Jeremiah 20:7-9; Luke 22:54-62
Companions of Christ Jesus
- Always been confused by the prophets
- Easy to think of them as being in chronological order, but they clumped together at significant times of change in Israel’s history
- Jeremiah’s time as a prophet overlapped with Ezekiel and with Daniel
- Daniel wasn’t even in the same country at the time
- We pick up Jeremiah’s story today just after Jehoiakim, the King of Judah, has been deposed by Nebuchudnezzar, the emperor of Babylon.
- Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin, and most of the nobles, including Daniel, have been carried off to serve in Nebuchudnezzar’s court, and Zedekiah has been set up as a puppet king by the Babylonians.
- It will be another 11 years before Zedekiah rebels against Babylon, bringing about not only his own ruin, but the destruction of Solomon’s temple and the razing of Jerusalem.
- All in all, things are not going well for the Kingdom of Judah.
- After the discovery of the Torah and the revival in Josiah’s time a generation earlier, things are worse than ever for God’s people.
- Aside – we tend to think of the Bible happening on a grand times scale, thousands of years ago, steady and stable, but there is less than a lifetime between Josiah’s reign and the downfall of Jerusalem. Makes you see our church through different eyes
- In the midst of this political upheaval and oppression, Jeremiah burns with the Word of God
- It’s no wonder that his friends want him to shut up – now is not a good time to be speaking out against foreign religion.
- But he just can’t help himself. It brings him no joy, but he is compelled to speak God’s word to God’s people.
- He feels helpless and hopeless, yet through his ministry the people of God find hope in a hopeless time. In the midst of his despair he is amazed to find that God is with him, like a mighty warrioir (vs 11)
- Jeremiah is sometimes called a prophet of doom, and in this moment, that sense of doom consumes him, and yet it is the same prophet who brings encouragement and hope: I know the I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
- Jeremiah is close to despair, yet God’s word is a fire in his heart, burning in his bones. God’s hope is not so easily confounded.
- This moment of utter despair in Jeremiah’s life brings to mind Peter’s devastation in the court of the high priest.
- Peter is alone in enemy territory, confused and afraid
- Yet, he cannot escape.
- He is recognised.
- Not recognised in person, but in kind.
- As rumours spin and words whip, not one, not two, but three people recognise Peter as a companion of Jesus.
- And, in the heat of the moment, Peter denies Jesus.
- He realises that he is in too deep, alone in enemy territory, and he fears for his own life, just as he does for Jesus.
- And then Jesus’ eyes meet his, and he knows. He knows he’s got it wrong. He knows that he’s let Jesus down.
- And he turns his head away in shame. Helpless and hopeless
- It’s not very encouraging, is it?
- I really am trying to be encouraging, I promise!
- In fact, as Andrea and I have been reading through the Bible this year, it is truly remarkable just how discouraging the circumstances are.
- It’s easy to think of the history of God’s people as long periods of stability and hope, interspersed with short periods of dramatic change
- The truth is, if anything, the opposite
- But here’s the thing: the consistent message of scripture is this: We may go wrong, again, and again and again, but God’s faithfulness, hope and love is deeper and wider and broader than our hopelessness could ever hope to be
- And that is encouraging
- Look at Jeremiah: the fire in his bones that led to dismay is the same fire that burns in those eternal words of hope: “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord”. It is the same fire that burned in Peter’s shame. It is the same fire that burned in his words at Pentecost as he laid the foundation for your faith and for mine. It is the same fire that warms us when our hearts turn cold, it is the same fire that burns with eternal hope in the midst of despair. That same fire is in our hearts, and in our bones.
- Even when we lose hope, God’s hope is always with us.
- Here’s the thing about Jeremiah and about Peter. One way or another, they plumb the depths of human experience. Once there, they are surprised by the presence of God, right there with them.
- I was at the Presbytery retreat in Hanmer a couple of weeks ago, and as we got ready to leave on Tuesday morning, the retreat leader shared this reading from Luke’s gospel with us as a devotion.
- As so often happens when we read scripture, these words spoke to me in a new way.
- So often, we focus on the way that Peter let Jesus down. But there is something else going on here, under the surface.
- Even when he is in the grip of fear and shame, even as he denies Jesus, there is something about Peter that is recognisable. There is something about Peter that picks him out from the crowd. There is something bone-deep about Peter that marks him as a companion of Jesus.
- And the same is true of us.
- We may see ourselves as weak Christians. We of little faith. But we’re focusing on the wrong thing!
- Peter is so caught up in his failure to stand up for his Lord, that he misses the fact that something much bigger is going on – Jesus is standing for all of us, including Peter. Jesus is saving the world.
- When we give in to our own hopelessness or despair, then we are missing the very same thing.
- It’s like we’re watching the all blacks take on the lions, and we’re worried that we might be wearing the wrong clothes. There’s something bigger going on here.
- It’s like we’ve been chosen for the first manned mission to Mars, and we’re worried that we’ve left our driver’s licence behind.
- It’s like we’re expecting a postcard from the Queen, and we’re worried that we’re not wearing our best slippers on the way to the mailbox.
- These might all be mistakes, failures even, but something much bigger is going on here!
- Though they plumb the depths of the human condition, Jeremiah and Peter give us hope – even when we get things wrong – even when we are ashamed of ourselves – even when we let Jesus down – that same fire burns in our bones and in our lives – the same Lord will restore us, and we never cease to be marked by the love of God that is bigger and deeper and wider than our circumstances. There is something deep down in our bones that will never stop being recognisable. In spite of our worst efforts, we will never cease to be companions of Jesus.
- And there is hope in that. There is truth. There is an ocean of life that swallows up our small deaths and renews us and restores us.
- Jeremiah felt that his mouth filled with death, but God’s word in us brings life, and life in all its fullness.
