Musical Prelude and Service.

Sermon – September 15 – Jeremiah 4:23-28 & Philippians 2:14-18
I don’t often point to the bleak images that we can pull up on our phones or on television when I get to my messages. But frankly, the image painted by Jeremiah in this morning’s scripture reading is evocative and mirrors a vision of a great man parts of today’s world.
How many of you can imagine the streets of Gaza or sections of Ukraine when we read those words this morning? Can we think of parts of Haiti or countless other pars of our world, perhaps even closer to home? Communities and regions suffering from economic devastation or that have suffered through wildfires and floods?
I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos,
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
I looked on the mountains, and they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and there was no one at all,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
Jeremiah wrote this as his country, Judah was anticipating war with the Babylonians. Many in the King’s court, advisors and other prophets were assuring the King, first Josiah and over the next forty years four others, ending in Zedekiah, that God would protect them all.
Jeremiah told them Judah would lose. The kingdom had lost its way. It had turned away from God and God was not going to protect them. Those with power and money were exploiting the poor and the powerless. They had lost sight of justice, compassion and love. They had lost sight of God in their world. The prophets continually issued warnings to the Kings of Israel and Judah. They tried to turn people’s minds and hearts back to God. They worked to remind people of God’s presence and God’s desires, God’s wishes for the people and the land. They continuously reminded everyone of the covenant they had with God.
A surface reading of Jeremiah basically says, the Kings of Judah and the people of Judah had so angered God that God was going to destroy their beloved city of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah. And Babylon, who isn’t mentioned here, but that’s the kingdom to the North, would be God’s tool in this destruction.
But as you look at this you, (well, at least I do), see that Jeremiah is essentially saying the greed and self interest of the ruling elite had left the kingdom hollowed out. The people have lost trust in the authorities and the authorities have stopped paying attention to the condition of the land. Judah is ripe for picking and God’s not going to save you if you are not going to do any work.
So, Jeremiah has a vision. He looks out at this city and this country where he lives. This place and these people whom he loves, and he sees the chaos, the lack of light and life. He sees the void that existed before creation. Without God’s hand of creation guiding things, there is nothing. But I believe Jeremiah and the other prophets tend to argue that if we are not prepared to work with God, to follow God, to obey God, there is a price to pay.
The prophets believed we were in relationship with God, and we all too often as a people neglect that relationship. And in their view, God is not a static, unmoveable entity. God reacts to our neglect and our cruelty. God responds when we exploit or disregard the richness and beauty of creation. God hurts when we live lives filled with cruelty and injustice.
But despite our ignorance and loss of direction, Jeremiah holds out an offer of hope.
The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.
It doesn’t sound like much in the face of desolation. But it is not a full end. There is still a light. There is still something else. Throughout the prophetic writings, there is the warning and the portent of doom – of destruction. That there are dire consequences when we turn our backs on God. But at the same time, there is the recognition that God’s love of creation is unending. That as disappointed, angry, and betrayed as God might feel, God cannot stop loving us, and offers us a way back. God is constantly opening their arms to welcome us home. If only we will accept the invitation.
In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul encourages the church members to live lives of grateful celebration. Paul is not naïve to the situation of the world. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. The followers of Jesus and the Jews were small and marginalized minorities in larger world. They were not part of the elite and no where near the corridors of power. And yet they had to live in that world; a world that celebrated power and rewarded loyalty to those who held power. It was a quid pro quo social order that had zero compunction about exploiting those who had no voice. It saw nothing wrong with ignoring the plight of the weakest and poorest in society.
That’s what Paul is talking about when he talks about a crooked and perverse generation.
But Paul urges this church and its followers to resist being like the rest of their world. To be something more. To be like the stars and shine in a dark world. We may be a small voice in the din of the world, but we can still make a difference. We can show the rest of the world that there is another way to live in this world.
Christ offered us a different way.
We can easily see the results of a life that sees the world as a commodity and our neighbours as enemies or as acceptable collateral damage in a violent struggle. We have witnessed the tragic consequences of failing to see creation and all its inhabitants as beloved children of God. The wisdom of this world often tells us there is no other way.
But God continues to urge us to consider a new way. To hold on to the message that this is not the end. May we embrace a way of life that celebrates that we are powerfully and wonderfully made. That we are the end result of a labour of love by our creator. And may we rejoice together, with all our neighbours and all our relations.
And together say Thanks be to God.
Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789