You know what a back shelf is for; the back
shelf is where they put stuff that won’t ever be used again – you go there to
rot. There are no events. It’s where
you’re put when the world is done
with you, like a seldom-needed roasting pan, or a set of Christmas lights with
one bulb out. You never work quite right, so you get put on the top
shelf, way in the back; you become a back shelf dweller!
We are coming to the end of
another year. It is quite natural to
look back over the last year. We
evaluate, revel in the good things; we reminisce, sometimes torture ourselves
over the bad. But what if you look back
and there is nothing? What if you look
back, and, contrary to the calendar, all you can see is the back of the
shelf? All you can feel is that what
in the world is happening thing; it’s like when you know you
are supposed to be somewhere, but you can’t remember where. As George Goebel once remarked to Johnny
Carson, I feel like the entire world’s a
tuxedo, and I’m a pair of brown loafers.
As we check up on this past year, if it appears to you that along
the way your life got put on hold, then this message is for you. I’d like for you to come with me for a peek
at the life of the king of the back shelf – Jeremiah.
God had called Jeremiah to be his voice against the ungodly
condition of His chosen people – to speak a warning. Jeremiah’s call included the vision of a
boiling cauldron facing the South; a picture of the invasion forces that would
come from Judah’s northern enemies.
In the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah’s prophecy we find that
what got him thrown in jail was his insistence that Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, would conquer Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s king Zedekiah didn’t like that!
While in prison, Jeremiah’s cousin, Hanameel offers the prophet
the right to purchase land in his hometown, Anathoth. How strange; if the prophet’s prediction came
true (and it certainly did) then land titles issued under Hebrew law would be
worthless. And if the prophecy failed,
Jeremiah would stay in jail. It seemed
odd to buy land under those conditions.
What was Jeremiah (and God) up to?
The prophet was making a bold statement that God would truly bring
judgment on the people, but the judgment would end and God would also restore
his people.
·
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries…32.37a
·
And they shall be my people, and I shall be their
God…32.38
·
And fields shall be bought in this land…32.43a
Jeremiah spoke truth about the coming judgment of God, and it did
not exactly endear him to the king. In
fact, he got thrown in prison – several times, and finally died in Egypt under
house arrest -- no fairy-tale ending
to an epic life!
Rather, the so-called fairy-tale endings to which we have become
accustomed would have included Jeremiah’s famous word from the Lord…
·
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee
great and mighty things, which though knowest not. Jeremiah 33.3
And then there would be a release from prison, return to favor,
and eventual conquering of the bad guys.
Jeremiah never saw it; (from a
human perspective) Jeremiah’s life got put on hold; he never again saw the
light of day as a free man.
As a preacher, there have been times when I have found myself able
to identify with Jeremiah’s position.
I’ve never run afoul of the law and been put in jail, but it is very
much like jail for a preacher to not be able to preach. This has happened a few times in my pastoral
career. It is not a pretty picture; you
spend a lot of time whining to God about what to do, what to do….
I’d like you to meet “Wilson”.
In Jeremiah’s life and ministry I find the model for my own
struggling, as well as the answers I need in that process of finding God when I
have to wait. I find myself once again
at five years old, waiting anxiously in the back seat of Dad’s ’48 Plymouth,
asking: Are we there yet?
This morning’s message is
somewhat confessional – it is where I was twelve years ago. I was a year into seeking God’s will for
where I was to serve. The problem was,
each time a place seemed to open up it closed faster than a slap in the face. I was on-hold. I felt like Jeremiah in the pit, and I wanted
some answers. I wanted some sense of
purpose in the midst of what seemed like wasted
time. Give me some rhyme and reason,
Lord!
One of the great poets,
Frost, I believe, was asked by a student how you go about writing a poem. The answer was all about making rhyme and
reason over the events of your life. It
went something like: Well, first something has to happen to
you. Then you get alone with a pen and
ink and write like the devil. You ride
it until it is done. Then you have a
poem.
Jeremiah did have more than a few somethings happen. His
country was in trouble. Morality was
gone. No one told the truth. The government was not trustworthy. Strong political enemies loomed on the
horizon. His ministry was like, as Frost
described, writing like the devil –
working on the national problems of Israel.
When Jeremiah cried out against these things as a preacher of
righteousness, proclaiming the Lord’s Word, he expected the people to listen –
to change. Yet they did not; they never
listened. They never changed in his
lifetime. His culture was as unconcerned
with God as the vast majority of the world at the beginning of the 21st
century!
The people in Jeremiah’s day
rejected the idea of God’s sovereignty, as does America in 2017. They rejected God, and so have we, banning
Him from our schools, government and just about every realm of public
life. Jeremiah wanted it to change; he
went to extremes to preach the truth.
He was the theatrical
prophet, wearing an oxen yoke to symbolize the heaviness of Israel’s coming
bondage. He buried a garment under a
rock near the river to rot and ruin, rather than stay close to the owner’s
heart, symbolizing how Israel was out of place, far from God’s heart.
Great sermons,
Jeremiah! Man what a preacher!! You would think they’d make him bishop of
Lower Mesopotamia with sermonizing like that!
Instead, he got arrested, put on hold; Jeremiah was moved to the back
shelf!
He was born in Anathoth, which means answered prayer – yet here he was in the jail pit, and the nation
he loved remained unchanged. Jeremiah’s
prayers weren’t being answered – they were bouncing off the ceiling.
What’s going on here? Why
was Jeremiah stuck in a holding pattern over the airport, endlessly
circling?
This suggests several questions
1.
Why had God put Jeremiah on hold?
2.
And the corollary – Why was Russell on hold?
3.
And your main interest – Why aren’t things moving
better for you?
Now, before we gavel the Pity
Party meeting to come to order, let me assure you that each and every human
being who has ever drawn breath has (or will) experience this on
hold syndrome. As I studied
for this message it became painfully-evident that virtually every
major Bible character walked in this valley during his life.
Let’s start at Genesis and fast
forward through some of those lives on hold:
Adam…must have experienced
a deep valley of depression and questioning the on hold after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. He’d never really been on his own before, and
now the produce came from the ground only by the sweat of his brow (Gen
3-4). Life was tough!
Noah…spent the better part
of a year in a dark, dingy barge, cooped-up with fifteen thousand smelly
animals. After it was over Noah stepped
out into a world without people (Gen 8,9). He and his little family were totally alone.
Abraham…had several periods on hold.
God had promised an heir. But
Abraham kept getting older and older. He
was approaching 100, and his wife was no spring chicken either. What was God up to? Didn’t He know you don’t have children when
you’re in the old folk’s home? Later,
when Isaac finally was born, God told Abraham to take the boy to the mountain
and kill him for a sacrifice (Gen 22). How on hold did Abe feel during
the trek to Mount Moriah?
Jonah…was disobedient about
fulfilling his prophetic ministry role.
He got a holy submarine ride
and several days on hold to think about his vows.
Moses…was no stranger to
the on
hold syndrome. After being raised in a king’s castle he
spent forty years as a convicted murderer, working for his father-in-law,
tending sheep on the back-side of nowhere.
(Exo 2).
David…slept in the caves of
Adullam (1 Samuel 22) while he was being hunted like a dog by King
Saul. He also spent time on
hold after his first son with Bathsheba died.
The Bible’s list of people on hold reads like a who’s
who of ancient heroes: Solomon, Elijah, John
the Baptist, Judas, The Disciples, Peter, John Mark, John, and the New
Testament Jeremiah, Paul.
When Paul was converted he immediately began to experience
opposition – from within the church. He
spent 14 years in the desert seminary on hold learning about God’s
plans for the church. He was beaten (as
Jeremiah). He was called a traitor (as
Jeremiah). He was imprisoned and died
for the cause (as did Jeremiah, in jail).
Paul lived a life on mission, filled with times of being on
hold.
From Jerusalem to North Carolina
The Bible stories are
convincing – but what about the beginning of the 21st century?
What about now? What about us?
On Hold takes many forms,
just as in Bible times. Just a partial
list would include:
· A 38 year old bank teller who must give up her job to care for her
Mother, who is an Alzheimer’s patient…on hold!
· A 17 year old high school senior who won’t graduate with his class
because he has to take radical treatments for Leukemia…on hold!
· A business woman who faces bankruptcy…on hold!
· A college professor who didn’t see a four year old on his
tricycle, and is now sitting in a cell…on hold!
· A late thirty-something woman who has just seen 11 years of
investment in her marriage go down the tubes because he didn’t want to be
married anymore…on hold!
Ministries come to a grinding halt. Life changes occur. People die or prepare to die. It seems like you have been pushed to the
back, out of sight on the highest shelf in the most forgotten pantry.
It is certain God has forgotten your address, or at the least has
forgotten that thing about not putting
any more on you than you can bear.
What can you do when you’re on hold, on the back shelf?
The Traps
Christian believers have a
resource about which pagans can only hope…God.
But there are some traps to avoid when you’re practicing what to do when
you’re on the shelf.
Running
ahead.
When God has you on the shelf, it is for a reason. The worst thing you can do is try to scramble
off before that purpose is worked out.
Abraham and Sarai tried that route.
They were supposed to have received a son. It wasn’t happening. Sarai thought she was doing well by
manipulating the future. She told
Abraham to have relations with Hagar, her slave. Ishmael was born, but he wasn’t God’s
solution for the shelf. The descendants
of Ishmael and Isaac are at each other’s throats until this very day! When you’re on the shelf, don’t run ahead of
God’s timing
Force a solution.
Sometimes a solution presents itself, and everyone urges you to
take that way out. It’s easy enough, and
you have the world’s approval. David was
hiding from King Saul in the caves of Adullam.
Saul had been his friend and benefactor – but the man had lost it, gone
off the deep end with jealousy over David’s popularity. The whole kingdom knew David was now going to
be God’s choice for king.
And one night in the chase, King Saul fell asleep right in the
cave where David was hiding. It was so
easy – David was standing over his problem; plunge the knife and it’s
over. So easy! But David knew that it is never right to do wrong.
He would not compromise THE Kingdom for A
kingdom.
Physical & emotional
weaknesses.
Being on the back shelf is very stressful. There’s a whole assortment of difficulties
associated with job, career, relationship and spiritual stress.
· Physical ailments from rashes to ulcers come with a shelf
life.
· Sleep loss is common among shelf-dwellers.
· Emotions run amuk.
In every period of being on-hold on the shelf, be aware that you are occupying a
frame made of dust, and dust can crumble under the load.
View From Above the Shelf
Professional basketball
players play a brand of ball of which the average man will only dream; they
play above
the rim. Christians are to view their shelf life from
above, also. That is, we are to see the
situation as God sees the situation.
Here are four ways to get above the
shelf; they all involve what God said would happen in Israel, and what Jeremiah
did, buy a field. Remember that? Jeremiah bought a piece of property when it
looked like he’d never even set foot on it.
Jeremiah bought a field on faith!
1. Buy a field -- Tend the Sheep
Moses was a convicted felon
back in Egypt. He thought he was doing
God’s work when he killed an Egyptian who was oppressing the Hebrews. It got him stuck out in the middle of
nowhere. He married a girl and tended
the sheep of his father-in-law. This was
quite a far cry from the royal palaces in Egypt.
When on the shelf, remember that you can be useful where you
are. As a minister, I had to remember
that God can use me anywhere to tend sheep.
They’re everywhere! I don’t have
to be a Pastor to listen to another’s burden.
Have you felt the splinters of that back shelf? Buy a field; tend the sheep.
2. Buy a field -- Ask the Questions
I have learned to live with the Psalmist:
·
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto
me, and heard my cry, He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, And he hath
put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and
fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Psalm
40.1-3(KJV)
I am not a patient person
(just ask Elizabeth). I want answers
quickly. I am, however a believer, and I
have learned to ask What rather than Why? What is the shelf supposed to teach me?
Remember, it isn’t wrong to ask the questions, just keep your
perspective…you’re dealing with almighty God.
Treat Him with respect. He can
pull you out of the pit, or off the shelf – or He can keep you after school.
Jacob wrestled with God’s angel at the river Jabok. It was the night before going home to a
brother he’d not seen in twenty years.
That brother was angry enough to make a vow to kill Jacob the last time
the two laid eyes on each other.
Jacob had come to the end of himself, and the angel came to
struggle with him in the night. A belief
that the ancients had was if you saw an angel in the daylight you would
die. The dawn was about to break, and
the angel warned Jacob to let go; Jacob refused. He would rather die than not have his
answers.
Have you wrestled with who God is going to be in your life; shelf
or not?
Buy a field…tend the sheep and ask the questions.
3. Buy a field -- Listen for God
Elijah was alone with his
fears. The queen had vowed to put him to
death when she found him. Elijah felt
alone. He wanted to die. But he listened intently, and God came to
him. It wasn’t in the storm, nor in the
wind; the voice of God was still and small.
It pays to get alone with God…because He whispers a lot. It pays to get alone and authentic…get honest
with God.
Buy a field…listen in the Word.
Open that Bible – read, read with your heart.
4. Buy a field -- Adjust the Sails
This means you can trust God, and you can act like it.
Peter was shamed by his
denial of Christ outside Pilate’s house.
But he stood boldly a few months later on Pentecost to preach and lead
3,000 people to follow.
Abraham believed God, and
behaved that way.
Job’s shelf was under the
ash heap. His children were having a
homecoming party. The wind came and blew
away the roof supports, and the roof fell on all of Job’s sons and daughters,
killing them all. But he trusted
God. He said, The Lord gives, and the Lord takes…He is the Lord.
Israel couldn’t
understand their defeat by a tiny village named Ai. When they finally understood it was Achan who
brought his sin into the camp they stoned him and his family. That’s adjusting the sails. Do you have any Achan attitudes or secret
sins that need stoning?
Living for Christ is still the Great Adventure.
God has never lied, and He can be trusted. The winds of our time blow this way and
that. God’s compass always points true
north to doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with Thy God.
Adjust your sails in this world’s storms, but don’t hear the wind
howling in the world. Buy a field while
you look for God’s lighthouse.
Life
on the shelf has its worth.
You learn things there which are invisible when you’re so busy
with regular life. I had a conversation with a young believer
during my shelf-life. It seems times of
joyful worship at her church were so wonderful she just couldn’t wait for the
next time with the family of God. But
then in some other situations her faith was being assaulted.
I told her, Congratulations;
God is trusting you to grow. How else would
you know your faith, which is grown in the loving atmosphere of your church
family can stand in the world – unless you get tested and stretched?
Paul had a thorn in the
flesh with which he had to contend on his shelf. Often he questioned, pleaded with the Lord to
take it away. Jesus’ answer was always
the same, my grace is sufficient for your shelf, Paul.
I love the story of the new
recruit in boot camp. During rare break
times and as often as anyone was looking, the private spent his hours walking
around the camp, staring at the ground.
Occasionally he would stoop down, pick up a scrap of paper, stare at it
and shake his head back and forth – Nope, that’s not it, that’s not it, he would lament. Over and over, Nope, that’s not it, that’s not
it!
The Master Sergeant had had
enough after about six weeks, and thought to himself, This guy is driving me nuts with his picking up the papers – Nope
that’s not it…. I’m gonna do something.
So the sergeant put through a Section 8 mental discharge. When all the papers were done, he took a copy
of the discharge paper to the barracks and found the young recruit. Here y’are, dingbat. Pack yer bags & get on outa here – You
ain’t no soldier no more! The ex-private took the discharge paper
from the Sarge, looked intently at it and said: This is it! This is it!
Beloved, that’s what Paul
found on the shelf – Grace that was greater than all his sin, all his thorns in
the flesh, all his needs.
That’s it! And God has
plenty of that grace on His back shelf for all of us!
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