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On Sunday, I will be preaching on Jeremiah 31:7 - 14, with a pre-selected sermon title called “Rejoice in God’s Restoration.”

This passage gets started in Jeremiah 30:1, when YHWH Elohim-Israel declares that he will restore Israel and Judah, and bring them back (from exile) to the Land. 

In the midst of great distress - indeed, it seems, at its apex - YHWH Sabaoth will free the people from slavery and bondage to foreigners and serve YHWH as their Elohim-Israel and David as their King. (vv 5 - 9)  There shall be nothing more to fear (vv 10 - 11), and YHWH will heal the incurable wounds (vv 12 - 17).  Moreover, YHWH will restore the places where Jacob lives - including cities and fortresses.  There will be joy; the few will become many; and they shall be honored; all who oppress them shall be punished.  (vv. 18 - 20) 

The prince shall emerge from the people and approach YHWH.  (v. 21)  This is the promise of Jesus Christ.  There is a hint of both kingly rule and priestly intercession here.  Dependent on this, it seems, is the renewed covenant declaration for YHWH to be Israel’s Elohim and they to be his people.  (v. 22)

Then is the declaration of wrath (vv. 23 - 24) which is the context for the beginning of ch. 31.

In 31:2 we first hear that the exile is an act of grace, not merely punishment.  The exile is declared to be “wilderness” - evoking the Exodus.  It is grace because the alternative was the sword.  YHWH appeared to them (i.e., was present) even under these unlikely circumstances (v. 3).

[An alternative reading of v. 3 indicates that the narrator (Prophet Jeremiah) had a dream of this prophecy beginning from the time when Israel looked for rest.  This reading would indicate the dream ended in v. 26.]

YHWH then declares that he has loved them with everlasting love - an implicit contrast to Israel’s unfaithfulness.  Instead of being adulterous, he calls Israel “virgin”.  There shall be great celebration, and a restoration of healthy agricultural life.  (vv. 3 - 5)  Then, they will want to go to Zion to YHWH Elohim’s presence. (v. 6)

Now for the passage at hand:

YHWH tells the people to sing, shout and be joyful, praise and say, “Save, YHWH your people, the remnant of Israel.”  (v. 7)  Even though they are still in distress at this point, the promise has already been issued, and therefore the proper response is to celebrate already, while still encouraging God to do what he has promised. 

How will he save the remnant?  Among other things, he will draw the scattered people back.  This includes those who normally cannot travel - the blind and lame, the pregnant and those in labor.  They will weep as they return, but YHWH will console them as they walk along fertile areas rather than mere wilderness. 

It is YHWH who has scattered; it is he who will bring about restoration.  This is declared to the nations outside of Israel. 

YHWH has redeemed Israel - bought them back.  They will celebrate in great joy - and especially over the abundance of YHWH’s provision and his goodness. 

Now, for the following context:

The voice in Ramah, lamentation and weeping, is rejoined with “there is a reward for your work.”  “There is a hope for your future.”  This is to the parent of those exiled.  (vv. 15 - 17)

Next, Ephraim begs to come back, and declares how he repented after he ran off.  He acknowledges his discipline is from YHWH and YHWH has mercy on him.  (vv. 18 - 20)

But it seems they aren’t sure if they want to come back.  So he tells them to set up signposts and keep track of where they are so that they can  return.  YHWH promises to restore their strength and their cities.  (vv. 21 - 25)

This is the end of the dream.  (v. 26)

The following context involves the creation of the new covenant and the expansion of Jerusalem.  (vv 27 - 40)

Let us consider the application of this passage to our current situation.

This evening, I will be preaching on Isaiah 62:6 - 12 as a Christmas Eve passage.  This is a little different sitz im leben for this passage than I have used before.  It is in the lectionary list for the Christmas services, and this seems to be the right passage for this evening. 

While most Christmas sermons try to travel from the what (the story of Christmas, or the prophecies about Jesus) to the lives of the parishioners, this passage will have to travel from the why (the promises of God for the restoration of his people and, indeed, the entire creation) to a place of prophetic action and response. 

In vv. 6 - 7, the prophet speaks of his own actions and desires.  He has posted watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem.  They are to keep watch for the coming of the Lord.  They call back and forth to see whether the others have seen the Lord coming.  Therefore, all day and all night they shall not be silent.  This prophetic action could indeed have taken place: Isaiah could have done this in reality, not just in writing. 

Then he speaks to the intercessors - who could also be the watchmen, it is not clear - those who call upon the Lord (YHWH) - who remind the Lord (YHWH) of his promises.  They are to take no rest (like the watchmen, if they are not actually the watchmen in mixed metaphor or extended analogy) until the Lord establishes Jerusalem.  They are supposed to keep up their call and cry and reminder to the Lord (YHWH) and not give him any rest until he follows through.  In this way, they engage in a holy nagging of the Holy One of Israel. 

Vv. 8 - 9 are the recounting of the promise YHWH has made to his people, a promise secured with an oath sworn upon his own strength.  God promises that the grain the people have sown, and the vineyard work they have engaged in will not go to waste or be stolen.  Those who have labored for it and gathered the fruit will praise YHWH and partake of it in his temple. 

We do this prophetic action in communion through the offerings and the participation in the bread and cup at the table.  They are all connected.  We praise God in his temple and praise God for his salvation in that bread and cup by offering up to him that which he has given to us, that which he has restored to us.

Our worship is the reminder to God - especially our prayers - that God has promised to us to do certain things, and that we desire him to do those things he has promised. 

Our labor is not to continue in vain - both our physical labor and our spiritual labor.  Over and over again, our finances have gone to waste.  Our jobs have disappeared, going to others who hate us.  Some of this has been our own fault, other of this has been the responsibility of others.  The scriptures affirm that no person has clean hands in this world.  We live in a world full of broken promises - which are a form of theft, in this case.  “Til Death Do Us Part” is only one of the many.  Some have been promised retirement incomes.  Some have been promised jobs.  Others have been promised other things, and they have not received them. 

God’s promise is that he will restore all things and we will no longer have to experience that kind of privation.  But we can also take this spiritually.  Our spiritual seeds we sow will not be taken by our enemies, or by the Enemy.  Our spiritual fruit of our labors will not be taken by others.  Instead, our seed will become our grain; our grapes will become our wine, and it will be something for which we praise God at all times and in all places because we are the Temple of the Lord.  When we talk to others about Jesus, that’s a seed.  When we do something in the name of Christ for someone else, that’s a seed.  And as we see the fruit, God will continue to bless us - as long as we continue to praise him for providing it. 

We, therefore, are the ones keeping watch and the ones reminding the Lord to fulfill his promises.  We keep watch through worship and prayer primarily.  We should not skimp on either of them.  Our prophetic actions tonight are through the light in darkness, providing food for the poor, celebrating in tithes offerings and communion at the table, and taking our light out into the world. 

V. 10 invites the people to action, to do what must be done for the coming of the Lord (YHWH).  But it is not just YHWH they are expecting.  They are expecting those who have been scattered to return, and for all peoples to come worship the Lord with them.  Therefore, the people are supposed to go prepare the way, with the assumption that they will be having a lot of traffic soon.

Building up the highway keeps it from getting muddy and slowing down the traffic.  In fact, it keeps the road from being basically impassible.  Clearing it of stones means that there will be no impediment to people who are coming into the city. 

Banners are more than just festivity - they are a sign of the king’s rule over the city.  They welcome people, but they also declare that the King is on his way. 

Vv. 11 - 12 are a continuation of God’s promise: salvation is coming, his reward and his payback (or repayment) are with him.  The people once called so unholy that they had to go into exile are now called “holy and redeemed of the Lord” and the city shall be a city that others seek to be in, not forsaken and left behind. 

This is a huge promise for our area, if this does apply: our city has been known for economic depression and government corruption.  It has been known as an area depleted of population because people are leaving.  Instead of forsaking the city, God’s promise is restoration, that others seek to be a part of.  This is the Word of the Lord. 

How is this Christmas?  This baby whose coming we celebrate is the Lord who has done this and is doing this and will do this.  His cross and resurrection have saved us and it is he who will do the rest of his promises to us, his people.  Let us confess our unholiness and our forsakenness and receive his forgiveness, holiness and restoration.

I’ve just been listening to a lecture given by N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham (Episcopus Dunelm), on Jesus’ knowlege of his own identity.  Vocation has been on my heart of late; not only in the missiological necessities but in its relationship to our true identity. 

Wright manages to do something that I have rarely seen among true scholars - and even among many who merely bear the name “teacher” - including myself: he is able, through his deep scholarship and understanding, to lead us, not into an academic exstasy, but into true worship and discipleship.  Even amidst the fluency of many languages - Greek and Hebrew being the most obvious here - Wright leads us to a deep understanding of Jesus which inspires true relationship with God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rather than footnotes.

I have long held that Christian scholarship and education, rightly practiced, is a true vocation in and of itself.  As such, it can be, for the scholar/educator, an act of worship, a source of true joy, and a vector for others to be drawn up into worship.  Nevertheless, my experience has been that many scholars take so much pride in questions and deconstruction, in academic debates and frank scoffing that rarely has scholarship led me to worship.  The exceptions, of course, are many of my truly Christian professors from Seminary, and a few other scholars whom I have met in books.  In these cases even the footnotes were the adornment of the priestly uniform as we act as the kingdom of priests serving God for the world’s renewal.

As a teaching preacher, I must remember that this mature expression of scholarship need not work itself into a frenzy to bring out passion, but instead speaks so lovingly of the God whom it has come to know academically that, even where we differ or do not understand, we still resonate with to the glory of God. 

Ah, that one day I may become like that.

Holy Spirit, come down upon us!

Bless us with your presence.

Help us to proclaim your Word in the language people understand.

Give us the grace to use your gifts to your purpose.

Give us wisdom to live according to your ways.

Guide us through the life of discipleship.

Amen.

Today is Ascension Day, forty days past Easter.  My brother put up one of those icons of Jesus getting swooped up today, complete with footprints on the rock. 

The more I study the Ascension, the more I realize that, at least in the eyes of Paul and the Gospel writers, the Resurrection and Ascension were two parts of the same event.  (In John, Pentecost’s there, too.)  How many times does Paul say something to the effect of “Jesus was raised and seated in authority over everything else”?  It’s quite frequent.  See Ephesians 1:20-23, especially.  Jesus gained the authority, it seems, over everything in his death and resurrection, and then came into his throne at the Ascension.  Thus, in our discussions of the Resurrection, we naturally must flow into the Ascension for our theology of the Resurrection to be complete.  And of course, an Ascension without a Resurrection is just nonsense - at least as long as the crucifixion did its job. 

This means that Jesus the Messiah’s victory over death, sin and the devil was part and parcel of his rule over all powers and authorities - “not only in this age but in the age to come” (Eph. 1:21, NRSV).  This is the day we can declare his kingship over all the other authorities in our lives - governments, families, the weather, etc.  He’s not just ruler over the age to come, but he has been made ruler over this present age as well. 

For us, this means that the world is even more in out-and-out rebellion against him, and we are to be responsible participants in his new way of life. 

Praise God for the Ascension!

This last Sunday was Communion Sunday at FBC Warren.  Probably due to my study under Bob Webber, I tend to use a form of prayer during communion that resembles the liturgical Eucharistic Prayers.  It’s always ad-lib, but there are common elements. 

One of those elements is that of the Sanctus.  The Sanctus is the liturgical spot where, as the Book of Common Prayer so elegantly puts it, we say, “joining our voices with all the angels and archangels, and all the company of Heaven, who forever sing this hymn to the glory of Your name,”

Holy Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty
Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest.

I will often say (in less formal language) the gist of this during my prayer leading in to communion.  This, to me, is part of the common (communing) nature of the event: we are in communion (joined with) Christ, and we are also in unity with all those who call on the Name of the Lord - including all angels, etc., and all other followers of Jesus Christ throughout time and place, both in this age and the age to come. 

This Sunday, for the part of the Sanctus, I was led (on the spot, I may add) to sing the chorus from ”How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin, which has become a song we use to celebrate during worship.  And the congregation joined in. 

“How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God, and all will see how great, how great is our God.”

It was quite moving.  Essentially, we all participated in the act of Sanctus, and therefore the act of Communion with Christ and the Body of Christ globally throughout time, through singing, rather than merely calling it to mind by reference. 

In this way, we have experienced Worship Convergence through communion: convergence of our experience in our local congregation with all the Saints who have gone before, those living now throughout the world, and those who will come after.  And with that, we live in the life of the Kingdom in greater measure. 

And that’s why we do it (worship, that is) in the first place: to live in a greater measure of the life of the Kingdom.

Amen.