December 6, 2024 • 27 mins
We've all had those days. Days where nothing seems to go right and weariness and frustration take their toll. Given the stress and pressure of the holidays, we tend to have a lot of "those days" during this season. Pastor Tim has something to say about those days, but also about the days that the book of Jeremiah says are yet to come.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And when we go through those kinds of days, those
down and dreary dark times in our life.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We're having one of those days.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
We look forward to those days, don't we?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Those days?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Those are the very words that Jeremiah writes and records
as he shares God's message with the people.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good morning and welcome to peace to you from Peace
Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado. We all have those days,
don't we, when things look bleak and we hope for
better days. Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, look forward to
those days, days when justice and righteousness would prevail, and
when people would turn to God as their righteousness. He
(00:55):
was looking forward to the coming of the promised savior, Jesus.
We look forward to better days too, don't we. Like Jeremiah,
We look forward to the coming of Jesus. When he returns.
In those days, everything will be made right. Today, Pastor
Tim explores how that future reality is truly ours through Jesus,
(01:17):
and how that certainty brings us hope in this broken world.
Now here's Pastor Tim.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Oh Lord God, we pray that you would bless us
in your word, that you would come to us and
speak into our lives, and that we as we anticipate
those days, that you would sustain us and hold us
and uphold us through your gifts. In Jesus name, we
pray Amen. Have you ever had one of those days?
(01:53):
Let me tell you about one of those days. Well,
actually it was one of those knights. It was back
in the days when our kids were little, and it
seemed like sleep was a precious commodity for my wife
and I, and there was one day of the year
that I would look forward to, unlike any other night
of the year. It happened at that time, at the
(02:14):
end of October, when the daylight savings would end and
the clock would fall back and we would get an
extra hour of sleep. And I was so excited this
particular year that I would have an extra hour of sleep.
It had been a busy season and the kids were
so busy, and so that night finally got here, and
(02:36):
I was so looking forward to that extra hour of sleep.
We did our nighttime routine, brushing our teeth, getting our
pajamas on, bedtime, story prayers at bedtime, and the kids
were all tucked in, and after a few minutes of
quiet time, my wife and I trudged off and got
ready for bed and fell asleep, and it seems like
(02:56):
I had just fallen asleep when there was this great
motion that took place in the bathroom, and then followed
by some words mommy, daddy. Quickly, we got up and
we went in there, and there's our daughter, obviously sick.
The evidence was all over the bathroom, all over the hallway,
(03:20):
and so we attended to our daughter, and I left
her and our daughter, our daughter and my wife's care,
and I went downstairs and got the cleaning supplies and
began cleaning up the hallway, in the bathroom and everything.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And then I hear this.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Word from the other room, Tim and I walk into
the other room and there's my wife, tears flowing down
her cheeks, holding her foot, and I said, what happened?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I stubbed my toe. I think it's broken.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
It was, And so another trip downstairs to get an
ice pack for my wife, and then another trip downstairs
to get a sleeping bag in a big pot, because
we decided it was better for our daughter to sleep
next to us on the floor so that we can
make sure she was okay for the evening. Finally we
got the lights turned off, we were all settled in bed,
(04:15):
and I'd just fallen asleep when all of a sudden,
it felt like somebody hit me in the side of
my head with a rock, and not knowing what was
going on, totally confused, groping around in the darkness, only
seeing stars if you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I turned the light on and there is our.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Three year old son, holding his head and whimpering. I
had forgotten that our three year old son had the
habit of getting up in the middle of the night
and crawling into bed with us. He didn't know his
sister was on the floor, tripped over her and hit
me in the side of the head. The next day,
(04:51):
I walked in and I did children's message, and one
of the kids looked at me and said, what happened
to your eye? It's black one of those days. Today
we start a whole new season, a whole new church.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Here.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
We just finished thanks to the Giver or day giving,
thanks to our God and our creator for all the
gifts that he has provided and continues to provide for us.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And now we start a new season.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
It's called Advent, and it's a season of anticipation and joy.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
As we look.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Forward to Christmas, and may I remind you that you
only have twenty four days of shopping between now and Christmas.
And if it hasn't been made obvious to you, Cyber
Monday and Black Friday sales will make it clear.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's a time for us to start all those preparations,
baking cookies, getting together with family and friends, wrapping gifts,
and getting ready for the big celebration as we celebrate
the birth of our Savior, as we celebrate Christmas. For
us in the church, advent is so much more than
just getting ready for a holiday, isn't it. It's a
(06:09):
season when we anticipate the coming of our Savior, the
celebration of his birth. When he came, It's a happy,
happiest time of the year, isn't it? And yet sometimes
it isn't There are sometimes when people are mourning the
(06:32):
loss of loved ones and celebrating this holiday season without
that loved one. There's some of us that are are
lonely at times and feeling like we're the only ones
that aren't having fun. Everybody else is enjoying the season
and we're not. There's times when we look at the
longer nights in the shorter days and the dreariness of
(06:55):
it all. Or maybe it's the cold that finally gets
us down, and we have these short, cold days and
sometimes lonely and some for us, some of us, it's
a blue season for good reason. And when we go
through those kinds of days, those down and dreary dark
(07:17):
times in our life, and we're having one of those days,
we look forward to those days, don't we those days?
Those are the very words that Jeremiah writes and records
as he shares God's message with the people. He says,
in those days and at that time, I will cause
(07:38):
a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he
shall execute justice and righteousness.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
In the land.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will
dwell securely. And this is the name by which it
shall be called. The Lord is our righteousness. In those days,
Jeremiah was looking forward to those days, because for Jeremiah,
(08:12):
every day was one of those days. God had called
him as an unwilling teenager, and he said, you're going
to be my messenger to the people. But the message
that he was sent to give to the people was
not a happy message. It was a message filled with
(08:35):
gloom and doom because you see, the people of Israel
had fallen away from God. Things were not good among
the people of God. They had turned to other idols,
idols and gods of the neighboring countries. They were living
life for themselves, totally ignorant and unconcerned about the concerns
(08:58):
and the needs of others. They were taking advantage of
the poor and the needy and the downtrodden. Those that
were in leadership were lining their pockets with the taxes
rather than taking care of the citizens that they were supposed.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
To care for.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Even the religious leaders were lining their pockets with the offerings,
living the high life, while others were being left to
their own devices. And so Jeremiah, for forty years was
sharing the message of God with the people of Israel,
(09:33):
and they didn't like the message. Jeremiah was thrown into jail,
He was arrested by the king. He was thrown into
a cistern because he was considered.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
To be a trader.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
The mobs attacked him, attacked him. There was a time
when he was whipped and then put into stocks, all
because he was sharing the message to God had sent
him to sin, to give. And what probably was even
more difficult than that was that he was in Jerusalem
when the enemy country came in and took over and
(10:15):
laid siege on Jerusalem, and the people were suffering unspeakable
whores and then they were taken into captivity, and he
was there to witness at all.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And probably the very.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Worst of all of it was that he was alone.
He never married, he never had a family because his
family deserted him, nobody would listen to his message, and
all alone, knowing the whorees that they were going to
be suffering if they didn't turn back to God, he
had to bear it himself by himself.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
No wonder.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Jeremiah was looking forward to those days. And we can relate,
can't we. We've talked about here. I've shared these things
over and over again. We look around this world and
we see the devastation that's left behind by the hurricanes
and the earthquakes and the tornadoes. We see the crooked politicians,
(11:20):
some of them that line in their own pockets and
are concerned about their own power and their own prestige
instead of caring about the people that they're supposed to
be serving. We see people taking advantage of the smallest
of people, the downtrodden, the poorest, the infants. We see
(11:42):
people satisfying their own desires rather than taking care of
other people and serving God. And then are we get
on the personal note and personal level, we see that
we are struggling with health concerns and financial backs, loneliness, despair.
(12:04):
We've all been there, haven't we. We can relate to Jeremiah,
can't we. We can understand where he's coming from, and
we to anticipate those days. Right. We are all about
waiting and anticipating because we too were waiting for that
(12:25):
same Jesus.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
To come back.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Because you see, those days, to Jeremiah were the days
when God would fulfill his promise and he would send
his Messiah. Those days were the day when God's promise
would be fulfilled and the savior of the world would come,
and that the people would be restored to justice and
(12:49):
righteousness and they would be secure in their relationship with God,
and that they would be called the righteousness of God.
He was looking forward to those days, and we too
look forward to those days. We can relate to Jeremiah, right,
But maybe we shouldn't relate too much because you see
(13:14):
you and I know that God fulfilled his promise, that
God sent his son Jesus, who is that branch of David,
that righteousness. It's that baby in a manger, that savior
that you and I cling to.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
He came.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And so those days that Jeremiah was looking for and
looking forward to are these days.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
That you and I live in.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Every day we can revel in the fact that we
are children of God, as we're reminded of our baptism,
and that He made us his through that gift. Every
day today we can put up his word, and we
could hear his promises, and we can understand that His
plan of salvation has been set into motion because Jesus,
(14:08):
our Savior, came today and every day we can come
and see Jesus come to us in person, in the
flesh and the blood, offering us the forgiveness of sins.
Today and every day we can know that these are
the days that Jeremiah was hoping for. They've arrived, and
(14:31):
yet we still wait. What do we wait for? We
wait for that Savior to come back once again. We
wait for the resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come. We anticipate those days and
we'd look forward to them. But today, today are these days.
Those days today are the days that we can live
(14:54):
in His presence. And yes, it's true. Life is not
always the happy, happiest time, is it. But we can
still live in joy because we know that our God
is faithful. He sent his son for us to suffer
(15:17):
and die upon the cross, and that to be raised
from the dead. And this Jesus comes to us, and
he says, all authority in heaven and earth has been
given to me, and lo, I am with you always
to the very end of the age. Those days are
these days, and you and I are counted among the righteousness.
So now what do we do with those days? Well,
(15:43):
we proclaim him like the angels, we worship him like
the wise men, and we go and tell everyone what
we have seen and heard, because our savior, Christ the
Lord has come.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Amen, good morning, pastor tim Well, good morning, excellent message
as usual. Yes he is, Yes, he is, you know.
And I listened to the summons, and so many times
you talk to us about the different saints and what
(16:25):
they went through. And I think I have problems in
my life, and these guys I can't believe being treated
the way they were for just trying to tell people
the truth, and they wouldn't listen. And not only would
they not listen, but they tortured him for that, you know,
for that belief that they had. And all they're trying
to do is tell people what's going on. Well, it
(16:46):
sounded like that when you explained that that night that
you had and when you were just trying to get
some rest and your your daughter got really sick, and
your wife broke her toe, and you got hit in
the head and got a black eye, and and all
these things that are happening. Isn't that the way it
is for a life? Sometimes you got to this plan
and all of a sudden it just falls apart.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And we all have those days, don't we. I'm sure
you have where all these things just piled upon you
and and happen to you, and then you sit there,
Lord have mercy, right, you know, and and you know,
certainly what we went through that night is just life.
But it is life in a sinful world where things
don't go well, and the effects of sin, you know,
(17:32):
create sickness, and they create hardship, and they create pain,
and they create suffering and eventually death and mourning and
we go through that. And there's so many times in
life when we we we wish and look forward to
better days to when those days come. You know, I
look forward to those days.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Right absolutely, you know, and we know that those days
are coming when you know, our Lord is going to
take us home, and we have that to look forward to,
right and makes it kind of lessens the load here
a little bit and makes some of these these bad
things a little more tolerable, exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And you know, that's what advent is all about. You know.
Back in Jeremiah's days, they were looking forward to the Advent,
the coming. They were anticipating the Savior's arrival. They were
looking forward to the Messiah that that God had promised
that he would restore people and save them from their sin.
And know it talks about you know, he was looking
(18:33):
forward to the day when the people of God would
be called his righteousness. He was looking forward to the
day when Jerusalem, the people of God would would be
safe and secure and not be prey to the will
and the whims of those that were power hungry and
wanting to line their pockets with money. They were looking
(18:55):
forward to the day when the righteousness of God would
be made made known. And so basically he was looking
forward to the coming of the Savior.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And we know who that savior is exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born on that
Christmas day.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Very good and you're you're absolutely right when you think
about what happened in Jeremiah's day. You know, people were
they were doing. They were doing what's wrong in God's eyes,
in man's eyes when you look at the leaders keeping
tax money or the religious leaders, you know, keeping that money,
(19:30):
the donations and tithing for themselves. And all Jeremiah was
doing is telling them what they're doing is wrong here.
And he's trying to explain that. And like so many times,
when you have somebody that's holding you accountable, you don't
like that. A lot of people don't care for that
being held accountable. So in this what you what you
described for us in your sermon, is that not only
(19:54):
did they get angry with him, they got really angry,
threw him into a well and beat him and and
it was horrible. But what did he do. He was
there waiting for this, like you said, this branch of David.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So when you were a youth, did you ever were
you ever corrected by somebody maybe your parents or somebody
in authority, your coach or your teacher, the principle, or
somebody like that, and you're muttered under your breath, you know,
you just kind of despise them, at least for the
time being.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Oh yeah, yeah, we do that, don't we.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And that's what was happening to Jeremiah. He was sent
by God with this message to call the people back
to God, to call them to repentance, to turn away
from their sinful ways and turn back to God. That's
what repentance is. That's what it's all about, is to
turn away from our sinful lifestyle. We don't like that,
(20:51):
you know, we don't like people exposing our sin and
our failures, and so we oftentimes despise those That's what
was happening to him. So him and Jeremiah looking forward
to those days. He was looking forward to that from
a spiritual perspective, not just from the everyday trials and
(21:13):
tribulations that he went through, but that things would be
made right not just for him, but for the people
of God, for people in general. That he wanted that
savior to that was going to restore and save the world.
We look forward to that.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Too, and we have to and we need to and
to accept that the way it's written, and not listen
to what men are saying, what they're trying to do
to distract us, which a lot of times is Satan
himself trying to do that. But we can't do that now.
One of the things you said in there, and I
know that some people are thinking about this, maybe in
(21:52):
our listening audience, those days are these days now. You
alluded to that a little bit, just a few minutes,
but can you explain that a little bit more for everybody.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
We live in a here now, but not yet reality.
When Jesus came, he ushered in a new kingdom, his kingdom,
he made things right. He took our sin, our pain,
our sorrow, our grief, our shame, our guilt, and he
(22:28):
placed it upon his shoulders, and he bore it on
the cross for us. He made us right with God.
He took our sinfulness and placed it upon his shoulders,
took his righteousness and placed it upon us, and we
are now the righteousness of God. Those were the days
that Jeremiah was looking forward to. Those days are these days.
(22:50):
We'd live in that reality. And yet we know that
Christ is going to return one day, and now we
long for those days. But right now, in the meantime,
Jesus promised, and lo, I am with you always to
the very end of the age. He is here with us.
He is walking with us, he's in step with us.
(23:13):
He keeps calling us and beckoning us when we wander away.
He's here with us. And he makes that evident to
us through the word and the sacrament, as he speaks
to us in his word, as he comes to us
in baptism and declares us to be children of God,
when we attend Holy communion and participate in the Lord's Supper,
(23:35):
and he comes to us in the flesh and the blood,
right there, real present, really present, there with us, to
offer us the forgiveness of sins and make us right with.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
God, our Father.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
He does all of that. Today we live in that
reality that our God is with us, he's walking with us,
and our Savior is with us. And yet that's here,
but it's not quite done. One day he's going to return.
And that's what the season of Advent is all about.
(24:07):
For those of us that are believers, that we are
anticipating the day when Christ will return and make things
right between God and man and God and his creation,
restoring it all to his original intent back at creation,
restoring it all before we've messed it up with our sin,
and making it right again once and for all. That's
(24:30):
the new Heaven and the new Earth that we're looking
forward to. And so we live in these days the
days that in these days we're looking forward to those days, right,
But in these days we're also living the days that
Jeremiah was looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
And we pray that this time, you know, when people
see these different the Manger scene, that they look at
that baby Jesus in a whole different way. What is
that baby Jesus mean to us?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
He came to bring peace on earth, not peace among men,
but peace within men within.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Very good, Well, thank you, pastor Tim. I just I
love your messages. And you know, we're going to be
going to a podcast here in January and everybody will
be able to see your face as we talk, and
which you know is going to be a lot of fun.
I think we're going to have some different people that
will come in, different guests that can speak. But we
(25:31):
just want people to know that even though we probably
won't be on this radio like they're used to right now,
we're going to be able to be found on that
podcast which is going to reach so many more people
for Christ. So again, thank you and God's blessings on
your week.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
God's blessings to you too.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Thank you, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
For Peace to you at Peace Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado.
If you have no church home, we'd be delighted for
you to join us at five six seven five Field
Street in Arbada. Services are at eight and ten thirty am,
with Bible classes for all ages at nine fifteen am.
You can easily access our services online on our YouTube
(26:26):
channel Peacearbada at YouTube dot com, or wherever podcasts are found.
Coming this January, tune in to the new video podcast
at peacetou on YouTube dot com, or listen wherever podcasts
are found now from the entire broadcast team at Peace
Lutheran and Arvada, I'm Reuben Hollenbeck, and may the Peace
(26:49):
of our Lord be with you now and always.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
M
And when we go through those kinds of days, those
down and dreary dark times in our life.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We're having one of those days.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
We look forward to those days, don't we?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Those days?
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Those are the very words that Jeremiah writes and records
as he shares God's message with the people.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good morning and welcome to peace to you from Peace
Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado. We all have those days,
don't we, when things look bleak and we hope for
better days. Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, look forward to
those days, days when justice and righteousness would prevail, and
when people would turn to God as their righteousness. He
(00:55):
was looking forward to the coming of the promised savior, Jesus.
We look forward to better days too, don't we. Like Jeremiah,
We look forward to the coming of Jesus. When he returns.
In those days, everything will be made right. Today, Pastor
Tim explores how that future reality is truly ours through Jesus,
(01:17):
and how that certainty brings us hope in this broken world.
Now here's Pastor Tim.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Oh Lord God, we pray that you would bless us
in your word, that you would come to us and
speak into our lives, and that we as we anticipate
those days, that you would sustain us and hold us
and uphold us through your gifts. In Jesus name, we
pray Amen. Have you ever had one of those days?
(01:53):
Let me tell you about one of those days. Well,
actually it was one of those knights. It was back
in the days when our kids were little, and it
seemed like sleep was a precious commodity for my wife
and I, and there was one day of the year
that I would look forward to, unlike any other night
of the year. It happened at that time, at the
(02:14):
end of October, when the daylight savings would end and
the clock would fall back and we would get an
extra hour of sleep. And I was so excited this
particular year that I would have an extra hour of sleep.
It had been a busy season and the kids were
so busy, and so that night finally got here, and
(02:36):
I was so looking forward to that extra hour of sleep.
We did our nighttime routine, brushing our teeth, getting our
pajamas on, bedtime, story prayers at bedtime, and the kids
were all tucked in, and after a few minutes of
quiet time, my wife and I trudged off and got
ready for bed and fell asleep, and it seems like
(02:56):
I had just fallen asleep when there was this great
motion that took place in the bathroom, and then followed
by some words mommy, daddy. Quickly, we got up and
we went in there, and there's our daughter, obviously sick.
The evidence was all over the bathroom, all over the hallway,
(03:20):
and so we attended to our daughter, and I left
her and our daughter, our daughter and my wife's care,
and I went downstairs and got the cleaning supplies and
began cleaning up the hallway, in the bathroom and everything.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
And then I hear this.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Word from the other room, Tim and I walk into
the other room and there's my wife, tears flowing down
her cheeks, holding her foot, and I said, what happened?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I stubbed my toe. I think it's broken.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
It was, And so another trip downstairs to get an
ice pack for my wife, and then another trip downstairs
to get a sleeping bag in a big pot, because
we decided it was better for our daughter to sleep
next to us on the floor so that we can
make sure she was okay for the evening. Finally we
got the lights turned off, we were all settled in bed,
(04:15):
and I'd just fallen asleep when all of a sudden,
it felt like somebody hit me in the side of
my head with a rock, and not knowing what was
going on, totally confused, groping around in the darkness, only
seeing stars if you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I turned the light on and there is our.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Three year old son, holding his head and whimpering. I
had forgotten that our three year old son had the
habit of getting up in the middle of the night
and crawling into bed with us. He didn't know his
sister was on the floor, tripped over her and hit
me in the side of the head. The next day,
(04:51):
I walked in and I did children's message, and one
of the kids looked at me and said, what happened
to your eye? It's black one of those days. Today
we start a whole new season, a whole new church.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Here.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
We just finished thanks to the Giver or day giving,
thanks to our God and our creator for all the
gifts that he has provided and continues to provide for us.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And now we start a new season.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
It's called Advent, and it's a season of anticipation and joy.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
As we look.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Forward to Christmas, and may I remind you that you
only have twenty four days of shopping between now and Christmas.
And if it hasn't been made obvious to you, Cyber
Monday and Black Friday sales will make it clear.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
It's a time for us to start all those preparations,
baking cookies, getting together with family and friends, wrapping gifts,
and getting ready for the big celebration as we celebrate
the birth of our Savior, as we celebrate Christmas. For
us in the church, advent is so much more than
just getting ready for a holiday, isn't it. It's a
(06:09):
season when we anticipate the coming of our Savior, the
celebration of his birth. When he came, It's a happy,
happiest time of the year, isn't it? And yet sometimes
it isn't There are sometimes when people are mourning the
(06:32):
loss of loved ones and celebrating this holiday season without
that loved one. There's some of us that are are
lonely at times and feeling like we're the only ones
that aren't having fun. Everybody else is enjoying the season
and we're not. There's times when we look at the
longer nights in the shorter days and the dreariness of
(06:55):
it all. Or maybe it's the cold that finally gets
us down, and we have these short, cold days and
sometimes lonely and some for us, some of us, it's
a blue season for good reason. And when we go
through those kinds of days, those down and dreary dark
(07:17):
times in our life, and we're having one of those days,
we look forward to those days, don't we those days?
Those are the very words that Jeremiah writes and records
as he shares God's message with the people. He says,
in those days and at that time, I will cause
(07:38):
a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he
shall execute justice and righteousness.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
In the land.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will
dwell securely. And this is the name by which it
shall be called. The Lord is our righteousness. In those days,
Jeremiah was looking forward to those days, because for Jeremiah,
(08:12):
every day was one of those days. God had called
him as an unwilling teenager, and he said, you're going
to be my messenger to the people. But the message
that he was sent to give to the people was
not a happy message. It was a message filled with
(08:35):
gloom and doom because you see, the people of Israel
had fallen away from God. Things were not good among
the people of God. They had turned to other idols,
idols and gods of the neighboring countries. They were living
life for themselves, totally ignorant and unconcerned about the concerns
(08:58):
and the needs of others. They were taking advantage of
the poor and the needy and the downtrodden. Those that
were in leadership were lining their pockets with the taxes
rather than taking care of the citizens that they were supposed.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
To care for.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Even the religious leaders were lining their pockets with the offerings,
living the high life, while others were being left to
their own devices. And so Jeremiah, for forty years was
sharing the message of God with the people of Israel,
(09:33):
and they didn't like the message. Jeremiah was thrown into jail,
He was arrested by the king. He was thrown into
a cistern because he was considered.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
To be a trader.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
The mobs attacked him, attacked him. There was a time
when he was whipped and then put into stocks, all
because he was sharing the message to God had sent
him to sin, to give. And what probably was even
more difficult than that was that he was in Jerusalem
when the enemy country came in and took over and
(10:15):
laid siege on Jerusalem, and the people were suffering unspeakable
whores and then they were taken into captivity, and he
was there to witness at all.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And probably the very.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Worst of all of it was that he was alone.
He never married, he never had a family because his
family deserted him, nobody would listen to his message, and
all alone, knowing the whorees that they were going to
be suffering if they didn't turn back to God, he
had to bear it himself by himself.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
No wonder.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Jeremiah was looking forward to those days. And we can relate,
can't we. We've talked about here. I've shared these things
over and over again. We look around this world and
we see the devastation that's left behind by the hurricanes
and the earthquakes and the tornadoes. We see the crooked politicians,
(11:20):
some of them that line in their own pockets and
are concerned about their own power and their own prestige
instead of caring about the people that they're supposed to
be serving. We see people taking advantage of the smallest
of people, the downtrodden, the poorest, the infants. We see
(11:42):
people satisfying their own desires rather than taking care of
other people and serving God. And then are we get
on the personal note and personal level, we see that
we are struggling with health concerns and financial backs, loneliness, despair.
(12:04):
We've all been there, haven't we. We can relate to Jeremiah,
can't we. We can understand where he's coming from, and
we to anticipate those days. Right. We are all about
waiting and anticipating because we too were waiting for that
(12:25):
same Jesus.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
To come back.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Because you see, those days, to Jeremiah were the days
when God would fulfill his promise and he would send
his Messiah. Those days were the day when God's promise
would be fulfilled and the savior of the world would come,
and that the people would be restored to justice and
(12:49):
righteousness and they would be secure in their relationship with God,
and that they would be called the righteousness of God.
He was looking forward to those days, and we too
look forward to those days. We can relate to Jeremiah, right,
But maybe we shouldn't relate too much because you see
(13:14):
you and I know that God fulfilled his promise, that
God sent his son Jesus, who is that branch of David,
that righteousness. It's that baby in a manger, that savior
that you and I cling to.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
He came.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And so those days that Jeremiah was looking for and
looking forward to are these days.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
That you and I live in.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Every day we can revel in the fact that we
are children of God, as we're reminded of our baptism,
and that He made us his through that gift. Every
day today we can put up his word, and we
could hear his promises, and we can understand that His
plan of salvation has been set into motion because Jesus,
(14:08):
our Savior, came today and every day we can come
and see Jesus come to us in person, in the
flesh and the blood, offering us the forgiveness of sins.
Today and every day we can know that these are
the days that Jeremiah was hoping for. They've arrived, and
(14:31):
yet we still wait. What do we wait for? We
wait for that Savior to come back once again. We
wait for the resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come. We anticipate those days and
we'd look forward to them. But today, today are these days.
Those days today are the days that we can live
(14:54):
in His presence. And yes, it's true. Life is not
always the happy, happiest time, is it. But we can
still live in joy because we know that our God
is faithful. He sent his son for us to suffer
(15:17):
and die upon the cross, and that to be raised
from the dead. And this Jesus comes to us, and
he says, all authority in heaven and earth has been
given to me, and lo, I am with you always
to the very end of the age. Those days are
these days, and you and I are counted among the righteousness.
So now what do we do with those days? Well,
(15:43):
we proclaim him like the angels, we worship him like
the wise men, and we go and tell everyone what
we have seen and heard, because our savior, Christ the
Lord has come.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Amen, good morning, pastor tim Well, good morning, excellent message
as usual. Yes he is, Yes, he is, you know.
And I listened to the summons, and so many times
you talk to us about the different saints and what
(16:25):
they went through. And I think I have problems in
my life, and these guys I can't believe being treated
the way they were for just trying to tell people
the truth, and they wouldn't listen. And not only would
they not listen, but they tortured him for that, you know,
for that belief that they had. And all they're trying
to do is tell people what's going on. Well, it
(16:46):
sounded like that when you explained that that night that
you had and when you were just trying to get
some rest and your your daughter got really sick, and
your wife broke her toe, and you got hit in
the head and got a black eye, and and all
these things that are happening. Isn't that the way it
is for a life? Sometimes you got to this plan
and all of a sudden it just falls apart.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And we all have those days, don't we. I'm sure
you have where all these things just piled upon you
and and happen to you, and then you sit there,
Lord have mercy, right, you know, and and you know,
certainly what we went through that night is just life.
But it is life in a sinful world where things
don't go well, and the effects of sin, you know,
(17:32):
create sickness, and they create hardship, and they create pain,
and they create suffering and eventually death and mourning and
we go through that. And there's so many times in
life when we we we wish and look forward to
better days to when those days come. You know, I
look forward to those days.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Right absolutely, you know, and we know that those days
are coming when you know, our Lord is going to
take us home, and we have that to look forward to,
right and makes it kind of lessens the load here
a little bit and makes some of these these bad
things a little more tolerable, exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
And you know, that's what advent is all about. You know.
Back in Jeremiah's days, they were looking forward to the Advent,
the coming. They were anticipating the Savior's arrival. They were
looking forward to the Messiah that that God had promised
that he would restore people and save them from their sin.
And know it talks about you know, he was looking
(18:33):
forward to the day when the people of God would
be called his righteousness. He was looking forward to the
day when Jerusalem, the people of God would would be
safe and secure and not be prey to the will
and the whims of those that were power hungry and
wanting to line their pockets with money. They were looking
(18:55):
forward to the day when the righteousness of God would
be made made known. And so basically he was looking
forward to the coming of the Savior.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And we know who that savior is exactly.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born on that
Christmas day.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Very good and you're you're absolutely right when you think
about what happened in Jeremiah's day. You know, people were
they were doing. They were doing what's wrong in God's eyes,
in man's eyes when you look at the leaders keeping
tax money or the religious leaders, you know, keeping that money,
(19:30):
the donations and tithing for themselves. And all Jeremiah was
doing is telling them what they're doing is wrong here.
And he's trying to explain that. And like so many times,
when you have somebody that's holding you accountable, you don't
like that. A lot of people don't care for that
being held accountable. So in this what you what you
described for us in your sermon, is that not only
(19:54):
did they get angry with him, they got really angry,
threw him into a well and beat him and and
it was horrible. But what did he do. He was
there waiting for this, like you said, this branch of David.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
So when you were a youth, did you ever were
you ever corrected by somebody maybe your parents or somebody
in authority, your coach or your teacher, the principle, or
somebody like that, and you're muttered under your breath, you know,
you just kind of despise them, at least for the
time being.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Oh yeah, yeah, we do that, don't we.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
And that's what was happening to Jeremiah. He was sent
by God with this message to call the people back
to God, to call them to repentance, to turn away
from their sinful ways and turn back to God. That's
what repentance is. That's what it's all about, is to
turn away from our sinful lifestyle. We don't like that,
(20:51):
you know, we don't like people exposing our sin and
our failures, and so we oftentimes despise those That's what
was happening to him. So him and Jeremiah looking forward
to those days. He was looking forward to that from
a spiritual perspective, not just from the everyday trials and
(21:13):
tribulations that he went through, but that things would be
made right not just for him, but for the people
of God, for people in general. That he wanted that
savior to that was going to restore and save the world.
We look forward to that.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Too, and we have to and we need to and
to accept that the way it's written, and not listen
to what men are saying, what they're trying to do
to distract us, which a lot of times is Satan
himself trying to do that. But we can't do that now.
One of the things you said in there, and I
know that some people are thinking about this, maybe in
(21:52):
our listening audience, those days are these days now. You
alluded to that a little bit, just a few minutes,
but can you explain that a little bit more for everybody.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
We live in a here now, but not yet reality.
When Jesus came, he ushered in a new kingdom, his kingdom,
he made things right. He took our sin, our pain,
our sorrow, our grief, our shame, our guilt, and he
(22:28):
placed it upon his shoulders, and he bore it on
the cross for us. He made us right with God.
He took our sinfulness and placed it upon his shoulders,
took his righteousness and placed it upon us, and we
are now the righteousness of God. Those were the days
that Jeremiah was looking forward to. Those days are these days.
(22:50):
We'd live in that reality. And yet we know that
Christ is going to return one day, and now we
long for those days. But right now, in the meantime,
Jesus promised, and lo, I am with you always to
the very end of the age. He is here with us.
He is walking with us, he's in step with us.
(23:13):
He keeps calling us and beckoning us when we wander away.
He's here with us. And he makes that evident to
us through the word and the sacrament, as he speaks
to us in his word, as he comes to us
in baptism and declares us to be children of God,
when we attend Holy communion and participate in the Lord's Supper,
(23:35):
and he comes to us in the flesh and the blood,
right there, real present, really present, there with us, to
offer us the forgiveness of sins and make us right with.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
God, our Father.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
He does all of that. Today we live in that
reality that our God is with us, he's walking with us,
and our Savior is with us. And yet that's here,
but it's not quite done. One day he's going to return.
And that's what the season of Advent is all about.
(24:07):
For those of us that are believers, that we are
anticipating the day when Christ will return and make things
right between God and man and God and his creation,
restoring it all to his original intent back at creation,
restoring it all before we've messed it up with our sin,
and making it right again once and for all. That's
(24:30):
the new Heaven and the new Earth that we're looking
forward to. And so we live in these days the
days that in these days we're looking forward to those days, right,
But in these days we're also living the days that
Jeremiah was looking forward to.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
And we pray that this time, you know, when people
see these different the Manger scene, that they look at
that baby Jesus in a whole different way. What is
that baby Jesus mean to us?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
He came to bring peace on earth, not peace among men,
but peace within men within.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Very good, Well, thank you, pastor Tim. I just I
love your messages. And you know, we're going to be
going to a podcast here in January and everybody will
be able to see your face as we talk, and
which you know is going to be a lot of fun.
I think we're going to have some different people that
will come in, different guests that can speak. But we
(25:31):
just want people to know that even though we probably
won't be on this radio like they're used to right now,
we're going to be able to be found on that
podcast which is going to reach so many more people
for Christ. So again, thank you and God's blessings on
your week.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
God's blessings to you too.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Thank you, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
For Peace to you at Peace Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado.
If you have no church home, we'd be delighted for
you to join us at five six seven five Field
Street in Arbada. Services are at eight and ten thirty am,
with Bible classes for all ages at nine fifteen am.
You can easily access our services online on our YouTube
(26:26):
channel Peacearbada at YouTube dot com, or wherever podcasts are found.
Coming this January, tune in to the new video podcast
at peacetou on YouTube dot com, or listen wherever podcasts
are found now from the entire broadcast team at Peace
Lutheran and Arvada, I'm Reuben Hollenbeck, and may the Peace
(26:49):
of our Lord be with you now and always.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
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