The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
18th Sunday after Trinity 2013
September 29, 2010
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
18th Sunday after Trinity 2013
September 29, 2010
Jer 32:15 “For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this
land.”
Our O.T.
Lesson ends with a very promising note, as the Lord speaks through the Prophet
Jeremiah. He tells him that there will be a repossession of the land that is
now threatened to go into the hands of the Babylonians, perhaps forever. It is
all the more amazing for that, since in the previous verses, we heard of all
the misfortunes that are about to befall the city of Jerusalem and her king. We
are told that the city is to be taken by the Chaldeans (Babylonians} under
Nebuchadnezzar. We are told also that Zedekiah also would not escape his hand,
but would meet him personally. One could safely assume this meeting would not
be very pleasant.
We know from
our history, and from the 52nd chapter of Jeremiah, that all these
things came to pass. Zedekiah did rebel against the Babylonians, which meant he
stopped paying tribute and tried to regain his independence. Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem for a
little over two years, at which point the whole city was starving. At this point Zedekiah and his chief men of
war escaped the city through a break in the wall and tried to make a run for
it. Of course, they were pursued and
captured, then sent to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah for judgment. As you might guess,
it was harsh. First, Zedekiah’s sons
were executed in front of him, and then he himself had his eyes put out. Next,
he was put in chains and carried off to prison in Babylon, which we know was
not a model of hygiene or cleanliness, even for captive kings. Soon after this, Nebuchadnezzar would have
his chief captain, Nebuzaradan, return to Jerusalem to sack the Temple, then to
burn it and most of Jerusalem. In short, Jerusalem was pillaged and trashed.
How then, does
this reading end on a positive note? How could anything positive come out of
all this? What a question, indeed.
It comes
towards the end of the reading for today.
The Lord tells Jeremiah that his uncle will come visit him, and will ask
him to buy a field that he has a right to redeem, if he wants it. This word of
the Lord comes to pass as his uncle does indeed come and the deal is done.
How curious
this is, seemingly, under the current state of circumstances! Here we have Jeremiah on one hand prophesying
about the end of Jerusalem, and on the other, seeking to buy land in a country
that may be longer theirs. What could be
the meaning of this?
Our clue comes in the last verse of the
reading, where the Lord says, “For thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be
possessed again in this land. “The Lord promises
something very special here. For further information on what the Lord may be giving,
let us refer to our Epistle for today. In it, we read of the great cosmic
battle between the Archangel Michael, and Satan. Evidently, Satan had seduced a large number
of angels to join him in his quest for power, for he led a revolt in Heaven
against God, as sought to become the “most high.” This battle is referenced in
the books of Daniel and Isaiah. Daniel
speaks of Satan’s thirst to be like God, and Isaiah tells us of his (Satan’s)
fall from Heaven. Both are powerful accounts, helping us to understand how and
why evil is so prevalent in this world our reading from Revelations tells
us: “Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell
in them.”
“Woe to the
inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” [1]
How could these two pieces of scripture have any connection? Jeremiah tells us that the land will be
re-possessed by the children of Israel.
He shows his faith in this by redeeming the land he has a right to buy,
even though it may no longer be considered Judah, but Babylonian. Revelations tells us that there was a war in
heaven, and Michael and his angels defeated the evil host.
The
connection is this: in both cases, there is a restoration, or a redemption, or,
if you will, a cancelling out of evil and its power. Although in Jeremiah, the Chaldeans are about
to take Jerusalem, she will be restored.
In Revelations, although there was a war in Heaven, and although evil
was cast down to earth, it will not be forever.
Jeremiah is told to buy land, because someday, all will be
restored. St. John in Revelations tells
us the devil is vanquished, although his defeat is not complete yet. Yet, it is done, as referenced here: ” And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night.” [2]
Thus,
the stage is set for something that God does very well: restoration. In the
case of Jeremiah, God is intending to restore the Kingdom of Judah, although
not immediately. In fact, it will be 70 years before the exiles will return to
their historic homelands. They will return, however. Note here an amazing similarity to the first
such exile that the Jews suffered, because they failed to follow God’s plan.
What was the first exile? It occurred in
the book of Deuteronomy, when the Lord commanded the people to take possession
of the good land before them. Instead of
obeying Him, the people, with the exception of Joshua, Caleb, and a few others,
shrank back.
They
did not have the faith to possess what God had given them. As a result, God
caused them to wander in Sinai and the surrounding areas for 40 years or until
mortality consumed that faithless generation.
The
Babylonian Captivity worked in the same manner, except that God increased the
time away from Judea. Instead of 40
years, this time it was 70 years. Evidently, God wanted that entire generation
of idolaters, and then some, dead. He did not want them to pollute the
restoration of Judah, when it happened.
The
point for us today is that God does indeed restore and repair. He takes us in
our brokenness, when we repent, and heals us.
He restores us to our former position of favor in His eyes. All of this,
of course, occurs because we have grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
This may
be the greatest gift of all. All of us
have had or will have an opportunity to forgive someone for something they have
done to us. Normally, it is important to
note that we are instructed to forgive a sin against us when the offending
party repents. Then, we fall into that category of “70 times 7” that Our
Lord spoke about. Recall that the
original question asked of Christ by his disciples was, “How many times do I
forgive my brother, if he repents after sinning against me? Seven times?” Christ’s amazing answer was “Not seven
times, but seventy times seven.” In other words, if there is repentance, we are
to forgive an innumerable number of times, like our Father in Heaven does.
Yes,
but how about those times where no repentance is evident? Do we forgive
then? This is much more challenging….Unfortunately,
even though we may not like the answer, it too is “yes.” There are at least two reasons for this.
First,
we are told to do this in the Lord’s Prayer.
It says, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us.” Our own
forgiveness is conditional on our forgiving others.
This is
tough, but necessary. It is necessary
for our own positive spiritual condition.
If we forgive, as painful as it may be, we will become spiritually whole,
rather than harboring hatred, or bitterness or negativity. As some of you know,
we recently suffered the loss of our household weapons, including some very old
and valued pieces by a person to whom we gave a place to stay for a while. He
repaid us by theft. Personally, I have
struggled with this, but, through the grace of God, have forgiven him. The hurt
of loss is still there, however. That
can only be made better by restoration, which will not happen in this case….
Yet,
this highlights in stark relief the difference between God and Man. Man may forgive, but he rarely forgets. Man
may forgive, but the relationship is rarely the same, especially for
adults. Yet, with God, because of the
precious blood of Christ, we are forgiven and restored. God even said to us, “And their sins will I
remember no more….” How amazing is this!
Yet,
beloved, this is our God…He forgives, and He restores us to place of favor with
Him, although we certainly do not deserve it. Our good deeds, especially when
weighed with our sinfulness, will never be enough for our justification. Thus, away with works righteousness and
self-righteousness! They cannot attain forgiveness or salvation for us.
But,
there is a way, which we all know….It is the way of peace and joy and quiet;
even though it was acquired with the opposite of all of those things…it was
acquired through battle, through pain and suffering on a large wooden Cross
some two millennia ago. Because of that,
we have forgiveness and restoration. Because of that, we have a special
relationship to Almighty God… Because of that we are indeed most blessed.
Glory
be to God!
I
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost, Amen.