Jeremiah 17.c. Obedience Leads to Holiness.

 We have come a long way from depending on the town crier for news. Back in the day, news was announced (cried out) in the town center, then spread from house to house with some adjustments by gossipy neighbors. 

 The medium for messages, either news or proclamations, then moved from voice to print, that is, to newspapers, pamphlets (for example, during the Revolutionary War period), and to books. Still, the news could be slanted as the term ‘the yellow press’ reminds us.  

 Next, the medium shifted back to voice with the spread of radio, and finally to voice and vision with TV. The news is now ‘cried out’ on various internet platforms that are screaming; oh, I meant streaming. 

 In all this, the news hasn’t gotten more accurate, as you well know, since we have often been fooled by videos that purport to show us ‘what really happened’. There too the hand of bias and prejudice is clear, and AI only makes it easier to bend the truth. With speed has come a sloppy regard for accuracy.

 In Jeremiah’s day, the main city gate was a gathering place for hearing news, engaging in trade, and holding court. God directs Jeremiah to the appropriate place to make announcements and tells him to preach there. The town gate sounds rather like Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park in London. It is a long tradition, and I have listened in the park to speakers who keep talking whether or not a crowd gathers to listen. Does Jeremiah draw a crowd? Do they listen? 

17: 19-23. Thus said the LORD to me: ‘Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them: “Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter by these gates. Thus says the LORD: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors’. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction.

 There's the answer. “They did not listen or incline their ear.” Instead, they became obstinate and refused to hear the word of the Lord. Why? Because they did not like what they heard. Only later was Jeremiah vindicated; his sermons did turn out to be the word of God. Even today this is true. When was the last time you heard a sermon preached on a passage from Jeremiah? When do you see a quote from Jeremiah cherished by Christians? 

 There is one exception, of course. Jeremiah 29:11 is very popular because it says, in English: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Very interesting. A closer look shows us that the ‘you’, which is used twice in this verse, is plural in Hebrew. This ‘promise’ is not for an individual. Our English translation might have used y’all or you’uns. Who is the audience then? The remaining children of Abraham, that is the exiles from Judah. 

 What does it mean? This promise was made to prisoners of war from Judah who were being punished for their sins. They were slaves in Babylon. God is speaking to captive people, aliens who have become slaves in a foreign land. Do you identify with that group? 

 In the case of these fugitive Jews, God has a plan to preserve some of them as an ethnic group because he still has a plan to bring salvation through the children of Abraham; and that salvation did come through Joseph and Mary’s son. 

 Does that fit the context of the people who think that this verse applies to them? If so, then all the other verses in Jeremiah, the criticism, the curses, the prophecies of doom; these also apply to them, but they are not interested in hearing them.

Back to today’s passage. There is a reason that the people are supposed to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Observance of the Sabbath is a sign of holiness, according to God. The point is that observance honors God and puts the people in the right frame of mind to let God make them holy as well. Do we practice honoring the Sabbath? Not if we attend church in the morning, then expect others who are lower on the pay scale to work on the Sabbath by keeping their favorite restaurants and stores open. 

 God has a purpose for this Sabbath practice he proposes. Listen to the Law. 

“You (Moses) yourself are to speak to the Israelites, ‘You (Israelites) shall surely keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you (Exodus 31: 13).

“You (Israelites) shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel: I am the LORD; I sanctify you” (Leviticus 22: 32).

 You will notice in both of these quotes from the Torah that God’s purpose is to ‘sanctify’ obedient people. The ‘sancta-’ part means ‘holy’ or ‘purified’ and thus dedicated solely to God both in word and in deed. John Wesley is the one who clarified this for the Methodist movement. To be justified is to be forgiven for our past sins so that we might be able to stand before God, but then we need training to serve God’s purposes in the world. Once we are justified, God expects us to continue to grow in grace.

 Justification (being forgiven) is a work of God’s grace, not a work of our own hands. Sanctification, ‘becoming holy’, is likewise a work of God’s grace, though we must willingly cooperate, that is, we must obey. Justification means to be made clean for service, and sanctification means to become more like God while in God’s service. 

 We participate in satisfying God’s goals for our life and for society. Work does not bring these about, but work is the result of our progressive sanctification. The more we become like God in our lovingkindness and sense of justice, the more we work with God on behalf of the poor and needy as well as the oppressed and depressed.   

17: 24-27.  ‘But if you listen to me’, says the LORD, ‘and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the towns of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy and to carry in no burden through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates; it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched’.

 The warning about bearing burdens through the gate on a Sabbath is a reference to doing business on the Sabbath, that is, bringing in items to sell in the marketplace. God says, “Don’t do it.”

 Notice the results of obedience leading to sanctification. Personal obedience multiplied brings about social transformation and widespread prosperity. From the sanctified kings to the sanctified farmers and the sanctified merchants, the security of the city and of the country is gained by the righteous behavior of its leaders and citizens.   

 This is not accomplished by law or by force, as so many Jews and Christians have mistakenly imagined down through the ages and even today. Sanctification is accomplished by a voluntary and willing relationship with God that transforms God’s followers into human beings who begin to imitate God’s character, God’s love, compassion, and a balanced sense of mercy and justice. There is little of this today, and it does not bode well for the future of the world.