Of Yokes, and Staying in Your Lane

 

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Jeremiah 28:10-17

Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it in pieces.  And Hananiah said again to the crowd that had gathered, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Just as this yoke has been broken, within two years I will break the yoke of oppression from all the nations now subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’”  With that, Jeremiah left the Temple area.  Soon after this confrontation with Hananiah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:  “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says:  You have broken a wooden yoke, but you have replaced it with a yoke of iron.  The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, forcing them into slavery under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.’”  Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah!  The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says:  ‘You must die.  Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’”  Two months later the prophet Hananiah died.

I was sharing a conversation with a friend of mine, who is an internist, about another friend, who is experiencing the multiple-doctor-mixed-diagnoses-syndrome.  One “specialist” doc prescribed a certain medication; the other doc, not in that specialty, said, no, you don’t have to take that.  I asked my internist friend, what’s a patient to do?  He said, I believe that other doc oughta stay in his lane.

Jeremiah had worn a common oxen yoke to show how Israel had gotten themselves into a serious rock and hard place situation with disobeying God.  Hananiah, a man who had a reputation as prophet, took the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it to pieces.  That was a metaphorical slap at Jeremiah’s prophecy, telling all who would hear about it, that everything was going to be just fine in Jerusalem.  Israel was going to be great again, and the Babylonian invasion was just a minor blip on the screen of their national pride…not to worry. 

But, it didn’t turn out that way.  King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, burned the city, destroyed the Temple and carried

off all the treasures, and drove the captives into his land as slaves for the next 60 years.  Jerusalem wasn’t great again, and Hananiah found out the hard way, when it comes to prophecy, you’d better stay in your own lane!

America hasn’t had to deal with that (so far) in its storied 244 years since our Independence.  We have been the richest, most powerful nation on earth for a long time.  I am certainly not Jeremiah, nor am I going to be a meddling Hananiah, but the parallels between Israel’s disobedience, and what we see destroying even a thin resemblance of godliness in this country, should give warning enough that we are headed for the same hand of judgment Israel experienced…and, perhaps worse.

Now, that’s as far as I go in prophesying, following Jesus’ admonition to see the signs of the times, the fields being white unto harvest.  But it still causes me to shudder for the sake of my children, and theirs; what in the world are we thinking in this day to do just what Israel did 2,600 years ago? 

·       They were arrogant about being God’s chosen (as we claim with our motto, One Nation Under God); they were, but that just meant, if they were disobedient children, their Father was going to meet them at the woodshed, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

·       They assumed (as we do) their wealth, powerful history, and determination would protect them from any other nation.

·       They sacrificed their children (as we do).

At the risk of being pronounced unpatriotic, I am saying you don’t have to be a prophet to make this connection – America is not great; we are sinful.  Only God is great, and we have no hope of being great unless we bow in His presence by changing our ways. 

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, help us to not lay the blame for our sins on anyone else.  Help us to acknowledge that, like sheep, we have ALL gone astray[1], and must not only plead for forgiveness, but receive that forgiveness by repenting of sinfulness.  Help us to put aside the notion of being great and turn towards becoming Godly.

For You Today

Which is more important to you, patriotism, or godliness?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO                                                                                                                  

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on God’s Judgment see When God Measures and No More Tambourines

---

[1] Isaiah 53:6

And I Will Give You Rest

[1]

If you recall "Alice In Wonderland" is a children's story.  If you recall it in detail you remember it is not a pleasant children's story.  Alice faces some very scary and confusing circumstances.  The difficulties Alice faced were fantasy.  Most of us will never be confronted with a Cheshire cat or nasty Queen of Hearts.  (The jury is still out on TweedleDee and TweedleDum – although McConnell and Pelosi come close). 

But the crises that trouble our lives are as much perplexing as Alice's walk through the looking glass.  All through her adventure she is looking for direction, a road to travel.  Like Dorothy in the Land of Oz, there is the anticipation of rest and home, if we can just get where we're going. 

In the 1960's, my generation, the rebellious flower children, were frantically searching for themselves and finding they needed something from without to help them understand that which was crying-out from within. 

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel expressed the inner turmoil of that day, and Alice, and Dorothy’s as well:

All my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity,

Like emptiness and harmony, I need someone to comfort me....

Homeward bound, I wish I was homeward bound. 

Home, with my music playin',

Home, where my thoughts escapin',

Home, where the love light's waitin' silently for me.

There is not a person in this room that doesn't want the kind of rest Simon and Garfunkel sang about in their longing for home, or Alice frantically needed down in the rabbit hole, or that rest Dorothy couldn’t find in Oz. 

Jesus told his followers how to find it:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

We once had a toaster that provided entertainment more than toast.  It had a frayed wire.  The sparks were like Disney's light parade.  Electricity knows when you are not its' master.  I have learned to have a lot of respect for electricity. 

When I "fixed" that toaster, it became like other things that didn't get professional care in our house.  My kids called it a Dad-fixed thing.  Whatever dad fixes is sure to come unglued, undone, and certainly the results are unholy! 

It is like that with the Christian's walk with the Master.  Without a good connection, our power leaks out, and we become short-circuited.

Jesus' offer to us is to Come.  That is an invitation to come closer to Him, so we might be restored to a closer relationship with Him.  Too often believers are willing to be in the family of Christ, but not under His daily control and direction.  That is like trying to live in two different worlds at the same time; and THAT will wear you out.  Jesus offers rest, the kind of rest that allows you to be peaceful inside and out.

There are SEVERAL DYNAMICS at work about responding to Jesus’ invitation to come to Him and receive that rest.  That call is an offer of restoration, a repairing of what we started out to be, but messed-up.  And even more, Jesus’ brand of restoration goes beyond just a new start; it’s a start on a higher plane than where we began.  

For that restoration touch we turn in our Bibles to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and pick up where we left off last week ^{(2 Timothy2:15)}…with seeking God’s approval by becoming right handlers of God’s Word. 

In the next chapter^(#3) Paul tells Timothy right handling of that Word means listening to what God has to say to us, about us.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17

Paul did not hiccup or stutter when he stated flatly that every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, and training us to live God’s way.

Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.  And that brings rest to our souls.

Let’s take a look at the process:

I.  God’s Word Showing Us Truth  

(to teach us what is true)

The truth God shows us is how we are in need of being in line with God’s pattern for human beings as He created us. 

Last week in the children’s message I showed them my new electric power saw.  I then showed them the owner’s manual and compared that with how the Bible, God’s Word, is the manual for humans.  Just like my power saw is dangerous if not understood and operated properly, so the human being must operate within God’s will. 

We were created to respond to God’s nature…not our own whims and desires.

The current tension and impending split in the United Methodist Church is a textbook illustration of this truth.  When humans begin to reject (rebel) against God’s truth with their sexuality, choosing to live in a rebellious perversion, rather than as God created us, it should not surprise anyone that the world will be flipped upside down in judgment.

When that happens God’s Word will move from teaching to exposing…

II.  God’s Word Exposing Rebellion  

(make us realize what is wrong in our lives)

The King James word is reprove; the Word of God rebukes us by showing us where the error lies.  And there are only two responses possible when God speaks a definitive word:  increased rebellion or cleansing repentance. 

This “exposing” of our rebellion is something God’s Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.  This can happen under many different circumstances, but often God uses a preacher speaking the word of truth, and the Spirit bringing conviction to the hearer’s heart.  Sometimes that leads to the end of a rebellion; too often it leads to a firing of the preacher because the pride of a backslidden Christian doesn’t want to hear all about his rebellion.

So…the process begins with the God-breathed truth of the Word which exposes our rebelliousness, and then the Word tells us what must be done to get back on course, walking with God, not away from Him in rebellion…

III.  God’s Word Correcting Rebellion  

(corrects us when we are wrong)

Correction is what the doctor does.  We’re sick, and he gives us medicine to cure it.  This may be the hardest step in the process. 

It’s like the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.  He’d been a good person all his life, but he was married to his money.  He wanted to know what further good thing he needed to do; Jesus said Give up your love of money.  That was the living Word of God correcting the man’s rebellion.  But the man turned and walked away.  It’s hard to let go of our favorite sin!

But what does the Word have for us if we do?  What if we hear the truth of God’s Word, find out we’re off course in rebellion, hear how to change our ways, swallow our pride, and lay it all on the altar, asking God’s forgiveness?

What if we’re willing to change our way, surrender our life’s pattern for following the pattern of Jesus? 

That’s when the Word of God teaches us how to stay on course…

IV.  God’s Word Training to Live  

(God’s Word…teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work)

By this point in the process of being restored to peace in our lives, both within our hearts and minds, and with other people, we’ve learned that God teaches us truth, exposes our rebellion, and shows us how to stop rebelling and start cooperating with God. 

Those are wide-pathway principles that cover every area of life.  Accepting those principles is a momentary decision.  It’s like responding to the evangelist, saying yes at the altar, and signing a pledge card.  It’s a simple yes or no decision.

However, this next – final – step in the process lasts from that moment on, until that fateful day you step on Heaven’s shores and meet Jesus. 

Until that day it is training, becoming a disciple, learning constantly how to live denying self, taking up the cross, and following Jesus.[2] 

It’s being conditioned to follow the pattern of right living, the kind of living only God’s Holy Spirit can empower.

There is so much more to this last discipleship step than can fit in a sermon, or a library of sermons.  But, perhaps the testimony of one who found rest after being restless for years can help.

The Story of One Who Moved from Rebellion to Rest

This one who moved from rebellion-to-rest was a young boy, raised in church.  He heard the truth about loving and cooperating with God in his home, and at church.  By the time he’d reached 9 years old he had accepted that truth and the Savior of that truth.  He became a Christian.

But in the two decades that followed, old rebellion showed its ugly face and stunted the spiritual growth of this newborn babe in Christ. 

Married by this time, and having suffered enough unrest because of his rebellion, he was searching frantically for a way home where the music played, and the thoughts escapin’ were waiting to comfort.  Like Dorothy longing for Kansas, or Alice wanting desperately to climb out of the rabbit hole, this young man anguished for rest!

Finally, the Word of God began coming back, making sense, calling him to the home not made with hands.  And the Word who had become flesh and dwelt among us had those hands of flesh outstretched, opened wide in invitation to come and learn of the meek and lowly. 

It was the old, old story, and it told the young man to take the yoke again; it was easy and light…and it would lead to rest…restoration of all that was really needed.

That young man swallowed his pride and took that yoke; he felt the outstretched hands wipe away the tears. 

And the Word of Truth spoke again – rest; enter into My rest, Russell…there is rest for your soul.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth (original work)      All Scripture from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated) 

[2] Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24

Dancing With the Morning Star

[1]

“But to what will I compare this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’  Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”   Matthew 11: 16-19, 28-30^(NRSV)

It must have been pretty easy for Jesus to feel like he was the captain of the Titanic.  Those who weren’t hurling insults his way doubted him or treated him with complacency.

The doubters included Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, who was in prison, but sent emissaries to prod Jesus into doing something to prove he was Messiah.  The religious authorities didn’t much like the Baptist (he was, after all, in jail); they said he had a demon because of his asceticism.  Jesus was much different; he partied and hung-out with both the despised and the movers and shakers.  They called him a wine-bibber (read that party animal). 

Jesus’ friends in Bethsaida and Capernaum were complacent.  They saw miracle upon wonder and remained chilled, unmoved.  “Ho-hum…that was a good trick, Jesus; do another one.”  Jesus shook his head and told them they were like children who couldn’t make up their minds whether to play wedding or funeral, so they sat doing nothing.

Friends, Foes and Followers….they all misread Jesus.  They wanted proof and benefit in hand.  He had come to give them so much more; he had come to give them himself in relationship….and they were surprised when he didn’t act like they thought he should.

1.     He had come into the world to be the Savior.

2.     The world had said, "OK, if you ARE the Messiah, then this is the way you should act...and this...and this....

3.     But Jesus wouldn't dance to their music.

And so we ask the question - WHY DIDN'T JESUS DANCE? 

1.     The crowds wanted a "break-dancer" to entertain them.

2.     The established religious leaders wanted a more traditional "fox-trotter," who would learn all the correct steps and moves before playing on their dance floor.

The Lord had a dance of the soul in mind.  People wanted fancy steps and action...Jesus wanted them to see the Great Musician.

When Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, whom Jesus declared the greatest of the prophets, questioned Jesus about His mission, Jesus used the John’s question as a spring-board to teach several important TRUTHS about His mission, and the relationship God wants to have with of us.

Relationship is a dance.  I’ve never danced much, or well; I’m not very graceful.  We even took dance lessons a couple summers ago.  I went through the classes and did what I was told.  I moved around a good bit, but dancing still escapes me.  Somehow I missed the music gene…and that’s the point:  Elizabeth can dance, but she’s got a miserable partner.  If you’ve got no music on the inside, it doesn’t matter what you do on the outside – it’s only shuffling around.    

The dance of God is like that; you have to be born again on the inside to genuinely dance the kind of relationship He wants to have with you.  And when you begin to dance with the Morning Star some stuff happens…

You get surprised a lot

Surprised by My Fickleness

I get surprised by my own fickleness.  Like Jesus’ followers, friends and foes, we get a little upset when Jesus acts differently than we want.  That’s human nature!  We want things our way, and even when we’re treated better than we deserve, it’s not enough.  Few are ever satisfied.

I heard about a farmer who was so critical of everything that he drove his neighbors crazy.  If it rained he complained the crops would rot; if it was dry that was bad.  None of his farm machines measured-up.  Finally, one of his neighbors decided to shut him up for good.  He had recently bought a hunting dog, and found out the hound could actually walk on water.  He convinced his negative neighbor to go duck hunting with him. 

The next morning when the first shots rang out, the hound ran right out on the water, retrieved the duck, turned around and trotted back without so much as getting damp.  Said the proud owner of the hound, “Well…my dog walks on water; what do you think of that?”  Said the negative neighbor, “Can’t swim, can he?” 

Jesus probably couldn’t have pleased that guy either…or most of us.  But like Jesus said (v.19) wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.  This is like our saying, judge words by the actions. We can be as fickle as we will…we are not going to change Jesus.  He will always love us.  That’s surprising!

Surprised by My Faith Fault-line

And then I also get surprised by my “faith fault-line”.  It’s amazing, isn’t it?  We, like those who saw Jesus perform miracles of God’s grace, and remained as complacent as a chair…it’s like we know this Almighty God created an infinite universe and is willing to love us, die for us and wants us to come close so he can bless us – well, it’s just no big deal.  It IS a big deal; it’s something to get all excited about and shout and praise and tell others. 

Jesus warned those who failed to acknowledge God’s goodness to repent, or change their ways.  I am surprised at how stubborn I can be in this.  I get really settled in what I like and what I do.  Jesus wants so much more for me.  And that’s good news.  We may be Methodists, but if we’ve got a pulse, we ought to be shouting this news from the rooftops! 

So, in dancing with the dayspring, morning star, you get surprised a lot, and…

You get loved a lot

The rest provided by an easy yoke and light burden is arguably one of the most recognized metaphors in Scripture.  Who isn’t burdened?  Who hasn’t needed rest from it all?  But it is also a commonly misunderstood rest.  It isn’t a burden-free life Jesus offers – he called it his burden.  He just said it was “light”. 

The rest Jesus offers is from the inner turmoil that describes life that is self-driven, as opposed to God-led.

In June 2011 we got a new addition to our family.  Gracie Cotton was orphaned and she adopted us…sorta!  It’s a long story. She was five then, and when your human companion has gone away, it’s hard to get used to a new place, rules and even where to do your business (and which rug to avoid).  We learned that she is fickle when it comes to food, and exceedingly fearful of summer lightning storms.  And we discovered that in just a couple of days our hearts were melting like butter on hot grits.

In the space of a few weeks Gracie, a bright, alert, quick learner began to accept the comfort of my yoke.  We call it a leash, but it’s comforting for her.  With that leash I care for her, that she won’t get lost.  I lead her to the right places, and when back in our house, our home, she is released into family fellowship in all the rooms.  In short, she gets loved…a lot!

And that’s how it is in the dance with the Morning Star….in spite of my fickleness and faith fault-line, I get loved a lot. 

Jesus didn't dance to the music some selfish people thought was important.  But He does stand ready on the dance floor.  He wants to help you do the "dance of life."  Just take His hand, He will lead.

And that’s what our table this morning celebrates…the dance of life with the Bright and Morning Star!

Lord, we pray that we’d learn to run to Your yoke…in the Name of the Father, Because of the Son, Cooperating with the Spirit…Amen!

Go to SERMON VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image Rembrandt, via Wikimedia Commons