Loving God, in spite of your people’s refusal to listen to your messengers, you still offer forgiveness through the new covenant.  Grant us the ears to hear your message and the eyes to see the reign of Christ, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Most of us would probably not want Jeremiah’s job.  He was called to be a prophet – even before he was born! – and his job was to speak God’s word to the people (Jer. 1:5).  This, in and of itself, might not be so bad, but Jeremiah also knew that most of the people would not listen to him and would even fight against him. -- And how many public health officials are there today who can feel Jeremiah’s pain?

         As we encounter Jeremiah in today’s reading, God is beginning to use a new means of communication – the written word rather than just the spoken word.  Jeremiah’s secretary (or scribe), named Baruch, writes on a scroll all of the prophecies that Jeremiah dictates to him.  Some have suggested that this scroll might have contained the first 25 chapters of the book of Jeremiah.  Thus, the core of his message would have been something like this:

         The king of Judah and all of the people need to repent and turn back to God.  They need to stop oppressing others and shedding innocent blood and acting with greed and violence.  They need to start doing what is right and what is just, according to God’s Law.  If they do this, there will continue to be a descendant of David ruling as king in Jerusalem.  However, if they continue to break God’s covenant, the city will be destroyed, and many will die, and the king will be killed by the Babylonians (Jer. 22).

         This is at least part of the message that Baruch reads in the Temple – the message which is also read to King Jehoiakim in his winter apartment.  In the parts of chapter 36 that we didn’t hear today, there are some administrative officials in the king’s service who take Jeremiah’s message seriously.  In fact, they are the ones who decide right away that the king needs to hear this!  However, as we heard earlier, the king is more interested in suppressing Jeremiah’s message.

         The result of all this is very predictable.  Judah is attacked by Babylon and by other enemies.  Jehoiakim becomes a servant to the king of Babylon for three years and then is killed after he rebels against Babylon (2 Ki. 24:1-6).  The city of Jerusalem is captured and destroyed, along with the Temple.  And many of the people who survive are taken to Babylon as slaves.  It happens just as Jeremiah told them, and yet, he was imprisoned and almost dies at the hands of his own people.

         One would think that all of this would be exceedingly frustrating for Jeremiah and for those people who believed that he did speak God’s word – perhaps just as frustrating as it is for people today who speak the truth.  You can say it ten different ways – write it down, speak it out loud, and even launch ad campaigns – but none of this means that people will actually listen or heed the warnings.

         If you were in God’s position, would you have continued sending prophets and messengers, or would you just have given up on human beings and gone on to something else?... My suspicion is that many of us would have given up a long time ago.  However, God’s love and mercy for us is too great, and in spite of all those who do not heed God’s word, we hear a wonderful word of promise today.

         It is the promise of a new covenant that will be written on people’s hearts.  This promise is given in spite of how badly the people had broken the covenant that God had already made with them at Mt. Sinai.  However, God is willing to “forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34).

         This promise, however, is not just for those who were part of God’s people so many years ago.  This new covenant points us forward in time to Jesus, for through him, God also forgives our iniquity and remembers our sins no more.  We have forgiveness in Christ.  We have peace with God in Christ.  We have new life in Christ that leads us into eternity.  And, unlike the 613 commandments that were part of the old covenant, Jesus gives us only one: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12).

         This is a love that is rooted in God’s love for us and our love for God.  It also encompasses many of the same things that God has always desired – things like justice and mercy and looking after those who are most vulnerable.  Things like honesty and integrity and generosity.  We practice these things, not because we have to, or in order to earn God’s favour, but in response to the love that God has already shown for us through Jesus Christ.

         At the same time, because God’s covenant has been written on our hearts, and God has given us the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to live in love, and do not have to rely simply on our own initiative.  In fact, it is through people like you and me that the reign of Christ is made known in our world.

         It is easy to get caught up in thinking that our world really doesn’t look like Christ reigns over all.  Yet, the Scriptures proclaim that Jesus not only fulfills the promise of a descendant of David reigning as king forever, but also is given power and authority over all things in heaven and on earth.

         Just as in Jeremiah’s time, there will be people who refuse to listen to the truth or to heed God’s word.  However, none of this changes the truth of God’s love for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Christ the King / Reign of Christ (NL 3)    Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28; 31:31-34

November 22, 2020

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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