We Have a Message to Proclaim!

2nd Sunday in Lent, 2/28/10
Jeremiah 26:8-15


We Have a Message to Proclaim!
I. We can expect opposition.
II. We can expect the Lord’s blessings.


What do you do with the messages you receive? Well, if you’re like me, that depends on several factors. I receive quite a few written and electronic messages that I don’t acknowledge at all. Like you, I know that they’re junk mail or email spam and they aren’t worth the time to read them. Those messages get trashed right away.

But if I receive a message from you or someone else who is close to me, I always read it. Our relationship with each other is important. If you take the time to send me a message, I will take the time to read it.

Other messages either require or suggest that we do something with them. A message from your spouse or children left for you on the kitchen counter might remind you to take care of something for them that day. A message from your doctor might be his way of telling you that more tests are needed.

And then there are those messages that we’re compelled to share with others. If you’ve enjoyed a particular email message, you’re likely to forward it to others. If a loved one tells you about an important event in their life, you’re likely to share that with other loved ones.

In short, the sender of the message and the content of the message determine largely what we do with it.

If you received a message from God, what would you do with it? I hope you’d do the same thing that Jeremiah did. When he received a message from God, even though that message contained some very difficult information, he shared it.

Our God has given us that same message. That means we have a message to proclaim. Let’s see what that message is about and what our God wants to accomplish through it.

Part I.

When giving and receiving a message, why is it that some people will settle for lies in some cases but not in others?

Let me give you an example. The nagging pain you’ve been ignoring for months has gotten to the point that you can no longer ignore it. So you go to your doctor and he schedules some tests for you. You go through the tests and then meet with your doctor for him to tell you what your health problem is. If the test results state that something is seriously wrong, do you want your doctor to lie about it? Would you even settle for his attempts to sugar-coat the report? Of course not. You want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The moment you suspect he might not be telling you the truth, you’ll think seriously about getting a different doctor.

But why, then, would people settle for lies about God? In fact, why is it that they don’t want to hear the truth from God? Why don’t they want to hear the truth about the punishment for their sins? Why don’t they want to hear the amazing good news that God punished his Son for their sins? It doesn’t make any sense, but they choose to believe Satan’s lies rather than God’s truth.

That’s nothing new. It was happening in the days of Jeremiah as well. Jeremiah had a very difficult ministry. One of the reasons for that is that he and his fellow Jews lived during a time in history when a world power shift was occurring. And that shift wasn’t complete and clean overnight; it took years and there were times when the shift reversed momentarily. For centuries the big world power had been Egypt to the south. But recently the Assyrians to the north had gained power and had even defeated the northern ten tribes of the Jews. That left the Jews in Judah wondering which nation they should align themselves with in order to survive.

You see, the Jews wanted to maintain their independence. They wanted to continue enjoying self-rule as any nation would. The problem? For decades they had been living independent of their God as well. And the patience of the Lord God had run out. In spite of the fact that he had allowed them to suffer misfortunes with which he intended to bring them to repentance and back to him, they continued on their evil path without him.

So God sent one more prophet to them—Jeremiah. Jeremiah announced God’s message of destruction. Through Jeremiah the Lord told them to repent or face doom. He would allow an enemy nation to destroy their capital city of Jerusalem, and burn their homes and property. Many of them would die and the ones who were left would be exiled. In other words, life as they knew it would cease to exist.

But the people wouldn’t listen to Jeremiah. Instead, they listened to the false prophets who proclaimed that all was well. But simply rejecting his message wasn’t enough for them. Our text says, “The priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, ‘You must die!’” The very ones who should have known better—the priests and the prophets—lead the way in not only killing the message, but also attempting to kill the messenger.

Jeremiah proclaimed God’s message and faced violent opposition. We have a message to proclaim. We can expect opposition.

Basically Jeremiah faced a society that was tolerant of every form of evil—violence, injustice, oppression of the poor and needy, greed, government corruption, and gross immorality. Sounds awfully modern, doesn’t it? Our government doesn’t always reflect the law of God and why should it? The church doesn’t either. What decades ago were obvious sins for people to avoid are now not only tolerated but celebrated as alternative lifestyles, and not just in society but in the church as well. And the family and our society suffer. We have a message to proclaim. The first part of that message is death and destruction—not of a city or our country, but of the soul in hell. That’s not an easy message. We can expect opposition. But the best way to present that message is not to look down our noses at the sinners out there and paint ourselves as the holy ones. The best way is to let them know that we apply that same law to ourselves. We listen to the same difficult message because sin is serious. It brings God’s wrath and eternal condemnation. As difficult as that message is, we must proclaim it because without it there’s no need for a Savior. But when you proclaim it, expect opposition.

Part II.

We live in a results-oriented world. If we’re working hard but not getting results, we quickly change or abandon the program. Wouldn’t it be nice to get guaranteed results? Not so long ago you were guaranteed a 6% return on some of your investments. Not anymore.

But your God always promises a return when we proclaim his message. Through his prophet Isaiah the Lord declared, “As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Is. 55:10-11). God’s word has power. Every time we share that word it has the power to convert unbelieving hearts. But if the sinner rejects that word, our God is still glorified. He is the gracious God who shared that word with that sinner, but that sinner rejected his love and grace.

It’s clear from the life of Jeremiah that he trusted the almighty Lord and his powerful message. And he did that in two ways. First, he declared to the hostile crowd, “As for me, do whatever you think is good and right. Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves.” Jeremiah had the spiritual courage to proclaim his difficult message and let the rest in the Lord’s hands, including his life. How could he do that? Because he knew his eternal future was certain. Death—either at the hands of his enemies or naturally in his sleep—would bring him life in heaven. So he boldly proclaimed that message and let the chips fall where they may.

But he also trusted the Lord to bring about the results the Lord desired. Jeremiah had no idea how the people and God’s priests and prophets would react to his message. Would they listen and repent or would they reject the message and abuse the messenger? Only God knew, but he didn’t tell Jeremiah ahead of time. He simply asked him to trust the Lord and his message to bring about the results.

And that’s exactly what happened in this case. In the verse after our text we read, “Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, ‘This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’” How ironic that the people should be declaring to the priests and prophets what the Lord wanted them to do! God’s word has amazing power. It can turn situations upside down in an instant. It can bring about heartfelt repentance and work saving faith through just a simple proclamation of God’s saving truths. We have a message to proclaim. We can expect the Lord’s blessings.

If you had the cure for cancer, would you keep it to yourself? If you had a health care plan that would benefit every citizen of our country and was absolutely free of charge, would you say nothing? If you had a national employment program that would guarantee a job to all who were seeking one, would you keep that plan buried? Of course not. To do so would be morally wrong. So don’t keep God’s message to yourself. Share God’s truths as you have the opportunity with your children and friends. Let them know about the Savior whom you trust, by God’s grace, for your forgiveness and eternal life. That forgiveness costs you and every sinner nothing but it cost Jesus his life, a life he was willing to give for the sins of the world. We’ll celebrate that Savior’s death and resurrection in about a month. Invite someone to celebrate those events in our Savior’s life with you. And then trust God for the results. He always gets results.

We have a message to proclaim. Let’s proclaim it boldly. Amen.