Where do you live? But more than that, what place do you call “home”? Today that may be a murky question to answer. For we live in a mobile society. Almost all of you grew up somewhere else and moved here. Most of your children don’t live here. Our mobile society keeps us moving—and often unstable, sometimes even restless.
But everyone wants someplace to call home. Perhaps, we even need that! Sociologists have even studied that and deduced what common sense has told us all along. We need a place to call home. We’ve even learned that a safe and stable home has a positive influence on child development. Just ask any teacher—he or she could have told you that all along.
I don’t know if you, during the emotional turbulence of youth, ever thought about running away from home. I did. I even sneaked out one night. But I didn’t get far. For when I thought about how I would keep warm and what I would eat, I sneaked back into my room. Even in the shortsightedness and immaturity of youth, I valued the certainties and securities of a place called home.
The need for a place to call home, a place to feel safe and secure, transcends all culture, time, and location. (Just consider the plight of the Syrian refugees. They want to be safe, but can’t find that in Syria.) Even in Old-Covenant times, family, land, home, and hearth were foundations in life, where being “on the road” was no less dangerous than it is today.
Today, we heard about a “home” in our Old-Testament reading. But the home Jeremiah mentioned is even larger than our family home. Jeremiah spoke of a nation, a people—God’s people. And so we tune our ears to listen and learn about God’s kingdom, and His king, and what it meant to be the people of God in His kingdom.
In the days of Old-Covenant prophets, the kingdom of God on earth was under the leadership of a king, a king who was from the family line of David. The king had his palace in the capital city of Jerusalem. But the Temple, God’s house, was also there. The Temple was the focal point of God’s rule and reign for His people. And the king, was to rule reflecting that reality.
But how God designed it to be was not always the case. Much tension often existed between the king’s palace and God’s Temple. For the king sometimes forgot that his place was “next door” to the Temple—not the other way around! In a sense, the king was an under-shepherd, who ruled on God’s terms, not his own.
In the time of Prophet Jeremiah, an enemy of Israel threatened both the king and the Temple. The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had laid siege to the city. Even more, God was allowing Israel’s enemy to have its way with them. Jeremiah had made it clear to all: both the king and the people had abandoned their God. They let the ways of the world and the religious practices of the world define who they were. And they pushed God farther and farther into the corner.
The Israelites assumed that if they did just enough to keep Temple worship going, God would be happy. So they brought sacrifices and offerings, thinking that what they did would please God. And if what they did appeased God, He would protect them. After all, He was their God, and they were His people.
In the eyes of the other nations, Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem looked just like any other act of war. But in the eyes of Prophet Jeremiah and some of the people, they knew better. They knew this was God’s righteous judgment on the sins of His people. But this seemed unfair for those who wanted to live by their ways instead of God’s ways. Wasn’t God supposed to be saving them, not destroying them?
So, the Israelites wanted to live as pagans and had abandoned God. Unbelief was in the driver’s seat, bringing them to do the littlest amount they thought they had to do. It was as if they thought that God couldn’t see into the heart. Oh, but, of course, they still wanted God to protect them.
So, the people chose NOT to live as God’s faithful people. Oh, they still wanted what God promised to His faithful in the Old Covenant—without being faithful! So, they weren’t that different from us after all, were they? And so, Jeremiah stood up to those who said, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). He stood up to the king, who refused to believe that Jerusalem would fall. They were God’s holy people. Because of that, Jeremiah must be a fraud.
And so the unfaithful scorned and hated Jeremiah. They put him in stocks and then, later, in prison. You try to be faithful and what does it get you? Scorn, ridicule, and attack, because the people don’t want the truth. They want the convenient lie.
But, Jeremiah had the bigger picture. He knew God’s judgment. He also knew that what was happening around him was part of a larger plan—God’s plan. And God’s plan was not to destroy and kill but to restore and make alive.
Right in the middle of Jeremiah’s message of God’s judgment came a word that spoke of God’s love. Amid their failure and lack of faith, God still spoke of everlasting love and commitment to His people. Yes, God would punish them. It was even a “tough love” that took discipline seriously.
And so their sin had to be punished. Jerusalem, the city of the king and the city of the Temple, would come to ruin. God’s people would now live as refugees in exile.
But God still had a future and a hope for them. To help show this, Jeremiah bought some property, even as Jerusalem was under siege. Imagine that. He invested in real estate, just to show that God had committed Himself, not only to the land but also to His people. God would bring His people back from exile.
Jeremiah saw a future for both the king and the city, and he described them both in the same way. “In those days,” what days? Those were the days to come when God would fulfill His promises, once for all. And then Jeremiah said, “At that time.” What time? At God’s “right time,” not ours.
And then, after that, what would happen? God “will raise up a righteous Branch from David’s line, and he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it [Jerusalem] will be called: ‘The Lord is Our Righteousness.’”
Have you ever been away from home too long? You know the feeling. You may enjoy a vacation, but you’re always glad to get home. Deep inside, we long for a home that is safe and secure, where others love us, and we love them back.
Imagine how the folks from Jerusalem felt when they woke up in Babylon! They weren’t on an exotic vacation to see the Hanging Gardens of that city, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. They were in exile, far from home.
And yet for them, and for us, God has provided a place for His people, where He calls us back to where we belong. It’s someplace more precious than any city in the world. God packs more for His people there than any other place could ever provide.
What is that place? It’s a place where we find peace and justice. For in that place, we find righteousness and salvation. That place, where God calls us to come home, exists because of God, not because of us or our efforts.
In the time of Jeremiah, God promised a king and a city that only He could provide. Yes, the Temple and city that His people had messed up would be destroyed. But God found a way to punish sin, but somehow still save His people.
How was God going to do this saving? He promised a king, but a new and better one. He would also be of the house and line of David. But he wouldn’t be just another David. That’s because God also promised a new and better city, whose name would be “righteous.” But notice where we find that righteousness, justice, truth, and peace that God mentions. Jeremiah said, “God is our righteousness.”
And so, centuries after Jeremiah, someone from the house and line of David was born. He would be the new and better David. Oh, He would still be David’s son, His descendant—but He would also be David’s Lord! And if that weren’t enough, He would also come to be the new and greater Temple and city, where God would reveal Himself on earth among His people. So, this “righteousness” would not only be God’s king; He would even be God’s Temple. All that would be wrapped up in one Person!
Right now, in these days of Advent preparation, looking forward to Christmas, we can celebrate that we have a home. We have a city, a place to call home, where God is with us with an everlasting love. How? God is with us is in the Person of Jesus. And so, because of that, the Church become God’s home for us.
In Jesus, both the king and the city come together in one Person. For when we are where Jesus physically is, we are where He comes to forgive, enliven, and renew us as His people. That’s why the Lord’s Supper is such a big deal. It’s because Jesus comes to us in His body and blood. No wonder Jesus calls His Supper “the New Covenant,” for it’s the center of our lives as His New-Covenant people.
So, where do you live? But more than that, what place do you call “home”? Where do you find safety, security, salvation, and life? Today, we remember the foundation of our lives, our home with God in Christ Jesus. For, in this place, He comes to us, cares for us, and gives us forgiveness and life! That’s Jesus! Amen.
