Christ the King / Reign of Christ
Sunday, November 20th, 2016click here for past entries
Loving God, you write your love upon the hearts of all who are open to your Spirit, and continue to desire for us to know you. Make us always open to your word for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For many years, God’s messages for God’s people were communicated through prophets. Over the past few weeks we have heard about Elijah, and Jonah, and Isaiah, and now today we hear from Jeremiah. As is true even today, communication strategies change over time.
In Jeremiah’s case, he was often sent to a particular group of people with a message to proclaim. Sometimes it was like a sermon, and sometimes poetry. Sometimes Jeremiah even acted out God’s message - like that time when he was told to buy a brand new loincloth and then hide it under some rocks by the river. The loincloth then becomes an object lesson for God’s people, warning them about worshiping idols (Jer. 13).
However, in the passage that we heard today, communication has evolved once again, and now Jeremiah’s message is being written down on a scroll. We are into the sixth century B.C. now, and more people can read. And so Baruch becomes Jeremiah’s secretary, and writes down all of the messages that Jeremiah dictates to him. Because of this, now other people can read and hear Jeremiah’s message without him actually being there. And so Baruch reads it in the temple, and then reads it to a bunch of officials in the king’s house. Finally, Jehudi reads it to the king, who promptly cuts it off section by section, burning it in the fire.
Wouldn’t you just love to be in Jeremiah’s shoes?... First, he was asked to proclaim the message orally to the people, and apparently nobody listened. Then, he was asked to dictate all of those same messages so that Baruch could write them down and read them, and apparently nobody listened. And then that same scroll is burned by the king, leaving Jeremiah to start all over again, getting Baruch to write down the same things, plus a little bit more, on a brand new scroll.
We know that God is both patient and persistent, but human beings?... Not so much - at least not as patient as God is! It is no wonder that Jeremiah is known to complain on occasion and even curses the day he was born (Jer. 20:14). He is sent to proclaim God’s word to a people who are not going to repent or heed God’s warnings until after they have already been in exile for many years.
Now, lest you keep wondering what might have been in this scroll that everybody wanted to hear but nobody obeyed, it would have contained many of the messages that we find in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s temple sermon warned that simply coming to the temple would not save the people from disaster, especially when they were ignoring God’s commands to act with justice and mercy. Other messages warned about worshiping false gods and failing to act according to God’s commandments. And ultimately, Jeremiah warned the people that unless they repented and turned to God, they would be carried off as slaves to Babylon. They don't listen, and this is exactly what happens.
However, it is entirely likely that the second scroll that was put together by Jeremiah and Baruch also contained some messages of hope - messages just like the promise of a new covenant that we heard today. You see, the thing with a covenant that is written on your heart is that it is pretty hard to destroy it. It cannot be smashed like the tablets of stone. It cannot be burned like a book or a scroll. It cannot simply disappear like words that go in one ear and out the other. A covenant that is written on your heart has sunk in pretty deeply, and nobody can take it away from you.
As I think about what is written on people’s hearts these days, it strikes me that we can think about our own hearts, or we can think about the hearts of others. While we, too, might be called upon to share God’s message with others, ultimately we have no power over another person’s heart. Only God can change people’s hearts. And so, when it comes to other people, we can share God’s love, and we can pray. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit.
However, when it comes to our own hearts, we can either open them or close them. We can remain open to the power of the Holy Spirit and the depth of God’s love, or we can shut ourselves off and fill our hearts with so many other things that there is no room there for God. As Jesus says in Matthew, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:21). And so if our treasure is earthly rather than heavenly, there will likely be no room for the knowledge of God in our hearts.
At the same time, there are plenty of things in this world right now that can fill our hearts with fear, or with hatred, or even with the quest to always have more. Yet, as we think about the reign of Christ today, we ask for the gifts of faith, hope and love. The gift of faith helps us to see that Jesus does have power over all things, even when our world doesn’t look like it. The gift of hope reminds us that the future is in God’s hands, regardless of how human beings might mess things up. And the gift of love helps us to see others as God sees them - as people for whom Christ died who have been created and redeemed by God.
For God has initiated a new covenant with us through Jesus Christ - a covenant in which God has saved us and redeemed us and remembers our sin no more. It is a covenant of love in which we do not have 613 commandments to remember, but only one: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). For when we love God and love one another, it is enough. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Christ the King / Reign of Christ (NL 3) Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28; 31:31-34
November 20, 2016
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
© 2016 Lynne Hutchison All Rights Reserved
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