2022-11-14 Vespers - Jeremiah 29

 2022-11-14 Vespers Jeremiah 29:1-19 Matthew 26:36-56

Commemoration of Emperor Justinian, Christian Ruler and Confessor of Christ

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  

God has blessed us with 150 Psalms with which we may use to pray to God for all manner of occasions. Some of these Psalms are clearly intended to be part of a liturgy that is used communally or individually.  For example, Psalm 120-134 are labeled as Psalms of Ascent and are probably used by pilgrims as they go up the road to Jerusalem.  Need a break from the climb, there’s a psalm for that.  We find Psalms that help us give voice to lament or grief.  Others are prayers of trust and faith.  My favorite is Psalm 23. Others give us words of praise or thanksgiving.  And, Psalms also can give us words to describe despair, frustration, and anger.

The Psalms do not have a single author. We have Psalms written by King David, King Solomon, the Sons of Korah, Ethem the Ezrahite, Psalm 90 is composed by Moses.  Then there are Psalms whose authors are not identified.  So, for them, we simply understand that a Beloved Child of the Covenant wrote them. 

One of the Psalms written by a Beloved Child of the Covenant that has captured my attention in the last few years is Psalm 137. It is a Psalm composed by a man who is in the midst of despair and expresses that despair with anger.  And, it is, I think, the only Psalm that we can clearly say was written in Babylon.  And, the author of this prayer is not in Babylon by choice.  

Psalm 137 says,

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.

2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres.

3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!

6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”

8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!

9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

I have never been forcibly removed from my home, city, and nation and forced to march 1700 miles to a country I do not want to live in; forced to speak a language I don’t want to learn; and forced to do work I don’t want to do; and to do it well for my captors’ sake.  But, if I were, I am confident that I would not enjoy the exercise and I would be filled with emotions ranging from despair to anger. And, no where in that range of emotion would there be much in the way of happy thoughts.  

One of the gifts of Psalm 137 is to remind us of just how brutal this experience was and the corrosive affect it would have on the people.  And, at the moment that Psalm 137 was composed and began to be recited by the community, the Beloved Child of the Covenant was afraid that he was never going to see Jerusalem again. And, that he would eventually forget what Jerusalem looked like. And, how do you convey the beauty and majesty of your home to the yet unborn generations?  

Psalm 137 reeks of despair, anger, frustration, and bitterness.  The question then becomes: do we allow the bitterness to lay hold? Does this “unplanned move” corrode every aspect of our life and every relationship that we have?  Do we give up every hope for the future?

In the midst of the angst of the people of the covenant, Jeremiah’s letter comes into the picture. Jeremiah 29 announces the good news that the exile will not last but 70 years. So, if a generation is 40 years, then God’s punishment will only last two generations.  They are not going to be stuck in Babylon forever. 

While they wait, Jeremiah orients them in their attitudes, prayers, and behaviors. While the emotion of Psalm 137 is understandable, it is not where the people need to stay emotionally or spiritually.  In his letter to the exiles, Jeremiah speaks the Word of the LORD: 

“4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ... 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”  

In the midst of a terrible judgment, one that was a long time coming, God extends a future filled with hope.  A return to home will happen.  In the mean time, the people of the covenant are commanded to continue to live. Do the normal things one does in life. Work, raise food, marry, raise a family. And, because they are the people of the covenant, they can pray to the LORD in behalf of their captors and work for the welfare of their host city and country.  

The Psalmist prayed a prayer of anguish. The prophet Jeremiah speaks God’s word that we are to move beyond anguish and be a witness for God in the midst of this foreign people.  It is as a people, that Israel bears witness to God’s generosity and kindness.  As a people, they have a future with God.  As a people, they will repent of their selfishness and idolatry.  In the midst of this foreign land, they will learn to live in complete trust of the one true God who established His covenant with them. As a collection of families, they will teach their children the ways of God and God’s expectations of them.  In teaching, the adults will learn God’s Law much better this time.  

It was in the hardship of desert life that Israel learned to love and trust the LORD God for their survival and prepare them for the Promised Land.  It is now in the hardship of being slaves in a foreign city that they learn again to love and trust the LORD God for their survival and prepare them to return to the Promised Land.  

In the course of the long repentance in Babylon, they will learn to forgive their captors. They will learn to forgive themselves for the sinful foolishness that landed them in Babylon. They will learn to pray for their enemies as they learn to serve them. 

This kind of spiritual transformation only comes with the help of God. God works within us to bring about this kind of holiness.  

Our Lord Jesus Christ comes to us in the midst of our bondage to sin.  He hears our Psalms of frustration and despair. He sees our selfishness, our pride, and our spiritually self destructive ways. Despite it all, He comes to us anyways to die for us on the cross. 

We remember that Jesus too taught us to pray.  He receives us as sinners and we receive with gratitude our heavenly Father’s declaration of righteousness on account of the Son’s cross. But, he does not leave us be.  He calls us to spiritually grow and mature.  The Lord’s prayer is a prayer that moves us from where we are to where God wants us to be: Living in full faith of His grace and benevolent care. As we say the words that Jesus taught us, the Holy Spirit moves us to trust in our heavenly Father for our food, livelihood, protection, and spiritual transformation through forgiveness. 

He does all of this to prepare us for the Promised Land of heaven.

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.