Years ago – many years ago – I preached a series of messages from the Book of Jeremiah. It wasn’t verse by verse, as we are doing with Matthew – it was more like highlight by highlight. I have to admit that I haven’t preached much from Jeremiah since then. But Jeremiah and his book are as appropriate today as they have ever been.
The man wasn’t a king or a prince; he wasn’t even a great poet or writer. If you didn’t know him ahead of time, he probably wouldn’t stand out in a crowd or draw you to him. But something which does set him apart, once you get to know him, is that he was real. By that I don’t mean that he was a “real man” in some sort of paradoxical, artificial way. I’m thinking of just the opposite – he was GENUINE – sincere. What you see in Jeremiah is exactly what you get. “Transparent” is a word we hear more and more these days – Jeremiah was “transparent.” And that sets him apart from the phoney Christians who seem get the headlines these days. He didn’t wear any kind of mask or phoney smile to hide his emotions, thoughts or intentions. Jeremiah was a real hero who was not trying to be heroic. He still cries out to us about the things that we still need to think about today. He reminds us that we don’t have to live our lives in a box, like one Corn Flake among millions. Real Christians are not mass-produced toy soldiers, nor are they teddy bears.
Jeremiah was one man whose 70 years on earth were well-spent, but without much earthly remuneration. He wasn’t just another nice guy – the world is filled with simple, insipid, nice guys. I think that Jeremiah lived life at its richest, which is what we all need to do. He found himself and gave himself up at the same time. He lost his life and found it in the Lord. He picked up his cross and followed Christ. Unlike so many people today, he didn’t die before the death angel arrived. I think that Jeremiah is worthy of a few moments of our time.
Think first of all of the people mentioned in this text.
We are going to play around with names tonight. There are eight personal names here: There are Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Benjamin and Judah; then follow Josiah, Amon, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.
Doesn’t our use of the various parts of speech mirror who we are? For example, some people are verb oriented: constantly “doing, going, doing, and performing.” Other people are noun oriented: “TV, DVD, Mercedes, filet mignon and negotiable bonds.” And then others are pronoun centered: “I, me, mine, me, me” and just once in a while “you.” Don’t these kinds of people miss something of real value in their lives? There are some people who stand out in a crowd, because they are “personal name” people. They constantly use and reuse the names of the people around them. And by doing that, they earn the respect – and often eventually the love of others. To them a personal name – the other person’s name – is the most important part of speech. Personal names mean individual people rather than blurred crowds.
Take the name of “Jesus” as a perfect example. Most of Christendom thinks that it is going to heaven based upon some mystical bath or shower. Sure, a saviour died, but his name could have been Mohammet, Buddah, Krishna, or Jesus. But that is wrong – there is salvation in no other than Jesus, “For there none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” The angel said, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” The name “Jesus” brings us down to an actual, living, dying Saviour – Jesus of Nazareth.
Society wants to give today’s baby a nine digit number, instead of a name. That’s because society doesn’t care about the person, or the soul, of those babies. A friend of mine once told me that he got a nasty letter from the IRS. It seems that three years earlier he had put down the wrong Social Security Number on his tax return. The computer spit it out, red flagged it and sent it back. But I guarantee that mothers will want to give their babies a carefully thought-out name – not a number. You and I may not agree with the thought process in picking tha6t name, but that’s not important. Names identify us as human beings, as souls, as friends.
But not only that, names often mean something as well. Sometimes we take great care to find the etymological meaning of a name. David for example means “beloved,” and Kenneth means “handsome.” Both are pretty expressive, don’t you think? The meaning of “Oldfield” is not really pertinent to this sermon. Some people really feel it’s important to know what a name originally meant. But most just associate a name with a person they once knew, good or bad. The child is named after an beloved aunt or an old boy friend – without the husband knowing it. So how many people in America have you met whose name was “Adolph,” “Judas” or “Jezebel”? On the other hand, how many have been named after current sports or movie stars?
One day, about seven centuries before the birth of Christ, Mrs. Hilkiah presented her husband with their baby son, and together they named him “Jeremiah.” The experts tell us that the name means: “Jehovah raises up,” or “Jehovah exalts.” Knowing a little about Hilkiah, which, by the way means “the portion of Jehovah,” I’d think that he gave his son this name as a word of prayer. “Lord, it’s my desire, my longing, that you exalt this son of mine.” And you know something, Jehovah did exalt the man which that child became. And that child did his utmost to exalt his Exalter.
“Benjamin” is one of the names in that list. That name once had a very high place of honor in the family of Israel. Think about how much Jacob (which means “supplanter” ) loved and doted upon little Benny. Remember, too, that Jehovah changed Jacob’s name to “Israel” The “Supplanter” – the “substituting cheat” became “the Prince of God.” Benjamin himself had quite a history, mostly in the downward direction. But the shame of the tribe was eradicated by a man named Saul of Tarsus of the tribe of Benjamin.
We have the tribe and nation of “Judah” mentioned here. That is not a faceless, nameless mass of people, but the very people of God. Then comes Josiah, meaning “God Heals,” and that is precisely what He did during that man’s reign. Josiah lead Israel in one of her greatest revivals. There is Jehoiakim, meaning “The Lord raises up.” Zedekiah, “The Lord is righteous” and Amon, “Workman.”
Some of these eight people lived up to their names, and some did not. But each of these folk were real people, human souls. And “behold all souls are God’s, as the soul father so also soul of son; the soul that sinneth it shall die.” The most important thing to consider in this lesson is that Jeremiah did live up to his name. And that was purely by the grace of God.
And what did you say your name was? “Christian” who? So you claim to be one of Christ’s people. Part of the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, you are a special person. Well then, to do you “show forth the praises of him who that called you out of darkness into his marvelous light?” If you don’t then perhaps you need to get your name changed.
Dutch Radio reported that a man in that country gave his new-born son the name of all twelve Apostles. He was advised that eventually it would very difficult for his boy to fill out legal and financial forms. There usually aren’t that many boxes for all those letters. It would not only be difficult to fill out those forms, but also to fill those shoes. You call yourself “Brother So-and-so” – then do you really behave like a brother? That is one of the lessons of this passage.
By the way, there is another proper name in these verses:
Jeremiah was from the little town of “Anathoth.” If I quizzed you on the history or nature of that community, most would fail miserably. In fact I’d fail, if you quizzed me. But with a little help I found that the name is found several times in the Bible, even outside of Jeremiah. For example it was mentioned in the Book of Joshua as a Levitical city – it was given to the priests. Then when Solomon ascended to David’s throne he retired Abiathar, the priest, and sent him to his home in Anathoth in Benjamin. When Ezra and Nehemiah returned from captivity some former residents of Anathoth came with them. I’m sure that thousands of people down through the years called Anathoth home. But the city was best known for its most famous son: Jeremiah.
And your home town is what? Where? Who cares if it is a little community, and unknown to the rest of the world. What does that matter? We should strive to become a new Jeremiah and put our hometown on the map.
I wonder what the population of that community was in Jeremiah’s day? What was the census figure? I wouldn’t know where to begin to find an answer. But I think it’s safe to say that Jeremiah was born in relative obscurity. There was no star in the east when he first filled his lungs with dusty air. There were no angels heralding that birth.
Jeremiah could have lived all his life in that place – or Jerusalem, or Rome. He could have been priest just like his father had been before him. That certainly would have been a noble and honorable responsibility in that particular day. He could been an ordinary, everyday sort of saint, going through life like one of the Lord’s ordinary sheep. But that was not for Jeremiah. He was definitely a black sheep as far as the world was concerned. But fortunately for Jeremiah, the Lord likes the right kind of black sheep.
So what brought him out of his obscurity?
The very same thing that can raise up a David from Bethlehem, or a Gideon from Ophrah, or an Enoch. These men surrendered to do the special bidding of the Lord. David did the work that was given to him; Joshua and Elisha did the work that the Lord had for them. And like Saul of Tarsus, Jeremiah said, “Lord, what would thou have me to do?” That isn’t to say that he didn’t have problems, doubts, concerns and even fears. But he refused to give in and by the grace of God gloriously served the Lord.
Lord, what would thou have me to do?” If you bear the name of Christ, it is because you have been given the robe of His righteousness. If you are a true child of God, then you too can leave a mark for Christ in these last days. Don’t look at the obscurity of your birth, or home, or parents and think that you can’t amount to much. If you set your affection upon the things earth, I guarantee you’ll soon be forgotten. But the Lord notes every heart, and every cup of cold water which is given in His Christ. He is aware of every sacrifice and every gift.
As the song says, “what is done for Christ will last,” guaranteed. And proof of that is the obscure son of the little Benjamite town of Anathoth. Jeremiah was a somebody for the glory of the Lord.