WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:10.720 Now, Jeremiah, like we said, he is the prophet that was ministering during the temple's destruction, at least the first time, the pre-Jesus time. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:16.000 You can see a little bit of the heaviness of that kind of prophet. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.079 You can see that he's uh really contemplating things. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:25.600 He's a very heavy, maybe even some would say a bit of a downer prophet. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:27.920 We're trying to get a sense of who he is. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:31.039 So where does Jeremiah fit in, right? 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:35.119 And we've been talking about this short history that we're we're working with. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:46.719 Uh we had this age of kings, right, for the uh the Jewish people, the Israelite community, uh, and it was this highlight with King David and King Solomon. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:01:05.519 Then, of course, it was really, really good until it wasn't good anymore, and the kingdom eventually splits, and then eventually both of those sides of the kingdoms get conquered, and the people are uh taken out, uh, all the wisdom, all the resources, all the wealth taken out. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:10.480 Jeremiah is preaching when the second kingdom goes down, right? 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.120 So this is sort of the last of it. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:26.480 Uh so uh one would have to say, and this is from a preacher's point of view, preaching during that time had to be a very, very difficult thing. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:31.680 Because you all like the sermons when everything's going good, don't you? 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.879 You know, those are some smooth, smooth sermons. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.920 Hey, hey, the world's pretty good. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.719 How about we all just be a little more patient? 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:43.599 Okay, you're that's a good sermon, right? 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:44.640 It's an easy sermon. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:47.439 You might even come every Sunday for that sermon. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:02:01.680 But this one, this sermon that Jeremiah's got to preach here, it's more like society is collapsing all around us, and each of you probably have something to do with it. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.560 That's a tougher sermon, am I right? 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:05.519 Is that right? 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:12.639 You know, so I give Jeremiah a little bit of a break, even though he has that reputation uh of a bit of a downer. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:18.639 At the same time, we want to appreciate the weight of the time that he was preaching in. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.759 And I want one more painting that I thought was significant. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:30.080 This is from Rembrandt, and you can see the weight of the world on uh this poor Jeremiah, who's doing his best to reflect. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:36.639 And it's actually, this one is called Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:46.800 Uh and so uh I just the weight of that that uh uh painting kind of caught me a little bit because I and I felt like it captured a little bit of who he is. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:56.800 He is understood to be the writer of Lamentations, which is another one of our books in the Bible, and uh his his grieving over the fall of Jerusalem. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.039 Uh and he is speaking to that grief for the larger body. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:12.960 So I give him some slack, and I want to point out as we add to the picture of who he is, he did speak to one of the best uh verses that are my favorite verses in scripture. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:21.120 Uh this is uh um 31, verses 33 and 34, and I invite you just to hear these words from Jeremiah 31. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:27.439 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:38.159 I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:39.840 I like that idea. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:43.680 I will write it within them, I will write it on their hearts. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:58.400 No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:10.639 I love that for a community, especially as their society was crumbling, to recognize that God was not confined to this temple that was destroyed, or even this city that was destroyed. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.919 God is with all of us, God is in each of our hearts. 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:22.959 So I actually celebrate Jeremiah and I hope that you will uh maybe in some journey with him come to that same appreciation. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:28.800 So the core message from today's passage, though, it's about leadership. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:40.639 Leadership in uh in their particular community, but we want to understand leadership in a broader sense, and it's a little confusing when we first get started with it. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.399 Because he talks about woe to the shepherds. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:50.639 Woe to the shepherds, and we think, well, what did the shepherds do? 00:04:50.639 --> 00:05:02.399 They're way out there in the fields, they're doing the best they can to keep the sheep all gathered up, but I don't know that we can blame the entire fall of the temple on the shepherds. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:09.920 And then we get a little more wise and we think, okay, maybe shepherds is a metaphor here. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.079 And he's probably not talking about the prophets, right? 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:27.600 He's not talking about the leaders of the church because they don't necessarily have the power to lead to the scattering of the Jewish people in the way they got scattered, in the way they got conquered. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:42.319 He's really probably talking to the kings and the other leaders of that kingdom, right, of that society, and he's pointing to them saying, You guys have scattered our community. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:06:01.279 Now we don't know if it's uh if he's blaming them for actions that led to the fall of the kingdom, and that's why they're scattered, or if he's blaming them for exactly how he's blaming these leaders? 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.959 Was it the cause of the scattering, or maybe it's the result of their actions? 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:12.560 That we don't know for sure, but he's blaming them for that scattering. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:19.600 But in that blame, there is lots of good news. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:37.920 First of all, for those of us who would be frustrated in that sense, God's coming and God's first gonna deal with those evildoers who allowed the community to be scattered, or maybe even caused the community to be scattered. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.839 But then listen to these words of hope. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:55.600 And you've got Bibles in your pews if you want to look it up, but listen to these things that he says that are gonna be part of the future despite where the Israelites are, despite where the community is. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:57.199 Listen to what he says. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:07.199 But then God's gonna gather the remnant of the flock out of all of the lands and bring them back to the fold where they will be fruitful and multiply. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:17.199 Very powerful, comforting words, hopefully, for the community, especially that is suffering, that is grieving. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:23.439 But God is gonna deal with those shepherds who led us where we're at, and then God is gonna bring us back together. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:27.360 That remnant, that's the remnant of the Israelites who've been conquered. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.079 They've been spread out now. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:37.519 He also says, shepherds raised over who shepherd them, no longer in fear or missing. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:47.680 All of these shepherds who used to get oppressed are now going to be able to have a little bit of authority and a little bit of power over those who oppressed them. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:53.600 Words of hope, again, especially for an oppressed community. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:05.199 Then he says he's gonna raise up for David a righteous branch who will reign wisely, executing justice and righteousness. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:25.519 So somebody out of the branch of David, this king who they celebrate, because those were good days, he's gonna raise somebody up from that line who is gonna be just and kind and comforting and bring us back to our days, executing justice and righteousness. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:32.559 And then his name will be called the Lord, our righteousness. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:38.159 So they got that going for them, which is nice. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.519 Nobody saw Caddyshack. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:52.799 All right, I threw it out there for us Christians, for us Christians, that name, that person actually came. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:54.480 Right? 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.399 That is Jesus. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.799 Did you notice that last bit? 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.240 His name will be the Lord, our righteousness. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:10.879 That is Jesus, and we celebrate that presence every year, right about this time, the birth of Christ. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:18.000 And we ask ourselves sometimes, what is it that we're actually so excited about Jesus for? 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.120 Why does this inform our faith? 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:25.200 Why does this enrich our journey to know who God is? 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.240 What is Jesus actually bringing? 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:32.799 Well, these are some of the words of what Jesus brings. 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:43.279 The things that Jeremiah is calling for, the things that Jeremiah points to are what we understand to have come with Christ. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:48.320 And this is why we celebrate at Christmas. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:10:08.879 Because that leader that came to reign with justice, with righteousness, with love, forgiveness, with grace, we celebrate that that authority, that power actually exists and is in our world. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:16.240 We aren't just victims of our own human tendencies and disappointments and brokenness. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:25.759 There's actually these forces, these layers of justice and love and peace and grace that are in and among us. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:32.159 But now we get to the difficult part of the passage. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:36.399 I hope that you are ready and you have girded your loins. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:11:02.320 We love this thought justice, truth, peace in the world, and certainly if there is a force or a group or even a person in the world that is bringing something dark into our world, we'd want to scatter that darkness, would we not? 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:06.159 We are glad when darkness is made weak. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.159 We are glad when it is scattered about the earth. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:18.159 But what do we do when we disagree on what that evil is? 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:27.200 What do we do when we're not in agreement with what needs to be scattered? 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:32.720 We're kind of living that right now, are we not? 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:54.320 We have a lot of infighting, we have a lot of tribal positioning, we have a lot of justified dishonesty, we have a lot of poor behavior and actions, a lot of poor language and communication with each other. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:12:06.399 Let me ask, does sometimes, right, does it sometimes feel like our particular society has become one massive family Thanksgiving? 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.480 Right? 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.080 And not the good one, right? 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:14.399 Where we go around the table and we, oh, what are you thankful for? 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.919 What are you thankful for? 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.519 And what are you thankful for? 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:18.639 And all that stuff. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:20.879 Not that Thanksgiving. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:22.480 No, the other kind. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.159 Where the whole family ends up at odds with each other, right? 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:33.440 The one that all the comedians like to make fun of and poke at with Thanksgiving. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:40.320 Oh, don't, don't bring that up around Uncle Frank. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:43.039 Have you seen his Facebook? 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:49.200 We do not want to be in that conversation. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:54.559 Oh, and do you remember that outburst from Aunt Sally during COVID? 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.639 Thank goodness jello salad is easy to clean up. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.919 Right? 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.840 It's that Thanksgiving. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:11.919 We have this problem that we've made such a mess of things with our society, right? 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:19.759 Where now when we hear some fact, somebody's listing a fact for us, our first reaction is, well, where'd you hear that? 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.679 Where did that come from? 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:47.279 And what's worse, we kind of have to ask that question because so many sources of our information have a sort of self-justified, for I assume, some larger priority, giving us things that aren't quite true, telling us things in ways that aren't necessarily honest or with integrity. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:14:11.120 You know, uh when we open our doors to this world of alternative facts, and I would argue opened our doors to this world of alternative ways of dealing with disagreement, we really turn our world into a bit of a battlefield. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:12.799 Do we not? 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:30.080 If we're not even able to agree on how we're going to talk to each other and how we're gonna find some place that we can agree on and move forward together, we're just in this place of fighting. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:38.960 Peter Marty is a retired Lutheran pastor, he's also the editor and publisher of the Christian Century, which I appreciate. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.840 He spoke to this challenge, right? 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:48.559 And he pointed out its particular relevance this season as we move from Thanksgiving into Advent. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.360 And I think I have his first quote right here. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.159 Right, Sarah, you had it. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.279 There we are. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:04.960 He writes, uh, in the latest issue of Christian Century, wherever we situate Bethlehem, let's be clear that it's far away from the corridors of power. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:13.120 God shows up in profound humility, taking up very little oxygen in that cattle stall. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:20.799 No coercion is in the air, no imposition of will, no compulsion to intimidate those shepherds, angling for a glimpse. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:35.279 In fact, the manger is so small, there's no room inside and decided for arrogance or pomposity, no space for self-righteous power plays or siege mentalities. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:45.039 In the awesome simplicity of a child, God comes to redeem hearts, not to rule nations. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:16:09.840 When I think about what happened on that night, that night of Christ's birth, I'm reminded of what a powerful thing, so powerful that on most church blocks here in our nation, you are gonna find a community that's dedicated to what happened on that night. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.399 That is powerful. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:26.159 Happened in such a small place, not needing the grandeur, not needing the manipulation. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:37.360 I think there's an Advent lesson to be learned about our constant need to convince, to manipulate, to conquer, to save. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:51.360 Peter Marty goes on to say, I'm convinced there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas, or I would argue Thanksgiving in this case. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.240 But we can make of it what we will. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:14.000 Either receiving the tenderness of God as an astonishing gift to humanity, or singing a few carols, then returning to a life of giving orders, dishing out insults, and acting as righteous warriors. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:19.680 I know where I want to land on Christmas night. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:34.720 I invite you to open yourself to Peter Marty's words here, especially as we move into this holiday season and then into our more significant one. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:48.319 In that spirit, might we look to become again that place of simplicity, that place of love, and that we have a blessed Thanksgiving. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:49.279 Amen.