Jeremiah 26:1-6 Early
in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the
Lord: “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house
and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the
house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word.
Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will
relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil
they have done. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen
to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen
to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and
again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh
and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’”
WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
I.
Those who think the Lord will not judge?
II.
The Lord who wants to forgive?
In the name of Jesus who is coming soon, dear
fellow redeemed children of God,
Just a
few plays into last Monday night’s game and Packers fans were wincing. Since that awkward fall of our quarterback’s
shoulder, Packer fans have been listening- listening for any word about Aaron
Rodgers’ injury. We listened for reports
from the sideline. We listened to the coach
after the game saying something without saying anything. I even went to the extreme measure of
listening to Chicago sports talk radio early on Tuesday morning where they said
without qualification that the Green Bay quarterback had broken his collarbone
which was interesting because they somehow had that news before anyone in
Packerland. We’ve been listening to
“experts” speculating all week about how long Aaron Rodgers will be out. Some say 3 weeks- other much longer. It is hard to know who to listen to. Who do we listen to about matters of heaven
and hell and life and death? That’s the
question we ask ourselves today as we go through the Church Year Season of End
Times on this Last Judgment Sunday. WHO
ARE YOU LISTENING TO? I. Those who think the Lord will not
judge? II. The Lord who wants to forgive?
Imagine
having a “Brussels sprouts” stand right next to an ice cream cone stand sunny
warm day. You could call out, “Brussels sprouts! Ice cold Brussels sprouts”
all day long, but my guess is that most of the customers are going to be going
next door to the ice cream store. In
Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time, Jeremiah must have felt like he had the Brussels
sprouts next to the stand that was giving away ice cream. He was offering God’s
healthy spiritual food but nobody was listening. Everybody was listening to the false prophets
who were telling the people what they wanted to hear.
That was
really a symptom of the people God sent Jeremiah to serve. Everyone was moving away from the true
God. Jeremiah served as a prophet for 42
years. He was just a young
whippersnapper when God called him.
In fact when the Lord called him
he complained that he was only a child.
God told him, “"Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to
everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. When Jeremiah went to the palace in
Jerusalem the first time it was the home of good King Josiah and he was
welcomed there. Josiah was a God fearing
King and had been working at pointing the people back to the true God for 13
years when Jeremiah came along. God’s
prophet and the king of God’s people were on the same page. But then Josiah died. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah wrote some funeral hymns. Josiah’s
sons now walked up the steps of the palace.
It wasn’t like Father like son. Josiah listened to the word of the
Lord. His sons did not. Four evil kings
followed. The first son of Josiah lasted only three
months. He was wicked. His brother took over and that’s when we
hear, “Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word
came from the Lord: “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the
Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to
worship in the house of the Lord. Tell
them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and
each will turn from their evil ways”
Jeremiah
spoke in the courtyard of the Lord where everyone could hear. But more and more the people began to listen
to the people who said what they wanted to hear-people who said that God would
not judge. One of those voices came from
the king. Once, years later, Jehoikim the king was so upset with Jeremiah
warning the people about God’s judgment of sin that he called for a scroll of
God’s word to be a read and then “whenever Jehudi had read three or four
columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw
them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.”
There were many other voices saying that the Lord would not judge-that
he would let sin and wickedness pass. In
fact after Jeremiah said what the Lord told him to say we are told, “But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people
everything the Lord had
commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people
seized him and said, “You must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house
will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all
the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.”
Are you
feeling a little like Jeremiah in your life right now? Do you feel there are fewer and fewer people
in your life who are listening to the Word of the Lord? “ Do you feel like you
are going out on a limb when you talk with family members or friends? Are there
people in your life who are saying that the Lord will not judge? Look around the world-listen to what they are
saying. Doesn’t it seem like many are
saying, “Don’t judge me!” I can do what
I want. It is true we don’t want to
judge people with a holier than thou attitude or write people off on the basis
of what they look or sound like. But
when God has clearly spoken then we have say what God says, “Tell them
everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each
will turn from their evil ways.” With Jeremiah I’m sure there was a temptation
to pull some of the law “punches” of God’s Word. How easy isn’t it for us to not speak all the
words the Lord has spoken. It’s easy to
come up with excuses. “ Oh I’m too close to the situation” or “I don’t know the
person well enough” or “he never listens to me anyway.” When we don’t say anything don’t we become
like the people who in Jeremiah’s day were saying that sin is OK -the Lord will
not judge.
But what if we have been listening to those
voices that the Lord will not judge in our own lives? What if we have been thinking that our sin is
OK because we have good reasons for it? What
if I’m the one grinding my teeth when I hear the word of the Lord? God’s Word says, “Be not deceived, Gos is not
mocked.” We need to listen, “This is
what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have
set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the
prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not
listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among
all the nations of the earth.” God’s
judgment is coming for those who refuse to heed his call. Shiloh had once been a busy worship and
commerce center but now it was deserted.
Jeremiah’s message was that Jerusalem would be the same way if they refused
to listen to God. The truth is we
deserve to be deserted too.
But God
sent one who was deserted for us. He is
the one to listen to. He is the one who
wants to forgive.
Listen
to His voice, “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil
ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning
because of the evil they have done.” As
one reads through Jeremiah sometimes a person might hear God talk and say
“Bring the hammer down already!” But God
doesn’t want to bring the hammer down.
He says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that
the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die?” The Lord doesn’t want to bring his
judgment. The Lord said it. He sent the prophets again and again. He sent His Son who would be Shiloh for us. He was deserted for us. Remember Jesus words from the cross? “My God my God why have you forsaken
me?” He did that for us. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us
that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
I read a
quote from movie actress Marilyn Monroe about listening at Hollywood
parties. “I've often stood silent at a
party for hours listening to my movie idols turn into dull and little people.” What she said is true. Apart from God’s truth human beings become
self-centered dull and little. Who are
you listening to? Listening to those who
say that the Lord will not bring judgment on sin will bring only desolation and
disappointment. Let’s listen to the
voice of the one who loves us enough to die for us- the one who wants to
forgive. Amen
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