Grace Lutheran Church

+ In Nomine Jesu +
The Rev. Evan Gaertner
Proper 7A
June 22, 2008
Jeremiah 20:7-13
“Lord, What Were You Thinking?!?”

It can be difficult to handle the waterfall of frustrating, disappointing, sad, unbearable news that can seem to swirl around us. Good moments happen for all of us but there just seems to be a drumbeat of bad stuff that at times appears to become the rhythm of life.

How do we handle those times when we want to just say, “Lord, What Were You Thinking?” Lord what were you thinking giving cancer to someone in their twenties. Lord what were you thinking bringing the death of someone loved and cared for by so many. Lord what were you thinking putting our soldiers into such a difficult situation. Lord what were you thinking indeed. I have these moments when not everything makes sense and not all of the puzzle pieces seem to match the picture that I have of the ways things are supposed to be.

The prophet Jeremiah was called to bring God’s Word in a difficult time to a difficult people. The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Jeremiah responded, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah’s ministry began with the conviction that the Lord would be with him as he served the Lord.

I am not as much talking about the particular way that Jeremiah may have received the Word of God. The direct revelation of God’s Word must have been a remarkable soul convincing experience. When Jeremiah spoke, he spoke with the confidence that he was not serving his own interests but speaking the very Word of God.

But the way things went for Jeremiah would put him into the position that sometimes you have found yourself. “Lord what were you thinking making my life like this?” I am interested in how Jeremiah handled the experiences that he faced in the world that seemed to be in conflict with the promise of God when God said, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

Those words to Jeremiah are echoed to the disciples by Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…Lo, I will be with you always to the very end of the age.”

So Jeremiah was encouraged to go forward with the word of the Lord and indeed to go with confidence. The Lord spoke those words I shared with you in chapter 1, verse 8, and also in verse 19 of chapter one said, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” The Lord also encouraged Jeremiah in chapter 15, verses 20-21 “And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you, to save you and deliver you, declared the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

We also find in our Old Testament lesson for today Jeremiah reminding himself (20:11), “But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.”

Jeremiah is pretty much saying, “Lord, what were you thinking?? Putting me in this situation…but I will trust your promise.”

Jeremiah was a real man with real struggles trying to figure out God’s plan for his life. It would be wonderful if life was easy and everywhere we walked doors opened like on the starship Enterprise with “shimmp” sound. Life was not easy for Jeremiah. He faced violence and angry words. Jeremiah experienced being whipped and being put in the stockade. He was accused of treason, sedition, desertion and plotted against and opposed by his own family. He was imprisoned in the bottom of a cistern and held under arrest in the courtyard of the guard. He fled to Egypt when Jerusalem was destroyed. He faced a people that refused to hear his message and so brought destruction upon themselves.

Jeremiah is a real lesson of the story of faith that comes into contact with the world. Faith in our Lord is not just an abstract notion but a reality that puts us in conflict with the world. Jeremiah brought his faith to the world. He allowed himself to face the tough questions and he experienced the truth that the answers are not always easy. John Bright, author of the book The Kingdom of God, said, “Here, indeed, we learn what faith really is: not that smug faith which is untroubled by questions because it has never asked any; but that truth faith which has asked all the questions and received very few answers, yet has heard the command, Gird up your loins! Do your duty! Remember your calling! Cast yourself forward upon God!”

I think faith in God should put us into turmoil with the world. We should be frustrated but not surprised when family and friends turn against us, if we find ourselves at times alone or unable to enjoy the good times. God calls us to be his servants. As a servant of God Jeremiah did not find his life to be a walk in the garden. God’s people are not exempt from the harshness of living in a sinful world. Indeed it may be even more frustrating because we know how God created the world to be a very good place but that sin has stained everything.

Even when trying to live life according to God’s Word we will run into the tragic reality of sin in this world. God knew that Jeremiah would face a harsh world that would bristle at the preaching of God’s Word, that is why the Lord said to Jeremiah, “They fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” (Jer 1:19)

Maybe one answer for Jeremiah would be to just ignore God’s Word and so no longer put himself into conflict with the world. Jeremiah though knew the truth that God’s Word cannot be bottled up and hidden away. When God’s word has captured our lives we can do nothing but go forward by the grace of God. Jeremiah said, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name.’ there is in my heart a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

When we are confronted with the unbearable, tragic, impossible situation we are encouraged to stand strong because the Lord promises to be with us. We need this promise of the presence of the Lord because without him we would never be able to stand against sin and death that rules around us. Five times in the book of Jeremiah we find Jeremiah confessing to the Lord that he cannot do what he has been called to do. The message is too hard, the people are too violent, the work is too large. But in these moments Jeremiah goes forward because he says, “The Lord is with me.”

Real faith struggles like Jeremiah with the tension between trusting in God and living in a world that pulls and tears at that trust. Jeremiah held onto his faith because the Lord has promised to be present and victorious. Jeremiah had the benefit of the direct revelation of God to maintain his confidence. Without the direct revelation of God to you will your faith not have the same foundation to stand upon?

You have been given in the flesh the work of God in Jesus Christ to give you the confidence that the Lord is with you. Jesus promised to his disciples, “Lo, I will be with you always to the very end of the age.” When Jesus made this promise it was not only words but it was backed up with the reality that he had been dead and rose again. We can have confidence that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This confidence is not standing just on words but on the very work of God for you. Even when we would not be present for God, he remains present for us. For Christ died for us while we were yet still sinners so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Stand firm with the confidence that the Lord you God is with you and by the same power that enables him to subdues all things to himself he will bring to us the victory over sin, death, and the devil. Victory will not always be easy to see, it will be by faith that we go forward. When Jesus was in the tomb, it was hardly possible to imagine that three days later that tomb would be empty. Jesus lives. The tomb is empty. It is not empty words when we say, “The Lord Be With You.”

Soli Deo Gloria