We’re starting a new series today, getting stuck into some OT stuff!
Series on Jeremiah, a couple chapters of this book, what God says to and through his prophet Jeremiah, and what he has to say to us today.
We’re going to start off with this concept of fire, God’s word is ‘word like fire’ as we hear in chapter 23 verse 29. God’s word is like fire, and it’s also like a ‘hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.’
So there’s a hardness, a sharpness, an intense heat to God’s word! Like fire that burns and a hammer that breaks rock > not a soft touch here, not soft and cuddly but hard, direct, challenging, even difficult to understand at times.
I’ve just finished reading a book by American pastor and author Tod Bolsinger called ‘Tempered Resilience’ > this is a book about Christian leaders, Christian people being forged in the fire, being heated and cooled, being tempered and gaining resilience in the process. There is the fire of forging, and also the hammering of repeated practices and habits of humbling ourselves before God, opening ourselves up to his call on our hearts, seeking to know him more and seeking to share his word with others > the things we’re called to do as Christian people!
It’s an excellent read, great image of fire and hammering very much like what we hear from Jeremiah today. God’s word is the ultimate refining fire, the ultimate hammer blow to our sin and our sinful desires.
Just before we go any further >
I heard someone say this week about how useful it is to take notes > very good to do, I would encourage you to do so, I have to take notes all the time otherwise I’ll forget! I’ve got pages and pages of notes on my phone and computer, you might prefer hand-written notes > whatever works for you! I’d love to encourage you if you hear something useful in church/God’s word/a quote or a question you might have > write it down!
Easy way to help us remember so we can learn ourselves, and we can also have words to share with others.
Have you noticed how HUGE the amount of content is that comes at us every week in church… Have you ever thought about that? 3-4 readings, all the words in our songs & prayers, creed, preparing for Holy Communion among other things… That’s a lot of content!
And we can do this through the week, we can take a moment to reflect on a bit of God’s word , what we took out of church that week, what God has been saying to us… That’s what this website is for as well, I’m always putting up my sermon content for anyone who would like a second look or if you can’t be there that Sunday! I find regular note-taking a very useful practice, I’m sure you will or already do as well.
So please feel free to bring in notepads and bibles to church! > it may not be something you’ve ever done but you might be surprised with how helpful it could be.
So back to fire and hammering > what are we hearing from Jeremiah on this today? Let’s have another look at our first reading: Jeremiah 23:23-29 >
‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away?’
‘Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?’ declares the Lord.
‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.
Let’s pause there > three declarations from the Lord there, three rhetorical questions God asks Jeremiah > when it’s a ‘declaration from the Lord’ you know it’s serious stuff, it’s time to listen!
Where you can find me, God says.
Where I can find you, God says.
And zooming out, where I am and have always been, God says!
God is nearby, God is also far away > I think that speaks how we feel > God knows how we feel! We might feel God is close or that he’s far away at times. We cannot hide from God, there is nowhere we can go to stay hidden from him. And of course God is everywhere already, he fills heaven and earth, he was there before us and he is there still.
And you may have noticed in our gospel reading today > Jesus also asks a rhetorical question, at the end of our passage from Luke 12 >
‘How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?’ Jesus asks.
Jesus also talks about fire, about he himself bringing fire on the earth! That’s not how we usually think about Jesus is it, one who ‘brings fire on the earth.’ What’s that all about…
A few important questions to ask ourselves, we’ve got some work to do haven’t we! How do respond, how do give an answer to these questions from the Father, from Jesus?
I can tell you I don’t have all the answers, not even the most studied and learned Christian academics have all the answers! Nobody does, so what do we do with this?
Let it go out of our own hands, let go of the need to have all the answers (as if that’s something any of us can do!), let go of answers and instead just work with the questions. Think about the questions, take a moment to ask ourselves the questions, without expecting a quick, easy answer.
Jesus is the prime example of spending time in the questions > I found a few very interesting stats this week about Jesus and questions >
Going by what’s written down in the bible, Jesus was asked around 183 questions by people in his ministry.
And he himself asked 307 questions. He time and time again responds to a question by doing what? Asking another question! Have you asked that many questions in your lifetime?? Jesus asked that many questions in three years!
How many times does he directly answer a question? Going by the stats I found, only 3 times.
So what can we take way from those stats > Jesus asks questions, he likes questions, he uses questions to provide insight, to help others gain better insight, he responds to questions of himself by doing what? Asking better questions!
We come to Jesus with questions, and he helps us to ask better ones > I know I’ve experienced that, I wonder if you have too!
So back to Jesus’ question in question today > ‘How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time’ >
If we spend some time with the question before we try to answer it, ‘how is that the case? Jesus is saying we don’t know something, and he mentions this present time… So if we take Jesus’ words as having some authority, what is it we don’t know? Maybe we need to do some more sitting at the feet of Jesus, asking him ‘Lord, I don’t know. Please help me understand, please tell me more.’
Instead of getting defensive, as if we’ve been found out, as if we’re in trouble for not knowing the right answer, what if we instead said ‘I don’t know, can you please help me understand?’ What do you think Jesus will do with that response?
Will he say, ‘no, I’m not going tell you. No, your mistake is too bad for me to help you. No, I don’t have time for your silly questions, go and ask someone else.’ If you think Jesus would respond like this, you’ve got the wrong Jesus.
Jesus invites little children to come to him, he invites weary sinners to come to him for rest, he gives us everything of himself so we would come to know him. That’s the real Jesus, that’s the character of Jesus, that’s who were on about week after week. He’s on about us day after day! He wants to know us, he wants us to know him, this is a living and loving relationship we get to be part of.
So we’re hearing today that God’s word is like fire, and like a hammer.
And Jesus is asking us how do we not know what to think/what to do in this present time.
What if Jesus’ question is the fire, the heat that’s applied to our souls, so we burn off what we don’t need and space is created for more of him and what he has for us…
What if Jesus’ question is the hammer, the hammer blow that smashes our pride and our sin into tiny pieces and again creates space for more of him and his goodness…
And I have to bring in our second reading from Hebrews just to round it out today >
What else does God’s word do? It’s a refining fire and it can hit us like a hammer, but what else?
By faith, God’s word turns weakness into strength. Not sure if you caught that in there today, tucked in with references to Israel’s heroes and some terrible things that went on, but it’s there > by faith, God’s word turns weakness into strength.
So we present our weakness, our vulnerability, our open hearts to him, and what will do with them?
He will refine us, he will shape and mould us into who he says we are, he will take our weakness and turn it into his strength, by faith, in his word like fire.
Tom Kitson 