Well, good morning everyone. We are back after four odd months of lockdown and exile from church.
It's wonderful to be back in church with you. My mind this week went to John Calvin, who in 1538,
on Easter Day, in fact, on 1538, was exiled from Geneva, removed from the pulpit, kicked out of
the town, by the council of the town. And after, I think, a number of years of preaching there,
Calvin's ministry was such that he got up every Sunday, in fact, not just Sunday, but every day
of the week, in fact, and preached through books of the Bible, verse after verse after verse from
the original Greek and Hebrew. He was so, it didn't matter what calendar it was, didn't matter whether
it was Easter Day or, you know, whatever he was up to next, he just preached that passage and just
kept plowing through the text. And so when he was banished on Easter Day, 1538, it was just over
three years later, he was called back to Geneva. He ascended into the pulpit for the first time
and he picked up the very next verse from three years before. Such was his confidence in the Word
of God and the ministry of the Word. Well, after four months of exile, we got Lamentations 4.
And I frankly, as we gather on a day like today, it'd be good if we came up with a somewhat more of a
jovial, uplifting passage, if you like, than Lamentations 4. Lamentations is the darkest book
in the Bible and Lamentations 4 is the darkest chapter of the darkest book of the Bible.
So let's pray and launch in. Father God, this is your Word. It reveals sin. It reveals hope
in the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And so as we gather in all the joy of gathering as your people this day,
help us not to miss this moment. Help us not to bypass this text and what it reveals
about the idols of our hearts. Just we pray, have mercy on us. Amen.
Amen. Recently for our family movie night, we watched the movie, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
It's a film based on a memoir of the same name. It retells the story of 13-year-old William,
who grew up as a part of a village of farmers in Malawi. Life is very tough. Life is very basic for them.
There's no running water, no electricity. If you could afford it, your transport was a bicycle
and you had one for the family. William briefly goes to school, but his parents, like so many others,
can't afford the education fees. He's a bright kid. He has a keen interest in electronics,
scavenging through rubbish heaps to find bits and pieces to fix people's radios and other bits and
pieces for them. He secretly gets access to the school library after being removed from the school.
He reads a book about wind turbines and the production of electricity.
And in the end of all of that, scavenging through junk heaps, he builds a windmill,
junk, junk, which produces enough power to run a pump to draw water out of a well and water crops.
This in the 2000s, around the 2000s, I forget exactly what the date was, 2001, 2002,
where there was a devastating drought in Malawi.
And the effect of his work saved a village from starvation as a 13-year-old.
This country is devastated by drought. I think probably the most harrowing part of the whole story
is the way that this community just disintegrates during the slow death of starvation and poverty.
Family relationships break down. Law and order disintegrate as people steal from even women and babies
in order to survive.
There is a real sense of hopelessness as people slowly starve to death.
It's a true story.
And as we turn to Lamentations 4, we see a similar scenario of devastation and starvation and the upheaval of a society.
So get your Bibles, open them up for me.
Be grateful if you just need to see this text this morning.
Lamentations 4 casts, if you like, up a variety of mental pictures
that depict the suffering of the final siege of Jerusalem and beyond.
It also lays out for us some of the reasons why the judgment was imposed on Israel.
And it ends with just this whisper.
Just a hint of hope at the end.
And they're the three steps that I'll be taking us through today.
If you've got the St. Paul's app open, the first one is the reversal of fortunes.
Lamentations is a response to the events recorded in 2 Kings 24 and 25.
There's also a shorter version of it in 2 Chronicles 36.
The scene is the fall of Jerusalem.
The global bully at that time was Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire.
The Babylonian army lay siege to Jerusalem from 588 BC to 587 BC.
About 18 months, they surrounded the city and they slowly, slowly choked the city.
And terrible calamities befell the citizens of Jerusalem, as we see in Lamentations 4.
Some members attempted to escape, run for their lives, and they were cut down in the process.
This is a vivid description of what takes place in this city.
Twice at the beginning of chapter 4, the poet cries out,
Alas!
The NIV translated as how.
It's not quite as desperate as, Alas!
The situation is unrelieved agony.
Where chapter 2 describes the leveling of the physical structures of Jerusalem,
chapter 4 describes the leveling of the people.
Verses 1 and 2 set it up for us.
Have a look for us with me.
How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull.
The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner.
How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter's hands.
Now Psalm 19 tells us that nothing is more precious than gold,
except the word of God.
And the temple of Jerusalem was covered in gold and jewels and stone,
you know, precious jewels.
And now the gold, it says here, has lost its shine.
And the jewels are scattered like pebbles on the streets.
But the primary significance of this description is it's a metaphor
for the people of God themselves.
The precious children of Zion.
As it says in verse 2,
God's precious people are trodden underfoot like broken pottery.
They have become worthless, cast out into the street.
Though once they were worth their weight in gold,
they are now thrown out like worthless pots of clay,
fragile, broken, despised.
So the main message, if you look through,
particularly the first 12 verses or so,
is the, if you like, the devastating reversal of fortunes
at all levels of society.
What is precious is now treated as worthless.
Children who should be nurtured are being starved.
The rich are reduced to the rubbish heap.
Vivid colours are turned black.
Good health has now shrunk and shriveled.
Mothers who should be feeding their children are feeding on them.
Holy men have become dirty and defiled.
The royal protector of life itself is himself trapped in a pit.
Verse 10 is, if you like, the vivid and disturbing image
which takes us, with their own hands,
compassionate women have cooked their own children
who became their food when their people were destroyed,
when my people were destroyed.
Compassionate women.
The author here makes it very clear.
These are not immoral.
These are compassionate women.
Compassionate mothers are now feeding on their own children.
Frankly, I cannot get my mind around that,
let alone the emotions of what it means to have that level of despair
of life itself.
And yet all this points metaphorically to a greater level of despair
that will befall upon all of humanity.
What this passage is telling us is that the whole community from top to bottom
has been turned upside down and shaken out and left shattered
and scattered like trash littering the streets.
It is pure devastation.
I did say this is the darkest chapter of the darkest book of the Bible.
The tragic irony of all of this reversal of fortunes is the end of verse 2
where they are described as the work of the potter's hands.
In the rest of the Bible,
that phrase is a way of describing Israel itself.
As God did for the very first human being in Genesis 2,
so he has done for Israel.
He has fashioned them with the loving care of a potter shaping the clay
in his own image, his precious possession.
It's a way of describing throughout the rest of the Bible
the special covenant relationship
when Israel needed to appeal to God for help
as their merciful father
when they appealed upon his compassion.
For instance, Isaiah 64 verse 8,
Yet you, Lord, are our father.
We are the clay.
You are the potter.
We are the work of your hand.
Lord, so do not be angry with us.
Beyond measure.
Lord, do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are your people.
The metaphor is normally used to convey the preciousness
of Israel in God's hands.
The tragedy of something so precious being squandered
as though worthless is an echo of Jeremiah's warning
in Jeremiah chapter 2.
In Jeremiah 2, he lists the amazing privileges
that Israel had enjoyed in their relationship with God.
Sacrificial love, redemption from slavery,
protection in the wilderness,
the gift of the promised land,
a rich inheritance.
Instead, as Jeremiah 2.5 tells us,
they followed worthless idols
and they became worthless themselves.
Why are they now broken pots?
Because of idolatry.
There is a sober warning here
for God's people in any generation.
When we fail to hold on to the preciousness
of what we have in God's word
and what we are in Jesus Christ
and fail to live in accordance with that word
and that status,
then we are in danger of becoming worthless to God.
No matter what our religious pretense is,
no matter what we say with our mouth,
we are in danger of becoming worthless to God,
worthless to His world
and worthless in His mission.
So make no mistake,
Lamentations does give us a language
to express our sorrows and our struggles in life.
It does do that for us.
But it does so much more
than give us language for sorrow.
fundamentally more
than language of sorrow.
It helps us to see the world
and it helps us to see ourselves
through very different lenses.
Lament helps us uncover
the idolatry of our hearts.
Lament mourns the effects
of suffering on a society,
but not simply because of the losses
that we've experienced.
It's a memorial
to the futility
of trusting in anything
but God.
That's lament.
So friends,
think of your life
as a glass of water
with the sediment
at the bottom.
I'm sorry,
I actually put the stuff
in there too late this morning.
I should have put it in last night.
It would have looked like
pure water by then.
Hopefully.
But
forget that.
Imagine it's a,
your life is like
a glass of pure water.
Sediment at the bottom.
Or let me just put it like this,
a good bottle of wine.
If the glass remains stable
and you don't shake the bottle,
the sediment stays at the bottom.
The sediment is not activated.
But bump the glass,
shake it up,
shake the bottle up,
and all of a sudden,
what used to be pure
realizes actually
it wasn't pure
in the first place.
suffering bumps
the glass of our lives.
It stirs up
the sediments
we forgot,
the ones that we tried
to hide,
the fear,
the pride,
the greed,
self-sufficiency,
the things that are lying
dormant,
the idols of the heart,
the pursuit of comfort,
the pursuit of security.
Whatever it is,
it bumps the sediment,
it stirs it up,
it brings it to the surface.
That's what suffering does.
That's what hardship does.
That's what lockdowns do.
That's what GFCs do.
That's what the death
of a loved one does.
That's what droughts do
to farmers.
It bumps the glass
of our lives
and shakes it up
and helps me to see
where is my trust?
What are the idols
in my heart?
What are the idols
in my heart?
In the Bible,
an idol
is simply an object
of trust
that takes the emotional
and practical place
of God in our lives.
Timothy Keller
in his book
Counterfeit Gods
provides a great definition
of idolatry.
He says,
It's not sorrow,
it's despair.
As you think about loss
in your life
or as you consider
a season
when tears and sadness
were a daily experience,
what did you learn
about yourself?
What lesson did you discover
as you stood
over the rubble
of your life
in that moment?
What idols
were surfacing
in your heart
at that moment?
What repentance
was needed
in that moment?
These moments
of sediment
coming to the surface
are a gift
from God
to see
what idols
are in the heart.
And perhaps
you are in that season
of sorrow right now
and my heart bleeds
for you if you are.
Maybe your glass
has been bumped
right now.
What you need
to know
in amongst
everything else
is that there
is an important
lesson to learn.
I want to encourage
you to allow
your grief
to show you
what is surfacing
in your heart.
Let God
uncover it
layer by layer
the things
which you perhaps
place too much
trust in.
In the same way
that pain
can be a platform
for worship,
it can also
be a very
significant
if not
the most
significant
conduit
for spiritual
growth and
repentance.
Lament
mourns
the idols
upon which
we have
placed
too much
hope.
And so
in this way
lament
not only
expresses
sorrow
over loss,
it also
laments
misplaced
trust.
And so
here we
are,
Jerusalem
is
destroyed,
the society
is destitute
because of
idolatry,
their misplaced
trust led
them into
ruin and
it is a
comprehensible
ruin.
one reason
for the
judgment
falling
upon
Jerusalem
in
Israel
is
given
to us
in
verse
13.
It's
failed
leadership.
It says
it happened
because of
the sins
of her
prophets
and the
iniquities
of her
priests
who shed
within her
the blood
of the
righteous.
Now it's
clear when
you look at
the book
of Jeremiah
from the
prophet of
Jeremiah who
also wrote
Lamentations
that there
is a
breakdown
in social
morality
throughout the
whole community
of God's
people.
But
the religious
leaders
should have
been doing
the most
to preserve
the nation
in covenantal
faithfulness.
Instead
we are
told here
that they
led the
nation
in corruption
and idolatry.
Again
priests
and the
prophets
the leaders
of God's
people
we see
reversal
of fortunes.
Verse 14
those who
were meant
to be
the eyes
of God
for the
nation
are groping
blindly
through the
streets.
Again
verse 14
those who
are meant
to be
holy
and pure
living
as examples
of covenant
faithfulness
are defiled
filthy
black.
Verse 15
those who
used to
decide the
fate of
the lepers
are now
treated as
lepers
themselves.
Verse 16
those who
lived in
God's
presence
are finding
no respect
on the
earth.
This
is
the
consequence
for 40
years
the prophet
Jeremiah
pleaded
with them
to
away
from their
wickedness
to lead
God's
people
in covenant
faithfulness
to the
word of
God.
For 40
years
they
spurned
repentance
and the
grace
that was
they
just
preaching
so far
from stopping
the national
decline
they
helped
it
they
hastened
it
all that
was left
for them
was the
bleakness
of judgment
by God
and society
itself.
They were
the most
despised
in Jerusalem
on this
day.
There is
something very
significant
here about
the importance
of leadership
and the
importance of
leadership of
our churches
and the
importance of
leadership of
this church.
The leaders
in Jeremiah's
time were
not condemned
for their
inexperience
not condemned
for their
inefficiency
not condemned
for their
personalities
not condemned
for their
ineptitude
they weren't
judged
because their
sermons
were too
long
or because
they weren't
strategic
enough
or because
they didn't
put on the
programs that
the people
wanted
or that
their
personal
care
they weren't
the personal
caregivers
and the
counselors
for everyone
they would
judge
because their
hearts went
after the
wrong gods
sin
was what
characterized
them
their hearts
were bad
and the people
became bad
they starved
the people
of the word
of God
and now
the people
are starving
for food
itself
one thing
led to
another
friends it
is so easy
for Christians
to blame
society
to blame
governments
to blame
social media
for the
decline of
the church
and the
Christian faith
in this
country
and throughout
the west
maybe instead
we should look
to the preachers
and the pastors
for the
moral decline
in our
country
too often
and for
too long
we have
stood in
pulpits
and we have
compromised
the gospel
we have
cared for
ourselves
more than
our flocks
we have
cared for
our retirement
packages
more than
our sermons
our own
peace
rather than
the good
of the
church
or the
advancement
of God
and his
mission
without
a vital
relationship
with Christ
and communing
with Christ
how can we
expect
the members
of our
church
to be any
different
apathy
breeds
apathy
sin
breeds
sin
lack
of
discipleship
breeds
lack
of
discipleship
if your
pastors
and leaders
are not
seeing much
growth in
faith in
Jesus
Christ
and communing
with God
in his
word
how on
earth
will you
ever do
it
believe it
or not
for
especially
for those
of us
in the
individualistic
independent
west
with that
mindset
believe it
or not
you
are
dependent
upon your
pastors
and your
leaders
you may
have access
to the
word of
God
but our
job is a
prophetic
access to
the word
of God
you are
dependent
upon us
and where
we go
so you
go
God's
judgment
will fall
hard on
pastors who
preach
falsehood
who give
permission
for sin
to reign
in the
church
who are
more caught
up in their
social media
profiles and
the greatness
of God
who are more
interested in
the approval
of people
than the
approval of
God
who submit
to the
worldview
and ethics
of society
rather than
submit to
the word
of God
when we
skew the
scriptures to
make it fit
with our
idols
our opinions
our passions
our desires
we kill
God's
sheep
and God
will not
stand for
it
we might
be the
shepherds
but he
is the
chief
shepherd
and he
will fire
his
pastors
and so
may God
forgive me
for in
any ways
in which I
have been
guilty of
these things
and may
he deliver
you
from following
me into
any way
of unrighteousness
and apathy
but there's
one more
leader here
in this
text
that has
failed
it's not
just the
priests
and the
prophets
it's also
the king
it's
verse 20
stark
the
Lord's
anointed
our
very
life
breath
was caught
in their
traps
we thought
that under
his shadow
we would
live
among the
nations
this is
referring here
to king
Zedekiah
the lord's
anointed
direct line
from great
king
David
the one
to lead
God's
people
with the
prophets
and the
priests
in covenant
faithfulness
Zedekiah
was meant
to rule
the nation
with loving
mercy
instead
Zedekiah
had
established
unholy
alliances
with
godless
nations
like
Egypt
hoping
that
Egypt
would
come
to
their
rescue
in this
moment
and they
look
for the
nations
to come
and they
don't
come
the
idolatry
of
Zedekiah
the
hope
of
Zedekiah
was in
greater
nations
than
Babylon
and in
this
moment
they
were
gone
false
hope
he
was a
weak
and a
treacherous
king
who
condoned
the
religious
corruption
and the
moral
degradation
of
Israel
he
ignored
the
advice
of
God's
prophet
Jeremiah
again
and again
he was
meant to be
the hope
of Israel
the very
life breath
in verse
20
instead
of bringing
life
to the
city
he ran
for his
life
and he
is caught
he's
blinded
he's
imprisoned
and all
of his
sons
are killed
in front
of him
see the
significance
of that
the line
of David
is ended
and so
verse 20
expresses the
utter
despair
of Israel
prophet
priest
king
they've
all
failed
they've
all
failed
all
three
branches
of their
leadership
system
have
failed
God
gave
his
people
prophet
priests
and kings
to lead
them
both
spiritually
and politically
they all
failed
and so
is there
any hope
is there
any hope
and if you
read this
text you go
there is no
hope for
Israel
it's all
done
it's
dusted
it's
gone
except
in the
very
last
verse
there is
this
whisper
of hope
this
glimmer
of hope
what we
see here
is a
surprising
leadership
and a
great
reversal
I always
thought chapter
three was the
most hopeful
bit of
lamentations
but this is
actually the
most hopeful
bit
your punishment
will end
daughter
Zion
the story
does not
end in
this moment
for Israel
there is
another
reversal
to come
in mocking
derision
the poet
here
tells
nearby
pagans
Edom
read the
book of
Obadiah
and you
see what
Edom did
in this
moment
to Jerusalem
as people
tried to
flee the
city
the people
of Edom
were cutting
them down
in the
crossroads
killing
them by
the sword
as they
tried to
get out
of there
and coming
in the
back door
and trying
to loot
what they
could
out of
Jerusalem
and Israel
at the
same time
these are
their
half
brothers
and
sisters
and the
poet
says here
you
Edom
successful
at the
moment
enjoy
it
delight
in it
but the
reversal is
coming for
you
your turn
will come
God's
justice
will be
imposed
on them
as well
as on
Israel
and one
day
God's
people
though
afflicted
now
will put
behind
them
every
single
trace
of the
exile
and you
know what's
amazing
here
what's
amazing
is it's
the Lord's
anointed
is the
one who
will give
them rest
who will
restore
everything
the one
who at
the moment
has been
imprisoned
blinded
put into
slavery
captured
is the
one who
will bring
them rest
and healing
and hope
and restoration
in Luke
4
Jesus
turns up
to the
synagogue
in Nazareth
he grabs
the portion
of the
scroll of
Isaiah
and he
reads this
the spirit
of the
Lord is
on me
because he
has anointed
me
anointed
me to
proclaim
good news
to the
poor
he has
sent me
to proclaim
freedom
for the
prisoners
recovery
of sight
to the
blind
set the
oppressed
free
to proclaim
the year
of the
Lord's
favour
you see
ultimately
what Jeremiah
was looking
for here
was the
kind of
leadership
that could
only be
found in
Jesus
Christ
he is
the prophet
the priest
and the
king
Jesus
Christ
is the
true
prophet
he not
only speaks
the word
of God
but he
is the
word
of God
that is
he reveals
to us
the word
of the
will
of God
the purpose
of God
the salvation
of God
he's not
only the
holy priest
who is
blameless
before God
and man
but able
and therefore
able to
mediate
between God
and man
he is
himself
the perfect
sacrifice
he does
not
he is
the perfect
sacrifice
in that
he satisfies
the divine
justice
of God
for our
sin
he went
to the
cross
he died
under
the wrath
the fierce
wrath
of God
and in
so doing
what he
does
is he
turns
the anger
of God
away
from us
2 Corinthians
tells us
he who
was rich
beyond
imagination
became
poor
in the
dust
destitute
so that
we
who are
in the
dust
and destitute
because of
our
sinfulness
because of
our
idolatry
we are
deserving
of God's
judgment
so that
we
might become
spiritually
rich
what a
reversal
we get
a glimpse
of this
in the
very
first
Hebrew
word
in the
last
verse
of
Lamentations
4
it is
a word
that is
best
translated
it
is
finished
it
is
your
exile
is
over
it
is
finished
the
last
thing
that
Jesus
breathes
the
last
thing
he
says
is
he
breathes
his
last
on
the
cross
in
John
19
30
it
is
finished
one of
the
wonderful
and great
paradoxes
of history
is that
here is
the
helpless
powerless
broken
devastated
Jesus
dying
on the
cross
and his
very last
words
are
I did
it
I've
triumphed
I've
accomplished
it
and what
he accomplished
is described
for us a
little later
in the
New
Testament
1
Peter
3
18
Christ
suffered
once for
sins
the
righteous
for the
unrighteous
to bring
you to
God
it's a
surprising
moment of
leadership
by the
flawless
prophet
the
flawless
priest
the
flawless
king
that
produces
the
great
reversal
there
is an
infinite
chasm
between
God
and us
and Jesus
has done
everything
that's
required
he has
paid
every
debt
we owe
he has
dealt
with
every
bit of
shame
every
bit of
guilt
every
bit
of
sin
he has
accomplished
it all
there is
nothing
more
that we
must do
to bridge
the gap
between
us
and God
Jesus
last
word
was
I've
done
everything
necessary
to bring
you to
salvation
I've
thirsted
so that
you might
be satisfied
I've been
trapped
so that
you can
be set
free
I've
been
emptied
that
you
might
be
filled
I've
been
covered
with
your
dust
and
filth
so
that
you
might
be
pure
I've
been
killed
and
devastated
and
destroyed
that
you
might
live
forever
seen
could
be
devastated
tomorrow
by
40
millimetres
of
rain
and
they
can't
even
get
the
headers
in
to
get
it
off
just
like
that
the
hope
the
things
that we
look
to
will
abandon
us
on
the
day
of
despair
allow
the
hard
times
to
show
you
where
your
heart
is
where
your
trust
is
but
also
that's
the
first
thing
second
thing
we
must
as
the
people
of
God
we
must
lament
the
decline
of
this
church
in
this
country
the
decline
of
the
morality
and
the
rejection
of
the
word
of
God
in
our
society
and
we
must
take
responsibility
for
it
we
must
lament
the
biblical
illiteracy
in the
church
and in
society
we
must
lament
it
we're
responsible
for
it
and
Edom
might
be
smiling
right
now
but
there
is
a
great
and
eternal
tragedy
around
the
corner
and
what
part
have
we
played
in
that
anyone
who
does
not
take
refuge
in
God's
anointed
will
face
the
judgment
of
God
and
they
will
do
so
alone
and
that
is
a
prospect
more
terrible
than
slow
death
by
starvation
it
will
never
end
it
will
never
end
you
will
never
reach
the
satisfaction
of
death
the
hope
of
death
and
so
I
want
to
ask
you
church
in
all
seriousness
if
we
are
not
lamenting
this
is
the
question
I
want
to
leave
you
with
if
we
if
you
are
not
lamenting
the
degradation
in
church
and
in
society
if
it
does
not
break
your
heart
and
the
judgment
of
God
that
is
coming
what
does
it
say
about
the
vitality
of
your
relationship
with
Christ
and
to
have
known
in
gin
so
you
well