Gettysburg Presbyterian Church

Walk This Way
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Lou Nyiri
Jeremiah 6:9-16a
January 23, 2011

[Preface to Scripture Reading]
If you are a fan of Saturday Night Live, then most likely you’ve heard of “Debbie Downer.”
[9:30 – Show Debbie Downer slide]
Debbie is the quintessential kill-joy to any enjoyable time.
When Debbie interjects the conversation turns pretty depressing – pretty darn quick.
Debby could take your comment about how radiant the morning sun was over the ocean on your family’s vacation and turn it into the yellow hue of killer bees as they swarm unsuspecting tourists in Papa New Guinea or some other locale.
The SNL sketch’s opening jingle goes, “You’re enjoying your day…Everything’s going your way …Then along comes Debbie Downer…You’ll beg her to spare you, saying ‘Debbie please’ but you can’t stop Debbie Downer.”
After she comments you hear “waah-waah” indicating the definitive downer moment.

One could say that the prophet Jeremiah was the “Debbie Downer” of his day.
You can almost hear the “waah-waah” after many of the statements he makes.
Listen now to the word of God, as it comes to us today from Jeremiah 6: 9-16a.
[9:30 – show Scripture Slides – end with title slide]
Let us pray…

This morning’s text starts us right off with downer moments.
The people of Judah could easily have said of this prophet, “You’re enjoying your day…Everything’s going your way …Then along comes Jeremiah.”
I mean, after reading words like this, it’s no wonder Jeremiah’s nickname wasn’t Jer-em-I-mad.
As one reads such dismal words, it’s understandable to agree with tradition which claims Jeremiah to be the author of the Old Testament book Lamentations, an even sadder book.

Jeremiah, right away, starts talking about this “gleaning thoroughly the remnant of Israel.”
It could be that the gleaning language and the remnant language is Jeremiah’s way of trying to save a few folk…
Maybe this gleaning is a kind of mopping-up operation for a band of people who have been previously punished and which are now going to clean out the very last element that is left.
Or, maybe it’s as scholarship declares, possibly both – for the text is too allusive to allow just one definitive meaning.

One thing’s for sure, this imagery of harvesting is thoroughly negative…it suggests extensive and full judgment.
The character of Jeremiah’s question in v. 10 suggests that the command of God invites the search for a responsive audience that will attend to the word of the LORD and subsequently be saved.
So, we are left to wonder as we wander through both possibilities.

Then just as quickly as we hear the glimmer of hope in v. 10’s question, Jeremiah declares it to be hopeless, “…their ears are closed…they cannot listen…the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn…they take no pleasure in it.”
It is reminiscent of the Psalmist’s words in Psalm 1 – the word of the LORD, whether in prophetic proclamation or law/torah instruction, is subject to scorn and mockery.
With this claim of Jeremiah 6:10 to have closed ears, the people take their seat with the scorners about whom Psalm 1 warns.
Unlike the righteous way described in Psalm 1:2, there is no “delight” in God’s word.
In a sense, the people to whom Jeremiah speaks have followed the way of the wicked rather than the way of the righteous.
The invevitable outcome of such way – as described in Psalm 1:6 – is the judgment Jeremiah is called to announce: The way of the wicked shall perish.

The whole community seems to be implicated in this dilemma.
Both in the fact that the sins are rampant in the land and in the impending judgment of God.
The societal picture in Jeremiah is one of widespread corruption that draws “everyone” in – even the lesser members of the community (v.13).

The rich & the leadership receive the brunt of the prophet’s critique – though keep in mind everyone wants a share and will do whatever necessary to get in on the action (v. 13).
The wording “unjust gain” as in ‘everyone is greedy for unjust gain’ in verse 13 (besa’ in Hebrew) literally means “a cut.”
As one biblical scholar has put it, “This is the world of baksheesh and worse, palms greased, expenses padded...[one] must not understand the king to ‘taking a profit’; no, he is ‘in on the take’ and so, by the evidence of this passage is everybody else.”

As quick aside, we’ve spoken here today a little about missions and the good that can come out of going on one. We encourage you to sign up for one of the many missions we offer this coming year.
If you’ve ever been on an overseas mission, you may already have experienced something like this.
You might recall a couple of weeks back, we hosted Jacque Merine, from the Source of Life ministries in Haiti.
Jacques spoke to us about what God is doing through that ministry and mission.
Jacques have the opportunity to speak with our high school Sunday School class that morning as well.
In a conversation I had with Jacques and his colleague, I discovered that their first trip to Haiti went like this upon landing from the airport to the site of their ministry.

Along the way, they encountered road blocks.
At the first, they were told, “Your passports aren’t in order. Give us $500.00 and you can go through.”
It seemed too that as soon as they left the check point, they got on the radio and called to the next one, saying, “we just used the passports line.”
They get to the next check point and it’s, “Your tires are under-inflated. Give us $500.00 and we’ll let you through.”
This what Jeremiah is talking about – everybody’s in on the take – everybody wants a little slice of the pie for themselves.

The practices described here include such things as: bribery, fudging, juggling of figures, the use of false weights and balances, etc…
It describes a part of systemic corruption where people achieve economic gain by varied – often ingenious – questionable practices.

Think Batman’s Gotham City in the 2nd installment “The Dark Knight” as the “Joker” comes to town and mayhem ensues.

Or better yet, think HBOs docu-drama-miniseries “Boardwalk Empire” which depicts 1920s Atlantic City at the dawn of prohibition.
The Great War is over, Wall Street is ready to boom, and everything’s for sale, even the World Series.
This popular resort town, on the southern beach of New Jersey is known as “The World’s Playground” where rules don’t apply. For a few dollars a working man can live like a king – legally or illegally.
Enoch “Nucky” Thompson is the town treasurer and also its undisputed ruler, one who is described on HBOs website as, “a political fixer and backroom dealer who is equal parts gangster and politician and equally comfortable in either role.”

It is to such an environment Jeremiah speaks.
Everyone’s in on it.
From the top to the bottom – From the sinner to the saint - everyone’s “cutting a little slice of the pie” for him or herself.

The prophet then turns attention back onto the leaders of the community.
Jeremiah lays particular responsibility on these leaders.
He awakens their eyes to see another kind of truth distortion – lying for God, falsifying the divine word.
He calls the clergy into accountability.
The prophet draws upon this imagery of sickness and healing.
He purports that they treat the wound of God’s people carelessly, they say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace (v. 14).
Through these words, the religious leaders of the community are accused of placing a bandage over the gushing artery and saying, “Don’t worry, you will be all right.”

I was once introduced to a group of persons with the following words, “This is Rev. Lou Nyiri, he is the Associate Pastor at the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church and his job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Not too sure what that meant at the time – though it is probably what Jeremiah was getting at in his comments on the clergy of his day.
They had become so accustomed to living the “High Life” they couldn’t see past what they might lose if– in the words of those two baseball umpires ring true, the first declared, “I Call ‘em as I see ‘em,” and the second stated, “I call ‘em as they are.”

The fear of losing their comfortable life, forced many in the priestly class to soften the message.
To tell the people what they want to hear, rather than what was needed to be heard … by all … clergy included!
The distortion of the priestly and prophetic responsibilities had reached such a point that there was no longer embarrassment at the site of official wrongdoing or misconduct.
And the prophet declares that as they participate in the pervasive sin of the community, that they too will go down with it (v. 15).

There will be no lightning from on high, no fire from the Lord.
The forces of the Lord will instead be the forces of history.
The foe that comes from the north will also carry the leaders into exile (see vv. 22-23).

And that was the message of Jeremiah.
A message to which, the people of Judah, after hearing Jeremiah speak, could easily have heard the shofar bellow – “Waah-Waah.”

So, what’s a people to do?
Where do you go, once you’ve heard how difficult you are, how displeasing your lifestyle is to God, how grievous your actions have been toward the Divine, so much so that judgment and doom are impending – maybe even inevitable?

Well, you return to the beginning.
You return to what got you there in the first place.
I’m not simply talking about returning to one’s sin in order to repent and do the 180-degree turn away from that which is displeasing to God – though DON’T misunderstand this is important AND it is also part of the process to which Jeremiah is calling the people of God – in fact it is a natural part of this process to which Jeremiah calls the people.

I don’t know if you knew it this week, something big happened. It’s a pop-culture phenomenon. Maybe you saw it…maybe you didn’t. It was featured Wednesday and Thursday night this past week on Fox. It is of course…[9:30 – show American Idol slide]…the season premier of American Idol.

The premise of the show is that a group of contestants are “gleaned” (if you will) from thousands upon thousands who audition, if their singing talent can get two of the three judges to say “yes” they are granted a golden ticket to Hollywood, the place from which this season’s final contestants will be gleaned (emerge).
Then week in and week out – America will watch, listen then vote for their choice.
Each week, the contestant with the lowest votes will be told “They are not the American Idol” and then sing underneath the closing credits and in front of the audience one last time.
This is a big year in the life of American Idol – it’s their 10th season – and they welcome two new judges who will join returning judge, Randy Jackson.
Season 10 American Idol says “hello” to Jennifer Lopez AND legendary rocker from the group Aerosmith – Steven Tyler.

There has been widespread acclaim and affirmation of Tyler’s place on the panel of judges.
His stage presence is electrifying and calming at the same time.
He quickly became my favorite new judge. His off the wall comments had me in stitches.
His excitement as contestants auditioned was conveyed as he drummed the desk and quietly sang along with many who stood in front of these three.

As I watched him there, it reminded me of the song he recorded with both Aerosmith and Run DMC back in the 70s and 80s respectively. The song title was “Walk This Way.”

In a sense, this title is the information Jeremiah is giving to a people who need to hear it.

[9:30 – show sermon title slide] “Walk This Way” is our reminder of what is needed in order that we might right ourselves amid the chaotic moments of life – amid the graft and corruption that goes on around us the clarion call is to Walk This Way – to Walk in the ways of the LORD.

“Walk this Way…” Or, as Jeremiah puts it in verse 16,
“Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”

Commentators have called this verse (16a), “the great text in this passage.”
It is the call to the congregation to look to its past history, to check its memory, to find the ways that have been forgotten, to remember the God who has delivered and directed their way.

The ancient story and its implications are found in the communal memory of God’s Old Testament people, specifically in the Decalogue – the laws of Exodus and Leviticus 19-26 and in Deuteronomy.

It is in Deuteronomy where the “good way” is laid out for the people.
It’s similar to Moses when he draws the covenantal line before the people in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity…death and adversity…blessings and curses….Choose life…so that you and your descendants may live…loving the LORD your God, obeying him…”

The words and Torah (the Law) to which the people do not attend are both instruction and story. For Torah involves more than just the commands and teachings of the LORD.
It is also the whole story of God’s way with this people from the beginning to now.
The story of Torah has been marked by the people’s experience of good…it was intended to show them the “good way” in which they are called to walk.

And Somewhere along the way, the people have forgotten their story and its implications.
And now they are called to remember their story, to remind each other of their story and to walk in the way of their story.
They are called to remember how God interacts within their own personal story – within their communal story and how these stories all fit together to carry on God’s story throughout history.

Part of that story is remembering they serve a God who loves them immensely.
This word of judgment is so strong in chapter six and the two previous chapters of Jeremiah that one may miss the degree to which the Lord who brings the judgment resists doing so.
And who as a result experiences frustration and despair at the continued disobedience and wrongdoing of the people.
This suggests that judgment comes hard for the Lord, who has loved this people so.
There is great resistance by God to what seems to be required.

In fact, a steady diet of Jeremiah, at least in the book’s first half, reveals a kind of monotony in the face of the litany of sins and wrongs and announcements of judgment.
One sees a kind of Divine ambivalence…or rather…divine anguish at having to move against a people whom the Lord has affirmed as a “treasured possession,” as God’s people (see Dt. 7:6).

This is no hard-nosed CEO, making brutal decision and cutting jobs without blinking an eye.
It is not a simple and quick decision on God’s part.
The judgment speeches are part of the divine sadness and agony at how this has all turned out.

I liken it to parents or grandparents or aunts and uncles or primary care-givers who sit around a kitchen table at night, drinking cups of coffee and talking about those whom they love…those whom they have raised…and wondering what will become of them – maybe it’s in the context of some poor choice they’ve made or just in the face of the world they see out there in the headlines and evening news…
“What will become of those we love?”
“How will they make it in this world today?”
“How will they make the right choice?”

These are the questions we ask with regard to those whom we call our “children.”
These are the questions God asks with regard to us, the very ones whom God calls “children.”

The answer is the same on both accounts – it follows the premise of giving our children the gift of roots and wings – grounding them in the solid foundation of family AND of faith then allowing them to spread their wings and fly away on their own – trusting they will come back to their roots as they make their decisions.

It’s hoping they will “Walk in the Ways of the Lord” so that as they “Stand at the crossroads, and look, [they will] ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and [they will] walk in it, and find rest for [their] souls.”

All the while standing by waiting to welcome, waiting to help them back up after they have fallen, waiting to embrace them as they come home.

Referring to William L. Holladay’s exposition on Jeremiah in his book, Jeremiah 1, p.216 – this reference is taken from p. 627 of New Interpreters Bible Commentary, Vol. VI, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2001.