Disappointed Hopes

Jeremiah 20:7-18
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Pastor Colin recounts personal stories of people dealing with various kinds of disappointment, ranging from parenting challenges and loneliness to financial crises and loss of loved ones. Each story illustrates the deep inner pain individuals may feel when life turns out differently than they had anticipated.

Colin transitions to the story of Jeremiah, a prophet tasked with delivering a profoundly unpopular message of judgment to the people of Jerusalem. Despite his courage, Jeremiah experiences intense emotional pain, feeling insulted, reproached, and wishing he had never been born.

Colin emphasises that even great men and women of faith, like Jeremiah, go through periods of deep personal pain and doubts. He advises the congregation on how to handle these feelings: by telling God their frustrations, believing in His word despite their pain, and continuing to obey Him.

To illustrate this, he shares examples such as Jeffrey Bull who, even after immense suffering, held onto his faith, and a personal story of his sister-in-law whose faith endured despite her child’s critical illness. Both examples demonstrate the importance of maintaining faith and obedience amidst profound challenges.

Colin concludes by focusing on the ultimate act of worship: holding onto God’s word and doing His will, even in the depths of pain. He prays for the congregation to have the strength to trust and glorify God, regardless of their suffering.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,200 I invite you to open your Bibles at Jeremiah in chapter twenty, as we come 2 00:00:04,200 –> 00:00:09,640 today to what I believe is really the most common source of all the varieties 3 00:00:09,640 –> 00:00:11,180 of doubt that we will consider. 4 00:00:11,900 –> 00:00:15,840 We’ve looked together at some doubts that have their root in the mind, and 5 00:00:15,840 –> 00:00:19,340 we’ve discovered that they’re most effectively addressed by the discipline 6 00:00:19,340 –> 00:00:19,879 of study. 7 00:00:20,639 –> 00:00:24,760 We’ve seen that other doubts have their origin in the will and that the really 8 00:00:24,760 –> 00:00:29,860 important thing there is to come to a clear and a decisive commitment to Jesus 9 00:00:29,900 –> 00:00:30,660 Christ. 10 00:00:31,280 –> 00:00:34,740 But there are other doubts that we’re going to consider today that arise from 11 00:00:34,779 –> 00:00:40,000 the heart, and you can’t resolve them by taking a class, nor by making a 12 00:00:40,000 –> 00:00:40,860 commitment. 13 00:00:41,500 –> 00:00:46,259 I’m talking about the kind of doubts that come from disappointed hopes and 14 00:00:46,259 –> 00:00:47,419 shattered dreams. 15 00:00:48,340 –> 00:00:53,639 The deep inner pain of a person who expected many things, and yet found that 16 00:00:53,639 –> 00:00:58,880 their life turned out to be neither what they wanted nor what they had 17 00:00:59,000 –> 00:01:00,000 anticipated. 18 00:01:00,880 –> 00:01:04,120 And I spent some time earlier this week just reflecting on some of the 19 00:01:04,120 –> 00:01:07,120 disappointments in lives of people that I know well. 20 00:01:07,620 –> 00:01:10,059 It wasn’t difficult to think of examples. 21 00:01:10,680 –> 00:01:13,320 You think, for example, of the area of parenting. 22 00:01:13,500 –> 00:01:17,919 I have a friend who has three grown children, all of whom are married and 23 00:01:17,919 –> 00:01:22,440 they have their own families, doing very well in business and so forth, but none 24 00:01:22,440 –> 00:01:23,440 of them love the Lord. 25 00:01:24,040 –> 00:01:26,199 And I had a meal with him recently. 26 00:01:27,199 –> 00:01:32,639 He said, you know, as I get older, the question I ask of myself most often is, 27 00:01:32,839 –> 00:01:35,500 was I a good father? 28 00:01:37,279 –> 00:01:42,279 They’re all successful, he said of his children, but none of them has the one 29 00:01:42,279 –> 00:01:44,239 thing that matters. 30 00:01:46,099 –> 00:01:47,180 They think about loneliness. 31 00:01:47,180 –> 00:01:51,099 I think of a man who longs to be married but has just never met that special 32 00:01:51,099 –> 00:01:51,680 person. 33 00:01:51,860 –> 00:01:56,660 His deepest pain, he says, is that he wants to be known. 34 00:01:56,660 –> 00:02:01,940 I have many friends, he says, but I’m not the most important person in anybody’s 35 00:02:01,940 –> 00:02:04,540 life. 36 00:02:04,540 –> 00:02:07,919 I heard this week about a colleague who lives in England. 37 00:02:07,919 –> 00:02:12,339 He has served as pastor all of his life and lived on a modest income. 38 00:02:12,339 –> 00:02:16,460 He and his wife had a savings policy for their retirement, but the company holding 39 00:02:16,460 –> 00:02:18,839 the fund has collapsed. 40 00:02:18,899 –> 00:02:25,220 The result is that he will retire next year and the income will be one-tenth of the modest 41 00:02:25,220 –> 00:02:29,139 income that he had expected. 42 00:02:29,139 –> 00:02:34,020 If you think of other and even deeper areas of loss, I think about a couple who have longed 43 00:02:34,020 –> 00:02:40,419 for a child, rejoiced when others received that gift, but have felt great pain that it 44 00:02:40,419 –> 00:02:43,699 never happened for them. 45 00:02:43,699 –> 00:02:48,779 Another couple who had the gift of a child and then a child was taken from them in illness 46 00:02:49,000 –> 00:02:52,059 tragedy. 47 00:02:52,059 –> 00:02:56,220 Think of others who have looked forward to retirement years as a couple together and 48 00:02:56,220 –> 00:03:00,720 then found that everything was changed as one was suddenly taken. 49 00:03:00,720 –> 00:03:07,220 But I think of a high school student who feels that she just does not fit. 50 00:03:07,220 –> 00:03:10,380 She’s an outsider to the group at high school. 51 00:03:10,380 –> 00:03:16,199 She’s become the constant target for the gibes, and jokes, and insults of other people. 52 00:03:16,199 –> 00:03:17,259 She feels foolish. 53 00:03:17,259 –> 00:03:23,020 She dreads walking through the halls, and every day at high school has become a nightmare 54 00:03:23,020 –> 00:03:24,559 for her. 55 00:03:24,559 –> 00:03:31,779 Or I think about a pastor who retired this year after 25 years of ministry in London. 56 00:03:31,779 –> 00:03:40,619 He said to me on one occasion, Collin, I would push a peanut across London with my nose if 57 00:03:40,619 –> 00:03:43,220 it would bring revival. 58 00:03:43,220 –> 00:03:48,419 And many good things have happened in his ministry in 25 years, but the revival that 59 00:03:48,419 –> 00:03:54,300 he has longed for has not come. 60 00:03:54,300 –> 00:03:59,220 Think about another friend, whose wife suffers from a condition that means their marriage 61 00:03:59,220 –> 00:04:04,619 will never be what either of them hoped that it will be. 62 00:04:04,619 –> 00:04:11,380 He does what he can but the marriage has settled into a pattern that is deeply, deeply disappointing. 63 00:04:12,380 –> 00:04:13,500 And you could multiply examples. 64 00:04:13,500 –> 00:04:19,500 You could add your own situations in which people have been rolling down, as it were, 65 00:04:19,500 –> 00:04:25,380 the highway of life and then there was a bend in the road and you found yourself in a completely 66 00:04:25,380 –> 00:04:29,079 unexpected and undesirable situation. 67 00:04:29,079 –> 00:04:34,779 When you find yourself plunged into the deep end of personal pain, you may find yourself 68 00:04:34,779 –> 00:04:40,700 asking questions that you never thought would go through your mind before. 69 00:04:40,700 –> 00:04:46,660 And if that should happen to you and perhaps even when that happens to you, I want you 70 00:04:46,660 –> 00:04:52,059 to know that some of the greatest men and women of faith who have ever lived have been 71 00:04:52,059 –> 00:04:53,739 there before you. 72 00:04:53,739 –> 00:04:57,959 And that’s why we’re turning to Jeremiah and chapter 20 this morning. 73 00:04:57,959 –> 00:05:05,760 I want you to understand first the experience that gave rise to Jeremiah’s deep, personal 74 00:05:05,760 –> 00:05:06,760 pain. 75 00:05:06,760 –> 00:05:10,040 He had been called to be a prophet of God. 76 00:05:10,480 –> 00:05:15,959 It was an awesome calling really because a prophet was one who heard the word of God 77 00:05:15,959 –> 00:05:17,540 directly. 78 00:05:17,540 –> 00:05:23,540 God actually spoke almost as if it was a hotline giving words that were immediately received 79 00:05:23,540 –> 00:05:28,119 that then were to be spoken to others in the name of God, Himself. 80 00:05:28,119 –> 00:05:31,200 This is how God worked in the Old Testament period. 81 00:05:31,200 –> 00:05:36,880 Can you imagine what that would be like for God to say to you, I am going to make you 82 00:05:36,880 –> 00:05:39,220 my mouthpiece to the nation. 83 00:05:39,459 –> 00:05:41,859 I am going to tell you my exact words. 84 00:05:41,859 –> 00:05:45,980 I am going to tell you what is going to happen in the next five years, and you will be the 85 00:05:45,980 –> 00:05:48,799 person that will announce it what I will do. 86 00:05:48,799 –> 00:05:53,459 Can’t imagine a greater privilege than that. 87 00:05:53,459 –> 00:05:56,579 But the problem for Jeremiah lay in the message. 88 00:05:56,579 –> 00:06:03,000 Because he lived in the years immediately before the collapse of the city of Jerusalem. 89 00:06:03,000 –> 00:06:08,200 And the message that God gave him to announce, the reality that ensued within a few years 90 00:06:08,359 –> 00:06:15,380 that followed was this extremely unpopular message of the fact that the time of judgement 91 00:06:15,380 –> 00:06:17,760 had come upon the whole nation. 92 00:06:17,760 –> 00:06:23,339 In fact in Jeremiah 19, you’ll find there at the beginning, if you just look back a 93 00:06:23,339 –> 00:06:30,339 chapter, that God tells Jeremiah to take a kind of tour of the local leaders, the village 94 00:06:30,559 –> 00:06:35,359 board, if you like, the elders of the city, he used to take them out to a place called 95 00:06:35,359 –> 00:06:36,779 Benhammon. 96 00:06:36,779 –> 00:06:43,779 It was a dump, a garbage tip, a landfill site with smoldering fires, it was a place of unmarked 97 00:06:45,679 –> 00:06:52,579 graves, of an awful stench, a hideous place, so bad that there was a Jewish tradition that 98 00:06:52,579 –> 00:06:56,420 the mouth of hell was in this valley. 99 00:06:56,420 –> 00:06:59,859 And God said to Jeremy, I want you to take these leaders of the community, the elders 100 00:06:59,920 –> 00:07:06,920 of the town out to this valley, and I want you to take a pot with you, a clay pot, and 101 00:07:07,320 –> 00:07:12,200 as you explain to them the words that I have given to you about what will happen to this 102 00:07:12,200 –> 00:07:17,959 city, I want you to take the pot and I want you to smash it in the valley. 103 00:07:17,959 –> 00:07:23,359 A bit of a dramatic sermon illustration, don’t you think? What was the pastor on about this 104 00:07:23,359 –> 00:07:28,859 morning? He was smashing pots on the platform. This is what Jeremiah did. 105 00:07:28,859 –> 00:07:32,000 You can read about it in chapter 19 and verse 10, see God says, 106 00:07:32,000 –> 00:07:37,040 Break the jar while those who go with you are watching and say to them, 107 00:07:37,040 –> 00:07:44,040 This is what the Lord says, I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed 108 00:07:44,640 –> 00:07:46,359 and cannot be repaired. 109 00:07:46,359 –> 00:07:50,839 Well, at this point, of course, Jeremiah must have been wishing that there was another prophet 110 00:07:50,839 –> 00:07:55,579 who had this particular calling. But he did what God said. 111 00:07:55,579 –> 00:08:00,859 Then he came back, chapter 19 and verse 14, into the temple area and he began to tell 112 00:08:00,859 –> 00:08:05,500 the people, the larger crowds, what he had just told their leaders in the dump outside. 113 00:08:06,079 –> 00:08:10,000 Verse 15, This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says, 114 00:08:10,000 –> 00:08:14,519 I am going to bring on this city and all the villages every disaster that I pronounced 115 00:08:14,519 –> 00:08:19,239 against them because they were stiff-necked and they would not listen to my words. 116 00:08:19,720 –> 00:08:23,839 Well, of course, when Jeremiah began to say these things in the temple, 117 00:08:24,100 –> 00:08:27,299 it wasn’t long before this was reported to the authorities. 118 00:08:27,660 –> 00:08:30,820 After all, you can’t have this kind of negative talk in the temple, can you? 119 00:08:30,820 –> 00:08:33,500 My goodness! People come to church for a word of encouragement. 120 00:08:33,500 –> 00:08:36,440 They’re not going to come back if they don’t get something that they like. 121 00:08:36,440 –> 00:08:39,039 So it’s reported to the temple authorities. 122 00:08:39,039 –> 00:08:43,700 We can’t have this fellow saying this kind of thing at a time of national emergency. 123 00:08:43,700 –> 00:08:47,840 And so sure enough, at the beginning of chapter 20, a man by the name of Pasher, 124 00:08:47,840 –> 00:08:50,239 who seems to be in charge of temple security, 125 00:08:50,380 –> 00:08:57,140 has Jeremiah arrested, beaten and then placed in stocks, 126 00:08:57,679 –> 00:09:04,719 his ankles manacled by the entrance, one of the gates that comes into the temple area. 127 00:09:05,359 –> 00:09:11,700 So for the next 24 hours, Jeremiah goes through this painful experience 128 00:09:12,200 –> 00:09:17,140 in which being shackled by the gate of the temple along no doubt 129 00:09:17,419 –> 00:09:21,739 with other subversive and undesirable characters who had been placed there, 130 00:09:22,700 –> 00:09:25,219 crowds of people would come through the gate 131 00:09:25,919 –> 00:09:31,280 and they would hurl their abuse at these individuals of whom Jeremiah was now one, 132 00:09:31,640 –> 00:09:35,919 spit on him, throw rotten vegetables at him, few eggs and whatever, 133 00:09:36,500 –> 00:09:42,340 and shower their insults on this person who was really the scum of the community. 134 00:09:43,179 –> 00:09:47,020 Now you have to admire Jeremiah, he was a man of immense courage 135 00:09:47,020 –> 00:09:49,940 he knew that what he was being told was the word of God 136 00:09:49,940 –> 00:09:53,659 and that whether the people liked it or not, it was actually what was going to happen. 137 00:09:53,659 –> 00:09:55,419 He knew he was speaking the truth. 138 00:09:55,739 –> 00:09:58,219 and he spoke it with immense courage. 139 00:09:58,919 –> 00:10:01,719 Even when it meant him enduring a beating 140 00:10:01,719 –> 00:10:05,619 and when it meant him sitting and enduring the insults of the people 141 00:10:05,960 –> 00:10:07,719 being thrown towards him. 142 00:10:08,000 –> 00:10:11,799 In all of that, he was like a man of extraordinary courage 143 00:10:11,900 –> 00:10:14,700 like a concrete wall, like an iron pillar. 144 00:10:15,460 –> 00:10:19,539 But when it was all over and when he was released from the stocks 145 00:10:19,539 –> 00:10:22,260 the trauma of the experience seemed to get to him. 146 00:10:23,039 –> 00:10:25,359 he went home, went into his bedroom 147 00:10:25,880 –> 00:10:30,280 and somehow his whole emotional life seemed to collapse inwards 148 00:10:30,280 –> 00:10:35,219 and that’s when he wrote these words we have read from Jeremiah in chapter 20 149 00:10:36,119 –> 00:10:39,039 He pours out his complaints to God 150 00:10:39,719 –> 00:10:41,700 in a bitter grief 151 00:10:44,500 –> 00:10:49,020 that gives rise to a fountain of pain from the depth of his soul 152 00:10:49,460 –> 00:10:51,460 Now you may have noticed this 153 00:10:51,520 –> 00:10:54,559 Sometimes when a great crisis comes 154 00:10:55,380 –> 00:10:58,979 a person is very, very strong right through the crisis 155 00:10:58,979 –> 00:11:04,080 but you come to the other side of it and somehow there’s an inner collapse 156 00:11:04,260 –> 00:11:06,260 emotional implosion 157 00:11:06,799 –> 00:11:09,280 and all the pain and all the 158 00:11:09,840 –> 00:11:13,559 questions begin to surface and it all comes out 159 00:11:14,440 –> 00:11:16,440 in the loneliness of others 160 00:11:17,619 –> 00:11:19,979 Look with me at Jeremiah’s complaint in 161 00:11:20,440 –> 00:11:22,659 chapter 20 in verse 8 162 00:11:22,659 –> 00:11:25,320 having gone through this experience he tells God quite openly 163 00:11:25,340 –> 00:11:27,340 I don’t like this message 164 00:11:27,719 –> 00:11:33,280 The Word of the Lord verse 8 has brought me insult and reproach all day long 165 00:11:34,280 –> 00:11:37,419 Lord if You had told me to give the people affirmation 166 00:11:38,039 –> 00:11:42,320 You told me to preach ten keys for a happy life. It would all be fine being a prophet 167 00:11:43,479 –> 00:11:45,479 But you’ve told me to bring a message 168 00:11:46,960 –> 00:11:54,000 That is deeply unpopular and that the people will not receive. Have you ever felt like that about the gospel? 169 00:11:55,340 –> 00:11:59,119 But why have you given us the message is about sin and 170 00:12:00,099 –> 00:12:02,099 involves an eternal separation 171 00:12:02,799 –> 00:12:04,799 and 172 00:12:05,219 –> 00:12:07,219 Focus is on only one 173 00:12:07,219 –> 00:12:11,299 person who can make the difference between heaven and hell. Don’t you realize God that if 174 00:12:11,700 –> 00:12:18,979 That’s the message that I’m to proclaim that it flies in the face of just about every fundamental value that this culture holds 175 00:12:21,559 –> 00:12:29,299 Tell someone the gospel is best I can at work and they say to me you can’t possibly believe that do you? 176 00:12:32,099 –> 00:12:34,500 I don’t like the message jeremiah says 177 00:12:36,020 –> 00:12:38,020 What’s more I want to quit 178 00:12:38,419 –> 00:12:40,260 verse nine 179 00:12:40,260 –> 00:12:45,460 I will not mention him or speak any more in his name. Here’s what i’ll do lord 180 00:12:46,340 –> 00:12:53,640 Spoken your word for a while i’ll move out of public life. Now. I will give up the ministry. I will go into early retirement 181 00:12:54,979 –> 00:12:56,979 But then when he thought about that 182 00:12:57,299 –> 00:12:58,820 Giving up his ministry 183 00:12:58,820 –> 00:13:04,260 He realized he couldn’t do that either because god had placed such a burden upon him that while he found it 184 00:13:04,719 –> 00:13:09,700 Indescribably painful to give this message. He also found it impossible to withhold it 185 00:13:10,659 –> 00:13:16,419 Verse nine the word is like a fire in my heart a fire shut up in my bones. I’m weary of holding it in indeed 186 00:13:16,500 –> 00:13:18,179 I cannot 187 00:13:18,179 –> 00:13:21,859 But this is ridiculous. I can’t live with what you’ve called me to do 188 00:13:21,940 –> 00:13:25,700 I can’t live without what you’ve called me to do you’ve put me in this situation 189 00:13:26,099 –> 00:13:33,700 That’s why he says verse 70 lord. You’ve deceived me and I was deceived you overpowered me and you prevail you’ve taken advantage of me 190 00:13:33,700 –> 00:13:37,400 You called me to be a prophet. You’ve now put me in an impossible position 191 00:13:40,739 –> 00:13:44,020 Not only that i’m not achieving anything lord 192 00:13:45,940 –> 00:13:52,020 You see the biggest problem for jemiah was that people simply would not take him seriously I mean this man is trying to talk about 193 00:13:52,400 –> 00:13:54,400 eternal realities 194 00:13:55,700 –> 00:13:58,840 And he’s talking to a crowd of people who are really not that interested 195 00:14:00,739 –> 00:14:02,739 In fact verse 10 196 00:14:03,380 –> 00:14:05,940 They make a bit of a joke of what he’s trying to do 197 00:14:07,460 –> 00:14:11,140 I hear people whispering terror on every side 198 00:14:12,020 –> 00:14:17,080 Now it’s almost certain that that phrase hides a nickname in hebrew that they gave to jeremiah 199 00:14:17,539 –> 00:14:24,820 Because he used the word terror a lot and there’s a word in hebrew that simply translated means terror all around or universal target 200 00:14:25,700 –> 00:14:30,580 And it seems that that’s the nickname that they gave him when they saw him in the stalks. They said oh my goodness. There he is 201 00:14:31,780 –> 00:14:33,780 terror all around 202 00:14:33,940 –> 00:14:35,940 I wonder what he’s got to say to us today 203 00:14:38,900 –> 00:14:45,539 Who felt like this with the small group you were given responsibility for with the people you’re trying to witness to 204 00:14:47,140 –> 00:14:50,200 Lord i’m getting absolutely nowhere 205 00:14:50,200 –> 00:14:52,200 I 206 00:14:52,200 –> 00:14:58,679 Pour everything that I have into this ministry that you’ve given to me, but the people you have trusted to me 207 00:14:59,559 –> 00:15:04,359 Don’t believe your word nor take it. Seriously. What you’ve called me to do is 208 00:15:04,820 –> 00:15:08,520 Increasingly feeling like a complete and utter waste of time 209 00:15:12,679 –> 00:15:18,840 Anyone who has gone into one of the mission fields of the world and seen the resistance of a community that 210 00:15:19,760 –> 00:15:25,340 Is difficult to penetrate with the gospel, will know this frustration. Lord, I long for a breakthrough 211 00:15:26,280 –> 00:15:32,440 With all my heart and I can’t describe the pain of the fact that 10 20 years down the line 212 00:15:32,440 –> 00:15:34,520 I have not yet seen it. 213 00:15:36,440 –> 00:15:38,440 I actually think the Beatles 214 00:15:38,500 –> 00:15:43,739 Caught the flavor of this feeling of Jeremiah’s in their song Eleanor Rigby. Remember that one? 215 00:15:45,000 –> 00:15:46,900 Eleanor Rigby 216 00:15:46,900 –> 00:15:51,059 Died in the church and was buried along with her name. Nobody came 217 00:15:52,340 –> 00:15:54,419 Father Mackenzie 218 00:15:54,760 –> 00:15:58,559 Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave 219 00:15:59,880 –> 00:16:06,179 No one was saved. Look at all the lonely people. Where do they all come from? 220 00:16:06,659 –> 00:16:09,940 Look at all the lonely people. Where do they all 221 00:16:10,900 –> 00:16:12,780 belong and 222 00:16:12,780 –> 00:16:14,780 the deep disappointment of his 223 00:16:15,000 –> 00:16:22,619 Experience that he had not made a breakthrough in his ministry gives rise to these deep questions that are like waves 224 00:16:23,799 –> 00:16:25,799 That are pouring over his soul 225 00:16:27,340 –> 00:16:32,840 So finally he comes verses 14 to 18 to say that he wished that he had never been born 226 00:16:33,559 –> 00:16:39,039 Cursed be the day. I was born. May the day my mother bore me not be blessed 227 00:16:39,280 –> 00:16:40,859 Blessed 228 00:16:40,859 –> 00:16:42,840 So no point in singing 229 00:16:42,840 –> 00:16:46,940 Happy birthday, Jeremiah, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear, Jeremiah 230 00:16:46,940 –> 00:16:52,200 Happy birthday to you because he would simply say to you there’s no such thing as a happy birthday for me 231 00:16:52,200 –> 00:16:56,539 I wish I’d never been born my birthday was a disaster 232 00:16:58,419 –> 00:17:02,599 In fact he says verse 17 that he wishes that he had been aborted 233 00:17:02,599 –> 00:17:05,500 It would have been better for me not 234 00:17:05,500 –> 00:17:12,040 To have lived if I was to know that life was as painful and as sorrowful as this 235 00:17:12,599 –> 00:17:13,500 verse 18 236 00:17:21,520 –> 00:17:25,079 And that is where the chapter ends 237 00:17:28,400 –> 00:17:32,040 Now of course there is a glimpse of triumph in verses 11 to 13 238 00:17:32,300 –> 00:17:36,280 Did you see that there, sing to the Lord, give praise to the Lord 239 00:17:36,280 –> 00:17:39,180 He rescues the life of the needy from the hand of the wicked and so forth 240 00:17:39,800 –> 00:17:43,959 And it would be kind of nice if that bit came at the end, wouldn’t it? 241 00:17:43,959 –> 00:17:45,680 That would be a nicer ending 242 00:17:45,959 –> 00:17:51,479 And there are some Liberal commentators who say, well you know, this part of the text 243 00:17:51,479 –> 00:17:54,439 must have been displaced, you know perhaps some editor dropped 244 00:17:54,439 –> 00:17:57,079 it on the floor and put it in a wrong place 245 00:17:57,079 –> 00:17:59,979 And didn’t realize that really you should have the happy bit at the end 246 00:18:00,599 –> 00:18:03,959 But thank God, this is the word of God and it speaks 247 00:18:04,420 –> 00:18:05,400 to life as it is 248 00:18:06,959 –> 00:18:12,239 And anyone who has been in the depth of sorrow knows that this battle is not a 249 00:18:12,239 –> 00:18:13,420 one-off fight 250 00:18:13,420 –> 00:18:16,079 It is a recurring kind of battle and experience 251 00:18:18,739 –> 00:18:22,819 What happens is that you face some of these deep, deep questions 252 00:18:22,819 –> 00:18:27,180 Then you feel you’ve come to a point where you’ve seen some light 253 00:18:27,260 –> 00:18:29,500 and you’ve gained some resolution 254 00:18:29,500 –> 00:18:33,640 but then a few weeks later you find that you’re torturing through the whole thing again 255 00:18:36,920 –> 00:18:42,000 That’s how it was for Jeremy and anyone who’s been into the darkness of this kind of valley 256 00:18:43,599 –> 00:18:47,680 knows that God is speaking precisely to what it’s like today 257 00:18:50,040 –> 00:18:54,180 Now I’m so grateful that the Scriptures raised these issues 258 00:18:54,180 –> 00:18:56,520 That they speak to us in the deep pains 259 00:18:57,280 –> 00:18:59,280 of disappointed hopes 260 00:19:00,339 –> 00:19:03,880 And there’s a wonderful thing that God intentionally therefore raises the question 261 00:19:03,880 –> 00:19:08,380 What are we to do when you are disappointed with God? 262 00:19:08,380 –> 00:19:10,479 How are you to respond to that? 263 00:19:10,479 –> 00:19:14,979 Because that is the issue that is being raised here in the scripture 264 00:19:15,439 –> 00:19:21,300 The great questions that arise out of the experience of disappointment in life 265 00:19:21,300 –> 00:19:23,439 wherever that may have come for you 266 00:19:24,140 –> 00:19:26,560 I want to suggest three things from the Scripture this morning 267 00:19:26,560 –> 00:19:27,920 The first is simply tell him 268 00:19:28,800 –> 00:19:33,880 For the best thing that you can do with a broken heart is to pour it out in the presence of God 269 00:19:34,680 –> 00:19:38,359 Jeremiah gives us a wonderful wonderful model of this 270 00:19:39,319 –> 00:19:45,800 each week we have had a prescription that is designed to help with each of the particular 271 00:19:46,520 –> 00:19:48,640 varieties of doubt that we may experience 272 00:19:49,020 –> 00:19:55,819 And our spiritual discipline that is a prescription for today is the spiritual discipline of honest? 273 00:19:56,280 –> 00:19:57,739 confession of 274 00:19:57,739 –> 00:19:59,739 Pouring out before God 275 00:20:01,000 –> 00:20:03,140 what it is that you feel 276 00:20:03,959 –> 00:20:05,959 the questions that are unresolved 277 00:20:06,800 –> 00:20:10,479 the frustrations and the pain that you are struggling with 278 00:20:11,119 –> 00:20:15,760 Bring it out into the open before him. That is what we are learning from this passage 279 00:20:15,959 –> 00:20:21,239 You see you know that in any relationship when it comes under strain 280 00:20:22,199 –> 00:20:27,260 The only way to strengthen or relationship is to deal with that person directly 281 00:20:28,160 –> 00:20:33,219 If I have a relationship with someone under strain I have to deal with them directly 282 00:20:34,719 –> 00:20:38,599 Now if my relationship with God comes under strain what am I to do? 283 00:20:39,439 –> 00:20:43,479 Go speak to a pastor go speak to a counselor. Well these may be good things to do 284 00:20:44,459 –> 00:20:51,520 But at some point. I have to speak to God about it directly if that relationship is to be strengthened 285 00:20:51,520 –> 00:20:54,219 And that’s precisely what Jeremiah does 286 00:20:55,439 –> 00:20:57,540 He says some terrible things 287 00:20:58,800 –> 00:21:03,719 but at least he says them to God and he says them to God because he has a 288 00:21:04,119 –> 00:21:09,239 Relationship with God a relationship that is under strain yes, but a relationship 289 00:21:09,760 –> 00:21:11,760 nonetheless 290 00:21:12,680 –> 00:21:20,140 Michael Wechsler reminded us of the importance of this subject in the summer when he preached a sermon here on the book of Psalms 291 00:21:21,260 –> 00:21:23,439 entitled the privilege of 292 00:21:24,459 –> 00:21:26,459 honest complaint 293 00:21:26,599 –> 00:21:31,459 And the Psalms are full of these honest questions of disappointed hopes 294 00:21:31,479 –> 00:21:38,780 And they’re brought out into the open in the presence of God. What do you do when you’re struggling like this? 295 00:21:39,479 –> 00:21:41,479 tell him 296 00:21:42,160 –> 00:21:44,160 Tell him 297 00:21:44,800 –> 00:21:46,959 But not only that believe him 298 00:21:47,479 –> 00:21:48,839 believe him 299 00:21:48,839 –> 00:21:51,180 See when your feelings or your experience? 300 00:21:52,180 –> 00:21:56,579 Contradicts your faith you need to decide which one to believe 301 00:21:57,880 –> 00:22:00,359 when what I have trusted 302 00:22:00,680 –> 00:22:07,020 in the Word of God and my experience of life seem to be in contradiction together I 303 00:22:07,739 –> 00:22:10,760 Need to decide which one speaks truth 304 00:22:10,819 –> 00:22:13,560 And which one is prone to error? 305 00:22:15,300 –> 00:22:17,300 Now consider two statements 306 00:22:18,479 –> 00:22:21,760 That we may put alongside each other number-one 307 00:22:22,859 –> 00:22:24,859 God is there 308 00:22:25,939 –> 00:22:31,680 Number two I do not experience. God as being there 309 00:22:33,199 –> 00:22:36,219 Now there are some people who look at these two statements and think well 310 00:22:36,219 –> 00:22:37,579 There’s a complete contradiction there 311 00:22:37,839 –> 00:22:42,760 If I don’t experience God as being there that means that God is therefore not there 312 00:22:44,219 –> 00:22:50,420 But I want to suggest to you this morning that there is no contradiction between these two statements both can be true at the same time 313 00:22:51,219 –> 00:22:55,380 The statement God is there is a statement about God 314 00:22:56,319 –> 00:23:01,119 The statement I do not experience God as being there is a statement about me 315 00:23:01,979 –> 00:23:09,040 And the Bible reminds us that there are often times when we may for different reasons not be able to feel or to 316 00:23:09,839 –> 00:23:15,040 Experience God’s presence when he hides his face from us 317 00:23:16,439 –> 00:23:19,079 that does not mean that he is not there, but 318 00:23:20,280 –> 00:23:22,280 Simply that for a time 319 00:23:23,219 –> 00:23:25,339 He is hidden from my view. I 320 00:23:26,359 –> 00:23:28,359 do not feel or 321 00:23:28,880 –> 00:23:31,739 Experience him as at other times I 322 00:23:32,880 –> 00:23:38,520 Was greatly helped at this point by the experience of Jeffrey Bull. Some of you may know that name 323 00:23:38,520 –> 00:23:42,959 He was a great Christian missionary and leader of a previous generation 324 00:23:44,040 –> 00:23:46,739 Jeffrey Bull was imprisoned for his faith in China 325 00:23:47,680 –> 00:23:51,000 He was tortured. He was horribly abused 326 00:23:52,400 –> 00:23:54,400 when he was finally released 327 00:23:55,060 –> 00:24:01,680 Rather like Jeremiah. He went into a deep personal struggle over the questions of his faith 328 00:24:02,439 –> 00:24:04,420 He said at one point 329 00:24:04,420 –> 00:24:11,040 He almost despaired because he could not even say the words of the Lord’s Prayer with meaning 330 00:24:11,400 –> 00:24:12,760 and 331 00:24:12,760 –> 00:24:13,520 By the way 332 00:24:13,520 –> 00:24:16,319 I’ve spoken with a number of folks who after 333 00:24:17,000 –> 00:24:21,599 Bereavement or some great trauma has come into your life. You said you know I come to church 334 00:24:22,140 –> 00:24:24,180 But I find it difficult to connect now 335 00:24:24,180 –> 00:24:27,959 I I find it difficult to put meaning into the words it seems 336 00:24:28,560 –> 00:24:35,119 Distant from me well that was the kind of thing that Jeffrey Bull was experiencing very very deeply indeed 337 00:24:35,959 –> 00:24:42,300 Of course at first he began to wonder does does this mean that my faith is just a sham that God is actually not? 338 00:24:42,300 –> 00:24:47,040 There at all that he does not exist that it was merely a delusion that I was living it 339 00:24:48,939 –> 00:24:50,939 But over time he came to 340 00:24:51,520 –> 00:24:53,520 understand the reason 341 00:24:54,619 –> 00:24:58,420 For his not experiencing God to be there 342 00:24:59,479 –> 00:25:01,479 They put it like this 343 00:25:02,400 –> 00:25:07,219 You know who if you go through a door, and you bang your funny bone 344 00:25:08,219 –> 00:25:11,839 You lose sensation in your arm for a time 345 00:25:12,439 –> 00:25:16,459 Or if someone bangs you it kicks you in the side of the thigh 346 00:25:17,420 –> 00:25:20,859 You lose feeling in your leg for a time 347 00:25:22,319 –> 00:25:24,319 well, so Geoffrey Bull 348 00:25:24,640 –> 00:25:29,780 He began to understand that this was what had happened to him the trauma of 349 00:25:30,319 –> 00:25:33,520 What it hit his mind and his body 350 00:25:34,339 –> 00:25:40,599 Had brought a kind of numbing for a time to the senses of his soul 351 00:25:41,359 –> 00:25:47,640 Which meant that even when he tried to worship the whole thing for a time seemed to be somewhat distant 352 00:25:48,459 –> 00:25:51,780 The problem was not that God was not there 353 00:25:52,599 –> 00:25:54,339 God was there 354 00:25:54,339 –> 00:25:59,880 The problem was that the capacities of his own mind and his own frame 355 00:26:00,560 –> 00:26:06,319 Had been impaired temporarily so that he did not experience God as 356 00:26:07,079 –> 00:26:09,079 being there 357 00:26:09,119 –> 00:26:13,319 He held to what he believed from the Word of God and found 358 00:26:14,560 –> 00:26:17,640 That with time there was a healing within his soul 359 00:26:18,800 –> 00:26:25,780 he began again to be able to perceive and to feel the presence and the comfort of a God who had 360 00:26:25,920 –> 00:26:27,920 Been there all 361 00:26:28,599 –> 00:26:30,599 along 362 00:26:30,819 –> 00:26:33,400 Now Jeremiah gives us a wonderful example of this 363 00:26:34,000 –> 00:26:36,079 He’s going through enormous pain 364 00:26:36,479 –> 00:26:39,359 That’s pouring like a fountain out of his soul 365 00:26:40,339 –> 00:26:42,819 He brings it all into the presence of God 366 00:26:44,079 –> 00:26:48,500 But with all of that he does not cease to believe the Word of God 367 00:26:49,699 –> 00:26:51,699 That has been given to him 368 00:26:53,060 –> 00:26:58,599 If I could give an example that comes from much closer to home for Covenant and myself 369 00:26:59,719 –> 00:27:01,640 Just over a year ago 370 00:27:01,640 –> 00:27:05,020 we were back with Karn’s family in England and 371 00:27:05,599 –> 00:27:11,380 All the talk was about her youngest sister’s baby that was due to be born within a few days 372 00:27:12,739 –> 00:27:18,439 We were gathered on the beach one afternoon and a phone call came saying that Kathy was in great pain 373 00:27:19,579 –> 00:27:26,160 It turned out that the placenta had split and Kathy was rushed into hospital for an emergency 374 00:27:26,939 –> 00:27:28,939 delivery of the baby 375 00:27:29,500 –> 00:27:32,479 Megan was born and was immediately placed on a ventilator 376 00:27:32,599 –> 00:27:34,800 after two weeks 377 00:27:34,800 –> 00:27:40,599 She was making little or no progress and she was special airlifted to a unit in South Hampton 378 00:27:40,979 –> 00:27:44,540 the specialist unit where she received open-heart surgery 379 00:27:45,819 –> 00:27:52,300 Two months later. She had a further procedure to open the aorta tube that enters the heart the process failed 380 00:27:52,300 –> 00:27:57,060 They did it again. It failed again. She then had to have further heart surgery 381 00:27:57,060 –> 00:27:58,180 Dr. Sepulveda 382 00:27:59,180 –> 00:28:00,579 One of the greatest 383 00:28:00,579 –> 00:28:06,859 anxieties over these weeks when she was at early dependent on a ventilator and then the months that followed 384 00:28:07,719 –> 00:28:09,979 Was that Megan gained very very little weight 385 00:28:12,800 –> 00:28:18,979 She has come through a year of trauma backwards and forwards to the Hospital but at this point 386 00:28:20,219 –> 00:28:22,079 nobody knows 387 00:28:22,079 –> 00:28:26,400 For sure the damage that may have been done to her development 388 00:28:27,560 –> 00:28:32,560 When she reached her first birthday this year, she was unable to sit and 389 00:28:33,599 –> 00:28:37,319 when Wayne and Kathy asked the specialist about his 390 00:28:38,579 –> 00:28:42,500 Prognosis for the future and particularly said will she be able to walk 391 00:28:44,260 –> 00:28:46,619 The specialist declined to answer the question 392 00:28:49,400 –> 00:28:51,400 After a year of 393 00:28:51,520 –> 00:28:55,160 Trauma and all kinds of unresolved questions my 394 00:28:56,160 –> 00:29:02,180 youngest sister-in-law and brother-in-law had decided that they wanted to have a special service of dedication and 395 00:29:02,439 –> 00:29:08,540 That it should coincide with Meghan’s first birthday and be a celebration of her surviving that year 396 00:29:09,819 –> 00:29:11,459 they’re part of a very small 397 00:29:11,459 –> 00:29:15,979 Congregation in the southwest of England who really have reached out to them in love and prayer and support 398 00:29:16,819 –> 00:29:20,339 And the whole service on a Sunday morning this summer 399 00:29:20,880 –> 00:29:26,300 Was dedicated to that celebration and that expression of faith 400 00:29:26,859 –> 00:29:30,339 It was like a kind of invasion Karen is one of six 401 00:29:31,079 –> 00:29:32,979 Children in her generation of the family 402 00:29:32,979 –> 00:29:38,780 So when you multiply that across the generations it becomes a lot of people to invade a small church on a Sunday morning 403 00:29:38,780 –> 00:29:47,000 They well more than doubled their usual congregation. Not only with an invasion of family but many many friends of Wayne and Cathie’s 404 00:29:47,719 –> 00:29:54,839 colleagues, who were not believers from Wayne’s school, neighbors, one man who’s writing a book commending atheism 405 00:29:54,839 –> 00:29:56,839 And they were all there 406 00:29:57,239 –> 00:30:02,459 Karn’s father played she read her sister sang I had been asked to preach 407 00:30:04,199 –> 00:30:07,380 The highlight of the service was when Wayne and Kathie spoke 408 00:30:09,560 –> 00:30:16,079 Kathie spoke about their most difficult year in life, and how their faith had been tested 409 00:30:17,599 –> 00:30:20,939 Then Wayne got up as a young Christian 410 00:30:22,579 –> 00:30:24,660 And thanked everyone who had supported them 411 00:30:26,479 –> 00:30:31,199 Right now he said we don’t know what the future holds for Megan 412 00:30:33,119 –> 00:30:38,520 I Have all kinds of unanswered questions about life right now. He said 413 00:30:41,140 –> 00:30:44,479 And I still have some desperately low points 414 00:30:44,939 –> 00:30:46,939 But 415 00:30:47,260 –> 00:30:49,979 I want you to know that I believe in God and 416 00:30:51,640 –> 00:30:55,579 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and 417 00:30:56,780 –> 00:30:58,780 That he died for me 418 00:31:00,260 –> 00:31:02,260 And then he sat down 419 00:31:03,400 –> 00:31:08,260 It was one of the finest confessions of faith I have ever heard 420 00:31:08,260 –> 00:31:10,260 for 421 00:31:10,800 –> 00:31:16,819 Sometimes we confess that Jesus is Lord with raised hands and with joyful hearts 422 00:31:18,599 –> 00:31:24,160 But other times we confess that Jesus is Lord through gritted teeth and 423 00:31:24,760 –> 00:31:26,760 with tear-stained faces and 424 00:31:27,920 –> 00:31:35,520 In the course of a lifetime God may give you the opportunity to glorify him both ways 425 00:31:38,859 –> 00:31:40,859 Telling 426 00:31:44,479 –> 00:31:47,260 Believing in the pain 427 00:31:51,020 –> 00:31:53,420 Here’s the last thing very briefly obey him 428 00:31:55,739 –> 00:32:01,439 Notice that as we come to the end of chapter 20 there is no resolution to the pain n this chapter 429 00:32:02,660 –> 00:32:05,359 There is a sense in which Jeremiah lives 430 00:32:05,359 –> 00:32:11,699 Lives with the pain of seeing the culture advance towards its destruction 431 00:32:14,680 –> 00:32:16,680 But I want you to notice what follows 432 00:32:17,239 –> 00:32:19,199 at the beginning of chapter 21 433 00:32:19,199 –> 00:32:26,839 We’re told about a day shortly after when enemy armies advanced against Jerusalem, and the king did not know what to do 434 00:32:27,400 –> 00:32:32,780 It was a time of National crisis, and so he called two of his emissaries 435 00:32:33,140 –> 00:32:35,680 And he sent them to whom? 436 00:32:37,939 –> 00:32:39,939 Jeremiah 437 00:32:40,439 –> 00:32:42,439 Why? 438 00:32:43,040 –> 00:32:47,079 Because even though Jeremiah was a man with a broken heart 439 00:32:48,839 –> 00:32:56,020 He was also and still a man with the Word of God who did the will of God and 440 00:32:56,579 –> 00:32:58,819 the king, knew that and 441 00:32:59,020 –> 00:33:06,459 And when a time of crisis came, he said to his attendants. We’d better go and ask the Word of the Lord 442 00:33:08,219 –> 00:33:10,219 from Jeremiah 443 00:33:11,760 –> 00:33:13,760 Jeremiah’s questions were never answered 444 00:33:14,760 –> 00:33:19,800 There’s a sense in which his fundamental disappointment was never resolved 445 00:33:21,160 –> 00:33:23,160 but through all his pain 446 00:33:23,920 –> 00:33:29,260 He stands as a man of God with the Word of God doing the will of God 447 00:33:29,260 –> 00:33:35,079 And that is just about the highest worship of God that anyone can ever offer 448 00:33:36,619 –> 00:33:38,160 And when I think of him 449 00:33:38,160 –> 00:33:43,900 I cannot but think of Jesus, who when he came to his greatest agony of body and of soul 450 00:33:44,079 –> 00:33:47,359 What did he do? He told the father 451 00:33:48,199 –> 00:33:55,459 My God my God, why have you forsaken me and there was no answer to that question 452 00:33:58,459 –> 00:34:05,819 But he believed the father and he obeyed the father father into your hands I commit my spirit and 453 00:34:07,180 –> 00:34:10,800 that splintered the gates of hell and 454 00:34:11,800 –> 00:34:18,620 And it may very well be that the greatest impact of your life in heaven and in hell 455 00:34:19,879 –> 00:34:26,439 May not be so much to do with any particular piece of service that you’ve done through the years of your life, but maybe 456 00:34:27,719 –> 00:34:32,620 that when you faced disappointed hopes and shattered dreams 457 00:34:33,879 –> 00:34:38,060 you loved him still and 458 00:34:38,520 –> 00:34:40,040 And 459 00:34:40,040 –> 00:34:42,879 that just as you believed in him in your pleasure 460 00:34:44,340 –> 00:34:47,679 So you do not cease to believe in him in your pain 461 00:34:48,959 –> 00:34:54,939 Just as you loved him when he gave you do not cease to love him when he took away 462 00:34:56,959 –> 00:35:03,060 Just as you obeyed him in your joy, so now you will obey him still in your disappointment 463 00:35:03,060 –> 00:35:11,840 And you become a man or a woman of God who even in great pain 464 00:35:14,360 –> 00:35:16,360 Holds the Word of God and 465 00:35:17,719 –> 00:35:20,639 Does the will of God 466 00:35:22,080 –> 00:35:25,120 You hold your questions for another day 467 00:35:25,919 –> 00:35:27,120 But 468 00:35:27,120 –> 00:35:34,580 Until that day when faith is turned to sight and all your questions will be answered and then all your pain will be healed 469 00:35:36,560 –> 00:35:39,679 You remain God’s man God’s woman with God’s Word 470 00:35:40,840 –> 00:35:42,840 doing God’s will and 471 00:35:43,919 –> 00:35:45,919 That splinters 472 00:35:46,560 –> 00:35:48,719 the gates of hell 473 00:35:51,479 –> 00:35:53,479 So we pray together 474 00:35:56,000 –> 00:35:59,060 Father only, you know the pain 475 00:36:00,280 –> 00:36:04,899 That is felt in many hearts in this congregation right now 476 00:36:07,239 –> 00:36:12,439 But we thank you that you do know and that we do not need to keep any of it hidden from you 477 00:36:14,959 –> 00:36:18,639 We want that grace to trust your word more than our feelings 478 00:36:20,760 –> 00:36:24,379 To hold to your word even in the midst of pain and 479 00:36:25,100 –> 00:36:27,100 disappointment 480 00:36:27,600 –> 00:36:29,600 To do your will 481 00:36:31,159 –> 00:36:36,179 When it has become the hardest thing in the world for us to do as much as we did it when it was the 482 00:36:36,179 –> 00:36:38,179 easiest and the best 483 00:36:40,060 –> 00:36:43,159 We want to live authentically to glorify you 484 00:36:45,040 –> 00:36:51,199 Daring to believe that that has reverberations in heaven above and in hell below 485 00:36:54,439 –> 00:36:57,179 To stand even if it be in pain 486 00:36:58,300 –> 00:37:01,139 In obedience to you and in faith before you 487 00:37:01,899 –> 00:37:05,500 Is the greatest worship that we can offer? 488 00:37:06,780 –> 00:37:08,780 In all of our lives 489 00:37:10,379 –> 00:37:13,780 So help us now even as we confess our faith before you 490 00:37:15,399 –> 00:37:21,219 If it be through gritted teeth and if it be through tears stained faces 491 00:37:22,139 –> 00:37:25,760 Grant that it be to your glory nonetheless 492 00:37:27,860 –> 00:37:31,820 For these things we ask in Jesus name 493 00:37:33,899 –> 00:37:35,899 Amen

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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