Words Without Integrity

Transcript

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[0:00] Thank you, Clark. And today our reading is from Jeremiah for the sermon. It's from Jeremiah 7, 1 through 15. And sometimes I talk about this. We love the New Living Translation. That's our sort of go-to here. Every now and then, some of the other translations actually work better for various reasons. So today I chose the NRSV. I think it comes through a little more. It's home a little bit more. You'll see why. So this is a prophetic word from Jeremiah to the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He cries a lot. It doesn't mean he's a crybaby.

[0:42] It's funny. Asher, I love Asher. He's just very plain. And there's a little cousin that he doesn't like being around because he says he's a crybaby. And he doesn't cry so much anymore. He's just a little more defiant right now. And Asher kind of has a hard time with it. But Jeremiah is not a crybaby. Jeremiah is heartbroken because the people of God are not acting like God wants them to act. And there's a lot of injustice in the land. And so I always think of the weeping prophet as a good model for us because this idea of having a prophetic speech where you call on society to correct itself, which we like if we were to start again, we could do that and we'd never be done. But if we do that with harsh words, and if we don't do it through tears, if we're not, if we're not, if our heart's not broken first, there's always going to be a problem with it. Because if you're being prophetic and you're just yelling at people and as soon as you start feeling good doing that, watch out because Satan is right around the corner and there's a problem. And so we don't think it should be done that way. We should do it like Jeremiah the prophet. But we see a lot of people in the church and outside of the church speaking about the prophet.

[1:59] They're not saying anything about something they're opposed to, but they don't do it through tears. And instead it's to make themselves feel better about themselves or it could signal to other people who are like them that they're a member of that group in good standing. You know, so I'm going to say all the things that you guys are all saying and then we, then you can accept me, right?

[2:16] Or even now, especially in our very social media online stage is you could say that stuff and that gives you exposure. And that gives you an audience. It gives you the clicks. And actually that was surprising. But people, some people have said that. And I've actually figured this out and I'm just, it's dawning on me now. But that exposure leads to not just influence, but it leads to wealth because you can become an influencer. You can make some money off of it. You can get paid for people to engage with whatever you post.

[2:45] So, sorry about that. I should turn my phone down. I should always keep my, this is two weeks in a row now. So I'm going to do silence. You can do the same if you want. It's up to you. Right? Right? Right? But he went to the cross in tears because he loved the people who were so, so far off track that they were doing that to him, right? And if somebody comes to me with a prophetic word about something I've done wrong, which I hope any of you feel like you could do, and you should, it's easier for me to take it if someone comes to me with tears and confronts me. And I'm far more likely to want to change and to grow from that than if somebody comes to me on full blast and seems to not care about it. They're doing it for themselves to get it off their chest instead of giving it to me because they love me. You can tell. I mean, you can tell right away. You can tell the difference. So I don't think we can change the world because the incentive, I don't think we can change how the world does this because the incentives to be prophetic in the wrong way are too strong. There's too many. There's too many incentives to be prophetic in an angry way. And there's no incentive to be prophetic in a cheerful way. But only a transformed life can be prophetic in a cheerful way.

[4:34] Only a heart that's been touched by God can break for the world. Otherwise, we're turned in on ourselves and we can't do that. So that's a little bit of background, Jeremiah, and kind of a word that I always like to put in about speaking prophetically. But listen for two things that Jeremiah is. One is the injustice of God's people. He's always talking about that. But the other, and this one's a little different here, is the use of language to convince themselves that there isn't a problem. So Jeremiah is confronting injustice, which he always does. But this one is a little more special because he's actually talking. He's confronting them about how they're talking about themselves and how they're using words to hide from their own consequences and hide from themselves and hide from God. And God says, Do you think I could hide under this? Well, if this was bigger. I guess the pulpit here used to be a lot bigger, like massive. And then it got pared down and then somehow this. I love this one. I kind of like this one. But if I could hide under there, do I think God couldn't see me?

[5:40] He's like Superman, I guess. He's got x-ray vision or more than that, right? Or he's everywhere present, including in my heart, right? Anyway, so these are the failures that people think. They can talk their way out of this or they can create a reality around them that's false that they can hide from God in. So we're going to spend some time considering each of these failures and we're going to look for the word of promise in it as well. And again, that's what we see in books like Jeremiah and Isaiah is there's judgment, but there's also promise and hope that somehow this could be avoided. Or if it's not avoided in the end, God will redeem a future generation.

[6:22] Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words. This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.

[7:10] For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

[7:37] Here you... are... trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, we are safe, only to go on doing all these abominations?

[8:08] Has this... this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it, for the wickedness of my people Israel.

[8:31] And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called... Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you, sort of, for this difficult word.

[9:13] Thank you 100% for loving us. Amen. It's tough words if we take it to heart. If we just think it's, oh, some interesting fairy tale from 700 or 2700 years ago, then it's just kind of interesting and a cool story. God's mad.

[9:30] Do we think that he's not mad at us for all the same stuff? That's what we're going to get into. Do you think we've gotten past all this? Well, that's a great question. Let's see. I want to mention one thing from archaeology because it came up, and there's not much explanation in this passage about it. Jeremiah tells the people that, well, that through God tells the people through Jeremiah that what happened to the tabernacle in Shiloh could happen to the temple in Jerusalem. The tabernacle was created in the desert. In their wanderings, they brought it to the Holy Land. It moved around until it found its resting place. In Shiloh, you can find Shiloh now even archaeologically. It's a very interesting place. And the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the tabernacle in Shiloh, and this was about the 11th century BC. And one day, the Israelites, this is part of the problem, and this is really related to what Jeremiah is saying now, so this is very interesting that he brought up Shiloh. The Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant out of the tabernacle, and they brought it with them into a battle. Is that a smart idea?

[10:37] It's like, you know, like, it's like taking your brand-new car through, you know, like, oh, I'm going to go drive through Grand Canyon with my brand-new car. You know, it's like, it's not a good idea. Like, here's this gold box. They're like, the Israelites thought that if we bring this thing with us, we're going to prevail in battle. Like, this is like a talisman, like this magical box.

[10:59] And so they invested in this thing, even though it was holy, absolutely, right? They invested in this. They invested in this thing, this magical thinking that this is like a weapon that we can bring with us into battle. So what happened? They lost the battle. Weren't they surprised? The Philistines defeated them and captured the Ark of the Covenant. And I think a lot of them were scratching their heads after that going, oh, that's not a weapon. And God's like, yeah, that's not a weapon. It's a place of my presence. Those are different things. Sometimes they're similar, but in that case, it was a different thing.

[11:35] So the Ark, just to finish the story, the Ark was recovered, right? They managed to get it back, but there was still a lesson there. And then many years later, Indiana Jones found it, and it's hidden in a government warehouse somewhere. It's so far under a bunch of boxes, you'll never see it. Actually, the Ethiopian church, the Amharic Ethiopian church says they have it. It's in one of their churches there. But you're not allowed to. Go in there and verify it. But they swear up and down that it's there. So take, you know. So there it is. It's in Ethiopia. So if you want to know where it is now, it's in Ethiopia.

[12:16] Or, as we probably think, it was captured again by somebody else. And it's full of gold, so they melted it down and turned it into something else. That's what happened. So all sorts of beautiful things in the ancient world.

[12:29] So Shiloh, that's the Ark, but Shiloh also fell. Shiloh was destroyed. The tabernacle was no more. And as a town, people kept living there even after the worship place was destroyed in Shiloh. But around the 8th century BC, even the people drifted away from there. Now it's an archaeological site, and they've verified all sorts of stuff like this. And, of course, God told David, I'm going to have a temple built, but you can't build it because your hands are too covered with blood from all the wars you fought, but your son can build it. So Solomon did build the temple. And the temple. The temple also was destroyed in 586 BC, 587 BC.

[13:10] And so this warning from Jeremiah that what happened to the tabernacle in Shiloh could happen to the temple in Jerusalem is a prophecy that came true. It was made over 100 years in advance of that, almost 200 years in advance of that.

[13:28] And one thing I just want you to be aware of is there's a lot of overlap here between biblical accounts of things and what we can find. And what we can find through archaeology and history of the world. And those are the sorts of things that validate the veracity or the faithfulness or the reliability of the Holy Scriptures. Archaeology has found this place at Shiloh. They have found things that look like a place of worship, right? You know, it's like it all tracks. In this case, it all tracks. So that's great news.

[13:56] So let's set that aside. But the warning was this temple, which they think will keep them safe, and as you might have caught now, that they're thinking of the temple. In the same way that that army thought of the Ark of the Covenant, right? It's this magic thing that will protect us from our enemies or even give us victory over our enemies.

[14:14] And God, the warning is that the temple will suffer the same fate as the tabernacle in Shiloh. But what are the things that God is saying, that Jeremiah is saying displeases God? And I'll look at verse 6 again. We don't have to put it back up on the screen. But there's two lists here, but I'll just go with the first one because this one covers it all. Verse 6 says, This could be what we sometimes also say the sojourner or the stranger in this land. This is very much what Victoria was talking about last week. If you do not oppress the stranger in the land, the orphan and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, which is interesting that he was at the gates of the temple and he was accusing some people of shedding blood in the temple, right outside the temple or right in the courts of the temple, right at the gate of the temple. Right? Right? do not go after other gods," and this parenthetical editorial comment, to your own hurt. You're only hurting yourself by going after other gods. If you can stop doing that, then it'll be OK. But I'm mad about this. I'm mad about all these things you're doing. And the list of people we got at the beginning, there's the alien, the orphan, the widow. These are vulnerable people.

[15:30] They're people who don't have the protections of land, or wealth, or status. And they're easy to take advantage of. And they're easy to marginalize. So somebody could say, oh, there's the widow. I'm going to take her field. Because if she doesn't have a family around her, if she doesn't have anyone to protect her, that can happen. And this is the kind of injustice that people were doing and probably finding some way to justify.

[15:59] So that's half of it. But there's more. And this is the part that I find very interesting. I've preached on this text before, probably just over a year ago or two. So I'm sorry if it's repetitious. But I'm trying to find a different angle with this text. I think it's important.

[16:11] The other part of it is that magical thinking, that there's a phrase you can repeat that makes you safe. This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. We're safe here. We're safe. We're safe. Like tag, like you can touch the thing and you can't get tagged. Or there's a golden box that you can take into battle that will make you win.

[16:31] That's the other thing. And I think that's the thing that is consternating to God, I think to Jeremiah as well, and has really captured my attention in this. Because it's not just the wrong things that people are doing, but it's the wrong mental framework that they start with that I think leads to those wrong things. And the wrong mental framework we're going to get into here. But it's basically like, I can say all sorts of stuff. And I can say these things that I think will protect me. And then when God's not looking, I can do everything else I want to do anyway. And that's a failure of logic, actually. And that's why God has to remind them, I too am watching. Like I have eyes. You know, your parents, when you're little, your parents, like, I saw you do that. Like, don't tell me I didn't see that. Like, don't gaslight me, kid. Kids can gaslight their parents. It can happen. Don't let them do it. I saw what I saw. I have eyes too, says the Lord. Right?

[17:29] So what are people saying? This is the temple of the Lord. It's like a mantra. Or almost like a magical incantation. Do you see that? Like you repeat something three times, it has this kind of this sense that, oh, I said this magic words. Now the arrows are going to bounce off some magical shield above the temple. They can't really take this place. Right?

[17:54] And so they think. And partly they're true, because God is present in the temple. God says. And he actually does kind of live there in the temple in the Holy Holies. And in essence, it should thus be a safe place, because God's presence is there. But God says, no, your words and your actions don't match. You can't do all those things. And then come into my house and say some holy words and expect protection. Right? So I'm not a button that launches missiles. I'm not a button that sets up a magical shield. I'm not a vending machine that gives out protection. You can't just say, oh, I'm not a button. You can't just say these words. Because if you can say all that and get God to dance, then God's not God. You're God. If you can tell God what to do, then you're God. And again, this is always getting back to the fundamental sin. This is a sin of the fall that Adam and Eve were tempted into. You can be like God. And so everything is always idolatry of the self. This religion, whatever I'm in, this religion I'm in, it's just a means for me to feel good about myself while I go and do everything else that I really want to do that's for me. And thus, I'm really just worshipping myself and giving lip service to God. And I think, this is my view, you could disagree with me,

[19:14] God is definitely mad about the injustice, about the exploitation of the vulnerable, the shedding of innocent blood. God's mad about all that stuff. But I think he's super duper mad about saying, I'm going to cover all that with these holy words. And act like that doesn't matter. So I think God is mad with the false mental understanding of how the world works. Because I think our thoughts lead to our actions more often than not. I think sometimes we can act without thinking, and that's often a problem. But our mental framework of how the world works, and who we are, and what the world is like will lead us to actions. And if we're not aligned with God and God's heart and God's mind, we're not going to act like God. And we're. And if we try to use religious words to cover all that up, I think he gets super mad. And we try to bless it with some sort of strange incantation, then we got really mad. God will get really mad. So I've kind of gotten ahead of myself because I got excited about this. And my heart, honestly, I'll tell you, my heart is breaking. And I'll tell you that I probably have done this, OK? So my heart breaks at this.

[20:26] Here's the thing, and I think this is where it comes down to. The people who are doing this. Back then and now are doing it because they're not in any kind of what I would call a life-giving relationship with God. They're not talking to God honestly.

[20:41] And then they're not listening to God with humility. That's what a good relationship looks like with God. God can hear our honest complaints. He can hear our laments. He can hear us. But we have to be honest when we speak to God. He can tell.

[20:57] And God can speak back to us, but we have to hear it. We have to hear it with humility because we have to hear it. Even though it's a relationship, God is God and we're not. And we're his children. So we need to listen to him like a wise parent would speak lovingly to a child, lovingly but firmly to a child, and receive that correction from him and let it work its way into our heart. If that can happen, we're not going to exploit the poor. We're not going to shed innocent blood, OK? We're not going to do those things. But if we are on our own project, if we're going to do it, we're going to do it. And if this is about us and we're using religious language to give cover for it, we've missed all that. And we've cut ourselves off from a good relationship with God. And so these things will keep happening.

[21:43] So the first failure is the failure of thought. It's the magical thinking. And the first lie that we tell is the lie that we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves a lie first before we lie to anyone else. And so some of it is just start small. You can say, oh, God can't see this, or God doesn't care, or God's OK with it. I can take the widow's field. I can cheat on my taxes. I can talk about somebody behind their back because they won't ever know.

[22:14] Well, God knows. You know? And once I was building a little house, we have a little shed in Mission Springs that I built with just a wonderful Christian man from the church in Scotts Valley. He's a carpenter. And so he taught me how to frame a building. And it was just a really sweet week where we kind of built this little house together. And we were right at the finishing stages. And we were putting the shingles on the roof. And there's one side that faced the part where everybody could see it, and there's one part that just faced the forest. The squirrels could see it. And turkeys could see it. But that was it. And I made a mistake on the back side. And it didn't look quite lined up. And Sam said, Hans-Erik, that looks goofed up there. Why don't you fix that? But it was my house. I was actually the boss. He was teaching me, but I was the one buying all the stuff. And I said, Sam, nobody can see it. It's still waterproof. It just doesn't look good. And Sam said, God can see it.

[23:17] And I was like, I'm not going to back down from this debate. So I was like, yes, but God forgives, Sam. So did they get fixed? No, they did not. But now maybe I should do that. Maybe I should be consistent and go, oh, God can see it. So OK, I got some shingle work. Once I'm feeling better from my surgery, which feels fine, but I meant to mention that in the prayers. I feel great. I look weird, but I feel great, which is true all the time. Not even after a surgery.

[23:47] God can see. But I think the lie is that God can't see, right? What happened after Adam and Eve ate the fruit and God was walking in the garden in the cool of the night? They hid from God. God can't see me. God can see you. He knew where they were, I think. Well, that's a very interesting question. That's for another time.

[24:13] So we say, God can't see me. God can't see it or doesn't care or is OK with it. God says, I too am watching. Well, then we say, OK, so God sees it. But I'm entitled to this. He would want me to have it. I mean, this is me we're talking about. I need this stuff, right? And God says, OK, so now you're ignoring my teachings that I laid down centuries ago when you were strangers. When you were strangers in another land and I brought you out of slavery. Remember the widow, the orphan, and the stranger? You were once a stranger yourself in another land and I brought you out. You needed to rely on the Father. You needed to rely on the kindness of other people. You needed to rely on the hospitality of other people. And I saved you from that. So you have to give justice to the strangers in your land. You have to. You can't not do that. And then the thinking goes, OK, all right, yes, I've made a bunch of mistakes. But we have this temple. We have God's promise. This is ours for everybody. Nobody's going to take it. God has an infinite supply of grace that he's going to shower on us. And there's no consequences ever for anything that we do. Like this is all magical. You all got that, right? And God says, what happened to Shiloh could happen here too.

[25:22] And yes, my presence protects you, but my presence can depart from you. And in Ezekiel, there's a vision of the presence of God lifting itself up out of the temple and floating away. It was a vision, but it was a warning.

[25:39] So God, there is a covenant, yes, but both sides has to keep it. That's how covenants work, especially in the Old Testament. It's a little bit different in the New Testament. But God says, I won't stand here forever with my hand stretched out to a stubborn and wicked people. There's only so long that this hand can be extended before God realizes that something else has to happen.

[26:02] So take a step back. That's very interesting about the Old Testament. That's very interesting about Jeremiah, Jerusalem. We know that in the end, they did not reform their ways. Right? Right? Right? Right? like I said, a kind of interesting story from the old times. I think we need the prophetic word to come to us and to the world, and it needs to come to us through tears. I think we need another Jeremiah who is like an authentic person, who will say, what you're doing is wrong, but I love you, and it breaks my heart, and it should break your heart too. And I'm not Jeremiah. I'm not saying it's me, okay? I want somebody else to come into my life and say this to me. And so that person would weep to say that we're insulting God if we think he can't see what we're doing.

[27:17] We're insulting God if we think he can't see what we're doing. We insult God if we say we love justice, but we practice injustice. We insult God if we say we hate violence, but we approve of violence, or we practice violence. We're insulting God. This is, God is grieved. Did you notice how grieved God sounded? Aggrieved, aggrieved and aggrieved, right? God is the one who has words that match his actions. God's not a hypocrite, but we're not like that. We're always looking for our own gain, even to the point of using religious language to get it. And we lie, and the biggest lie is the first lie, the lie we tell ourselves, and that's the bigger sin. Because it's almost always true that our thoughts come before our actions. So what do we need? We need a prophetic voice to call us into a place of repentance. We need an authentic relationship with God. We need a prophetic voice to call us into a place of repentance. We need an authentic relationship with God. We need an authentic relationship with God. A living, growing relationship with God. This comes to us through Jesus Christ now, where we talk to God honestly. Like we always think when we're talking to God, we have to come to him with our whole selves and our honest selves. Not short selling or sort of skimming over some facts when we come to God, but coming to him with the whole truth about who we are. We talk to him honestly, and we listen to him with humility.

[28:39] We talk to him honestly, and we listen to him with humility. And that brings us into the mind of God. And I think out of that, God can help us see the world as it is, not with magical thinking, but with reality. And the reality of the world, as we've been saying, is horrible. It's truly horrible. But I think God can give us the ability to see it in all its horribleness and not lose hope, not despair. Because God actually has a plan for all the horribleness in the world. And it's to redeem the world. And he wants to do it through the church.

[29:11] Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Paul says this in Romans 12, and you've heard this before. He says, don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And he goes on to say this, that's chapter 12 verse 2. Chapter 12 verse 3 is so related to it.

[29:50] We ought to think of ourselves with sober judgment. Have you heard that before? That's Romans 12.3. It's almost as important as Romans 12.2. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Good. Think of yourselves with sober judgment. What is he saying? Be honest with yourself about your own shortcomings. Be honest with God about your own shortcomings. Sober judgment means reality, realism, not fantastical or magical thinking about who I am or what the world is. Be aware of our sin, be aware of our tendency to tell ourselves lies, and our tendency towards magical thinking. There it is. Be in touch with the mind of God. That will put you in touch with the reality of the world, the suffering of the world, of your part in creating that suffering and sustaining that suffering. You're contributing to it. Sorry, a lot of prophetic words, I say it through tears. I honestly do. I say it to myself. But also your part in redeeming the world. You have a job in the church, through the church, in your life to redeem the world with the love of God. And that's God's plan. Amen. Amen.

[31:02] Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? Right? dwell with you. I want to be with you. I want to change your heart. I want to be in your heart. I want to be in your mind. I want to transform your mind. I want to be with you as you go out into the world to redeem it. God is offering us his presence. That's the redemptive word in all this. In all this brokenness, in all this sadness, in all this tragedy of the loss of the temple, of the loss of the land, of all the people, God says, yet I will dwell with you. Ultimately, that promise comes true in Jesus Christ. That's a topic for another time, but that's how it all comes true. Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God's continued working out of this covenant promise that he made to us. So I'm going to dwell on that thought. I want you to dwell on that thought. I don't know what lies you're telling yourself. I'm not going to make a list of lies that you could tell yourselves. And some of you may go, I don't lie to myself at all. Praise God. But I think there's at least one person in this room who goes, dear Lord, I've been lying to myself for a long time now. I need to stop. There you go. Thank you, at least. I see that hand. I see another hand. Oh,

[32:26] my goodness. Well, that was two. Two honest people and 25 magical thinkers. No, I'm kidding. No, we're all that way. You don't have to raise your hand. I was never asking anyone to raise their hand. But you might be thinking, the sooner you stop lying to yourself, the more of the rest of your life you have to live in the freedom of reality.

[32:50] It takes a little bit of courage and it takes the power of God. But God gives that power. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this difficult word, this prophetic word. Thank you for Jeremiah delivering it through his own tears. Deliver it to us today. Redeem this world through your church by your power. We trust you. It's too much for us. We're going to put it on your shoulders. Amen.