Jeremiah 33.14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3.9-13; Luke 21.25-36
Background - Jeremiah was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem at the end of the 7th century BC, in the period leading up to the destruction of the city by the Babylonians in 587BC.
Promises, consequences. Can anyone remember what God said to Moses on Mount Sinai about curses and blessings? If you obey all the commandments I am giving you today you will be blessed, however if you turn away from them and me and do not obey you will be cursed. Consequences, promises. In our overview of the Old Testament we learnt that the Israelite nation did not keep to the law and firstly the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated and taken into exile and now in our reading from Jeremiah, the southern kingdom of Judah is under the same threat and sure enough shortly afterwards Jerusalem too is defeated and the inhabitants taken into exile. Even Solomon’s temple, where God had come in such authority and power at its consecration, is destroyed. That is a huge shock to the Israelite nation, they thought that they could carry on doing wrong and yet God would never desert that temple, he would always be there.
That is a warning to us - we too are not exempt from God’s judgement, so if you have a recurring sin, a weakness, a slowness of connecting with God, confess it, do not let it go unnamed. Bring it to the light and let that light take away the darkness.
To return to the passage from Jeremiah. In the middle of this declaration of God’s judgement, God’s love for the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel subverts the judgement and promises that all will be restored, the city and its people made whole again. In the later books of Nehemiah and Ezra we can read of the return of the exiles to Jerusalem generously aided by King Cyrus, and the rebuilding of the city walls and the temple, but the full restoration does not happen until the new covenant is made in and through Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah, two chapter earlier, prophesied about this new covenant:
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. Jeremiah 31.32-34.
We are privileged and blessed to live under that new covenant. Do not squander the opportunities it offers, do not take them for granted, we are truly blessed and alongside that blessing comes responsibility. A responsibility to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength and to love our neighbours as ourselves. In the light of the House of Commons vote on assisted dying, we are encouraged to love those who are nearing the end of their lives in great pain and distress. To pray for them and keep praying for them that they may know and receive God’s love, strength and grace and if the opportunity arises to sit with them, listen and be there for them.
To look at our gospel reading. For the last 4 weeks since All Saints Sunday Morning Prayer has focussed on readings from the book of Daniel and Revelation - the end times. And our gospel passage this morning echoes some of the build up that are prophesied will happen as the world approaches those end times. The signs in the sun and the moon and the stars point us back to Old Testament texts in which the heavenly bodies provide their own dramatic accompaniment to the execution of God’s judgment upon the nations (see Isaiah 13:10, 34:4, Ezekiel 32:7, Joel 2:30-31).
Earlier in the chapter verse 11 (Luke 21:11) also speaks of earthquakes, famines and plagues though this is not quite so severe as our verses this morning, which poses a threat from the sea, an ancient symbol of chaos. It is difficult to be sure how literally to take these verses, however they do paint a picture of people anticipating in terror the unleashing of the destructive forces of chaos. Nations in bewilderment and perplexity not knowing which way to turn. Seeking truth yet not finding it - this makes me think of the lies and deceit that is apparent across the world. Hold on to truth my friends do not allow Satan or his minions lead you astray. There is a lot of fake news. Ask God for discernment. For the world will be shaken to such an extent that the very powers of heaven will be shaken - see verse 26.
When turmoil and distress comes our natural reaction will be to cower away yet Jesus encourages us to stand up and raise our heads because our redemption will be drawing near. Then Jesus himself will come back on the clouds and everyone will know who he is and will worship him. This is a coming we are to long for, to look for, to hope for, to be expectant for.
Do you feel like that? Judgement is coming my friends - rejoice. To be honest the word judgement conjures up school masters berating the whole class. Even the whole school. Did you experience that? When I was 11 our whole dorm at school was slippered because a couple of boys had made a noise the previous night. We do not readily welcome judgement as we know we are not perfect, yet God is a loving God who is also a righteous God and the evil will be judged according to their deeds, and yet also with God’s mercy. Just when the Israelite nation was about to reap the consequences of their disobedience, God promised them a redeemed future so God also promises us a redeemed future.
So here we are entering this period of focussing on waiting expectantly for the return of Jesus as Lord over all. Are you good at waiting? Children are already excited about Christmas. You may be waiting for an operation date, or test results - a different sort of waiting. How do we wait expectantly for an action that is outside our control? Surprisingly it involves action. Preparation. Try this exercise. Imagine that God the Father tells you that Jesus will return on the clouds this coming Christmas Day. No one else knows. Only you. How will this change your life, your priorities for the next 24 days? Would you seek out family, right wrongs, ask for forgiveness, get yourself right with God and with others? Would you want to tell loved ones about Jesus coming? Would you want to pray for them especially that they would understand and believe? Three and a half weeks to do this. But what if the Father said that he was coming next week instead? Or even tomorrow? How would your priorities change? Having imagined what you would do, go and do them. We do not know when Jesus will return. Be prepared for he will come like a thief in the night, unexpectedly. Live each day as if Jesus was to return tomorrow.
Amen.