23 September 2018
Jeremiah 11. 18-20
God saves us not just from sin, death, and the devil,
but from ourselves!
On the morning of September fifteen, about seventeen-and-a-half centuries ago, a huge crowd gathered at the command of Galerius Maximus, the Roman proconsul – or governor – at Carthage. He ordered that Cyprian, bishop in that place, be brought before hem. “Are you Cyprian,” Galerius asked. “I am.” “And are you the leader of the Christians in this place.” Again, Cyprian said, “Yes.” “The emperor has asked you to offer a sacrifice to the gods of Rome.” “I will not.” “He has commanded you!” Again, Cyprian refused. And for that, he was taken out of the city to be executed. Cyprian, as the story goes, removed his cloak himself. He calmly knelt, prayed, and, without help, put on his own blindfold. And there he died, like so many others in the church, as an echo and a reflection of Jesus.
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, martyr. Last Sunday, if you noticed, was his day to be remembered. And it just so happened that the gospel reading for the day was about crosses. “Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life – for my sake and for the sake of the gospel – will save it!” It’s a big part of the faith, being or becoming martyrs. Even today. “Faith of our fathers living still,” we sing, “in spite of dungeon, fire, and sword… Faith of our fathers, holy faith, we will be true to thee till death!” Like Cyprian and Bonhoeffer and all the rest, we will be true… till death! Till death! Of course, for the most part, persecution, nowadays, is a lot more subtle than it was back in the good, old days. Not so bloody. Not so gruesome. But the stories still excite us. From ancient Rome, Nazi Germany, modern-day China. They make our hearts pound, our blood boil. We still believe what Tertullian said. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
And then, this morning, we hear from Jeremiah. I read his words and it all came rushing back. “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter and did not know it was against me they devised schemes.” “Destroy the tree with its fruit,” they said. “Cut him off from the land of the living!” Seeing those words, it was Good Friday, all over again! It was Jesus on the cross. It was Cyprian on his knees. It was Bonhoeffer at the wall. Carrying the gospel through fire and flood! Running the race! Fighting the fight! Persevering! Enduring! And in the end, winning the crown! I saw that first reading and I remembered the martyrs. Remembered the martyrs and remembered the ones that made them martyrs. The dark ones. The evil ones. The enemies of god and of god’s people. In particular, the passage conjured up images of the armies of Babylon that had marched against Judah, that had laid siege the city of Jerusalem, that had breached the wall and laid it to waste, that had destroyed the Temple and devastated the land.
But then, I did something I don’t, normally, do. I kept reading. I didn’t stop at the period at the end of verse twenty. I continued to verse twenty-one. A verse not a part of today’s lesson. “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life…” “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life…” I was shocked. I was stunned. The people of Anathoth weren’t Babylonian. They weren’t Assyrian. They weren’t Egyptian or Greek or Roman! The people who were scheming to kill Jeremiah weren’t any of the enemies of god’s people! They WERE god’s people themselves!
Anathoth was Jeremiah’s hometown! It’s where he was born! It’s where he grew up! It’s where he began his career! The people who wanted him dead were his neighbors and his friends! Jeremiah spike god’s word, god’s message, to god’s people! To god’s nearest! To god’s dearest! And the people didn’t want to hear it! They wanted nothing of it! And so, they dared to shoot the messenger! Destroy the tree! Cut him off! So that nothing’s remembered! So that nothing remains!
Well, I stopped, right there. I sat back. And I realized something. We don’t need pagans or heathens or unbelievers to make our lives miserable. We don’t’ need communists or fascists to do their worst. We have us. We have the church! We like to feel so good about ourselves. The church can be so smug. So judgmental. So self-righteous. Truth is, we’re our own worst enemies! We’re our own worst enemies! We don’t need Babylon. We have Anathoth! And more Christians have been killed, over the centuries, by other Christians than were ever killed by anyone else. “THEY devised schemes,” Jeremiah said. That ‘THEY’ is us! Even without Assyria or Babylon or Rome or all the rest, there’s still the church! Faith of our fathers living still… not because of us, but in spite of us!
And that should make us stop and think! Stop and think about being the church! About being god’s own! “Work out your own salvation,” it says in Philippians, “with fear and trembling!” The writer understood. The writer understands. Even as god’s called, god’s chosen, we don’t just have better angels. We, also, have worse demons. As god’s called, god’s chosen, we are just as likely to nail someone to a cross, as we are to pick one up and follow Jesus. God doesn’t just save us from sin, death, and the devil. God saves us from ourselves, as well. God saves us from each other!
Yes, it’s important to do justice and love kindness. But it’s essential to walk humbly. With god. But more so, with each other. “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter,” Jeremiah said. “But I never would have guessed it would be god’s people who would betray me.” All the finger pointing. All the fist shaking. All the rock throwing. How often do we rant against each other? How often do we rage against god’s own? “We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” But then, maybe we have. Maybe we do love each other as we love ourselves. Just like ourselves. And that’s the problem. We don’t treat others like we want to be treated. We treat them like we have been treated, like we are treated. And it’s not a pretty sight.
So, we plot. And we scheme. Against Jeremiah. Against god. Against each other. It wasn’t THOSE people who want to kill the prophet. It wasn’t THOSE people who want to silence the word. It’s god’s people! It’s you and me! It’s the church! THEY didn’t crucify Christ; WE did! And most Christians who suffer, who die, are martyred by other Christian – just like them!
But the amazing thing about it all. We did nothing to earn god’s love. We did nothing to deserve it. And so, we can do nothing to lose it; nothing to have it taken away. And so, Jeremiah… and Jesus… and the church… simply goes on loving! Turning the other! Going the extra! Doing unto! Just like god has done! Just like god continues to do! But then, that’s what love always does; what love has always done; what love will always do. It saves us! From sin! From death! From the devil! But maybe most of all, love saves us from our own good intentions!