The Samaritan was thankful for the healing he had received from Jesus and for the effect that transformation would have on his life.  He was thankful for being restored to what God had created him to be.  In his gratitude he glorified God and this demonstrated his faith in Jesus Christ.  This is the model for us to follow.  We, who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, should be thankful for the blessings God has given us.  We, who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, should be thankful for our transformation into disciples of Jesus Christ.  And we, who have the saving faith in Jesus Christ, should be thankful for the assurance we have of eternal life.

After their encounter, Jesus told the Samaritan to go on his way.  There must have been a strong desire to just hang around Jesus.  Maybe the Samaritan wanted to be a disciple.  Maybe he was afraid to go off alone.  But Jesus told him that he had received the best gift of all.  Yes, being healed was an important gift.  But the bigger gift was the gift of faith, which Jesus said was what really healed him.  So the former leper, a Samaritan, went on his way confident, healed and thankful for all that God had done for him and filled with faith in Jesus Christ which will sustain him whatever happens for the rest of his life.

This offer has been made to us too.  We have been filled with faith in Jesus which sustains us in this life and assures us of eternal life.  It would be tempting to just hang around church all the time.  But just like the Samaritan leper, we are sent on our way to our own lives, with all the problems and possibilities lives have.  And we will be sustained and assured as we live those lives by our faith in Jesus Christ.  So God calls us to be thankful by blessing us richly with the gift of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The singer Kelly Clarkson has a song called “Thankful”.  Here us part of what it says:
I’m thankful for the blessings and the lessons that I’ve learned with you by my side.
I’m thankful so thankful for the love that you keep bringing in my life
I’m thankful for the moment when I’m down you always know how to make me smile.
I'm thankful for the moments & the joy that your bringing to my life.
For the lessons that I’ve learned
For the trouble I’ve known
For the heartache & pain that you’ve thrown my way
When I didn’t think I could go on
But you made me feel strong. With you I am never alone
Thankful so thankful

Three thousand years before Ms Clarkson another singer sang these words.

Psalm 30:1-12   I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.  2 O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.  3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.  4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.  5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.  6 When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."  7 O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.  8 To you, O LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:  9 "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?  10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help."  11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,  12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.  Amen.

Sermon – Luke 17:5-10 –Mustard Seed Faith

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Luke 17:5-10 –Mustard Seed Faith
World Communion Sunday
October 6, 2019

I am starting today with a sermon series looking at some of Jesus’ teachings as recorded in the Gospel of Luke.   Today we will look at God's call to faith.   He has planted a mustard seed faith which is even now growing within us.  We will get to this, but first please pray with me. 

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. (Calvin)

Luke 17:5-6  5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a[c] mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.


The disciples of Jesus Christ were aware of God's call to faith.  They hungered for even greater faith than they already had.  Jesus told them that they had just a beginner's faith, a mustard seed faith.  They had just begun to have a faith that would grow for an entire lifetime.  Their faith had to be nurtured and so Jesus, their teacher, taught them ways to increase their faith.

In our old testament reading from Psalm 137, the Jewish exiles in Babylon longed for greater faith to sustain them until they could go home to Jerusalem.  Their faith had been shattered with the destruction of Jerusalem and King Solomon’s temple.  They were back to a mustard seed faith.  But now their faith was growing again.  And that faith would sustain them in their years of exile.

According to Jesus, faith is like a small seed, a mustard seed, which grows over a lifetime provided that it is properly nurtured with regular worship, prayer, Sabbath-keeping, Bible study and other spiritual practices.  And as faith grows in us we are shaped into the image of Jesus Christ, just as we were created to be.

Several years ago a couple of researchers interviewed 3000 American teenagers to see what they believe.  These teenagers, from many different religious traditions, reported that they had faith in God.  But their faith has just begun to take root.  They had mustard seed faith which must be nurtured for the fullness of faith to develop in their lives.  Let's start by taking a look at the mustard seed faith held by American teenagers today.

The researchers put together a mustard seed creed which summarizes what American teenagers believe today.  This creed is as follows (http://www.scribd.com/doc/7699752/Moralistic-Therapudic-Deism-by-Christian-Smith)

A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, fair and nice to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
The central goal in life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularity involved in one's life except when he is needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.

My guess is that many if not most of the people in churches today believe this and that it accurately reflects the faith that most Christians have today.  But this faith pales when compared to the mature faith that grows in our hearts as we spend lifetimes in relationship with Jesus Christ.  The authors of the study summarized their findings and described the basic faith of American teenagers as Moralistic, Therapeutic, Deism.  I think that Jesus would have called this, a mustard seed faith.

A mustard seed faith is “moralistic”.  It teaches us to be good people and obey God's law.  This is a good place to start.  It is a good thing to do what God wants us to do. One teenager said, “I believe in, well, my whole religion is where you try to be good, and if you are not good you try to be better, that's all.” 

   If American teenagers believe that obeying the 10 commandments is a good thing to do then churches in America have done a great job.  But we must remember that this is just a mustard seed faith.  Teenagers need much more faith to sustain them throughout their lives.  Their mustard seed faith needs to grow. 

As our faith grows we begin to realize that God's law does more than just help us to be nice people and lead good lives.  God's law begins to convict us of our own sin.  We begin to realize that no matter how good we try to be we still fall short of what God wants.  And this causes us to fall on our knees, confess our sins, and ask for forgiveness which only Jesus Christ can give us.  So our faith grows into repentance as we turn from sin and turn to Christ by whose grace we are forgiven. 

But the growth of our faith does not stop there.  It continues to grow into our call to service and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.  We are transformed by this growing faith into people who love the poor just as Jesus did.  So our mustard seed faith which teaches us to be good people grows into a mature faith that causes us to turn to Jesus and be transformed into loving people.

A mustard seed faith is also “therapeutic” in that it makes us feel good.  We come to church to feel better.  We look for the church to be a sanctuary from the problems of the world.  We are bombarded with financial problems, job insecurity, health issues, and concern for our parents and our children.  And we come to church to feel better by getting away from all of that for an hour or so each week.  We love praying and singing because it gets our mind off the things that trouble us.  And we hope that through prayer and worship the Holy Spirit will remove our concerns and solve our problems.  All of this makes the church a wonderful place to be.   A teenage girl said, “God is like someone who is always there for you.  I don't know it's just that God is God.  He's just like someone who is always there to help whatever it is you're going through.  When I became a Christian, I was just praying and it always made me feel better.”

       But sometimes our troubles are so great that when we bring them with us into church our faith cannot make us happy unless it has grown into greater maturity.

As we grow older we begin to realize that we experience intense emotions.  A loved one dies.  Your doctor orders a test for cancer.  You hear that another 10% cut in staffing has been ordered by your employer.   You come to church and yet you still grieve, you are still afraid.  You need a growing faith where you realize that God is there with you no matter what happens.  The cross is so important here.  It reminds us that God has already experienced our pain and our grief with his own son's death and therefore can empathize with our pain and our grief. 

So we have seen that as our faith grows we grow from trying to be good people, into repentant sinners and disciples of Jesus Christ.  And even though we usually feel good coming to church a maturing faith helps us to be comforted even when the world seems upside down.  And these are very good reasons to nurture our mustard seed faith with worship, prayer, and Bible study so that it will grow into mature faith.

Finally, let’s look at what the study authors were saying when they called the faith of our teenagers as a form of “deism”.  With a mustard seed faith, we believe in a creator God.  And we believe that when we really need God, God will be there.  But ordinarily, God is resting in heaven and not active in the world.  This is deism. It is as if the world was like a clock that God made, set and wound up.  It continues to run without God's involvement or interest.  But when the clock runs down and stops then God intervenes by rewinding it.  For a deist, with a mustard seed faith, this is what the world is like.  God created the world and got it going, but God has little to do day to day unless problems pop up.  A fourteen-year-old boy said, “I believe that there is a God, so sometimes when I am in trouble or in danger, then I'll start thinking about that.”  Deist can essentially ignore God until trouble happens and then they turn to their long-forgotten God for help. 

But as we nurture our mustard seed faith we become aware of God's activity in the world around us. We begin to acknowledge that God is the source of all of our blessings. We realize that God provides the rain and the sunshine and the soil and the seed that provides us with an abundance of food.  We experience God's presence in worship and prayer.  And so we begin to see God at work in the world around us.  But our growing faith does not stop here.  We not only see God at work in the world around but we begin to experience a Trinitarian God.  We experience God as a Father who loves us, as a Son who redeems us and as a Holy Spirit who comforts us.  A mature faith ties us to our triune God bound with cords of love.

So we begin with a mustard seed faith.  We believe that God calls us to be good people.    We believe that God will make us happy.  And we believe that God will leave us alone until we really need him.  But as we grow in faith we are convicted of our own sin and turn to God in repentance.  We begin to follow Christ and share his concern for the poor.  And we begin to see God continually at work in the world around us and loving us every moment.

We have been given a mustard seed faith.  We are called to nurture this seed so that it grows into a mature faith. The church is like a mustard seed faith farm.  And we are mustard seed faith farmers.  We need to plant our mustard seed faith with worship on Sunday mornings.  We need to water the mustard seed faith every day with prayer.  We need to fertilize this mustard seed faith with our Bible Studies on Sunday and Thursday mornings.   We need to create new mustard seed faith plants in our children and grandchildren.  And we need to harvest our mature mustard seed faith at our memorial services and funerals. 

Today we gather around this table.   We come with our mustard seed faith.   That faith is nurtured with the bread and juice.   And the mustard seed faith grows throughout our lifetimes into mature faith through worship, prayer, and Bible study.  Let’s pray. 

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the faith you have given us.  We ask that you help us to nurture that faith so that it will sustain throughout this life and prepare us for the life ahead.  Amen.

Sermon Jeremiah 31:27-34 A New Covenant

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.