‘…Trust in a Lie?”

A sermon based upon Jeremiah 28: 1-17

By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin

Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time,  July 22, 2018 

(8-12) Sermon Series: Jeremiah: Prophet to the Nations

 Perhaps you’ve noticed that being a teenager and getting a tattoo goes hand and hand these days.   One girl showed her girlfriend’s mother a delicate little Japanese symbol on her hip.

“Please don’t tell my parents,” she begged.
“I won’t,” I promised. “You’re 18 now, so I guess it’s your choice.  By the way, what does

 that stand for?”
          “Honesty,” she said  (http://www.jokesoftheday.net/joke-Telling-the-Truth/2017111649).

This story certainly illustrates one very important point that I want to get across to you today: the truth isn’t what it used to be.

Do you recall watching the 1972 movie, “The Poseidon Adventure”?   In particular, I recall watching, as the ship started to sink, how the majority of the passengers, rather than head toward the bottom decks of the ship to safety, moved toward the top decks to their doom.  Under normal circumstances they would be making the right choice. But since the boat had capsized, what was up was now down, and what was previously down was now up. Getting to safety required more than just going with what was normal, or what you were used to, but getting to safety required rightly assessing the situation by following a reliable guide who could take you where you’d never gone before.

When you think about how rapidly values and views are changing today, whether they be cultural, technological, philosophical or even moral, you must agree that we live in a world that, for good or ill, has been turned upside down. Many values, institutions, and beliefs that once held our world together, are struggling to survive.  We live in a world where new ideas rule the day.

Interestingly, in our text today, the world of Jeremiah had also been turned upside down.  The world God’s people knew was collapsing before their very eyes.  Why was all this happening?  The prophet Jeremiah said it was because they had forgotten their covenant promise with God.  Now, God was about to allow the consequences of their choice to come down upon them.  The difficult task the true Jeremiah had was to bring a message that was unlike any other.  It was an upside-down message that would go against all the other messages prophets had brought before, going against the grain of everything that everyone believed about God, about Jerusalem, and about the truth.   That’s the difficult, impossible task Jeremiah was given.  It’s part of why people have called him the ‘weeping prophet’. 

In light of all the difficult of Jeremiah’s prophetic message, take a closer look at how his own personal and prophetic situation might speak to our own day and time, when, as one scholar has described it, ‘truth is stranger than it used to be.’   We live in a time when the church is to deliver a prophetic message of truth in a world that struggles, very much like Pontius Pilate did when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?”   How can anyone still trust in any kind of ‘eternal’ truth in a world that is both temporal and most every form of truth is considered relative to what matters only in this moment?  Let’s see if Jeremiah on situation can shed light on our own.

“THUS, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS…” (2)  

Jeremiah’s situation was certainly significant. Whereas normally the role of a prophet was to pray and intercede on behalf of the people, in Jeremiah 7:16 God instructs Jeremiah to no longer pray for Jerusalem.  Mt. Zion had been considered the mighty fortress of God because of the presence of Yahweh (cf. Psalm 46; 48), yet now, as revealed in chapter 21, God sends Jeremiah his prophet to do the unthinkable---to call upon King Zedekiah to surrender Jerusalem over to the Babylonians and to give in to what is to come.  Instead of ‘stand up and fight’, the message was ‘give up and give in.’

To symbolize what is to come, in Jeremiah 27:2ff), we read how Jeremiah places a yoke on his neck as a sign of the impending yoke of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar’s rule upon the region. Jeremiah again calls upon King Zedekiah and the people not to resist the rule of the Babylon, since it is God who has given him rule over the nations and creation.  Whereas previously the role of the prophets was to call upon Israel’s kings to resist allegiances to foreign kings or powers (e.g., Hosea 5:13; 8:9-11), according to Jeremiah it would now be false prophets would who say such words (27:14-15).  In other words, what used to be true was now false and what used to be false, was now the very difficult truth God wanted God’s people to hear and understand.  For God’s people the world was turned upside down.

Haven’t we also known times in history, when the ‘truth’ gets confusing, when everything we knew to be true before, is turned upside down?   The most unforgettable example is during the rise of Nazi Germany, when a people followed Hitler because they thought and believed their government and leader could do no wrong.  The Germans like us, were taught to be patriotic and to put trust and confidence in their leaders, but this time it was not what they should have done, as their leaders were not telling them the truth.  Most Germans came to realize this, but it was too late.   There were, however, some who never understood.  

I’ll never forget interviewing an older, German woman on the streets of a German city.  She was probably in her early 20’s when Hitler came to power. When I interviewed her it was almost 50 years afterwards.  “What did you think of Hitler?”, I asked.  Her answer shocked me.  She continued, “Hitler was the greatest leader in my life-time.  When He was in power we had no economic problems.  The whole country ran well: politics, economics, religion, day to day life was almost perfect.  Everyone had a job, good clothes, and the future looked bright.  It’s too bad it all came to an end.”  Hearing this very strange response, I attempted to clarify: “You thought Hitler was a good leader?”  Again, she answered, “He made things better for the German people. Everyone had a car in their garage.”  And of course, she was right, to a point. Everything was going well for Germans who were living off the backs of murdered Jews, seized land, and toppled governments, including their own.  But this lady just couldn’t see beyond her own nose, even after 50 years.

Sometimes what we think is true, isn’t.  We always need to try to see beyond what we think is true, even if it is true for us or true to what we want to believe.  What we want to be true is not always the case, we all see life with individualized, emotional and intellectual blinders that can prevent us from seeing or thinking beyond the immediate and the obvious.  This can be understood by what happens when you are driving on snow.  If you start sliding, the obvious reaction is to hit your brakes and turn away from the slide, but this makes things worst.  In order to respond correctly you have to train your retrain your brain to keep your foot off the brake and turn into the skid and wait for you vehicle to straighten up.  It’s not easy to resist your most normal, obvious reaction, but if you drive in icy conditions you have learn this.

In our text, Judah is in a skid toward destruction and the most obvious reaction is to fan the flames of nationalism and rally the troops to fight their enemy.  This is what they have done in the past, but now God speaks through the prophet that this is now the wrong way to think. The new truth is that Judah must give in and give up.  That was not a popular message, but it turned out to be the truth.  Still, it was a truth that God’s people did not want to hear.  What complicated matters for God’s prophet was that all the prophets would rather tell the people what they wanted to hear rather than tell the truth they needed to hear.

LISTEN NOW TO THIS WORD… (7).

Interestingly, in the very confusing times in which Jeremiah lived, because people were easily confused about the truth, Jeremiah did not always right out oppose those who differed with him.  He tried to commend their efforts.  He even tried to hope that what they said was true. 

A good example of Jeremiah’s cautious behavior is on display right here in our text.  After the Hananiah countered Jeremiah’s warning about Babylon, saying that Babylon’s power will soon be broken, Jeremiah surprisingly responds with a wishful “Amen!” (v 6).  He does not immediately oppose, argue with, or react to Hananiah’s differing opinion, only adding that we must wait and see whose words will come true.  The one who tells the truth will be considered a true prophet (v 9).

What is most instructive for us is how Jeremiah handles opposing, contradicting opinions and perspectives.  Jeremiah does not immediately argue or react.  He takes his time.  He allows the opposing side to speak his mind.  He is even agreeable to the point that he hopes that they are right.  Jeremiah does not respond to his antagonist without time for serious thought and reflection.  Today, most people would laugh at Jeremiah’s respectful, reflective approach.  People prefer to follow someone who would be quicker on their feet and show immediate power and strength.  When we were getting our German Driver’s license, our instructor told us that if were ever involved in a fender bender, we’d better speak up against the other person in front of the policeman.  If you didn’t speak up, they will consider you in the wrong and guilty.  Well, once I was in a fender bender and I spoke up.  They found me guilty anyway.

In most cultures, the strong and quick to react are rewarded the most.    The great standup folksy funny man, Will Rodgers, had a reputation that he was so quick witted that he could make anyone laugh. President Calvin Coolidge had a reputation that he never laughed at anything.  Finally, Will Rodgers was invited to the White House. People wondered what would happen. Both men's reputations were at stake. It is said that Will Rodgers came through the reception line and was introduced to the President. "President Coolidge, this is Will Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers, this is President Calvin Coolidge." Will Rodgers leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." The President cracked up and started laughing. 

We admire people who are quick on their feet, don't we?   General George Armstrong Custer was that kind of person in a different way.  In fact, many historians think he might have been the next President of the United States if he hadn't been killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn. He was so popular that the Democrats were priming him to be their next candidate. Gen. Custer had a reputation for being quick on his feet, able to analyze battle situations and react quickly. His quickness paid off in many battles. 

Fresh out of West Point, he served under General McClellan in the Civil War. Once Gen. McClellan marched to the edge of a river, where he and all of his officers stopped their horses. Gen. McClellan commented, "I wish I knew how deep this river was so I knew whether the troops could cross or not." The officers sat on their horses wondering what to do. Custer spurred his horse and rode into the middle of the river. From the river he called out, "General, this is how deep it is." No wonder Custer had a reputation for being able to make quick decisions. It was his strength. Also, it was his weakness. 

Once when Custer was marching his 7th Cavalry across the plains he decided to try the speed of his greyhounds against a herd of antelope grazing two miles away. On the spur of the moment, he left his troops and took off after the antelope. He chased this herd several miles but couldn't catch up with them. By the time he stopped he realized he was lost out on the Great Plains. Looking around to try and get some directions, he spotted his first buffalo. Giving in to the emotions of the moment, Gen. Custer spurred his horse and took off after the buffalo. After chasing the huge bull for several miles, he decided to finish the hunt by shooting the buffalo in the head. As he lowered his revolver to the buffalo's head, the animal whirled on the horse, so that Custer's thoroughbred reared just as Custer fired the shot. Gen. Custer shot his own horse in the head. As he freed himself of his dead horse, he discovered he was without food, without water, without a horse, lost out on the Great Plains. Hours later, his troops found him. He might easily have died out in the middle of the prairie.

People like Gen. Custer are popular because they show the ability to be decisive ” sometimes to their own detriment. The prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, was not quick at all. He did not react like Will Rodgers or Gen. Custer. He was the kind of person who had to go home and think about it for a while and then come back later to give his response (Stephen E. Ambrose, CRAZY HORSE AND CUSTER, 1975, pp. 266, 267). 

When Hananiah took the yoke off of Jeremiah's neck, broke it, and announced, "Thus says the Lord, “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon” ( 28:2) preaching exactly the opposite that Jeremiah had been preaching, Jeremiah paused.  Perhaps he really didn’t know what to say or how to respond. His only reaction was to hope that it was so, agreeing with a somewhat sarcastic, "A-men! Go ahead, tell everybody that. I hope you are right!" Not knowing how else to respond, Jeremiah went home. 

But when Jeremiah got home, he rethought that whole conversation. Have you ever done that?  Have you ever thought, "Boy, I wish I had said such and such...." I suspect Jeremiah laid in bed at night thinking about what had occurred. He prayed about it over and over until the Lord gave him the proper response.

In these confusing times, when it’s sometimes hard to know exactly what the truth is, or when it can be very difficult to discern what God is saying, it is important that we learn this very important lesson from Jeremiah.  We need to learn that while sometimes it is very clear what God is saying, there are times when the truth become is less clear.  There are times when it shows more wisdom when we say less than when we say more.  My father was certainly a good example of saying less.  He was a Sunday School teacher and a deacon, and he had a lot to say when he taught his Sunday School class, but he was also a very quiet reflective, person at home.  One he told me the reason he was quiet was because Scripture says ‘we will all give an account to the Lord at the judgement for every word idle word we speak’ (Matt. 12:36).

That we will are accountable for our words is a very good reason to be careful with what we think, believe and say is true.  Since discerning the truth can be difficult, confusing and changing at times, we can all be gullible to hearing what we want to hear and believing what we want to believe.  We should be always take care and be careful with the truth, mainly because we could be wrong.   When we rush to speak, rush to believe something to be true, especially when there are differing opinions, we could very well be reacting out of our own needs, fears, or desires, than giving a good, thoughtful response.  

But perhaps the most important lesson here is not just about what we think.  The most important reason for pausing in our response, and for considering the truth carefully, is that we need to allow God the chance to speak, to reveal and to act upon the ‘new’ truth we may need to hear, believe and come to understand.   If Jeremiah had merely spoken with no time for thought, the words would have been his words alone, and not God's. Sometime, even when we know the truth, and especially when we think we do, we need to stop, pause to then listen for God in the situation.  

Most of us cherish the music of Handel's "Messiah," particularly at Christmas. We love the beautiful choruses and the solos. We stand together reverently as we listen to the "Halleluia Chorus." But most of us don't know much about Handel's life and what brought him to write "Messiah." 

In his 30's Handel became successful as a composer. By his 20's he had already established his reputation throughout Europe as an outstanding organist. On moving to London, he decided to build a reputation as a music composer. Through his 30's and 40's he continued to write music in London. He primarily wrote operas for the upper class. The difficulty was that it took him so much time to write an opera and to rehearse it with the singers and to get everything ready that by the time it was finally performed, he was deeply in debt. His income from each opera went to pay back the debts he had incurred during the composing and rehearsals. It took him about 2 months to get an opera ready. The opera would run for 3 or 6 nights; sometimes a really well-received opera would run for 11 nights. He would pay his bills and then immediately he needed to start on another opera. 

For 20 years his life became a frantic routine of churning out more and more operas to pay his debts. He was living on the edge of debtor's prison day in and day out. Can anybody relate to that ” running day and night just to stay even? Then, when he was 52 years old, Handel suffered a stroke and lost the use of the right side of his body. He could no longer accompany his operas. He was forced, by his bad health, to take a break. He left London and went to France to soak in some hot, natural baths. He wanted to get the right side of his body working again. It was on one of those days, while sitting in the bath, praying that somehow his right hand would be restored so he could continue with his music, that somebody said to him, "Sometimes people need more than entertainment. I can still remember when I heard your oratorio, `Esther.' That oratorio inspired me. It lifted my spirits at a time when I was discouraged." The speaker was not aware that the music for "Esther" had been stolen from Handel and used by someone else who combined it with the biblical material. The speaker continued, "Monsieur Handel, the world is full of discouragement. Why don't you write something that will inspire human beings to live useful lives?"

Bathing in those hot baths for a number of days, Handel finally began to get a little movement in his hand. With full recovery, he was able to use his arm and his hand again. It was a day of rejoicing when he could sit down at an organ and play again with both hands. He returned to London. But in the back of his mind he kept thinking about that statement made to him at the baths. When he got back to London, he began writing music for biblical oratorios along with operas. Writer Charles Jennens asked for an appointment with Handel to discuss some new music for a piece he had written called "Messiah." Handel was so impressed by the compilation of Old Testament prophecies which were fulfilled by Jesus that he sat down and worked for twenty-four straight days. In less than a month he completed the music for the "Messiah." 

The last 20 years of his life he spent writing music for biblical oratorios. He took many Old Testament passages and put them to music. He discovered his real gift was inspirational music. Now he had a higher purpose than frantically churning out opera after opera to pay debts. But it took a crisis in his life to make him pause long enough to make the discovery. It is a shame when we wait until we have a stroke or a heart attack or a divorce before we sit back and think about where our lives are headed (Charles Ludwig, GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL (Mott Media, 1987), p. 148).

Like Handel, you and I need to pause every so often in order to get God's perspective. We need to respond instead of frantically reacting to everything.  We need to find God’s truth, not just the truth we want to find.  In our text, Jeremiah went home and prayed, "Lord, give me a response." We need to do the same. When we take time to thoughtfully and prayerfully respond, we can find our way through to real answers” not the simple, superficial answers that always please the crowd or make us feel good.  And when we give God a chance to give us His answer we also give God the chance to act in ways that bring real solutions, real healing, and real hope into our lives. 

YOU HAVE SPOKEN REBELLION… (16) 

The most sobering part of this passage is that in the end, only one prophet could be right.  It can be the same way with the truth.  The truth is the still what is true, but the sometimes we have to wait until for the ‘truth’ to be revealed and become clear, not just to us, but to everyone.  And in this case, the truth was not the ‘good news’ everyone wanted to hear about ‘peace’, but it was the ‘bad news’ no one wanted to hear about ‘judgement’, which even Jeremiah did not wish to preach, but he did (See, vs. 12-14).

Most of you have heard those jokes about ‘good news’ and ‘bad news’.  In one of them, two golfer-friends made a deal that the one who got to heaven first would report back to the one remaining on earth whether there is a golf course in heaven. After the one died, he came back in the other’s dream, saying, "I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that there is a golf course in heaven. The bad news is that you have a tee-off time tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.!"

God, too, has good news and bad news for us. The good news is the Gospel of God’s love in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. The bad news is the judgment of God upon sin. We are eager to hear the good news but shudder at the bad news. Both are necessary, for God is both love and justice. Yet, we loathe to hear the bad news, and we tend to speak only of God’s love.

Again, in our text today, we have two preachers with news for the people of Judah. Hananiah has good news and Jeremiah has had news.  To symbolize the bad news of coming judgement, exile and captivity, Jeremiah wore a yoke around his neck.  He urged the Jews to put on the yoke of Babylonian captivity and to accept God’s truth, for it was now God’s will to deliever them into the hands of their enemy and to punish Judah for her sins.  Jeremiah was rejected for preaching this message and was condemned as a traitor to his country.  In our text, Hananiah dramatically took off the yoke off Jeremiah and smashed it.    Hananiah then we on to preach the kind of popular message everyone wanted to hear.  God was soon going to break the ‘yoke’ of Babylon and the nation would be delivered.

Later, after praying about how to respond to Hananiah’s popular, good news, God sent Jeremiah to tell Hananiah that because you have ‘made this people to trust in a lie’ ((v. 15), God will not only ‘turn the yoke of wood’ into a ‘yoke of iron’ (v. 13), but because of Hananiah’s own rejection of God’s truth, Jeremiah prophesied that Hananiah would die within a year (v. 16-17).   Within seven months, Hananiah died.

The bad ‘good news’ of Hananiah would not sell to God nor to God’s true prophet, Jeremiah. The bad news was popular, as it is today, with the people. Hananiah’s bad good news turned out to be bad for him and the people. God has bad news for us as well as good news. In fact, we can’t really hear and receive the ‘good news’ of the gospel until we first hear the bad news about our sin, rebellion and rejection of God’s truth.   Are we willing to hear what we don’t want to hear, as well as to hear, what we want to hear? 

William Willimon, a Methodist pastor, once told about his how, when he was a child, his Sunday school teacher told him the story of Joseph and his brothers.  During the telling of the story, little William pushed Stanley into a radiator at the back of the room.  After Stanley left the room, screaming and bleeding and then taken to an emergency room, the teacher opened her Bible and said to William, "Now, William, you know what Joseph’s brothers felt like. They had a little brother, and they did to him what you did to Stanley.  But God loved them. And God loves you - even if you did push Stanley into the radiator."   Willimon, a Methodist preacher himself, said his Methodist Sunday School told him the good news without the bad news, just like a good Methodist might, but not like a Christian should.  He said, we just can’t head straight for the good news, without understanding and accepting the bad news.  Indeed, God loves us even when we do bad things. But is there no judgement, justice, accountability? Is that all one gets after a sin - "God loves you"?  Where is justice in this case? Yes, God loves us, but there is also accountability and a penalty to be paid.  Justice demands it. God is also justice. Christ forgave the repentant thief and promised him paradise, but sin still had to suffered for, both by the sinner and the sinless one, as they both died on a cross.

How do we accept the ‘bad news’ before we get to the ‘good news’.  WE must confess and turn from our sins, and seek God’s forgiveness.  We must come to know, understand and respond with the truth we need to know, not just the truth we want to hear.   God, loves and will forgive us, but we can’t keep living a lie and think that everything is forgiven without a cost, but the cost that Jesus paid when he ‘paid it all’ and the cost that we must pay when we ‘confess’ and ‘turn’ from our sins.

There is a great story about a boy who visited his grandparents. He was given his first sling-shot. He had lots of fun with it in the woods, but he never could hit anything. On his way home for dinner, he saw his grandmother’s pet duck. He took aim and miraculously hit and killed it. He panicked and hid it in a woodpile. Then he saw Sally, his sister, standing at the corner of the house. She had seen what happened. She did not say anything. After dinner, grandmother said, "O.K., Sally, let’s clear the table and wash the dishes." Sally replied, "Oh, Grandmother, Johnny said he wanted to do the dishes today. Didn’t you, Johnny?" Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck." So Johnny did the dishes. Later, grandfather called the children to go fishing. Grandmother said, "Sorry, but Sally can’t go. She has to help me clean the house and get supper." Sally smiled, "That’s all been taken care of. Johnny said he wanted to help. Didn’t you, Johnny?" Again she whispered, "Remember the duck." This went on for days, and Johnny did all the chores. Finally, he got fed up with it and confessed all to Grandmother. She took him in her arms and said, "I know, Johnny. While I was standing at the kitchen window, I saw what happened. Because I love you, I forgive you. I wondered how long you were going to let Sally make a slave of you."

We, too, are needless slaves of sin. The Devil is forever whispering, "Run from the truth so that you only see you want to see.   But like the grandmother, God wants us to see the truth and come to grips with it, so we can discover how we can live in true peace and hope.   In Jesus Christ, the bad news and the hard truth, can be transformed into the good news and the freeing truth, because God’s love can free us from fear and release to know the truth that can ‘set us free’.   Only when we seek the truth, face the truth, and find the truth, can we hear God’s good news of salvation: "If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness ..."   Living a lie did not end well for Hananiah and it won’t end well for us either.   We need to allow the challenge of God’s truth to find us and free us because we are willing to listen to the God who speaks with more than mere words we want to hear, but who speaks the truth we need to hear---the truth that saves because it is the truth.  Amen.