SERMON: WHERE IS THE HOPE?

 

14 October 2012

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Jeremiah 29:1-14

Jeremiah 29:1-14 (NIV)
1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
8 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD.
10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

-- a few weeks ago, a former coworker of mine dropped by our office to visit with us for a few moments -- and as we were making small talk about the office, he asked how things were going -- and I had to say that things weren’t going good -- that morale was the lowest I’d ever seen -- that people were worried about their jobs and worried about their pay and worried their families -- that it was a time of uncertainty -- no one knew what the future held -- no one knew if they were going to be okay or not
-- and as I was talking with him, it struck me that that it wasn’t only my little office that was struggling -- it was everybody -- I had to attend a supervisory training course not long ago -- and all of the other supervisors echoed my concerns -- people were worried -- and it was affecting their jobs and their job performance
-- maybe some of you remember times in America when things were worse -- maybe you remember times when America and Americans were facing worse crises than now -- but I’ve never experienced anything like it in my lifetime
-- from the devastations of the natural disasters that we’ve had in the past several years -- hurricanes -- floods -- earthquakes -- wildfires -- crippling snowstorms and winter weather
-- to the wars and conflicts that have been going on since 9-11 -- and through the global economic crisis that we’re facing now -- where we're seeing entire countries like Spain and Greece go bankrupt and people talking about a worldwide recession or even possibly, a depression that could rival the Great Depression of 1929
-- people's lives are being affected by taxes and rising costs for gas and food and other necessities -- jobs are being lost and our economy is spiraling downward
-- people are suffering and they're worried and they don't see any hope on the horizon

-- the situation in America today reminds of a building I was in not long ago in Atlanta -- it was high rise building -- lots and lots of floors -- and when I went over to the elevators, there was a sign on one elevator that said, “This elevator only goes to the basement” -- and I wonder if some of us might be thinking that of America today -- “This country can only continue to go down”
-- it seems like everywhere I go, I find people who are worried -- it’s the topic of conversation -- it’s on the minds and the lips of the people -- America has always been the land of confidence -- we’ve always been a place where people were convinced that we could weather every storm that came our way -- but it seems like today that many Americans just aren’t sure --they’ve lost confidence and are scared about what the future holds and they’re looking for answers -- they’re looking for hope -- they’re looking for someone who can tell them that things are going to get better -- that things are going to get brighter

-- back in World War II, when the Germans were bombing England, the people there were as worried about their future as we are today -- they were having to send their kids to the countryside to keep them safe from the bombing of the cities -- they couldn’t work -- their economy was in shambles -- no one knew what the future held
-- it appeared that there was no stopping Hitler and that England was destined to fall -- people there were looking for answers, too -- they were looking for hope and encouragement of some kind
-- then Nat Burton composed the song, “The White Cliffs of Dover,” and it began to play on the radio -- “There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow -- just you wait and see -- There'll be joy and laughter, and peace ever after, tomorrow -- when the world is free
-- The shepherd will count his sheep -- The valleys will bloom again -- and Jimmy will go to sleep in his own little room again -- There'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover --tomorrow -- just you wait and see.”
-- this song spoke to the hearts of the British -- in an uncertain time -- when people were worried about the future -- this song spoke hope and encouragement and promised a better future [illustration borrowed from a sermon by James Dobson, Focus on the Family]

-- Who can speak hope to our country today? -- in the midst of such overwhelming crises -- in the midst of a time when it seems as if our elevator has only one way to go -- who will stand up and speak a message of hope and encouragement to a worried people?
-- well, we have the answer here in this passage -- let’s look at passage from Jeremiah 29 and see what promises of hope that we can find in God's word for us today

II. Scripture Lesson (Jeremiah 29:1-14)
-- look back at verse 1-3

Jeremiah 29:1-14 (NIV)
1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

-- Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ -- he was called by God to preach a message of repentance and to warn the nation of Judah that God's wrath and punishment would fall on them if they didn't turn from their idols and their empty religion back to the true God of Israel
-- his father was Hilkiah, the priest who found the book of the law in the temple during the time of Josiah -- for years, the temple had stood in ruin -- the two kings who ruled the southern kingdom of Judah before Josiah were two of the worst kings that Israel had ever seen -- they had led the people away from God and God’s will -- they had led the people to worship idols and demons -- and the country was in a horrible state -- the country was in horrible condition -- and the word of God -- the Holy Scriptures -- had been lost
-- when Josiah was made king of Israel at the age of eight, he commissioned Hilkiah to repair and restore the temple and began to lead the people back to God -- it was during the cleaning of the temple that Hilkiah found the Book of the Law -- the Scriptures -- hidden in a wall
-- the finding of God’s word sparked a revival during the time of Josiah -- it was a light in the darkness that brought hope and encouragement to a people and restored the worship of the one true God in Israel
-- what this means is that Jeremiah was the son of revival -- he knew what revival looked like -- he had seen the faith of his father and his father’s generation -- he had seen the power of the Word of God made manifest in a nation and the changes it could bring -- he had seen what God could do and he trusted that God would do so again
-- Judah had already suffered the judgment of God -- they had been through a devastating economic crisis -- they had fought wars with Egypt and Babylon and the nation had been conquered -- the leaders of the people -- including King Jehoaichin and his court -- had been carried into exile to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzer
-- if there was ever a time when the people needed hope, it was now -- they felt alone and abandoned -- they felt like all hope was lost and there was no way out -- that God had turned His back on them and given up on them
-- Jeremiah knew that what the nation needed was a revival -- they needed to live again -- and the only way for that to happen was for someone to proclaim God’s word of hope to a worried people
-- Jeremiah was that person -- he was called to go forth from God and proclaim God’s word to the next generation -- to lead them back to the right path again -- to give them hope for the future

-- verse 4

4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

-- the word of the Lord -- the message of God to the people -- came to Jeremiah -- God wanted His people to know that He still loved them and had not forgotten them or the land of Judah and Israel
-- God’s message to us today is the same -- I saw a church sign this week that had a profound message on it, even though it was only four words long -- “God still loves you” -- it’s that word “still” that makes the difference
-- even though it looks like all hope is lost, God still loves us -- even though it looks like our elevator is going to the bottom, God still loves us -- even though we are worried about the future and what is going to happen, God still loves us -- and His message for us today is the same as it was to Jeremiah’s people
-- God still loves America and He wants His people to come back to Him -- to put their faith and hope and trust in the power of the Lord God Almighty and not in charismatic politicians or election-year promises -- it is only God who can save and deliver our nation and our world from the crises it faces
-- the people of Judah were in the midst of an existential crisis -- they had forgotten who they were -- they had forgotten that they were the chosen people of God -- and they had forgotten to live into that knowledge -- they had turned away from their God and chosen a different path, and now they were suffering the consequences of their sins
-- when the people of Judah found themselves lost and forgotten in Babylon, they could have given up -- they could have tossed in the towel and said, "It's over -- we're done -- all hope is gone"
-- but God spoke to them where they were and said, "I am with you wherever you are -- I am with you even in Babylon -- this is not a time to quit -- this is a time to live -- so, get up and build again -- settle down in this place where you are -- plant gardens and make a life there -- build lives for yourself in that place -- marry and have children -- and use this time to remember -- restore your faith in who I am and who I have called you to be"

-- verse 8

8 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD.

-- there are always people who think they know better than God -- despite the fact that God told the people of Judah to get on with their lives where they were, there were people there who said that God was wrong -- they still followed a god of their own making and they told the people to stop building and living in that place -- they told the people that this was all a mistake -- that God would never let them suffer in Babylon but that He would deliver them at any moment
-- but God told the nation that He had not sent these false prophets and that they were deceiving the nation through their lies -- they were keeping the people from true repentance
-- in our Experiencing God Bible study this week, we were asked the question, "Do you think God is sending judgment on your nation at this time? -- Are you experiencing His hand of discipline?"
-- these false prophets in Judah were refusing to acknowledge the truth -- they were living in the past -- they were living on the faith of their forefathers although they had no faith of their own -- they were convinced that God would deliver them regardless of how they treated Him -- regardless of whether they followed His ways and worshiped Him or not
-- in the midst of God's judgment on the nation -- in the midst of an economic crisis and devastating warfare and untold grief, these false prophets said, "There's nothing wrong -- everything's okay" -- when in reality, God had allowed these things to occur to get the attention of the nation of Judah -- to lead the people back to true faith and obedience to His Name
-- if God had immediately delivered the people from captivity, they would not have learned the lesson of dependency -- they would not have learned to live on faith -- God kept the nation of Judah in the wilderness of Babylon for 70 years to teach them to love and obey Him again
-- we find ourselves in a very similar situation in America today -- if you step back and look at all we've going through, you have to ask yourself the question, "Are we experiencing God's judgment on our nation? -- Are we reaping the consequences of our sins? -- Is everything that is happening to us a clarion call to turn back to God in true repentance and faith?"
-- that was the message that God sent to Judah through Jeremiah during the years before Babylon conquered the nation -- but the people refused to see what was going on and lived on a faith that was not their own and reaped the consequences for their sins and lack of faith
-- let's pray that we open our eyes to see God's call for us and this country before we find ourselves in the same place as Judah -- listening to false prophets of hope while God is trying to get our attention

-- verse 10

10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

-- in these verses we see the hope of the nations -- God told the people of Judah that He had not forgotten them -- that He had great plans for their lives -- plans to prosper them and not to harm them -- plans to give them a hope and a future
-- these are some of the most familiar words in all of Scripture -- we read these words and we lean on them and we say we trust in God's plans for our lives, no matter what we are going through -- but, we have a tendency to take verses 11 and 12 out of context -- we have a tendency to rely on them apart from their setting
-- see what these plans of God were contingent on -- they were contingent on the people coming back to God -- they were contingent on the people returning to God through repentance and faith -- yes, God had great plans for the nation of Judah, but those plans could not come to fruition until the people returned to Him
-- in these verses, God promises that after 70 years in exile, the people would finally abandon their false beliefs -- they would finally turn back to Him -- crying out to Him for deliverance and restoration, and He would listen to their cries -- they would seek Him with their whole heart -- with a faith born of trial and tribulation -- forged in the crucible of exile and God's judgment -- and they would find Him again
-- the same is true for us -- we can't live on false faith in this country -- we can't live on the faith of our forefathers without true faith in our own hearts and expect God pour out His grace and providence on our nation
-- God does have great plans for our nation -- He does have great plans to prosper us and not harm us -- to give us hope and a future -- we have seen that in the past -- He did that for those men and women who founded our country because of their faith in God
-- but, those plans can't come to pass if we are not walking with the God who offers them -- we've got to quit living on the faith of the past and start living on our own faith -- rather than listening to the empty promises of politicians and the deceiving lies of false prophets, we need to respond to God's call for repentance and faith and we need to turn this country back to Him -- otherwise, we will find ourselves walking in Judah's footprints and following their path of judgment and discipline until we finally turn back to God
-- the crises in our country will not be solved by more taxes or less taxes -- they won't be solved through this November's elections -- they won't be solved by Washington -- no, the crises in our country will only be solved through a nation on its knees
-- we have a choice -- either we can turn to God now in true repentance and enjoy the promises of great plans with a hope and a future or we can continue on down into the basement living on empty dreams and forgotten faith
-- people in this country are worried -- they are discouraged -- they have no hope -- but, we have the answer -- God is the answer -- not the democrats -- not the republicans -- but God
-- we need to meet the people in the basement where that elevator of discouragement and fear and worry have carried them and point out to them that with God, we can turn this country around -- with God, the only way to go from here is up -- with God, there is a future -- with God, there is hope

III. Closing
-- there's an old hymn that speaks to the uncertainties of our times called, "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow" -- let me share with you a stanza from that hymn:

-- "I don't know about tomorrow -- it may bring me poverty;
-- "But the One who feeds the sparrow, is the One who stands by me
-- "And the path that be my portion, may be through the flame or through the flood
-- "But His presence goes before me and I'm covered with His blood"
-- "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand
-- "But I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand."

-- regardless of what happens, one thing is sure -- God is with us and He is calling out to us today -- He has a great plan for us and our country -- He promises hope and a future -- He promises life eternal
-- if our nation will just call upon Him -- if we will just trust in Him -- then God promises to bring us back to where we were -- to restore our nation -- to revive our land
-- the question to us this morning is will we lead the charge? -- Will we carry this promise from God to the people? -- Will we speak the need for repentance and faith to a people who refuse to hear the truth? -- Will we proclaim God's goodness and mercy and love to a nation desperately longing for hope and for a light in the darkness?
-- people know something is wrong -- they know things aren't right -- but they have yet to realize that the problem is not in Washington -- they have yet to realize the problem is in their hearts -- it's with their faith
-- will you go with me and carry this message to your family and friends? -- will you carry this message to the people you meet every day? -- will you step into your calling from God and be the light that shines forth in these dark days?
-- if so, then I want to invite you to respond to God’s word -- right now, as we close in prayer, I want you to commit to Him that you will do just that -- that you will speak His word and proclaim it where ever He sends and that you will start a revival in this nation through your own act of faith and trust
-- let’s close in prayer