Dear Briarwood Family of Faith and Friends,

Below you will find the manuscript of the sermon for June 6, 2021. I want to thank Linda Hill who has been proofing the sermons for us. She is a wonderful editor, and I am grateful for her help.

Yours with Christ,

Charles
God is Watching
Jeremiah 1:1-10; 7:1-11

“’You know, I too am watching,' says the Lord” (Jer. 7:11). God as the watchman of the world is a recurrent theme in scripture. The Psalms give voice to the notion frequently. “The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God” (Ps. 14:2; 53:2). “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind” (Ps. 33:13). “Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?” (Ps. 113:5-6).

The divine gaze is still turned toward planet earth and the nations of the world. God is weighing the world and the nations on the scales of divine justice and righteousness. God judges all according to their works.

How do you think God measures our nation? Your answer to the question will be greatly influenced by the way you view our nation. What is the United States of America? It is a representative democracy. Government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. America is a constitutional republic with founding documents. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that all human beings are created equal in the sight of God and given by God the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Bill of Rights further defines our rights: freedom of religion, freedom of peaceable assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to keep and bear arms.

Our constitution enshrines these rights in the institutions of government limiting power through a system of checks and balances. This form of government has produced a truly exceptional nation in freedom and prosperity. The norm in history is slavery and poverty. America has given freedom and wealth to a much larger portion of its population than almost any other nation. Further, America has fought for liberty and brought prosperity to other nations of the world. This was particularly apparent during and after World War II.

Furthermore, the United States is a God-fearing nation. Although our country does not embrace a particular religion, 87 percent of Americans profess belief in God, and such belief engenders morality in the citizenry. Alexis de Tocqueville, the nineteenth-century French diplomat, was fascinated by the American experiment. He wrote, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

This is the traditional and positive view of the United States of America. It assumes God’s favor, and prays, “God bless America.”

However, in recent years we have heard another narrative about our nation. A small but apparently growing and influential minority describes our nation as fundamentally unjust and systematically racist. The United States of America, we are told, has been the primary agent of colonial oppression, economic exploitation, and environmental destruction. Far from invoking a blessing on our nation, this estimation of America invokes a curse. As the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a Chicago pastor, famously or infamously, said in a sermon, “Not God bless America, but God damn America!”

Which appraisal of the nation’s core is correct? How does God, the great watchman, view our country?

This morning’s readings from Jeremiah can help us answer this critically important question.

Jeremiah prophesied over a period of about forty years. He began his prophetic ministry to Judah when he was just a teenager sometime around the year 626 B.C. You will recall from biblical history that the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered and destroyed by the Assyrian empire never to be reconstituted as a nation. The Assyrians had marched on Judea too and besieged the capital city of Jerusalem, but in a miraculous deliverance, King Sennacherib abandoned the invasion and returned to Assyria. (See 2 Kings 18-19.)

This event greatly strengthened two core beliefs of the nation of Judah. First, that God had chosen and established the Davidic dynasty. An heir of King David would always sit on the throne in Jerusalem. Second, that Mount Zion and the temple in Jerusalem were the Lord’s chosen dwelling places and could never be conquered. The Lord would never allow the Davidic dynasty to fail or the Holy City to be lost, no matter what.

These two core beliefs characterized the Judean citizens who gathered to worship at the temple when Jeremiah delivered his inaugural sermon in Chapter Seven. But Jeremiah characterized these core beliefs as “deceptive words.” Jeremiah exhorted them, “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’” (Jer. 7:4). This was a shocking claim! Jeremiah warned them not to trust in the Davidic dynasty or the temple.

Instead, Jeremiah exhorted the people to turn from evil and do good as defined by the law of the Lord. “For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?” (Jer. 7:5-10).

Behind Jeremiah’s pleadings are the Ten Commandments. You shall not steal; you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not bear false witness; you shall have no other gods before me.

The criteria that the Lord uses to evaluate a nation is the law of God. It was true of ancient Israel, and it is still true today. So, how does God view our nation or any other nation for that matter? God evaluates a nation on the basis of its conformity to the law of God. So, it is not a nation’s ideals, failings, or even usefulness in God’s hands that really matters. Instead, the moral and religious health of a nation determines its standing before God. How much immorality is there in the society? How much idolatry is evident in the nation? How much righteousness and true religion are to be found among the citizens? This is a rather disconcerting revelation if you think about it. Based on the criteria of the law of God, all nations fall short, including our own, and we are all in danger of God’s judgment. We too must be careful not to trust in deceptive words.

Thankfully, there is hope hidden in this morning’s texts from Jeremiah too. God is watching, but as one commentator observed, “God is more than a fair and just arbiter of human deserts. God’s love for his creatures remains real, patient, and searching. Such love ultimately spells hope and the possibility of a new beginning.” The fact that God raises up Jeremiah and sends him to prophesy to the inhabitants of Judah is proof positive of God’s good intentions for us. He could have left them to their own devices; he could leave us to ours, but God does not abandon us in our folly.

Furthermore, Jeremiah’s message of judgment belies a divine tenderness and compassion for us. God says, “Amend your ways and your doings, […], then I will dwell with you in this place.” God’s desire is to live with us in the shalom (peace) of God. Actualizing this desire may require plucking up, pulling down, destroying, and overthrowing, but God does all these things in order to build and to plant (see Jeremiah 1:10).

For some time now I have felt an urgency for God to revive his work in the midst of the years. Our nation and the nations of the world truly need to amend their wicked ways. We need to learn to love what is good, God’s law. We must learn to hate what is evil, sin and idolatry. Each week we gather on Thursdays to pray for our world. Part of the prayer we offer is “O Lord, pour out Your Spirit upon us as a people to transform our hearts to love what is good and to hate what is evil. Grant, in Your mercy, that the combined efforts of leaders and citizens alike will create communities where violence is restrained, peace and order are maintained, virtue and true religion are encouraged, and proper, honorable conduct that is worthy of respect is normalized.” This is what we long for until God’s kingdom comes, and God’s will is done on earth as it is heaven.

We must learn to hate the shedding of innocent blood. We must learn to hate stealing, adultery, lying, and worshipping false gods. As I said on Pentecost Sunday, we desperately need God to pour out his Spirit on all flesh to transform us from the inside out.

Perhaps we need God to raise up prophets too, prophets like Jeremiah, prophets whose words are like battering rams plucking up, pulling down, destroying, and overthrowing human sin and idolatry. But we also need prophets whose words can build and plant, prophets whose words can be the basis for a new beginning.

God is watching, weighing us on the scales of divine righteousness and justice. But God is not an aloof and impartial arbiter of human destiny. God desires to build and to plant. God desires to dwell with us. God wants human beings to taste and see that the Lord is good, and that God’s way is life.

Let us do our small part by personally forsaking sin and idolatry and by warning our neighbors against the dangers of transgression and idol worship. There is a great need in our time for courage and boldness to speak the truth in love. We must not be cowered by the threat of being rejected, ostracized, or cancelled. We must be willing to be as Jeremiah was.

So, let us stand with God, as best we can, and point others in God’s direction. And may the LORD have mercy on us all through Jesus Christ the only Savior and LORD of lords. Amen.