This morning begins our worship focus on the theme of justice based on the book of Jeremiah. As we begin, a few background notes are in order. First, the name Jeremiah gave rise to the English word jeremiad. A jeremiad is a long literary work in which the state of society and its morals are bitterly lamented. It always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall if the society's ways are not changed. This kind of writing was a favorite of the Puritans in this country. Perhaps the most famous example is a work by Jonathan Edwards called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." As angry and pessimistic as jeremiads seem, they are always based on the hope that the people hearing or reading them will wake up, see the errors of their ways and change their lives. Edwards ends his sermon by calling for people to turn to Jesus as their hope: "Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come." (link)

The prophet Jeremiah lived in the time immediately before the Israelites were exiled to Babylon. He began his ministry around 626 BCE and it ended soon after the exile in 586 BCE. His name can be translated in Hebrew in several ways such as: "the Lord exalts," or "the Lord establishes," or perhaps most likely given Jeremiah's personality as: "the Lord throws." Meaning either that Jeremiah was hurled into a world hostile to his message, or that nations were being thrown down in divine judgment for their sins. One cool factoid about the book – it contains more words than any other book in the Bible. While details of Jeremiah's death are not truly known, Jewish tradition says that while exiled in Egypt he was put to death by stoning at the hands of his own people. (link)

I am a fan of the TV series The Closer. The best part of the show is when deputy police chief Brenda Johnson closes the case by finally asking the right question. Her head heads snaps to in a certain way, the look comes into her eyes and you know that she's figured out who did it. Without the right questions we can't get all the information that is necessary. When you buy a car you want to know certain things about its previous history. When you purchase insurance you need to know what is covered. When the doctor says "you have … " you want to know all your options for treatment. You get at all those things by asking the right questions. The book of Jeremiah begins in the same way.

Jeremiah calls the people together: "Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel." The passage is set as a courtroom drama. These are the formal words that call people to court in Jeremiah's time. God wants an account of Israel's bad behavior and wants to know why Israel has forgotten God. And so the questions – What wrong have I done that Israel strayed from me and pursued worthless things? Have they forgotten I'm the one who led them out of Egypt and provided them good things? These are the questions the people of Israel in Jeremiah's time have to get right … their lives as God's people depend on it. Centuries later … they are the questions that should haunt our living as we figure out how we are to live as those named and claimed by God … as those whose redemption is dependent on pursuing the answers to the right questions.

God has again and again demonstrated love for us … God's people … by calling us to account. When Adam and Eve strayed and then tried to hide themselves God came to them. Instead of simply disappearing from humanity, God called: "Adam, where are you?" While there were consequences for their disobedience, God continued to love them. Jesus asked Peter: "Do you love me?" Three times the same question. Peter was also asked by Jesus: "Who do people say that I am?" And we sit here today because of those questions.

For Jeremiah the question today is God calling the people of Israel to task: "Why have you strayed from me and pursued worthless things, instead of the good that I offer you? People didn't like Jeremiah for the questions he asked … again, tradition has it that his own people stoned him to death. Doing the God thing will not always get you the accolades of others. In 1983 I participated in the 20th Anniversary March on Washington that commemorated Martin Luther King Jr's August 28th march in 1963. It was the right thing to do, and I figured the church would be happy to have me present in their name. I was wrong … and found that local church was embarrassed to have their name associated with such a thing. We will not appreciate the Jeremiah questions in our life. They will sting us, call us to task, ask us to examine how we are pursuing worthless things that call us away from God. It is easy to be the one pointing the finger, much more difficult to be the one being called to task.

Jeremiah calls us to ask the questions that will have us examining what has priority in our lives, what we find worth pursuing. Where is God in … in the schedule I chose to keep; … in the company in chose to be found in; … in the way I spend my money; … in how I treat others; … in how I drive. Where is God? One preacher suggested that we all put signs up where this reminder will always be before us: on our bathroom mirrors, on the dashboard of our cars: where is God? (link)

For in the end the God questions will not be: How much money did you make, what was your final grade in 8th grade algebra, or what job did you have? The questions will be more on the lines of the judgment Jesus pronounces in the gospel of Matthew:

'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 'And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'

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