Tag: Jeremiah

Posted on

The Promise of Christ – Jeremiah 33:14-16

Advent is a time of anticipation of the coming of Christ, both as a memory of what happened historically, and as a coming into our lives to transform us. It’s a time of joy, also, joy in gifts and presents and songs – but as we grow in maturity, the more we see that patience and anticipation as a core part of the joy. To persevere for a good thing and finally grasp it, that is true joy. This us something we learn better as we age, though aging also comes with disappointments. Financial, relational, emotional, even faith related.

The time of Advent also comes when the world is drenched in consumerism and business. What had been a time of waiting leading up to the feast commemorating Christ’s birth has become a secular frenzy of spending and accumulating.

What we are called to do in Advent, though, is to wait in hope. Those are not exactly the same thing. One can wait without hope, but hope is a leaning into a future that is greater than what we have today.

We see that in today’s passage, written by the prophet Jeremiah in a time of upheaval and turbulence. This promise comes in the midst of condemnation of the nation of Judah. The people are breaking the Covenant of God both with idol worship and social injustices. Jeremiah warns the king of Judah, Zedekiah, not to be making alliances that will bring Babylon down on them.

In the midst of that, Jeremiah gives a promise from God – that He will raise up a “righteous branch” who will do both what is right and just, addressing both the idolatry and injustice of the present time. A leader will come who will embody all the goodness of God, who will make His people both saved and safe. Verse 16 promises both of these, again addressing both the material and the spiritual.

His name will be “The Lord is Our Righteousness.” We can look back and see this as a promise of Jesus who, through His life, death and resurrection, becomes our righteousness.

What are the promises of God? Love and Faithfulness; Strength and Help; Presence and Guidance; Provision; Peace; Forgiveness; Eternal Life and Salvation; Rest.

And that rest is a deeper and truer rest than laying around on the couch, but rather a total fulfillment of our anxieties and desires.

That promise is coming – let us seek to imitate it and live into it as best we can, especially in this season of waiting and anticipation.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, December 1, 2024

Posted on

What Truly Matters? – Jeremiah 9

Josiah was a rare good king of the nation of Judah. In the midst of repairs of the temple, prophecies were discovered about the judgement that was coming in the nation. Josiah trusted those prophecies, and in return that judgement was stayed through his lifetime.

Later, though, Josiah got it in his head that he needed to go fight a war, so he went out and picked a fight with the king of Egypt. This did not go well, and Josiah was killed.

The prophet Jeremiah lamented the death of Josiah, in 2 Chronicles 35, echoed here in Jeremiah 9.

Jeremiah weeps for and laments the evilness of the age and of his people. This is not an incidental evil, but planned and trained for like a bowman learns his careful craft. In response, God pledges to lay waste to the nation, leaving it not even fit for scavengers and wild beasts.

God will send war and famine to Israel. Jeremiah calls for loud wailing and lamentation, and for preparing the traditional mourners for the death that will come across generations, to all ages and all economic levels. There will be so much death that the bodies will lay “like dung in the field.”

Then comes the call to repentance. Because of all this, we have no reason to trust in our strength, riches or intelligence. All these things are fleeting and can be taken away at any moment. The only thing that can last is the steadfast love, justice and righteousness of God. We see the later in the story when the obedience of the Ethiopian eunuch Ebed-melech results in the sparing of his life.

In the final verses of chapter 9 we see that this judgement is promised broadly, and that the “uncircumcised in heart” are no better than the pagan nations surrounding them.

What does all this mean for us today as followers of Christ? The first few verses of Philippians 3 serve as a New Testament companion piece to Jeremiah 9.

Like Jeremiah, Paul counsels us to put no confidence in any of the things that humanity prizes – anything we have gained, whether religious or secular, whether money or power or intelligence, anything that is not founded on Christ. The false circumcision is not worth any more than an utter lack of it – and we can substitute church attendance, good works, the “right” social media posts or any other outward signs that may well be falsified. Christ in what matters, and our connection to Him is all that we ultimately can take with us.

– Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, August 11, 2019

Posted on

Bringing Shalom to Our City – Jeremiah 29:1-7

 

The nation of Israel has become corrupt. They take the outward signs of pious life, but in fact were just as bad as the pagans around them. Or worse, because as representatives of God, this behavior represented God to the world around them.

And so God uses Nebuchadnezzar to bring judgement on Jerusalem, bringing thousands of Jews to Babylon in exile. The land is taken, the temple is destroyed and the Law itself is upended.

So what does God say to do? Settle down, raise families, seek the peace of wherever you are. Prior to this, the concept of peace had been wrapped up in the direct rule of God over his chosen people in the Promised Land. But now the Law, the Temple and the land are gone, just as was promised in Deuteronomy would happen if they turned away.

But God doesn’t tell them to live separately or to isolate themselves from the culture around them. He tells them to plant gardens – the same word as “paradise”. They are called to bring a little piece of paradise into their new home. Babylon is also known for its gardens, so using this term rather than “vines” or “grain” implies an integration with the culture around them.

God also calls on them to, essentially, “be fruitful and multiply” – another callback to the Garden of Eden and the instruction given there. And again, it also appears to be an instruction toward intermarriage and integration, since the vast majority of the exiles were men.

He then instructs them to pray for Babylon, the city that just wiped them out. Not only that, but to seek the peace and prosperity of the city. The goal had changed from Israel being a hermetically sealed, isolated kingdom of peace that would eventually spread shalom to the gentiles. Their sin meant they had to spread out and seek to bring shalom into their neighborhoods and the city of their exile.

Then we come to Christ. The mission itself does not change – Jesus does not being back the earthly kingdom of Israel. Instead, he founds a new, spiritual kingdom, not based on rule following, but on a relationship with the rule-giver. Christ becomes the new law, the new temple and the new Kingdom.

Like Israel, we are in a moment of now-but-not-yet. We are, like Israel, spread among the world and called to bring peace to a broken world. God will eventually force the peace, but that will come with judgement. So in His mercy, God waits and uses us as His hands and feet to bring people to repentance.

We are called to bring the peace of God into the world around us drop by drop. We are called to citizenship, not to live in bunkers. We are called to fight against poverty and oppression, and to stand against abuse, especially when it comes from people who claim Christ.

We can look at early Christianity to see how this played out. The early church essentially invented the concept of charity. St. Basil invented the hospital in the 3rd century. During plagues, pagans would evacuate, while Christians would remain in the city and nurse the sick as best they could. These examples drew thousands to Christ.

Let us do the same. Let us spread this peace today, in our homes, neighborhoods, cities, countries and world.

– Sermon Notes, Brent Rood, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA

Jeremiah 29:1-7

Something went wrong with the bible. Please make sure that you are requesting a valid passage! If this problem presits please contact joshuawiecorek@outlook.com