A Word about a Vision of Restoration

Today I want to share a word about a vision of restoration as I comment on Jeremiah 33:1-9 and 14-16. Verses 1-9 read:

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard:  “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first.  I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

And, verses 14-16 say:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

Vision is an essential element in life. As one commentator put it, “You have to see it before you see it, or you will never see it.” Some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Others cannot see the trees for the forest. Do you see a glass that is half full or a glass that is half empty? If you are logistician or a supply chain expert, you might think that your purchasing agent bought the wrong size of glass!

In the poem “The Night Before Christmas,” visions of sugar plumbs danced in the head of the children nestled all snug in their beds, but what is our vision of Christmas?

In the 21st Century, if we don’t have an intentional vision of an issue, there are plenty of sources in our society who will provide one for us. Therefore, I think it is vital that we have a Biblical vision of the issues of life, and that includes Christmas.

For the month of December, I want us to look for a Biblical Vision of Christmas, and we will begin today with a vision of restoration.

A Vision From God.

Jeremiah was the son of a priest, and he had been called by God to be a prophet to carry God’s message to Jerusalem. You might think that this was a natural fit. Jeremiah’s father would have known many people in leadership in Jerusalem, and they would have known Jeremiah as his son. In the culture of Judaism at this time, relationships were paramount.

In Covington County, AL, where I served for 12 years, everyone knows everyone else. Our office manager had lived his entire life in there, and he not only knew his generation (grandparents), but also their children, and the grandchildren as well. This would be the same for the leadership of the Jews in the day of Jeremiah.

In fact, this only made things harder for Jeremiah. He didn’t want to have to tell his friends and their families what God wanted them to hear, because they would take that as bad news, and Jeremiah would become an outcast.

Jeremiah knew this, and he tried to reject the role of prophet. God would not let him shirk his duty, however, and He made His message to be a fire in Jeremiah’s bones, and he could not help himself. He had to share God’s message, regardless of the consequences. That did not make the task any easier, which is one reason why Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet.”

In fact, Jeremiah was in captivity even as God gave Him another facet of a vision to share with the Jews. Despite this, Jeremiah was faithful to God and he obeyed God’s call upon his life as outlined in Jeremiah 1.  A prophet was required to: 

• Avoid giving in to fear.
• Stand to speak.
• Speak what God told him to say.
• Go where God told him to go.

Jeremiah did all these things, and so must we! 

A Vision Of The Condition of God’s People.

What made Jeremiah a weeping prophet was the spiritual condition of Israel. Israel had abandoned her God, and she had abandoned her mission as well. When God called Abraham, He promised he would make him a great nation. He also promised him that his nation would be blessed but that it would also be a blessing to the nations. Israel was always quick to remember that first part, but they were just as quick to forget the second part.

Being chosen does not mean being acceptable. Every year in the NFL draft, one player is chosen last. This player is called “Mr. Irrelevant,” because few of them ever play in an NFL game. Many are released before the new season of practices even begin. Being chosen in the NFL draft is an opportunity to show that you can play the game at the NFL level, not a guarantee that you will make the team. You still must perform to become a part of an NFL team and play on Sunday.

Israel took their relationship with God for granted, and they took God for granted. The result was that their usefulness to God to impact lostness in the world became so limited that He allowed them to be overcome and taken into captivity.

It is easy for us to criticize Israel, but we must also be careful. We must realize that while the church will not be overcome and taken into captivity, a church might. A family might. A person might. A word to the wise is sufficient, and the example of Isreal is a warning we must not ignore.

A Vision Of God’s Restoration.

I was taught that when you evaluate a person or an event or a ministry, you should end on a positive note. Sometimes this takes the form of reviewing lessons learned before emphasizing what went well. Other times it might be described as a sandwich with positive comments up front, followed by constructive criticism, and concluding with encouragement for the future. Regardless of how we make these evaluations, the idea of ending with a promise did not begin with us. It began with God, and we see that clearly in our passage for today.

God did not just proclaim judgment in this passage. He did clearly proclaim that Judah would suffer the consequences of her failure, but He did not focus on that. Instead, He emphasized His promise to the Jews of restoration.

What would be the result of this restoration?

• Health and healing.
• The abundance of true peace.
• The restoration of the fortunes of God’s people.
• Forgiveness of rebellion and iniquities.
• The privilege of bearing God’s Name.

How did God do this? Jeremiah 31:31-34 tells us,

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The hope for Isreal and all peoples is when God places His righteous within them.

A Vision of God’s Righteousness.

In my church administration class in seminary, we discussed the various types of upgrades to church facilities. For example, repairs are simply restoring a machine to functionality by replacing parts. Replacing machinery is a like for like swap. Retrofitting is to replace a machine with a newer model. The most complete upgrade, however, is a restoration.

Restoration begins with demolition. It requires that the damaged, rotten, or corroded parts of a machine or a building be stripped away. The item being restored is taken back to its frame. This is a painful and painstaking process, but it must be done. Otherwise, the damaged, rotten, or corroded parts of the machine will ruin any new parts that are grafted on.

In disaster relief we have learned that many flooded buildings must be taken all the way back to the studs to eradicate mold. If the smallest bit of mold is left, it can grow, unseen until it infects the whole house. I served a church in England that had lost their building to a small, unseen leak in the roof that fostered a dry rot that over the years had grown around the circumference of the build and destroyed it structural integrity. The congregation didn’t even know it was happening. This is a great illustration of sin. It starts on the inside and the grows to the point it is apparent on the outside.

Our God is righteous. He is perfect, He is without spot and without flaw. There is no shadow of turning with Him and He cannot abide our human imperfection and sin. He looks into our hearts, our families, our churches, our communities, and our cultures, and He can see all of the rot that we cannot.

Blessedly for us, our God is not only righteous, but loving and benevolent. He was not willing for us to rust away, spiritually. He was willing to do what it takes to redeem us and to restore us, even to the point of sacrificing His only, uniquely, begotten Son. Restoration is painful, but as in cases, it is much more painful for the one doing the restoration than for those being restored.

Because of God’s righteousness, we can be saved, and we can be secure in our salvation.

Conclusion.

What is our vision of Christmas? Is it sugarplums? Is it surviving family gatherings? Is it receiving gifts? 

One Thanksgiving many years ago, when my wife and I lived in New Orleans, we had to take a trip to the Emergency Room. I apologized to a nurse for making him work over Thanksgiving, but he said, “That’s OK. I chose to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas so I could be off on Halloween and New Years. Halloween and New Years are the big party days, and I prefer to have them off for that reason.” 

Christmas, from a Biblical perspective was a vital step in God restoring humanity to fellowship with Him. Is that how we see it?