Pastor Dan Eddy

Jeremiah 1:4-10; 17-19

Place of Fortress

1-31-10

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our Father through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The text for this morning’s sermon meditation is the Old Testament reading from Jeremiah 1. In Christ Jesus dear members and friends.

I. Introduction…Where is the most secure place on earth?

Where is the most secure place on earth? If you lived in ancient or medieval times you would have thought it was a fortified castle or city. There are a number of them still standing today that make for great tourist attractions. Each describes its own unique feature to defend itself against enemy attack: 16 meter thick walls; steep hills, making it tough to climb for combat troops; high watchtowers to easily see and prepare for the advancing enemy. But no matter which castle or fortified city you read about all…even the strongest…eventually got invaded and the people defeated.

Where is the most secure place on planet? Before World War II, the most secure cities in the modern world were thought to be in the middle of the country…away from shores and natural boundaries. It would take an advancing army months to get to the center of, say, the United States…plenty of time to prepare defenses. But the invention of the airplane and later the atomic bomb made no place really safe anymore.

And 9-11 showed us, the world’s only Superpower, there is no place truly secure from enemy attack.

II. Call to Jeremiah to put his trust in God as the Place of Fortress

And that’s point our Lord was making to the prophet Jeremiah when God called Him to be His representative in Israel…in Judah and Benjamin…the only remaining of the 12 tribes left at that time. Israel had no true security from her enemies apart from the Lord God.

Even though it was a relatively economic prosperous time, Israel was in a state of advanced decay socially, morally, and religiously. Economically, egregious injustices and a shocking contrasts between the extremes of wealth and poverty were seen; Corruption of the wealthy as they cheated the poor out of things. Pure worship of the Lord as the only God was not maintained. Shrines were overtly pagan. Sexual deviancy was practiced everywhere. Despite their iniquities they thought the Lord was on their side because of the promise He made through Abraham. "God would never destroy us," they thought. Besides kings over the years had worked to fortify the cities, increase the number of horses and chariots to fight their wars, and make strategic alliances. Their faith was really in their own abilities and technology, with only a token trust in the Lord.

I mean does this sound like our nation, today? Even in our recession we are still more economic prosperous that many of the generations who live before us. However, we see the greed from some on Wall Street and in Washington among many politicians, while food pantries and soup kitchens report increasing numbers of people.

We continue to flex our military muscles around the world and have the most advanced military weapons and training, That’s not necessarily all bad, but are we, as a nation, trusting in that over having faith in Christ?

Illegitimacy is on the rise; the number of marriages is dropping. And story after story exists where atheist groups are growing more hostile to Christians publicly expressing their 2

faith. How many stories surface this past Christmas where municipal buildings and fire stations were ordered by government officials to take down trees, ornaments or signs mentioning Christmas or Christ directly, claiming it violates separation of church and state? And just this past Thursday foxnews.com reported that an atheist group calling itself, The Freedom from Religion Foundation, is urging supporters to boycott a new U.S. Postal Stamp honoring the work of noted Christian, Mother Teresa.

My nephew just told Berta this week in his science class his professor said if anyone believed God created the world as expressed in the Bible that perhaps they should be attending a Bible college…not a university. And that was not meant as a compliment.

And how much do atheistic and other non-Christian thinking influence the way we look at God when we discuss science, politics, or just everyday life?

How often do what we think, say or do really reflect God’s Word? It’s a challenge even for me as a pastor. Come with me to some pastor or clergy meetings sometime and you’ll see what I mean. We all are in some ways like the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day…influence by the ungodly parts of our culture.

By the way, Jeremiah’s name in Hebrew literally means "The Lord throw," and God called Jeremiah to throw a monkey wrench into that ungodly thinking. God was giving them Jeremiah as a gift, so they could be given one more chance to repent, or turn away from their worldly thinking.

In verse 9, the Lord’s purpose was to have Jeremiah speak the truth of God’s Word in love for the purpose of destroying and overthrowing the world’s power on sin and evil, to plant or replant faith in the Lord, and to build or rebuild their trust in God.

Now this assignment from God rocked Jeremiah’s world. I mean he came from a privilege class of priests who were financially well off during the reign of the good king, Josiah. But when he died the security he offered to true believers in God was gone. So the Lord called this 20-year-old (Jeremiah called himself a boy) to go face to face with the unbelievers and weaker believers with all their legal, political, and military power. People who could make Jeremiah’s life miserable, had the power to put him to death and cause many troubles for his family. So when he responded with "Ah Sovereign Lord" in verse 6… "Ah" in English is said as "Ah-haw" in Hebrew, and it is literally an expression of pain, distress, and anguish. Jeremiah didn’t want the assignment.

And when we hear of our increasingly hostile culture toward the church, we, too, want to run and hide from it or maybe just give into it. We would rather be of the world or away from it. But God was calling Jeremiah to engage in it…with His Word, with His love. And that call is no different for us today. God is looking for you and me to express a bold, but loving witness of Christ Jesus and what He did for all humankind. The Lord doesn’t want the unbelieving world to scare us, but to engage them with His love.

You see God knew Jeremiah was a man of the tangible, physical world, who probably put his trust in people and material things. So the Lord took the opportunity to assure Jeremiah that he was secure in the Lord’s Hand. In verse 18…God is basically saying: "Don‟t trust in the power of those people and their fortified cities with their high walls, combat forces, and many horses and chariots." The Lord was saying "I am equipping you to defend yourself against anyone around you. You will be caught in fights, but they will not win. There will be discomforts, but I will be by your side; because I am declaring that you have the fortress of My Word. I am the fortress in Your heart, and will save you and all who put their trust in Me from the destructive forces of the world. Trust Me on that. You will win without one horse, one chariot, without the use of one fortified city for I am your place of fortress. You have My Word (hold up Bible); you 3

have Me in your heart (point to the heart); and you can always talk to Me (fold hands like praying.) "

For you and me today, God has provided His place of fortress through His Son living in our hearts and in the fortified city of His Church. He does that so we don’t fear the powers and principalities of the world when they attempt to scare us away from our faith in Christ.

III. Place of Fortress today…the Church in Christ Jesus

Think about this for a moment: Where we have our fear is where we put our faith. So if we fear worldly powers then we give into them because we think they have more power than God. That’s trusting in their power over His. And our fear is expressed as being afraid.

But if we fear our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over world powers, then we put trust in His power over theirs. And that fear is not expressed as being afraid of God, but one of genuine faith toward Him as our Father and we being His child. That’s why the Lord said in verse 8 "Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you."

But when we trust in worldly powers over God’s then we do have something to be afraid of…not the worldly power but being afraid of God, because we don’t trust Him. That why the Lord said in verse 17: "Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them."

That’s why our fortress is Christ…with His Word in our heart (point to heart), as spoken in Scripture (point to the Bible) and as we express it in prayer (fold hands).

Jeremiah means "The Lord throws" God the Father "threw"….sent…His Son down here to earth to be born as one of us…but pure and perfect. Jesus was "thrown" into the desert for 40 days to defeat Satan’s temptations…the Evil One has no power over Jesus. And Christ was "thrown"…nailed…to the cross to suffer and die. He uprooted sin and tore down the fortified wall dividing humankind and God the Father. He destroyed all people’s iniquities and overthrew Satan. He rose in victory to build His Church and to plant faith. Jesus Christ is the place of fortress. He is the most secure place on earth. And He is ready to receive your confession of sins. He is ready to purify your heart with forgiveness, and He has given us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Fortress of His Church

It is here people find refuge from the powers of the world. It is here where the Word of God touches you and you are purified, like the Lord touched Jeremiah’s lips in verse 9, and he was purified. It is here sin and evil is destroyed. It is here in the Church where sinners are saved. It is here faith is planted through the waters of baptism. It is here that faith in Christ is built up as the fortress to defend against the world’s temptations. It is here where we are fed spiritually and literally God’s Word through the bread and the cup of His real body and true blood…to fortify our faith in Him as our fortress.

IV. How can we live like Jeremiah?

So how do we better live the bold faith God was calling Jeremiah to do? In verse 17, the Lord offers a simple prescription: "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you." In the original Old Testament language of Hebrew the idiom used to describe "preparing" literally means "Tighten the belt around your waist." In other words, don’t look like a fool with your pants down or garments lose. We prepare by knowing what God’s Word says. That’s why we have Bible studies. But it goes further than that. God commands us to speak the truth in love as the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:15. And in Ephesians 6:14 and 18 (ESV)…Paul knowingly or unknowingly borrows this imagery: "Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (touch cross on chest)….praying at all times in the Spirit…" 4

Can I give you a great modern day example of this? True story: Principle Jody McLoud read the following statement over the PA system before the football game at the Roane County High School in Kingston, Tennessee, back on September 1, 2000.

"It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and Country. Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it „an alternate life style,‟ and if someone is offended, that's OK. I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by dispensing condoms and calling it, „safe sex....‟ If someone is offended, that's OK. I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a „viable means of birth control.‟ If someone is offended, no problem... I can designate a school day as „Earth Day‟ and involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess „Mother Earth‟ and call it „ecology.‟ I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depicts people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as „simple minded‟ and „ignorant‟ and call it „enlightenment.‟

"However, if anyone uses this facility to honor GOD and to ask HIM to bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, then Federal Case Law is violated. This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone, except GOD and HIS Commandments.

"Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression.

"For this reason, I shall „Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's,‟ and refrain from praying at this time. However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank GOD and ask HIM, in the name of JESUS, to Bless this event, please feel free to do so. As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet."

One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another and began to pray. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand and they prayed in the announcer's box!

V. Conclusion

We give and live a bold witness to prepare all peoples to warn them of the world’s deceptive powers and to show them the Fortress of the Church. We do it because God commands it; it is our purpose or calling in life; it is for our own protection and for God to use us to protect others. We do it because of the love Christ Jesus showed us from the cross. We do it because He is our fortress here in our heart by faith (point to heart), known here in His Word of Scripture (point to the Bible), and expressed back to Him in true faith here in prayer (fold hands.)

God bless you as you live in Jesus Christ as THE Place of Fortress. Amen.