Fire in my Bones...
Jeremiah 20:9...
Sermon #10
DRIVING THEME:
Spiritual renewal and moral wholeness are available to us
all.
PROPOSITION:
When God does something meaningful in our lives it is impossible
to be quiet. The message becomes a call to community.
ANTITHESIS:
Telling good news is something in which we all delight. Our children
hurry home to bring the good news of appreciable grades. Married children
spiral our long distance bills with news of a future grandchild. Siblings call
each
other about the medical report that is negative. Press secretaries glory
about low unemployment figures, and bombard us with reasons why the interest
rates
are under control. We like to tell good news!
Congregations like to hear good news. Everyone is excited about the mortgage
that was burnt last month. The news of the acquisition of new property to erect
that long-awaited new sanctuary brings elation and joy to tithe-paying members.
Communities like to welcome good news. Increased police protection at a time
when crime is on the increase solicits praise from the elderly community. Proposed
subway lines or bus routes to expand the city’s capacity to cope with
increased commuter traffic on public transport is great news. Crack down on
the drug traffic that has paralyzed the neighborhood brings a united response
that is often unprecedented. We love to be the bearers of good news.
THESIS:
Jeremiah was called to bring news to his nation, but the news was
not welcome. Could Jeremiah tell unwelcome news with the same enthusiasm
with which he would have told good news?
Bad news? There is no easy way to give it unless you are some demented individual
who delights in hurting other people. We shrink from being the bearers of bad
news. Jeremiah’s message was harsh and unpalatable. Jeremiah is not happy
to bring the bad news. But something is happening in his spirit with his reluctance, "But
if I say, ‘I will not mention or speak any more in his name,’ his
word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of
holding it in; indeed I cannot."
God is looking for people who are not afraid to live by the truth no matter
what the truth is.
God expects us to present the bad news without any pretensions of our own
goodness.
The truth is always a liberator.
Bad news never is the final answer. Justice and right always win out in the
end.
Beyond the clouds is a silver lining.
RELEVANT QUESTION:
How do we maintain the fires of conviction that burn within
us?
SYNTHESIS:
Good news is always hidden in the bad news, if we wait on God to
fulfill God’s purposes. The secret to the bad news we are called to proclaim
can be found in verse 13, "Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked." God is
here--no matter what!
The message we receive from God is never rational or reasonable. We depend
on God’s omniscience to proclaim the message no matter what.
Jesus is our example, who went to the cross, always willing to stand up for
the truth and endurance of the good news.
The compulsion to take the news to others should be triggered by the unconditional
love and grace we received even when we didn’t deserve it.
The bad news of human sin and the good news of God’s redemptive love
must be shared, no matter what.
The urge to quit telling the bad news to those who should be hearing can be
tempered by our insensitivity to the voice and prompting of the Spirit.
There’s coming a time when all the news will be good news. It is our
hope. But until then Christ can turn all bad news into good news.
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