Monday, November 7, 2022 Vespers Homily "God's Law moves us to repentance"

 2022-11-7 Vespers Jeremiah 11:1-23 Matthew 24:1-28

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

Reading any of the prophets in the Old Testament can be a sobering experience.  Reading Jeremiah, especially out loud, can be like a gallon of ice cold water thrown upon us on a hot summer’s day.  Jeremiah’s words are shocking.  In the shock, we see how deeply invested God is in his beloved people. And, because God is so deeply invested, we see how hurt God is by his Chosen people’s betrayal of the covenant that God established with them. 

His beloved, the very people that God rescued from Egypt through Moses, the very people, the only people, with which God has ever established a covenant with, has without hardly a second thought, embraced the foreign gods of the Caananites.  He says in 11:13, “For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.”

I hear jealousy, anguish, and frustration by the Lord’s command to Jeremiah in 11:14 “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.”  

God’s people, especially the leaders, have turned away from the exclusive nature of the relationship between the LORD and the people. They chose to adopt an ecumenical and inclusive attitude toward other gods.  Despite the clear warnings from the LORD that He does not share with other gods, the people worship other gods anyway.  

When people turn away from the LORD God, then other sins follow suit. When we cease to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul, then God’s clear instructions are not so important.  God’s name is used for other reasons than prayer.  The Sabbath becomes just another day.  Greed becomes a ruling principle in the sinners mind and heart.  It’s not about treating the neighbor or the customer right for everyone’s sake, it’s about asserting MY rights over yours, and it’s about me making money off of you, or using you as a tool to suit MY purposes. It’s about getting away with what we can, when we can, because we can.  Strangely, the presence of the other gods does not lead to satisfaction or peace or a sense of well-being.  Coveting, stealing, adultery, and all manner of lying become patterns of behavior for which there is no end.  

And, as the LORD reveals to Jeremiah, murder then enters the imagination as a way to deal with a problem.  The Lord revealed to Jeremiah that some in his hometown want to kill him.  Jeremiah will not stop with the righteous God business and the calls to repentance.  It’s embarrassing, infuriating, and it needs to stop.  Jeremiah keeps trying to wreck a good thing.  So, the solution? Kill him.

Because the people as a whole refuse to repent, the curses that God spoke to Moses and Moses spoke to Israel, are in the process of being enacted upon God’s own people.  In Deuteronomy 27 and 28 God warned the people that once they entered the Promised Land, they must live in obedience to God’s instructions.  Turning away from God’s will and intentions for the people will bring about certain destruction.  God spelled it out for the people.  He detailed curse after curse; sinful cause and then God’s righteous punishment. 

The reason God appointed Jeremiah and the other prophets, is so that the truth can be laid out there. God wants the people to hear, to listen, and to return to Him.  Even as God is most offended and deeply hurt by His people’s betrayal, God wants the people to repent.  God wants to extend mercy. God wants to forgive.  God wants a restoration, a healing of the relationship.  God wants there to be peace and joy and delight in the land once more.  He delights in the laughter and thanksgivings of his people.  

Jeremiah is not the only prophet speaking truth loudly in God’s holy name at this time.  He is by no means a solitary voice.  Ezekiel, Daniel, Nahum, Habakkuk, are also prophesying. And, it is possible that Obadiah and Zephaniah are also active during this time period in Judah.  

So, the people are without excuse.  No one can say, I did not know.  Of course, they know. 

When we read through the prophets, God intends for the prophet’s words to convict us of our sin as well.  We may be baptized and claimed by God, but the same battle for the minds and hearts of God’s people is in play. Satan continues to undermine God’s love for us. Our human flesh continues to be tempted. We would, of course, never worship a statue of a baal, but we might, without realizing it, substitute another god for the One True God.  In our modern age, our individuality, possessions and power and technology can become our gods.  We can let our culture shape our imaginations, attitudes and behaviors, rather than God’s instructions and the cross and resurrection of Christ.  So, while Jeremiah’s words are indeed bracing and difficult to digest at times, through him, the Holy Spirit may very well be speaking to us.  

Jeremiah and the prophets become an opportunity to reflect, to pray, to gauge the priorities of our families, to repent and change direction when necessary, and always to seek God’s mercy through the cross of Christ.  

In Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate Son of God, we have a powerful revelation of how deeply God is invested in us.  Jesus is the embodiment of God’s mercy for us. In Jesus, God is born for us. In Jesus, God lives amongst us.  And, Jesus, the God-Man dies a sacrificial death for us on the cross. He dies for us so that we may know the Father’s forgiveness. Through Christ Jesus, the relationship with our heavenly Father may be restored. In his grace, we are forgiven for our idolatry and other sins.  In his grace, we have peace from God. 

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