Category: Jeremiah - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Jeremiah 26:1-16 - Lectionary for Simon and Jude

10/11/2021

10/11/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

"how dare you!" We dare to speak the truth, as did Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 26. Nobody would have minded if Jeremiah's message had agreed with their plans. But it didn't.

What God has said, particularly about the nature of sin and salvation, goes against the grain of the majority in Western culture today. It's particularly offensive to the secularist, who has elevated politics to a religious faith and has made feelings the inviolable confession of faith.

Jeremiah's message to the people was one of doom. If they did not repent and turn to God they would find their city in ruin and disgrace. This was not what they wanted to hear. It is not what my culture wants to hear either. Calling an increasingly secularized society to believe what God has said in Scripture and to live in accord with it is decidedly not what they want. However, as with Jeremiah, so with America. It's what they need.

The priests and prophets in Jeremiah's time considered Jeremiah worthy of death. The priests and prophets of secularity in our time may wish the same. However, once Jeremiah spoke to a different group, the city officials and the people, that group managed to make the priests and prophets change their mind.

Speaking and living in a way that is faithful to God's Word is a challenge. Yet the Lord can take this radically counter-cultural message of repentance and reliance on God rather than ourselves, and use the truth for the good of our world.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 11:18-20 - Lectionary for Tuesday in Holy Week

3/26/2021

3/26/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In some sense all the Scripture is about Jesus. Yet here in Jeremiah 11 it's partly about him and partly about us. The enemies gather, plotting evil against God and His people. Though Jesus knew all about that, we don't always know. For this reason, in verse 19, we read, "I did no tknow it was against me they devised schemes…" (ESV).

There's a sort of deadly, deceptive way that those who reject God in Christ would carry on in life. There's a constant suggestion that we make concessions, just little concessions. In recent cultural patterns in my home country, these have included creeping attempts to remove gender roles, then devalue people who recognize more traditional gender roles, then decry as bigoted anybody who thinks gender is some innate part of the created order and not a matter of personal opinion. Likewise, natural marriage with its protections was eroded to have no protections in no-fault divorce, then further eroded as it became a matter based on feeling rather than commitment, then by the move to having feelings of affection toward members of the same sex, and, in some areas, now plural marriage may be gaining acceptance, along with pedophilia and the like.

The plot is against God. It isn't against us. We're simply standing in the way. Jesus stood in the way too. He knew what would happen. It cost him his life. Yet he allowed for the enemy to plot against him, knowing that their plot would ultimately fail. Jesus, the Lord of life, could not be held by death. Jesus, who is able to sustain all things by his grace, cannot be defeated. Though the enemies would rage, their raging comes to nothing.

The confidence in verse 20 is that our cause, committed to Jesus, is going to work out just fine. If our purpose is God's purpose, if our plan is God's plan, and if our trust is in the Lord of all creation, we have nothing to fear. He is able to bring all things to pass according to his good will. He will take vengeance where it is needed.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 31:15-17 - Lectionary for Holy Innocents, Martyrs

12/30/2020

12/30/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

We're surrounded by sorrow. The readings for this and the following three posts are used for the commemoration of one of the saddest events recorded in the Bible, the occasion of the execution of the male children two and under in the area of Bethlehem, at the order of Herod.

Scholars differ on their estimates of the extent of the slaughter of the innocents. Most agree that Bethlehem was not a heavily populated place and that there were likely not all that many male children two and under at the time. It was not a large enough event to prompt comment from sources outside the Bible. It didn't provoke a revolution.

The fact remains, though, that in Jeremiah 31:15-17, the proper response to these sorrows, to the loss of children who have been taken away, is weeping. It is a time of sorrow.

My native country is one of the few in the world which allows the legal execution of unborn children, for any reason or for no reason, up to the time of birth. By some estimates, and they are estimates because political authorities have not considered it worth their time to gather statistics about this legalized homicide, between 15% and 30% of unborn children are killed in the womb. We are a heavily populated place. There are a lot of pregnancies in this country. Though the statistics lag behind the current date by a couple of years, and though numbers of abortions are not reported by some of the most populous states, a modest estimate is that about 860,000 unborn children were killed in the United States in 2017. Our current pandemic death toll is dwarfed by the death toll caused by the execution of unborn children.

Yes, the proper response is weeping. Is there any hope? These people seem lost to us. For many we don't even have a reasonable hope that they will be participants in the resurrection to life. What hope is there?

Verses 16-17 say that we can have hope. The children of the righteous who have been taken away in the acts of warfare instigated by the Babylonians will be returned in the restoration of all things. We don't know precisely what that means. We can't say that all children who have been lost to their parents will be returned to them. We can't make any guarantee of their resurrection to life. We don't know exactly how God works. But we do know, for those who have been hearing the Gospel in faith, even those who are cruelly taken away have still been given the precious gift of the Gospel, which leads them to eternal life. Will they depart from the faith? We don't know. Will they remain in the faith? We don't know. But we do know that God is merciful.

While we pray to end the acts of warfare and abuse which result in killing others, particularly in killing children, we can also have hope that God, in his mercy, will show himself to be the God of restoration. So we fight the slaughter of the innocents. And we refuse to give up hope.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 8:4-12 - Lectionary for Trinity 10

8/10/2020

8/10/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Jeremiah 8:4-12 speaks a piercing rebuke to the people of Jerusalem at Jeremiah’s time. In doing so it also condemns our modern Western society. The priests and other religious leaders had been speaking words of peace and comfort. Yet those words of peace and comfort were not adequate.

Verse 11 diagnoses the poor treatment given to God’s people. “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (ESV). Those in our world today who speak of peace and reconciliation are quick to condemn Christians as people who neglect justice, who engage in all sorts of abuse, and are essentially ignorant and boorish people interested only in worldly gain.

Time and again, these same people, the priestly class of the secular culture we live in, will insult Christianity in unknowing ways. Meanwhile they pursue policies which bring harm to the weakest in society. They seek to abort unborn people, saying they are unwanted. They try to affirm lifestyles which, even when greeted with encouragement, are tied to a far higher rate of depression, violence, and suicide than the lifestyles historically advocated by Christians. They try to create an unnatural separation between spirituality and physicality, thus damaging the essential unity of body and soul which makes for a whole person. They proclaim peace, blame others for interfering with peace, then proceed to cause physical harm to those who would disagree with them, destroying and stealing personal property in doing so.

This ought not to be. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in the time of Jeremiah, partly as a result of false teaching of this type. The wounds in society were “healed lightly” and it resulted in their falling open, becoming infected, and risking the death of the society.

What does Jeremiah call us to do? Return to the truth. Turn from folly to seek the forgiveness that comes only from God in Christ. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Do not fall prey to false teachers. Trust in the Lord.

This is a difficult thing. We don’t know at present if we will be able to carry it off. But it is God’s call. God is waiting. Will we turn back to him? That’s what we were created to do.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 23:16-29 - Lectionary for Trinity 8

7/27/2020

7/27/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

In the time of Jeremiah the prophet there was a plague going on among the people of Israel. It was a plague of misinformation, of false teaching, of enthusiastic preaching that resulted in condemnation and destruction. Jeremiah 23:16-17 warns about this in no uncertain terms.

We don’t have to look around us very carefully to see the same kind of false teaching, both inside Christianity and outside of it. Several allegedly Christian leaders have been teaching and preaching about “casting vision” and even placing ideas in a “vision book” or on a “vision board,” telling their follower that if they put their dreams up in a concrete form, then pray about them regularly, God will bless them with the fulfillment of those dreams, whether they are financial or social desires. In the end, the person who is posting those ideas on a vision board exalts himself to the position of God, effectively commanding the entire universe to comply and grant his wish. It is false teaching, to be avoided like the plague.

Among non-Christian elements in society these ideas are rampant, which shouldn’t surprise any of us. People are told to pursue their dreams, that there is nothing they can’t do, and that everything will go according to their plans and desires.

Of course, from an earthly perspective, sometimes our desires work out just fine, especially if they are appropriate desires. I want to have productive work in a particular field, it is a field that offers opportunities, I can get the training or education needed, and I find that I am enriched by having a fulfilling line of work which pays me well. It’s perfectly reasonable. Or I am interested in having a very positive relationship with my wife, so I decide that I am going to steadfastly treat her well, with patience, kindness, love, and all the rest. As time goes on, usually that relationship will blossom and turn out quite well.

What if we try to pursue visions which are not compatible with what God has given us, or if we try to push an earthly agenda on our own authority and it isn’t one that will work? I won’t even mention the fact that I would love to be a star basketball player except that I don’t have any reasonable ability or athletic inclination. And I’m well under six feet tall. And in my fifties. God isn’t going to change my height or my career in that direction. It isn’t God’s fault, it is a problem if I decide that’s my agenda and God owes it to me.

On the earthly front, what happens when, for instance, we start realizing that people treat other people badly, that we can’t always change it, and we think we should always be able to make it happen? Or, worse yet, we think that someone else should be able to make people stop treating others badly? We become angry, frustrated, and often treat someone badly.

When we decide to take things into our own hands and run them, we’re setting ourselves up for failure, for frustration, and for condemnation before God, because we are taking on the role that only God has. Rather than pursuing our own course, let us ask what God in His Word has said he is going to do for us, for our neighbors, and how He would have us live in recognition of his mercy and grace.

In Jeremiah’s time, the nation of Israel fell captive to the Babylonians. The prophets who were saying everything would be all right were dead wrong. Or were they? God used this time of captivity to show that He can preserve a people for his name even when those people are deported and enslaved. He later set the people free physically, then spiritually as he sent Jesus, God the Son, born of a line preserved through the time of captivity, to set all who believe free from sin and death. Everything turns out all right, but it is in God’s plan, not our plan.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 23:5-8 - Lectionary for Advent 1

11/25/2019

11/25/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.

Jeremiah 23:5-8 shows a fundamental shift in the concept of God’s deliverance. It’s one we would do well to wrap our heads around. In the day when God raises up the “righteous Branch” (v. 5), the one Christians understand to be Jesus, we begin thinking of God’s rescue not from something but rather to something.

The people of Israel were always focused on the Exodus. God rescued His people out of Egypt. He brought them across the Red Sea, out of the place of bondage, away from the tyranny of the Egyptians. This was the theme of cultural unification for all of Israel. They were the people who had been taken out, for whom the Exodus had happened.

In the day Jeremiah speaks of, the people are no longer focused on being taken out of bondage in Egypt, but on being brought into the place of promise. This message would speak very clearly to Jeremiah’s original audience. As we recall, Jeremiah was a prophet working in Jerusalem after it had been occupied by the Babylonians. The city was in ruins, it was surrounded by hostile forces, it was full of famine and disease. The city of God was in shambles. And at that time, Jeremiah, looking to the future, said God would raise up the branch of David, the one who would sit on the throne in the eternal kingdom God promised to David. This one, whom Christians identify as Jesus, would bring the people into the land where they belong, out of all the countries where they were before.

Christianity, as described especially in Acts, draws people from all nations together, placing them into a new fellowship, a new nation, if you will. They have landed, through Christ, in His kingdom. It’s the place where they belong.

Christians, then, look to Christ as the one who rescues them from the bondage of sin and evil, but more than that, they look to Christ as the one who places them into His righteousness, His peace, the fellowship with one another, the community of faith, and the eventual promise of an eternal home. We see Jesus as the one who brings us TO something, much more than the one who brings us FROM something. In this, Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled. God gathers His people into the kingdom of the righteous Branch of David. He calls all nations together into this eternal kingdom, the kingdom of His loving deliverance.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 23:16-29 - Lectionary for Pentecost 10C

8/12/2019

8/12/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

I normally speak in more general terms on this blog. But today, drawing on Jeremiah 23:16-17, I’m going to identify a very specific problem which has come to my attention in a particular way in my culture. The beginning of our Old Testament passage warns against the teachers who say that everything is fine and that God would never judge anyone. Less than 48 hours before writing this post, a friend brought to my attention a news article about an alleged Christian bishop who is publicly saying that God’s love is so great that there will never be judgment against any sort of sin and that nobody will suffer from God’s wrath in the day of judgment, hell will forever be empty because God has decided everything is forgiven. The context of the news report was a gathering of people celebrating a lifestyle that denies the need for forgiveness, one that rejects family as created and instituted by God, one that denies the very created order. The “bishop” actively told people that their opinion was just as valid as God’s opinion.

This is not the Christian message. Jeremiah, along with all the rest of the Bible’s writers, point out, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God has warned us against exalting our own opinions above His Word. God is God and we are not. How are we to live? We are to live lives of repentance. We confess, a word which means to speak in agreement with an authority, realizing that we need forgiveness and restoration to God’s will. We recognize that He has shown us what the world is really like, what our relationship with God and with one another should look like, and where we have failed. And we realize that we have all failed. What do we need? We need forgiveness of our sin, not affirmation that sin is not sin. We need the Lord’s loving care, not an open door to His wrath.

The self-appointed prophets of Jeremiah’s time ran to tell God’s people messages which contradicted God’s Word. They are still running around doing the same thing. We have been warned. God calls us to heed His warning so that we will receive His forgiveness and life. The message has not changed.

Lord, protect your people from false teaching.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 26:8-15 - Lectionary for Lent 2C

3/11/2019

3/11/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 26 describes Jeremiah’s boldness in the face of opposition. His prophecies had not been favorable for the future stability of Jerusalem. The city would be laid waste unless something very significant changed. Needless to say, the city and relgional leaders were not pleased. They called for Jeremiah’s death because he was apparently opposed to Jerusalem. Jeremiah stood his ground, telling them they could kill him or not, as they wished, but that the condemnation was from the Lord. They really needed to change their ways and obey the Lord.

God’s people often appear to be almost on the lunatic fringe, or at least out of touch with cultural values. In times when much of Western society is trying to recover and emulate pre-Chrsitian mores about the dignity of human life, the individualized interpretations of marriage, and the alternatively trivial or indomitable significance of sexuality, Christians who say human life is inherently priceless, marriage of a man and a woman for life is the basic way of organizing and perpetuating society, and that the marital relationship is centered on commitment appear increasingly disconnected. The larger society may respond with disbelief, hostility, and even abuse or marginalization. Yet all we are doing is exemplifying God’s revealed principles from Scripture, encouraging peace, stability, and safety. Like Jeremiah, we may appear threatening to some.

How do we respond? We may not always be beyond criticism, we may sometimes miss the perfect application of God’s Word, yet we still need to stand for the truth. As in Jeremiah’s time, so in ours. The people who reject God’s word can expect to suffer. We warn them, firmly but lovingly, to trust in God who can save them from every trouble.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 - Lectionary for Epiphany 6C

2/11/2019

2/11/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament passage from Jeremiah 17 has very strong parallels to the better known text of Psalm 1. The one who trusts the Lord is like a tree with plenty of water. The one who trusts in man “is like a shrub in the desert” (v. 6, ESV). This may be a tough kind of plant. But what’s it good for? Yes, it stops erosion. Yes, some of the desert wildlife can find shelter there. Yes, it can furnish a scanty meal for that wild grazing animal. However, given the choice, we would rather pick out a fruitful tree with plenty of water, giving shelter and food to many.

What’s the difference between the successful man and the unsuccessful one in our passage? One trusts in God. One does not. The man who trusts in himself is bound for trouble. The one who trusts in God has no need for anxiety. There’s our difference. When all is said and done, what’s important in life is trusting the Lord.

This is played out differently for each person in real life. My trust in the Lord may look different from yours. It shouldn’t surprise us when there are some individual and group differences. Yet we always want to come back to a trust in God as revealed in Scripture. That’s the source of our stability, our life, our hope. Trust in the Lord. Soak up His Word. Be nourished with his peace and hope.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 1:4-19 - Lectionary for Epiphany 4C

1/28/2019

1/28/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In our Old Testament reading for this week we find the prophet Jeremiah receiving his call from God. God’s call to Jeremiah is not unlike the way he appoints Jesus to care for the people of Israel, or the way he appoints pastors to care for their congregations. Let’s unpack just a few of the concepts.

First, God calls Jeremiah to be his spokesman. Jeremiah recognizes that he is thoroughly unprepared for the task. He is young, he doesn’t think he is particularly articulate, he is not ready. Surely there must be other people who would fit the bill better. I recognize this (except for the “young” part) in myself on a daily basis. I don’t have the wisdom and knowledge I wish I did. I am not the most articulate, the most persuasive, the most patient, or the most other-centered person out there. Why would the Lord use me? God’s response to Jeremiah is that he is the one appointed for the task and he is to stick with it. Really? Really. When the Lord calls us to do something, he knows what he is doing. We can trust him and follow his call.

Second, what is Jeremiah called to do? He is to lead the people of Jerusalem even though they are being opposed by many nations and kings. That certainly seems like overwhelming odds, and they are not in Jeremiah’s favor. One professor once put to me the odds against a pastor. We try to change people’s lives and values, giving them hope of eternity in a world that is perishing, and we normally have about 20 minutes a week to do it. This seems pretty much impossible. Yet I will ask the question which is implicit in the passage from Jeremiah. What is impossible for God? We are often brought into difficult and even seemingly impossible situations so as to show God’s glory. We couldn’t win the battle. When all is said and done, it is God who wins the battle, through His sovereign grace.

Finally, where is Jeremiah’s strength? God will make him a fortified tower, a pillar of strength, someone who will be able to withstand all the strengths of the enemy. It is not Jeremiah who is strong. It is God who is strong. May the Lord so do in our midst, giving us words, letting us stand for the truth, and making us suitable for the task.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 33:14-16 - Lectionary for Advent 1C

11/27/2018

11/27/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In Jeremiah 33:14-16 we are given a great and clear promise of God. He had already, generations before, promised that David wold have a royal house to last forever. The promised future culmination was to be much greater than David. Here, in Jeremiah, the coming one is to be the fulfillment of all God’s promises. This is the one who will save God’s people, apparently forever.

Who is the righteous one, the one who sprouts us, who saves God’s people so they are known as those who derive their righteousness from the Lord? The New Testament describes him as none other than Jesus who lived a life of perfect righteousness before giving himself into death, taking on the sin of the world and granting his righteousness to all who believe him.

During the season of Advent we turn our eyes to the Lord’s coming, eagerly anticipating his presence with his people. Not only to dwe look to and celebrate his first coming, but we anticipate his return to usher in his eternal kingdom among his people. May he come quickly and show himself as the Lord of all.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 31:7-9 - Lectionary for Pentecost 23B

10/23/2018

10/23/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Lord, save your people. Bring them together as a mighty army. Make them the foremost! When we call out to the Lord to save His people, we may view them as a special forces troop or a bunch of superheroes. We expect at least to see God’s warriors coming as a terrifying collection of victorious looking people.

What do we see in Jeremiah, when he pictures the army of God returning from exile? Verse 8 speaks of the blind, the lame, and pregnant women. Though I have no wish to be demeaning to people who have visual or mobility difficulties or to those experiencing the wonderful opportunity to be a new parent, I will observe that verse 9 rightly speaks of a valid use of a smooth road and places with plenty of water. Those who cannot see obstacles are troubled by them. Those who have trouble climbing and may be dealing with different size, weight and balance than usual will benefit from smooth terrian. And abundance of water is a good thing. God gives an easy road for return, and it is helpful.

In reality, we see God’s restored people coming like a mighty army of people who may need to move slowly and carefully. They are weeping. They have been beaten down. They are broken in many ways. When God brings His people together it is to heal them and restore them.

Lord, save your people. Bring them healing. Take them to a place of safety. Concole them, for they need it. Draw to Yourself all those who need Your restoration.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 11:18-20 - Lectionary for Pentecost 18B

9/18/2018

9/18/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our passage from Jeremiah 11 communicates on several levels at once. Here God has been speaking of his concern to establish his people Judah. The people have been opposed by enemies who desire their destruction. However, to make the illustration work, God is using Jeremiah the prophet as a sign of the people of Judah. He is under attack from within and without, being attacked and imprisoned. To make matters more complex, most would see in the life and work of Jesus a reference to this passage of Jeremiah. They would take Jesus to be the one who is wrongfully suffering for the sake of his people.

I already feel like I’m trying to hold five grocery bags while wearing big mittens and look for a key in my pocket. I’m ready to drop something, so I’d better get to the big picture as directly as possible. Then we’ll see if the picture fits in some other specifics.

God establishes a people according to his promise. Check. His people are attacked from within and without. Check. As God’s representative, Christ endures that attack, even though he doesn’t deserve it. Check. There’s our big picture.

What about Jeremiah the prophet then? He serves not only to point us to Christ but also to let us remember that we normal humans, prophets, priests, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers are often the collateral damage in the attacks carried on against Christ and his kingdom. It’s all right. The Lord can protect his people, but he lets us suffer for the good of his kingdom at times. He’s promised that we will remain under his protection.

The attacks of the enemy are vicious. They are slash and burn. Destroy not only the fruit but the tree as well. The gratuitious nature of the damage brought by God’s enemies boggles the mind. Yet we remember, they are really not fighting against us. They are fighting against Christ, the Lord of all, who is quite able to defend himself and his kingdom clar up to the final day.

There’s nothing to be afraid of, Jeremiah! They might even level your city and kill you, but they won’t actually overcome you in the end. You are one of God’s children.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 23:1-6 - Lectionary for Pentecost 9B

7/17/2018

7/17/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

When we consider our Old Testament reading for this week, from Jeremiah 23:1-6, it’s probably useful to include a consideration of modern popular cultural standards. Within our highly politicized environment in the United States just now, it’s becoming increasingly common for people on both the extreme left and the extreme right to play some sort of religious card. Normally this takes the shape of a demand that “real” Christians, and particularly pastors, will either enforce some sort of pietistic demands which go beyond Scripture (right) or a demand that they should embrace whatever anybody wants in the name of freedom and love (left). Neither of these views stacks up to God’s message in Jeremiah.

Verse two accuses the not-so-very-good shepherds of scattering the flock, leaving them unprotected and unattended. It also makes it crystal clear that the message is not about livestock, but about those who guard God’s people. How does a society get itself into this condition?

The not-so-very-good shepherds were acting in a manner contrary to the solution God gives in verses five and six. They were not hearing and teaching God’s Word. They were either binding the people with burdens which could not be carried in order to place them into a position of fear and subjection, or they were not telling them the valid warnings against dangers which God had made clear in the Scripture. Either of these extremes is bad for the sheep of God’s pasture, and, by extension, for everybody else as well.

Let’s also notice that the sheep themselves are not necessarily responsible. Granted, it’s the sheep who get eaten by the wolves, lions, and bears. We don’t want to endorse that. But they are not really to blame for acting according to their nature and going where the shepherd either told them or allowed them to go. They are also not given permission to tell the shepherds what to do. The wolves, lions, and bears likewise don’t get to call the shots. It’s only God in His Word who gets to correct the shepherds. How does he do that? He does it through Christ, the Branch of David, who lives, dies, and rises again for his people, to create in them the kind of righteous life which they couldn’t ever develop on their own or rightly perceive from all the wise counsel of the sheep, the wolves, the lions, or the bears.

What is God’s plan? It is to gather all his people into safety as they trust the faithful shepherds. And the faithful shepherds are useful as they trust the true and permanent shepherd, Jesus, who will save his people and bring them into peace and safety. Accept no substitutes. This is the real deal.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Life in the Fallen City

5/1/2018

Tuesdays are for the Old Testament
5/1/18

Lessing, R. Reed & Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014. Chapter 23, “Jeremiah” pp. 389-406.

Lessing comments not only on Jeremiah’s length, as having the most words of any book of the Bible, but also on its complexity (Lessing 2014, 389). Jeremiah is challenging to interpreters, Yet it is very rewarding.

While historically the book has been credited to Jeremiah, more recent scholarship has given an increasing role to later redactors (Lessing 2014, 389). However, some find Jeremiah to be an author steeped in an oral tradition, but presenting a written work (Lessing 2014, 390). The book does seem disjointed at times. However, Lessing considers that the text may also be a pictoral representation of the societal turmoil it describes. The basic outline of the book shows a division into two parts, with the second starting at chapter 26 (Lessing 2014, 391). The text uses many doublets as well as recurring stock phrases (Lessing 2014, 393).

Lessing notes and comments on substantive differences between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint (Lessing 2014, 394). This could be explained by the existence of two different editions, one of which, now lost, was used to create the Septuagint. It is unclear whether this happened or not.

Jeremiah worked as a prophet for more than 40 years (Lessing 2014, 394). During this time, Assyria fell to Babylon. Egypt took advantage of the vacuum to plunder Judah. Then Babylon defeated Egypt. Judah had swung between support of Egypt and Babylon (Lessing 2014, 395). The population of Judah and Jerusalem plummeted during the time of Jeremiah, with many deportations (Lessing 2014, 396).

Important theological themes in Jeremiah include sin (Lessing 2014, 396), seen as that which brings divine judgment. God’s word in written form is mentioned frequently in Jeremiah (Lessing 2014, 398). This is the power through which God accomplishes His will. Also prominent is God’s word acted out (Lessing 2014, 399). The prophet and others show God’s word through their actions. The land of promise is another central concept (Lessing 2014, 400). God’s people are always people of the land, according to God’s promise. We also see a conflict between true and false prophecy (Lessing 2014, 402). The false prophets focus on hope for an immediate reward. Christ is prominent in the idea of a new covenant for God’s people (Lessing 2014, 402). God has appointed his prophet to condemn sin and to show God’s grace (Lessing 2014, 404).

Jeremiah 31:31-34 - Lectionary for Lent 5B

3/13/2018

3/13/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Why is it so hard for us to get the idea of pursuing the things that God says we need to pursue? Christians confess that God’s ways are holy and right. So why are we so ready to run away from God’s commands?

Jeremiah 31:33 says that God will write his teaching on the hearts of his people. He’ll give them a conscience that would not want to depart from His will. This should make us ready to keep the covenant God has established with us.

The question remains. Why are we so ready to run away from God’s commands? If we are trying to do them by our own strength, it’s easy to understand how we would fail. But the Christian confesses that God lives inside him.

We are so ready to run away from God’s commands because we do still have a sinful nature living within us. That will provoke all sorts of sin. And it’s a real situation, a genuine problem. It’s very hard to overcome our nature, our desires, our native inclinations. There’s no doubt about that.

I wish I had a deep and lasting solution. Yes, we certainly need to dedicate ourselves daily to God’s holiness. Yes, we need to try to mean it when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And we need to ask that the Lord would do his will in us as well.

As long as we are living this earthly life, though, we are going to depart from God’s covenant. We are going to find ourselves in sin. That’s why the idea of confession and forgiveness are so very precious. We are not excused from God’s demands of righteousness. But we are promised that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness. This is the good news of Jeremiah 31:33. May the Lord put his teaching on our hearts and in our lives.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 15:15-21 - Lectionary for Pentecost 13A

8/29/2017

8/29/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

The very beginning of our reading from Jeremiah this week speaks of suffering. It’s severe suffering. Verse 15 speaks of persecution and reproach. Verse 17 speaks of indignation. Verse 18 compares the suffering to the pain of a wound which will not heal. As I read this passage I recall the care of a friend whose wife is ill and in severe pain. I recall the sorrow of another friend whose husband, once a rock of strength, had found himself incapable of even basic physical tasks. I recall times of dealing with chronic pain which seems to have no end.

In Jeremiah 15, the pain being endured is due to departure from God’s promises. I want to be very clear here. Your suffering is not necessarily a result of your sin and disobedience. That is one of many options. However, this fallen world is a place which has plenty of suffering regardless of our own spiritual state. The fact that you are suffering does not give me permission to confront you with sin which you may or may not have. The fact that I am suffering does not give you permission to confront me with sin which I may or may not have.

Now that the air is cleared in that matter, let’s notice what the suffering does accomplish. This is always positive. The result of the suffering is that the individual looks to God and his promises. The “first person” “I” in this passage partakes of God’s word and finds it good. The person looks to God for refuge and comfort. God makes this person strong, like a fortified city, a place of comfort for others. God shows himself to be the one who rescues all who look to him in hope.

Do we suffer? Yes, we do. Whether now or some other time, we will endure times of trouble. May that trouble remind us to look toward the God of all promises, who will rescue us and sustain us.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 28:5–9 - Lectionary for Pentecost 4A

6/27/2017

6/27/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Is the prophecy true? This is the question we must ask ourselves when we hear preaching and teaching. Is the news report true? Is the data of the study coherent? Are there questions which have been missed? How well has the opposing view been considered? In Jeremiah 28:5-9, Jeremiah confronts the false prophet Hananiah, who has been suggesting that Jerusalem will overcome and have peace.

The word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah saying that Jerusalem would fall. Both could not be so. What is the solution? If the prophet’s words happen, the prophet came from God.

Would we like peace and harmony in our world? I certainly hope so. However, that peace and harmony will not be completely certain until the end of time, when God removes sin and evil from the world entirely. It’s important to our sanity that we remember no political or cultural leader is God, come to usher in a millenium of peace and prosperity. Likewise, no political or cultural leader is Satan, come to steal away our very souls. Those leaders are more or less wise, like we are. They are more or less intelligent, like we are. They are more or less corrupt, like we are. They may stumble into right answers. We hope and pray that will be the case. But they may stumble into wrong answers. Therefore we pray for our leaders, that God would bless them with supernatural understanding and wisdom.

May we have an accurate prophecy of peace and harmony in the near future. Come, Lord Jesus.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Jeremiah 20:7-13 - Lectionary for Pentecost 3A

6/20/2017

6/20/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Old Testament reading for this week, from Jeremiah 20:7-13, is a difficult passage. In it, Jeremiah laments that God has deceived him. What do we make of this statement? When we examine the context, we find that Jeremiah has been proclaiming woe to the people of Judah. The fact that he has detractors and persecutors indicates that, despite the hardships caused by the Babylonians in his time, some thought Judah would pull through just fine. Yet the Lord was continually reminding Jeremiah what to say. Though Jeremiah was absolutely right, the people around him would not have understood. By their measures, all was survivable. They were not entirely desolate. They expected to be all right, given time.

God’s message to his people is that they need to turn their hearts back to the Lord and trust in him rather than in themselves. Those who do trust him, like Jeremiah, seem to be acting and speaking foolishly. Therefore, it’s a pretty rough life for God’s people.

Jeremiah’s desire is that he should see the downfall of the people who mock him. He would like to see his prophecies come to pass. It is not so much that he wants the city to fall utterly into total ruin. But he would like to be shown correct, at least sometimes. After all, he expects that the Lord will do exactly what he promised.

In hindsight, we can see that Jeremiah was right. He understood God’s call. He was obedient. He is commended as a great man of God throughout the rest of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We can thank the Lord for Jeremiah’s faithfulness. We can also pray that we will be just as faithful, whether we see the results of that trust or not. Know that the Lord is able to care for his people and use them in the lives of others.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.