Jeremiah 20:7-13 (NIVUK)

Jeremiah’s complaint

7 You deceived[a] me, Lord, and I was deceived;[b]
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word
or speak any more in his name,’
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
‘Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!’
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
‘Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him.’

11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonour will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.

13 Sing to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.

Show Jeremiah overview, Bible project.

(P) Jeremiah was a prophet of doom! And because of that he was very unpopular! His message of judgement from God alienated him from his peers and so he is this lone voice of warning that everyone is ignoring.

We live in times where our Christian message is largely ignored. Sometimes politely and sometimes with hostility.

There are parts of our message which everyone likes:

‘love one another’

‘peace on earth and goodwill towards all’

‘help the poor and heal the sick’

But there are parts of it which are not socially acceptable or politically correct:

‘Jesus is the only saviour’. What? You can’t say that! What about all the other religions? Aren’t they equally valid as Christianity?

‘Sex outside of wedlock is wrong’ What? That’s not realistic!

‘Turn the other cheek’ What? And give permission to be bullied!

‘Love your enemies and forgive them’ What? Surely some things are unforgivable!

Jesus said many things we rather wished he hadn’t. Even his closest followers struggle with some of his teaching. For example: Matthew 10:34-39 (P)

34 ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

‘“a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”

37 ‘Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Wow! That might change your image of loving Jesus meek and mild! So much for family values! But what Jesus and Jeremiah are calling for is wholehearted, single minded allegiance to God. And that kind of allegiance is costly. It can break up families and cause you to loose friends. But if God is who he says he is- our creator, the author and sustainer of all life, the judge of our deeds done in this life, the one who alone can save our souls for eternity- then he alone is worthy of  this cost.

Jeremiah finds himself in quite a predicament. He didn’t go along to a careers expo and  decide to become a prophet. He was chosen by God for this task and he somewhat reluctantly agrees (most of the significant characters in the Bible are chosen this way). He’s full of doubt and uncertainty but also full of the word of God, which is the cause of most of his problems: (P)

8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word
or speak any more in his name,’
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
He knows his life would be so much easier if he just kept quiet. If he just kept those thoughts of the coming judgment to himself everything would be alright and he can carry on living an ordinary life. But this word from God burns in him like a fire and keeping quiet only adds to his misery because the Spirit of God in him is relentless in its urging to get this message out.

Now as someone who preaches regularly I can relate to this a bit. I preach often enough for it to be a significant part of my working week and a significant part of my thinking and a part of who I am. When I have a Sunday off from preaching I’m usually thankful for the rest but I often feel like an important part of me is laying dormant. I can be prone to melancholy if I’m not preaching.

But I also see a warning for preachers in this. Sometimes we have to be the prophet of doom  and bring an unpopular message. The temptation is always there to tone it down, to sugar coat it or to compromise it so that we don’t cop too much flak from it.

You might not be called to stand in a pulpit and preach but I’m not sure that let’s you off the hook. As God’s people, called and chosen by him, we are all called to stand up for truth and righteousness. To oppose injustice when we encounter it. To use whatever influence you have been given- in your workplace, family, club or organization- to promote the cause of the gospel of Christ. This calls for courage for all of us.

Imagine what would happen if the people of God began to get courageous and instead of hiding their light under a shade began to shine brightly into this dark world. Imagine if people were awoken to the reality that life without God is ultimately meaningless and futile but new life can be lived in relationship with God. Imagine if we were like Jeremiah, unable to keep the message to ourselves.

In spite of his troubles, Jeremiah experiences God’s grace which sustains him throughout his life and through the highs and lows (mostly lows) of his ministry. (P)

11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonour will never be forgotten.
The persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

(P) In July 1972 a young Soviet soldier died in the Crimea. His name was Vanya Moiseyev and he was a Christian.  He died at the hand of his commanding officers who were determined to silence his witness for Christ. On one occasion he was commanded to stand outside in summer uniform for 5 hours. It –30 degrees! Miraculously he didn’t feel the cold and survived the ordeal. The Soviet Union fell and a new era of religious freedom was ushered in in the 1990’s. (This freedom is once again under attack through Putin’s anti terrorism laws).

Our passage ends with Jeremiah giving praise to God which  comes out of his prayer: (P)

12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.

13 Sing to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.

So many of the lament psalms end this way. After pouring out bitter complaint to God they end in praise. Why is that? I think it’s because when we spend time in prayer, no matter what we are going through, we are confronted with a new perspective. We get God’s perspective. And we are reminded that the all powerful one has our back. We are reminded that though we are limited, he is not. And we are reminded that ultimately all injustice will bow to him.

Thanks be to God!