Chuck Larsen

The new release of the video game “Fallout4” presents us with a scenario in which mankind destroyed itself with nuclear war and few are left alive. The landscape is one of devastation and decay. Its introduction consists of various views of the rubble with a somber voice saying, “War never changes, War never changes.” Its repetition is ominous and most sobering for a video “game.” However, how true! In Jeremiah’s day it was his repeated chant. The devastation to mankind as a result of war “never changes.” He reminds his own people, who in their arrogance refuse to repent and turn to God for salvation and guidance, look to Egypt and other earthly sources to protect them from the coming invasion from Babylon. But Jeremiah tells them it’s too late. In Jeremiah 6:4-5 he says, “Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen! Arise, and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!”

War never changes! It’s always devastating. The World War I patriot, Wilfred Owens, who died on the battlefield in France, recognized the necessity of war but denounced the glamorization of it. The great poet Horace was famous for the line “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” It means how beautiful and becoming it is to give one’s life in war. Owens named one of his last poems after this Latin phrase. Here’s the concluding stanza: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in, and watch the white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,– My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.”

I was watching the PBS special “Christmas through the Decades.” In the episode of the 60’s the life and works of John F. Kennedy were reviewed. As important as the moonshot was, it was acknowledged by most that his greatest contribution was the aversion of war in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The western hemisphere faced an imminent danger of nuclear war as Cuba stockpiled nuclear weapons 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Kennedy averted that potential disaster by a show of force on the seas turned back the weapons. Noël Regney wrote a song in 1962 in response to the Cuban Missile crisis that Bing Crosby made famous. “Do you see what I see, do you hear what I hear…” You know it. But the haunting verse concludes, “pray for peace people everywhere….” Good exhortation for us all because war never changes. Let’s celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace together!

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, “Mommy, will you stay with me all night?” Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, “I can’t dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, “The big sissy!” Our culture has adopted the practice of applying feminine slurs on males who don’t live up to the masculine image of the day. Some slurs are more graphic than “sissy” but they refer to the same idea. I once had a discussion with a strong feminist who blamed that practice on the Bible. I couldn’t deny the fact that the scriptures do use the feminine gender to point to weakness. In Jeremiah 6:2, the prophet says, “The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.” As Ryken observes, “Jeremiah uses feminine vocabulary to show how vulnerable his people are. Previously he suggested that Jerusalem was preparing for battle by putting on makeup (4:30). Now he says Jerusalem is more like a maiden than a warrior.” One translation puts that verse like this: “I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, so beautiful and delicate” (6:2).”^[1] This is not a slur, it’s a contrast between beauty and brawn.

In Jeremiah’s day, a shepherd was used to picture a leader who had many followers. It became the metaphor for strong kings who ruled nations and who were to be feared by their enemies. In Jeremiah 6:3 we read “Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture each in his place.” To think of a shepherd as the image created in the Psalms and in the New Testament is to misunderstand Jeremiah. He’s comparing a young girl with a Mike Tyson male figure. Maybe a better image would be a Green Bay Packer linebacker with one of the Green Bay Packer cheer leaders. Who would win in a physical battle of might between these two? It seems obvious. But it’s not a slur. The word sissy is used specifically to refer to the linebacker acting like the cheer leader when he’s in combat. You don’t bring beauty into a contest of brawn! The end is obvious! That’s exactly what Israel did in the face of their enemy.

Jeremiah, or any of the human authors of the bible, did not demean women. The scriptures are full of women who surpass their male counterparts, Deborah being just one example. Anyone who watched the Republican Presidential debates this week should have been impressed with the courage, wisdom, and strength of the only female candidate on the block. Carly Fiorina showed herself stronger, smarter, and more courageous than many of the male candidates.

^[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 96.

Fourteen years ago today thousands of people in New York died in the tragic attack on America by religious fanatics. Many lives were ended without warning, reminding us all that our lives are fragile and could end at any moment. But the truth is whether we die instantly of a heart attack like my grandmother in her 40’s, or of an unexpected brain aneurism like my sister in her 40’s or of an enemy attack in an instant, the truth remains that we all really do have a warning. God loves us! In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve of the consequence of eating from a particular tree. He didn’t forbid it! He informed them of the danger and then gave them everything they needed to live healthy and happy lives. He did that because He loved them. In Noah’s day God warned them. At the first Passover in Egypt God warned of the death that would visit them. He warned them and gave them a way out. They needed only to put the blood of the lamb on their houses. My point this morning is that God loves everyone and no one ever really dies without warning.

Jeremiah 6:1 is another warning to the people of Israel. The nations of the north were coming to destroy them and their city and God tells them. He says, “Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.” As Constance observes, “They were directed to leave the city, which God was about to destroy, and take refuge in the mountains. The destruction was so near that Jeremiah saw the invasion as if it were already in progress. The trumpet call and fire signal were the two means of warning the people.”^[1]

God loves us. There is a destruction that will fall upon us all one day. God always judges sin. But in His great love for us He sent His Son to take that judgment for us. You all know the verse: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish” under the hand of God’s judgment. That means without Christ every sinner will pay for their own sins. Christians today are the Jeremiah’s shouting run! Run to safety! The prophets in Jeremiah’s day were ignoring the message of God’s judgment. Jeremiah calls them “lying prophets.” We must not be like them. Ryken says, “And we will not be lying prophets. We will not hide the wrath of God from people. We will warn them that God judges sinners, and that the only protection from his curse is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, received by faith.”^[2]

^[1] Mrs. T. M. Constance, Jeremiah, vol. 1 (Dickson, TN: Explorer’s Bible Study, 1978), 33–34.

^[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 105.

One of the more common themes I brought with me out of the 60’s was, as Creed Bratton’s old Rock Group the Grass Roots put it, “Sha na na na, live for today…” While the rest of the world is worrying about tomorrow the singer and his girl will “take pleasure while they can.” At the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy a similar culture had taken “grass roots” in Jerusalem. The people, as a whole, love to live by this philosophy, but especially so when it’s embraced by their leaders. In Israel the political leaders along with the religious leaders have ignored the truth of God’s word and God’s ways, and adopted a philosophy of pragmatic pleasure. They twisted their roles to make the best out of the moment instead of building for a solid future. The closing verses of chapter five, Jeremiah 5:30-31, put it this way, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so…” But Jeremiah adds a simple little question after his indictment. He asks, “…but what will you do when the end comes?”

I like the way Arnold and Black summarize the situation for us. They write about living in “…the hopelessness of a culture going downhill. One of the clearest, most notable philosophies of television and music is the notion that we must live for today because there might not be a tomorrow. It may be that drug abuse is so high precisely because people are not able to dream about their tomorrow. A culture without God does not think too far into the future.” As the trends of western civilization led through the various philosophies of existentialism to the nihilism of Nietzsche, God is at best irrelevant and at worst He is dead. Thus there are no absolute values and there is nothing truly lasting to live for. This is diametrically opposed to the biblical truths of Christianity.

Going back to Arnold and Black they say, “In the Christian faith we know a few things with certainty upon which we place our trust. The first is that Jesus will come again. We can wait for that day because we have been promised its fulfillment. The second is that we will reign eternally with God in heaven. We will one day be rid of our trials, tribulations and pains. In the presence of God there is joy and no more pain (Rev 21). As Christians, we have something to live for. We can wake up each day knowing that God is present in our lives and that his priorities will win out. We have hope. Christians can be people of purpose and confidence, living God-centered lives filled with challenge and vision.”^[1]

^[1] Jeffrey Arnold and Stephanie Black, The Big Book on Small Groups (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992).

In Jeremiah 5:28, the prophet describes the “fat cats” of Judah who make themselves wealthy at the expense of others. They abuse privilege and ignore responsibility of caring for others.  Cain revealed this characteristic himself when God asked him about his brother. Cain, like many good politicians, answered a question with a question. He said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God’s response to that was a definite “yes, of course you are” even though those words are not recorded in the text. The innocent blood of Cain’s victim cries out from the ground for justice. Shall not God deliver it? Of course He will. In Jeremiah 5:29, the prophet moves from charging the “fat cat” leaders of Israel with their guilt to pronouncing God’s response. He writes, “Shall I not punish them for these things? Declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” As Cain’s question to God assumed a negative reply, God’s question in this verse assumes a positive reply; “of course I will judge them!”

God has to respond to all injustices as he did with Cain and Able. Ryken correctly observes, “The reason for this is that God himself is a Father to the fatherless and a Defender of the poor: ‘For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords.… He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing’ (Deuteronomy 10:17–18). All true sons and true daughters of God show their love for their heavenly Father by being champions for the cause of the poor.”^[1] We are charged with looking out for the welfare of those who cannot look out for themselves.

One of the important areas today in which we can care for those who cannot care for themselves is to take up the cause of the pre-born. You might what Jeremiah wrote in 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” The helpless life in the womb is often the victim of violence at the very hands of those who should love and care for them. It is only a fetus, so much rubbish to simply be discarded. Ryken goes on in his commentary to say, “The living God…asks, ‘What are you doing to plead the case of the fatherless to win it, or to defend the rights of the poor?’ If you are not doing anything for orphans or for the destitute, then you are just one of the fat cats. Unless you are doing something already, it is time to do something about the poor…”^[2]

^[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 102.

^[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 102.