Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15

Jeremiah the great prophet of God in Israel was in jail. As he sat in jail God said to him, "Your cousin is going to offer to sell you some land. When he does, buy it." I guess when you have God as your real estate agent you can't lose. But there is more to this story than God giving Jeremiah some real estate tips.

First of all you have to understand why Jeremiah was in prison. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. God had told Jeremiah that He had given the city into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Of course Jeremiah did his job and told the world that the city would fall. That really cut into the morale of the troops and the populace; not to speak of the possibility that they were afraid Jeremiah might do something to make his prophesy come true.

So they threw Jeremiah in prison. Who would want to buy land under those circumstances? Jeremiah knows that the city will fall and there will be a new king. Being in a battle zone really makes real estate prices fall. But Jeremiah not only buys the land, he makes extra sure that the purchase is witnessed and registered and then he buries the deed in an earthen jar to preserve it. The same technique that preserved the Dead Sea scrolls by the way!

So what is going on here? Why is God telling Jeremiah to make what on the surface seems to be a bad real estate deal? Of course God, with the help of Jeremiah, is making a statement. Sure things seem bad. The enemy is at the gate and the city is under siege. God's prophet has said that the city will fall and he is not only in the city but in prison in the city.

Sure God has given Jerusalem into the hands of the Babylonians. But God has not sold Israel. This is a word of hope. There will once again be buying and selling of land in Israel. The same God who said that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer the city has promised it and even advised his prophet to snatch up a bargain in the process.

Israel had wandered away into sin and idolatry God was allowing them to be carried off into captivity. But God would redeem them. Just as Jeremiah redeemed or bought back the land, God would buy back Israel. God would buy them out of sin and idolatry. God would redeem them out of captivity!

This is the kind of God we worship: a God of hope, a God of redemption. God knows when it is a buyer's market. And God is always looking to pick up some bargains.

I don't know about you but I have seen some churches that I wouldn't give a plug nickel for. I remember one church I saw. I was driving through a little town and there was this Methodist Church. I always note where Methodist Churches are because I might have to go to them one day. This poor little church had nice architecture but the paint around the stain glass windows was peeling something awful. I thought "That poor little congregation can't even afford to keep up their building."

A few years later the Bishop sent me to serve that church. Turns out that the wood frames around the windows was so old and had been painted so many times that the paint just would not stick to it. It was not a matter of lack of pride or ability to maintain the church. In fact that church had the best outreach program in the town. It was truly a church with a heart for service to God and the community. If there was anything going on in the town to help the welfare of people in need that church was a part of it. We put siding on the window frames and solved the paint problem. But God could see that there was a vital congregation behind those peeling window frames.

I think God got some of us out of the bargain bin. When we were lost in sin who would have chosen us to be a royal priest hood for God. But God did. God knows a bargain when He sees it. God redeemed the human race from the trash heap of the cosmos. Then God paid the ultimate price to redeem us.

Hardly would a one die for a righteous man but Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. God redeemed us - bought us back. But that is the kind of God we serve.

God is a god of redemption and God of hope. It doesn't matter how far someone wanted God is always there. God not only redeems people but God redeems situations. No situation is ever too far declined or run down for God to redeem it. So we always have hope.

It's a buyer's market. Values are high and the price is low. There is some prime real estate in the kingdom of God available for the redeeming. Now don't think that there must be something wrong with it. Could it be not zoned for joy or peace? All the real estate in the Kingdom is zoned for peace, patience, love, Joy; the whole nine yards.

So why is it so cheap? Because the price of redemption has already been paid. God paid for it already. He redeemed it and can redeem you.

Buy into the Kingdom of God. Put your whole trust and get your deed for the Kingdom of God notarized and sealed by the Holy Spirit. No matter how bad things may seem. Even if the enemy is at the city gates besieging the city, God says that this is prime real estate. Invest your life in some heavenly real estate. After all it's a buyer's market!

1 Timothy 6:6-19

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." (Rabbi Schachtel) I used to think that was an ancient Chinese proverb. It sounds wise and deep. Guess what? It can be traced back to a late 20th century Jewish Rabbi - Rabbi Satchel! I had heard this quote and expected that it was from Confucius or something. But I guess it makes sense that it would be a modern American who would be able to articulate the true relationship between happiness and possessions.

People, especially those of us in industrialized nations, have never in history had more things. And we have the spare time to ponder and pursue happiness. Yet so many get the relationship all wrong. They still think that happiness or fulfillment can come from the accumulation of things.

So Paul the apostle, almost 2,000 years ago, warns the young pastor Timothy about this spiritual pitfall. And he also outlines the proper relationship between fulfillment and possessions. Basically he says that it is the love of things that leads to trouble. So instead of seeking riches they and we should seek things like righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness�

Notice that he doesn't say that money is evil. He says the love of money leads to evil. And Paul also advises those who are rich not to trust in their riches. But rather put their trust in God who richly provides.

In the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" the main charter Tevye is a poor man. But he prays that God would make him rich. His friend warns him "Money is the world's curse." To which Tevye replies, "May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover." I think we have all felt that same way. But let's look at what the Bible says about it.

The first point Paul makes is that "we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it." I am sure you have all heard that you can't take it with you. And there is a good reason for that. But most people don't see the reason.

The story goes that there was a rich man who was faithful. And he didn't really understand why he couldn't take it with him. So he prayed and he said, "Lord, you have blessed me with so much. Why can't I take just some of it to heaven with me since it was a gift from you." God replied, "Just to teach you a lesson I will let you take one suitcase of your earthly possessions to heaven." The man thought and then he packed one suitcase and left it in a special place so that he could grab it after he died and take to heaven. He got to heaven with his suitcase and St. Peter looked in the book and said, "Here's your name you can go in but you can't take that with you haven't you ever heard you can't take it with you?" So the man explained and St Peter nodded and "OK. But can I ask a favor? Can I just see what you brought." The man opened the suitcase and it was full of solid gold bricks. Peter laughed and said, "So why did you bring pavement?"

God gave us the priceless gift of life when we can into this world. And God gave us Eternal life to take out of this world. What more could we want? And what value would any of the things in this world, beyond our relationships, have in eternity?

So true contentment is found in realizing that God has already given us all we need. But Paul goes on to warn that the love of earthly wealth leads to trouble. It is not wealth itself that is evil. It is the love of it that leads to evil. Out of love for wealth people do things that lead to evil.

You see most people have it all backward. They love things and use people. The things on this earth were put here by God for us to use not to love. And the people were put here for us to love not to use. So we should love people and use things.

To use people and love things is a perversion of God's plan. It puts things backwards. We were not made for that. We were made to love God and our neighbor. To do any other leads to injury and pain.

So what should we strive after? Paul tells us to seek after the virtues which go along with serving God. We should strive for "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness." We should value faith and take hold of eternal life. In the end that is what endures.

You can't take money and electronics to heaven. But at the same time it is not those things that bring meaning to this life. Knowing who you are and finding peace: those kinds of things bring contentment. Loving your neighbor and serving God bring you Joy whether you have money in the bank or not. Developing deep relationships with you family and friends brings satisfaction no matter how much your income is.

So follow the example of Jesus. He gave up the glories of heaven. He was rich beyond earthly standards. He was there when all the gold and jewels in existence were created. But he found completion and fulfillment in following his Heavenly Father's will and giving of himself to save us.

It all comes down to one question: What are you living for? Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you go to work or school or wherever it is that you go? Do you go to school so that you make more money when you get out? Do you work each day so that you can make more money?

Or do you get out of bed and do those other things so that you can love God and your neighbor. Do you go about your daily activities with the idea that you are seeking to live righteously. Do you value the people you meet and not the things you acquire.

Paul said, "There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment." You may not get rich serving the Lord. Then again you might! In the end it doesn't really matter. But through a godliness of life that is content with what God has provided there is great gain. Through faith we can know the gift not only of life after death but of peace and joy in this world.

Luke 16:19-31

I like to imagine how the Bible would sound if Jesus had been born in our day. I imagine that today's Gospel lesson would go something like this: The preacher of First Church heard about the things that Jesus was teaching and so he preached a sermon against Jesus. Now First Church was the biggest church in town. It had the highest steeple, the biggest Family Life Center, the largest paid staff, and the largest annual budget. They were the biggest and the wealthiest church in town and they were proud of it.

When Jesus heard that the preacher at First Church had preached against him, he told a parable. It might have gone something like this: Once upon a time there was a billionaire who wore only the finest clothes. He had fine silk suits and tailored shirts. His shoes were made in Italy and his handkerchiefs were embroidered with real gold. And this man ate only the finest food: filet mignon, lobster, caviar ($80 and oz.) and Champaign. He lived like this every day, even Sundays. At the gate of the man's estate there was a homeless man named Lazarus. Lazarus was in the advanced stages of Tuberculosis and was starving. He was happy when he found something to eat in the rich man's garbage. On cold nights the street dogs would curl up with him and he didn't even have the strength to shoo them away.

Well, finally the tuberculosis and malnutrition took it's toll and Lazarus died and was carried away by the angels to heaven. The rich man also died, of a heart attack I think, and he found himself in Hell. From the torments of hell he could look up and see Lazarus and Abraham feasting on steak and lobster and caviar and everywhere there were tall glasses of cold clear water. In anguish in the fires of Hell he called out, "Father Abraham, please send Lazarus to give me just a drop of water." But Abraham replied, "You received good things during your life now it is Lazarus' turn to experience the good life. Anyway, he can't. There is a great divide between us and you and no one can cross it." Then the rich man begged, "Father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Perhaps if he appeared to them he could warn them to change their ways lest they end up in torment like me." But Abraham replied, "They have the Bible to tell them how to live and preachers to teach them how to be saved. Let them listen to them." The rich man continued, "But if someone should rise from the dead that might convince them!" And Abraham replied, "If they won't listen to the Bible and the preachers what makes you think that a resurrection will change their minds."

Now, let me tell you some more stories. Once upon a time there was church. It was a large rich church. The people would drive into the church from the suburbs and have big services and family night suppers. They had a large bus to take the youth and other groups places. And across the street from that church was a slum. The ones who were doing well enough to have a room often didn't have enough to eat or oil to heat with. The others would sleep with the dogs in the doorways and streets. The people in the slum would look out their windows and watch the rich church people come and go and wish that they had just a little of what that church threw away. Year after year the members of the church just ignored the slum as they drove to their Sunday morning services and family night suppers. How will God judge that on the Judgment Day?

Or what about this story. Once upon a time there was a nation that was rich. They had the biggest military the best universities and highest standard of living. But at their borders were poor nations. Nations that didn't have enough to even vaccinate or educate their children. Nations where malnutrition was a leading cause of death. The rich nation had more, than it needed yet it did nothing for the poor nations. How will God judge that nation?

As they often do, Jesus' parables bring the story home to us. We are all the rich man. We all have people starving to death at our door steps. Sometimes it's an actual physical hunger or need for medical attention. But sometimes it is a spiritual or emotional hunger. Sometimes it is a need to know that they are loved and needed.

And what do we do about these hungry dying people? Often times we do nothing. We don't hurt, but we don't help either. And that is what the rich man did for Lazarus. The rich man never hurt Lazarus. He didn't ask the police to remove him from his gate. But he didn't invite him in or give him a blanket or give him food either.

And so if we do nothing for the starving masses at our door step, we are under the same judgment as that rich man. You may argue that we aren't rich like he was. But we all are rich in something. If you have accepted Christ you are rich in love and grace and mercy and strength. And there are people starving to death for those things just as much as for food and clothing and medicine.

Once upon a time? No! Now, at this time. We are the rich man. At our door step are the Lazaruses of the world. How we treat them in important in God's eyes. If we do not give of what we have God's judgment is upon us.

Perhaps if someone would rise from the dead he could convince the rich of the world to bless the poor. The problem is someone did rise from the dead: Jesus Christ. Maybe some of us were convinced. If we are we would visit the sick: comfort the distraught, feed the poor, show love to the lonely, witness to the lost.

There once was a person who went to church on Sunday and feasted on the Word of God. Every day that person prayed to God and felt the peace of Christ living in their life. In their very neighborhood was a person who was dying of loneliness, or heartbreak, or isolation, or sin, or hunger, or nakedness....

So what happened? Did they help the needy person? You tell me. Go home and finish the story yourself.

top of this page

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15

The Bible tells us that the word of the Lord came to the Prophet Jeremiah during the siege of Jerusalem by the King of Babylon. Back in that day armies did not have bombs or cannons or any of the machines of war that we are used to. Basically they had foot soldiers with swords, and archers with arrows. And cities basically defended themselves with walls. When an army attacked a city they would close that gates and hide behind tall thick walls. If they wanted the attackers could build siege ramps and try to go over the walls. But they could also just block all traffic into the city and starve the inhabitants out.

That is what King Nebbecanezzer was doing to Jerusalem. He besieged Jerusalem for 20 months before it fell. It was probably about 9 to 10 months into the siege that the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in prison. That's right "in prison." You see God had spoken to Jeremiah a lot before this and one of the things he told Jeremiah to say was that Jerusalem would fall. Of course the King didn't like this. It was bad for morale to have Jeremiah going around telling people that the Babylonians would win. If he let Jeremiah do that people would turn against him and the army would desert.

Therefore, the King of Judah put Jeremiah in prison. So Jeremiah is sitting in prison in a city that was under siege and he knew by the World of the Lord that this city is doomed to fall. Actually it wasn't that bad for Jeremiah. I mean if he survived the siege; if he didn't; starve to death because the guards were stealing his food, and if he wasn't trapped in the palace dungeon when it was set ablaze, then the Babylonians might be nice to him because his prophesy seemed to favor their winning.

So what did the Lord say to Jeremiah in a dungeon under a doomed city? God said, "Behold your cousin is coming to visit and he will ask you if you want to buy a piece of land left by one of your relatives." Excuse me! God doesn't speak to his prophets every day and of all the things he could say he says this. "Your cousin is coming to sell you some land."

Well, lo and behold his cousin did come and he bought the land. But that's not all. Jeremiah also made sure he had witnesses to the transaction. He got the documents of ownership notarized and sealed.

Then the real significance of this event came to life. He gave the deeds to his servant and told him to place them in a jar where they would be safe for a long time. For Jeremiah said that the Lord had told him that lands would be bought and sold again in Israel. It would be a long time, true. And the city would still fall. But at some time in the distant future life would resume again. And so sure of that was Jeremiah that he wanted it clear that this land belonged to him so there would be no dispute later.

Here we have a lesson in justice. You see the people of Israel had acted unjustly. God had led them out of slavery and made them a nation. God had established them and nursed them into existence. For 1,000+ years they had ruled the Promised Land.

But they had not served God. Instead of following God's law they followed their own wants and wished. Instead of worshipping the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they worshipped the pagan god's of the peoples. Instead of seeking justice and loving mercy they sought power and loved wealth. And in the end they put their trust in armies and political alliances instead of the Lord.

So God had given them up to their own wishes. If they wanted to take care of themselves then God would let them take care of themselves. And what happened? They were conquered.

But that is not the end. You see most would have given up on Israel after 1,000 years of rebellion, but not God. Right on the eve of the destruction of the nation of Israel God sends a word of hope. And Jeremiah, God's prophet, had the deed to God's promise of a future hope witnessed and sealed.

A lot of people are in the same situation as Israel was in the day that the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. You know the type. People who had a good start, brought up in the church and had lots of talents, but they wandered away from the Lord. They stopped following God's ways and God gave them up to their own devices.

Most people would just write them off. They would say, "Oh, that kid showed lots of promise but he never amounted to much of anything." Or "Don't waste your time on them they've never come to church much or seemed to care much." But not God.

God always foresees a future hope of a time when his children will return to the Promised Land. Somewhere there is a deed to that lost persons heart. It has been witnessed and sealed and preserved for that day. And when that promised day comes there will be no doubt who that child belongs to. That lost soul will return to the Promised Land to serve God, to love their neighbor, to seek justice and love mercy.

Come to think of it the whole human race is in that fix. God sent us his Son to make us a great nation to serve his purpose of love and mercy. But we rejected the King God chose for us. What was it that the crowd said, "We have no King but Caesar." And so the human race rejected God's way. And we killed the Son of God.

But Jesus had already signed a deed to the hearts of the world. It was witnessed by the hosts of heaven. And he made sure that it would be preserved until the day of return came.

That deed was the hearts of the disciples and their witness to Jesus' life death and resurrection. And by the seal of the Holy Spirit it will be preserved until Christ comes again. And at that time all who are bought with his blood will belong to him. And despite the destruction of our age that day is coming.

The Word from the Lord today is "hope." It doesn't matter how far you have strayed from God. There is still hope. God is ready to buy you in whatever state you are in now. God will purchase you out of slavery to sin and death. And God will seal you with his Holy Spirit.

Some of you may have loved ones who are lost. For them there is hope. Pray for them. Let your prayers be a sign of the hope that they will once again return to God's land. They may be lost in all sorts of evil and others may have written them off but not God.

God made you to glory in his greatness. And God has not given up on you. And God will not give up on anyone. Hope!

top of this page