WEBVTT 00:00.500 --> 00:02.700 Grace, mercy, and peace 00:02.700 --> 00:06.800 be unto you from God, our Father and from our Lord, and Savior Jesus 00:06.800 --> 00:07.600 Christ. 00:08.100 --> 00:08.800 Amen. 00:09.600 --> 00:12.500 The text from Jeremiah 23. 00:13.200 --> 00:20.000 Thus says the Lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets 00:20.500 --> 00:23.300 who prophesy to you, filling you with hopes. 00:24.600 --> 00:25.600 Later on. 00:26.300 --> 00:27.100 But let him 00:27.100 --> 00:29.100 who has my word 00:29.300 --> 00:31.800 speak my word faithfully. 00:32.700 --> 00:34.100 This is our text. 00:36.700 --> 00:39.700 Jeremiah's life and ministry 00:39.700 --> 00:45.800 as a prophet was a tale of woe that most pastors and church workers 00:45.800 --> 00:50.500 can probably appreciate, at least it sometimes in their lives. 00:51.200 --> 00:56.900 And it's all because of the word of the Lord, when he was still just a 00:56.900 --> 01:01.300 young man, the word of the Lord came to him saying, before I formed 01:01.300 --> 01:02.400 you in the womb, 01:02.700 --> 01:03.700 I knew you. 01:04.599 --> 01:07.600 Before you were born, I set you apart. 01:07.600 --> 01:11.500 I appointed you to be a prophet to the nation's. 01:13.100 --> 01:18.200 The Lord of hosts had called him but he desperately tried to argue 01:18.200 --> 01:20.300 with God to get out of that call. 01:20.400 --> 01:21.800 He claimed he was too young. 01:21.800 --> 01:23.800 He was just too sensitive. 01:24.900 --> 01:29.300 He didn't like conflict or controversy, he wasn't a very good public 01:29.300 --> 01:30.200 speaker. 01:31.800 --> 01:35.000 But the Lord reached out his hand and touched Jeremiah's 01:35.000 --> 01:36.000 mouth and said, 01:36.000 --> 01:39.100 now I've put my words in your mouth. 01:40.100 --> 01:44.900 I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot, and tear down to 01:44.900 --> 01:51.500 destroy and overthrow to build, and to plant. And he sent Jeremiah out 01:51.500 --> 01:54.600 with his words saying, get yourself ready. 01:55.800 --> 01:59.800 Stand up and say to them, whatever I command you. 02:01.000 --> 02:05.900 Do not be terrified of them or I will terrify you before them. 02:07.400 --> 02:13.400 They'll fight against you but they will not overcome you for I am with 02:13.400 --> 02:14.400 you to rescue 02:14.400 --> 02:16.700 you declares the Lord. 02:18.400 --> 02:24.100 But at first that all, sounded pretty good to Jeremiah. He said when 02:24.100 --> 02:29.200 your words came, I ate them up and they became my joy and my heart's 02:29.200 --> 02:30.000 delight. 02:30.900 --> 02:33.500 Jeremiah enjoyed preaching 02:33.600 --> 02:35.200 Good news to his people. 02:35.200 --> 02:38.400 Proclaiming the gospel building and planning. 02:41.400 --> 02:44.700 But the focus of most of his ministry was on the law. 02:46.100 --> 02:52.600 He would need to uproot and tear down, and destroy and overthrow. 02:53.400 --> 02:58.000 He would expose the people's idolatry and their immorality, and their 02:58.000 --> 02:58.600 sin. 02:58.800 --> 02:59.800 He would call them to 03:00.000 --> 03:06.300 repent. He warned them of the wrath of God, which is about, to come upon 03:06.300 --> 03:09.500 them like a storm, a whirling tempest. 03:11.100 --> 03:15.200 And he foretold that the wonderful temple in the city of Jerusalem was 03:15.200 --> 03:16.700 going to be destroyed. 03:18.600 --> 03:20.000 But no one would listen to him. 03:21.600 --> 03:25.200 Instead they attacked him for disturbing their peace and dashing their 03:25.200 --> 03:30.500 hopes. Warning them about disaster, calling them to repent 03:30.500 --> 03:36.900 and so they argued with him. They accused him of being a false prophet. 03:38.700 --> 03:41.800 They laughed at him and they mocked him. 03:43.000 --> 03:48.400 They threatened his life and because he had preached this word of doom 03:48.400 --> 03:52.700 for nearly 40 years and nothing bad happened yet. 03:53.800 --> 03:54.700 Of course 03:55.700 --> 03:57.400 they weren't going to listen to him. 03:59.500 --> 04:06.100 But still Jeremiah had a fire, a fire burning in his heart and in his 04:06.100 --> 04:11.600 bones, it was this word of the Lord. The people and their leaders 04:11.600 --> 04:16.700 wouldn't listen to him because there were already so many voices out 04:16.700 --> 04:18.300 there calling out to them. 04:19.500 --> 04:25.400 Filling them with false hopes, vain dreams saying it 04:26.200 --> 04:29.900 It'll be well with you, don't worry about anything. 04:30.000 --> 04:33.100 No disaster is going to fall upon you. 04:35.000 --> 04:37.200 And of course, that's what the people wanted to hear. 04:39.300 --> 04:43.800 But these false prophets were speaking visions of their own minds. 04:44.800 --> 04:49.000 They were sharing their own opinions, they weren't called they weren't 04:49.000 --> 04:50.300 sent by God. 04:51.500 --> 04:54.100 They didn't confront people with their sins. 04:55.100 --> 04:58.800 They confirm sinners and their ways, they comforted those who are 04:58.800 --> 05:00.100 already secure. 05:00.200 --> 05:01.700 They promise good things 05:01.700 --> 05:08.000 even to people who despised God's word. And so, of course, people 05:08.100 --> 05:13.600 listened to those empty dangerous and deadly words. 05:16.500 --> 05:21.400 Today the prophets, still tell people what they want to hear. 05:22.800 --> 05:23.200 Today 05:23.200 --> 05:30.900 the voices come at us through blogs, memes and 15-minute or 15 05:30.900 --> 05:35.000 second video clips. Sharing their opinions 05:35.000 --> 05:37.300 as though, their opinions were facts. 05:37.500 --> 05:41.800 There are political opinions, and financial opinions, and medical 05:41.800 --> 05:46.900 opinions, and ethical opinions, and Theological opinions. 05:48.400 --> 05:50.400 Conflicting opinions. 05:51.800 --> 05:53.400 Angry opinions 05:53.400 --> 05:55.300 stirring up controversy. 05:56.900 --> 05:59.900 Confirming our conspiracies and our 06:00.000 --> 06:00.600 sins. 06:02.200 --> 06:05.700 Filling us with vain hopes and empty promises. 06:08.100 --> 06:11.100 So, who do you listen to? 06:13.000 --> 06:16.100 Who are you following on social media? 06:17.800 --> 06:19.700 Who's telling you the truth. 06:21.400 --> 06:23.300 What can you believe? 06:25.000 --> 06:26.400 Today, brothers and sisters 06:26.400 --> 06:30.200 I urge you to listen to the word of the Lord of hosts. 06:31.900 --> 06:38.700 Listen, as he sarcastically asks us am I a God at hand and not a god 06:38.700 --> 06:39.600 far away? 06:41.000 --> 06:45.300 Can a man hide himself and secret places so that I cannot see him. 06:46.400 --> 06:49.900 Do I not fill heaven and Earth declares the Lord? 06:50.500 --> 06:54.000 In other words, whatever those false prophets are telling you. 06:54.300 --> 07:01.600 I am the Transcendent God. I am omnipresent. 07:03.000 --> 07:05.300 I am omniscient. 07:06.600 --> 07:12.600 I see, I hear, I know all things. 07:14.600 --> 07:18.500 The Lord of hosts says, I have heard what the prophets have said, who 07:18.500 --> 07:21.100 prophesy lies in my name. 07:22.300 --> 07:27.600 You see, I've listened to those prophets too they've all been lying to 07:27.600 --> 07:28.100 you. 07:29.700 --> 07:31.100 They've deceived you. 07:32.500 --> 07:37.200 They fed you their garbage and filled you with vain worthless words, 07:37.200 --> 07:38.500 their own opinions. 07:38.500 --> 07:40.600 Their words not mine 07:40.800 --> 07:42.100 declares the Lord. 07:45.200 --> 07:49.300 And so He asked what a straw in common with wheat, declares the Lord. 07:50.900 --> 07:56.500 You know, wheat is a precious commodity, it's literally, the food crop 07:56.500 --> 08:02.200 that feeds the entire world. Straw is what remains after the precious 08:02.200 --> 08:07.300 wheat has been gathered in. Sometimes it's just scattered on the ground 08:07.300 --> 08:08.800 to keep the weeds down. 08:08.800 --> 08:13.100 Sometimes it's bailed in order to become bedding, for the livestock. 08:13.300 --> 08:15.900 Straw is basically worthless. 08:16.600 --> 08:21.700 And so, the Lord of hosts ask, what do straw and wheat have in common? 08:24.400 --> 08:25.300 Very little. 08:27.000 --> 08:31.700 And so, the Lord of hosts declares my word is like that precious 08:31.700 --> 08:32.299 wheat 08:32.900 --> 08:35.100 that fills your hungry souls. 08:37.400 --> 08:41.700 He says, it's not my word like fire, like a hammer that breaks the 08:41.700 --> 08:43.000 rock in pieces. 08:44.200 --> 08:50.000 The illusion is probably to the mining industry in those days. The way 08:50.000 --> 08:55.200 in which miners extracted the or from the rock that was around it. 08:56.000 --> 08:56.400 They would do 08:56.400 --> 08:59.800 by building a an extremely hot fire against 09:00.300 --> 09:01.700 walls of the mine. 09:02.000 --> 09:05.700 And when it was extremely extremely hot, they would throw cold water 09:05.700 --> 09:05.900 on. 09:05.900 --> 09:09.500 It would cause the rock to fissure and crack. 09:10.800 --> 09:16.600 And then they would use a hammer and chisel to get into those cracks 09:16.600 --> 09:20.100 and knock out the pieces of precious ore. 09:21.800 --> 09:24.500 My word is like fire. 09:25.800 --> 09:32.200 My word is like a hammer declares the Lord. My word mines. My word 09:32.200 --> 09:32.700 seeks 09:32.700 --> 09:36.300 the precious ore, my precious people. 09:40.200 --> 09:48.700 Listen to the Lord of hosts who today, says My word, My word became 09:48.900 --> 09:49.800 flesh. 09:51.200 --> 09:55.700 The Transcendent God of Heaven became a human being. 09:55.700 --> 10:00.100 He came down into the lowly straw of the Bethlehem stable. 10:02.000 --> 10:08.400 He came down to become one of us to dwell, among us to hear to see and 10:08.400 --> 10:12.900 to faithfully speak, God's word, a word that is full of grace and 10:12.900 --> 10:13.700 truth. 10:15.700 --> 10:19.100 He came to his own people but his own people wouldn't receive him. 10:19.100 --> 10:22.000 His own people wouldn't listen to him. 10:25.000 --> 10:26.900 So it was at his baptism. 10:28.400 --> 10:30.200 The father cried out 10:30.300 --> 10:33.300 this is my beloved Son. 10:34.600 --> 10:36.800 Listen to him. 10:38.800 --> 10:43.100 But Satan and the false prophets continued to question God's word. 10:43.100 --> 10:47.500 Contradict God's word they continue to make those false and empty 10:47.500 --> 10:54.100 promises and the people listen to them. At his glorious 10:54.100 --> 10:55.200 Transfiguration 10:55.200 --> 11:02.600 once again the Father cried out, this is my Son. This is My chosen one 11:02.600 --> 11:08.500 listen to him. But even as his disciples were marveling at all the 11:08.500 --> 11:14.400 things that Jesus was doing around them, Jesus said to them, let these 11:14.400 --> 11:16.900 words sink into your ears. 11:18.100 --> 11:21.900 The Son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. 11:23.900 --> 11:27.100 And even his disciples didn't want to hear that. 11:29.000 --> 11:31.100 Luke says, they didn't understand. 11:32.300 --> 11:34.100 It was concealed from them. 11:35.200 --> 11:36.500 They couldn't listen. 11:39.200 --> 11:44.000 In the gospel for this week, Jesus claimed I came to bring fire on the 11:44.000 --> 11:48.900 earth. And as we heard yesterday, his word causes division and 11:48.900 --> 11:49.900 conflict 11:51.000 --> 11:55.200 because most of the people in the world are listening to what they 11:55.200 --> 11:59.800 want to do. And so the people in those 12:00.000 --> 12:06.900 days, angrily, angrily, turned against him and against one another and 12:06.900 --> 12:08.700 they demanded that he die. 12:10.900 --> 12:16.900 Even at his trial Pilate, his judge questioned him about what is truth? 12:18.900 --> 12:20.100 But then wouldn't listen. 12:20.800 --> 12:24.200 He had the truth standing right in front of him, but he couldn't hear 12:24.200 --> 12:24.500 it. 12:24.600 --> 12:25.700 And so, he mocked, 12:26.900 --> 12:32.600 and he beat, and he condemned and he crucified Jesus. 12:36.800 --> 12:39.600 But you and I have heard the good news. 12:40.900 --> 12:46.500 On the third day, Jesus arose again and he confirmed that his word is 12:46.500 --> 12:47.400 truth. 12:48.500 --> 12:53.600 That his father had accepted the sacrifice his sacrifice on a cross 12:53.800 --> 12:57.700 for the sins of the world, for all of your immorality, and all of your 12:57.700 --> 13:00.600 idolatry and all of your sins and mine. 13:04.300 --> 13:06.600 And it was on that Easter afternoon 13:07.400 --> 13:11.700 that Jesus once again walked with two of his disciples on the road to 13:11.700 --> 13:12.500 Emmaus. 13:14.000 --> 13:17.500 And he interpreted for them in all the scriptures, the things 13:17.500 --> 13:19.100 concerning himself. 13:21.100 --> 13:22.300 It And as they reflected 13:22.300 --> 13:28.500 they said to one another didn't our hearts burn within us 13:29.600 --> 13:33.800 as he walked with us on the road and he opened the scriptures to us? 13:35.000 --> 13:35.900 What a Bible class. 13:35.900 --> 13:39.600 What an exegetical study they must have had that afternoon. 13:41.200 --> 13:44.200 And later that night, as those disciples tried to explain to the 13:44.200 --> 13:47.300 others, what they had heard and what they had seen that Jesus had 13:47.300 --> 13:51.700 indeed risen, Jesus himself came and stood among them all. And said 13:52.300 --> 13:59.200 these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you. That 13:59.200 --> 14:03.200 everything written about me, in the law of Moses, and the prophets and 14:03.200 --> 14:06.100 the Psalms must be fulfilled. 14:07.700 --> 14:11.000 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 14:12.700 --> 14:16.900 And he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer 14:17.100 --> 14:20.700 and on the third day, rise from the dead and that repentance and 14:20.700 --> 14:25.300 forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations. 14:26.700 --> 14:28.100 And it was like, finally. 14:29.300 --> 14:33.100 Finally, even his disciples were listening to him. 14:36.100 --> 14:44.700 Today, I pray that the words of the Prophet, Jeremiah the words of the 14:44.700 --> 14:50.700 Lord of hosts, the word of the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus would 14:50.700 --> 14:52.900 continue to be spoken loudly 14:52.900 --> 14:58.300 and clearly on this campus, let him who has my words, speak it 14:58.300 --> 14:59.200 faithfully. 15:01.800 --> 15:10.800 And I pray that our Campus Community, professors, staff, students and 15:10.800 --> 15:11.900 families, 15:12.000 --> 15:18.400 you and me the precious people of God would indeed 15:19.300 --> 15:20.000 listen. 15:22.400 --> 15:28.800 In the name of Jesus. Amen. May the peace of God, which surpasses all 15:28.800 --> 15:29.700 understanding. 15:30.000 --> 15:33.200 Keep your hearts and minds in Christ 15:33.200 --> 15:34.000 Jesus. Amen.