SERMON “Sink or Swim?” audio link http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23575548/110828Jeremiah15.mp3
(Psalm 19.14) May the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
People sometimes ask what will be happening in church based on the sermon title I post on the sign. From this week’s title, “sink or swim,” you might have thought about Peter walking on water. That’s a nice try, but it isn’t quite right.
Let’s try this one on for size, then. In a great economic collapse we can all starve together. We decide to stick together and help one another. I know we’ve told both our parents and our adult daughter that in case of emergency they can come live with us and we’ll all try to get on together as well as we can. That’s what families do. We bind together and we sink or swim. Hopefully we can swim. That’s what people did in Jeremiah’s time as well.
In the time of Jeremiah the prophet the kingdom of the children of Abraham was divided. The nothern part of the kingdom, the twelve tribes which were normally known as “Israel,” had been taken away into captivity to Assyria. This military action was pretty much complete by about the year 722 B.C. The southern kingdom, known as “Judah,” was left behind. They were not condemned for their sin at that time. Jeremiah is writing here quite a bit later, in the early part of the 500s B.C. We’re just a little farther away in time now from the reconstruction period after the American Civil War. It isn’t exactly a really long time ago, but nobody alive today was there. If you’re an elderly person your grandparents probably remembered it well. After the northern kingdom of Israel was taken away, the southern kingdom, known as Judah, including the area of Jerusalem, spent some time spiraling downward. People seemed to be forgetting about the Lord who had rescued them out of Egypt. They seemed to be forgetting that God had promised to give his people a land and an inheritance. They seemed to be forgetting that their Lord had kept his hand of protection on them for all these many years.
Earlier in Jeremiah chapter 15 God proclaimed his rejection of Israel. They have hit bottom, he says. They are constantly in sin. They don’t do what is good. And they will be called to account. This is God’s word to Judah, and his word is certain.
How are we doing, here and now? Are we like the people of Judah in Jeremiah 15? What about those commands in Romans 12? How are we doing on sincere love? Do we hate evil and cling to good or do we often cling to evil and hate good? Do we honor each other? really? How’s the zeal meter? Are we lacking in zeal? I’ll tell you that some of the people I’ve been to visit in hospitals and nursing homes lately are trying to be patient in affliction. But the patience is wearing thin. Do we bless those who persecute us? Or do we rather curse them? Are we swimming or are we sinking? It seems to me that we’re like someone trying to swim across the ocean while carrying a cannon ball in each hand.
Maybe we should just resign ourselves to sinking together. That’s what a lot of people seem to have done. A large portion of our society lives a life of hopelessness. We tend to be quiet about it and engage in our despair privately. But you can look at people and see their lack of hope. What are they going to do? How are they going to live with themselves? They know something’s wrong. But our culture has distanced itself so far from a biblical faith that we often can’t look back at it. It’s like picturing how things were about 130 years ago. What was life like when God took away Israel and left Judah? We can’t really remember. It’s too long ago. Something’s changed, but we don’t get it. Maybe we’ll just have to sink together. That might be more merciful.
But maybe, just maybe, we can look to our Lord in hope. This is what he calls Jeremiah to do. “Look to me,” says God, “not to your neighbors.” And Jeremiah looks to the Lord, who lovingly preserves him through all his troubles. Yes, this is through all his troubles. God doesn’t remove Jeremiah from his troubles. He preserves him through his troubles. Jeremiah is still persecuted. His opponents will still try to kill him. He still spends a considerable part of his life under arrest in a city which is besieged and endures terrible famine. Yet, as he looks to the Lord, he is preserved.
We too can look to Jesus, the one who goes to suffer, to die, and to rise again from the dead on our behalf. We do not need to look with hopeless eyes at what our world would try to depend on. We can look to the steadfast love of God in Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, who loves us always. We can look to Jesus, who has claimed us in baptism, putting the old man to death and lifting us from the waters of death to live in him. We can look to Jesus, who pours out his life upon us. We can deny ourself, take up our cross, and follow him.
Will our opponents still oppose us? They will. Will we suffer from temptation in this world? Of course. Will we live the life of holiness and godly discipline that we are commanded to live in Romans? Though we try, we will fail. But we can know without a doubt that Jesus our Lord has lived that perfect life on our behalf. And he is the one who gives his life to us, taking our death upon himself. When the storms come, when the persecution rolls in, we stand firm looking to our Lord, who has conquered all opposition.
Let us pray.
Our Lord, in you we sink as you put our old man to death. Thank you for drawing us to life, making us the people who swim, who cling to you for life and hope, looking to your salvation. When we face trials, grant that we may look to you, for you have proclaimed victory over the world. Grant us this, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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