What Do You Want to Hear?

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/20/14
Jeremiah 28:5-9

What Do You Want to Hear?
I. Wonderful words that are lies?
II. Harsh words that are true?

I’m sure you’re aware that you only hear from a particular media outlet what that source wants you to hear. It doesn’t matter whether it’s FOX or CNN or MSNBC or ABC or CBS or public radio or your local TV or radio station, decisions are repeatedly made each day what that source is going to present to you. And all too often, the decision is made based on money. Which stories will interest you so that you return to that source again, thus driving up ratings and revenue? I hate to sound so cynical, but the source will tell you they are giving you what you want to hear—the unbiased truth, but that’s not really the case.

So, what do you want to hear? How about the whole truth? How about a non-biased opinion? How about the news simply for the sake of news itself without trying to cause me to lean to the right or to the left? How about letting me use the intellect God gave me to make up my own mind? Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think that’s possible. Not in our world—a world driven by the basest of motivations.

Thank God for the Church! At least in the Church we know we’re getting the truth. Sadly, I wasn’t serious about what I just said. Sadly, all too often even in the Church and in non-Christian groups under the guise of the Church, the truth is hidden and people listen to words regarding everything from snake handling to polygamous, communal living. And while it’s true that the leaders of such groups have decided what they’re going to tell the people, much of it is driven by the fact that this is what the people want to hear.

That’s nothing new. It was happening among God’s Old Testament people, the Jews, centuries before Jesus was born as well. And it was happening at a critical point in their history, during the days of Jeremiah the prophet.

We have one of those situations in the life of Jeremiah before us this morning. In this event, Jeremiah was dealing with another prophet, a man named Hananiah. Two prophets. Two vastly different messages. Let’s examine them and ask, “What do you want to hear?”

Part I.

“Well doctor, what do you think it is?” It’s likely every one of us has asked that question of our medical doctor at least once, probably many times. He or she has examined us or has read the test results and now it’s up to them to tell us the truth. It won’t do us any good for them to tell us what they think we want to hear. We need to hear the truth as difficult as it might be.

In effect, the Jews living with Jeremiah in Judah and the kings of the nations around them were asking, “Well prophet, what do you think?

The situation, especially among the Jews, was dire. By the time this event in our text occurred, there had already been two defeats and two deportations by the Babylonians. The first occurred in 605 BC, when the Babylonians defeated the Jews and deported some of their most learned and productive citizens such as Daniel and his three friends. The second occurred in 597 BC after the Jews had revolted. Once again the Babylonians defeated the Jews and this time deported about 10,000 Jews. Clearly these were not good times for the Jews. They were under foreign rule. Their very existence was threatened.

Along comes a prophet named Hananiah. It’s been four years since the second deportation. The Jews still living in Judah are wondering what’s going to happen to them. Will they be deported soon, too? Should they accept Babylonian rule and get on with their lives? Should they join in revolt one more time? Should they flee to Egypt? Here’s what Hananiah told them, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” First, he tells the people that his message is from the Lord. That’s what the people wanted to hear. What does the Lord say?

Next, he tells them the Babylonian oppression will only last two more years and then the Lord would break that yoke and they would live once again in freedom. That’s what the people wanted to hear.

In fact, their fellow Jews in exile and their articles of worship would come back home. Life would get back to Jewish normal again. What wonderful news! That’s exactly what the people wanted to hear.

In fact, Jeremiah himself wanted to hear those very things. He states in our text, “Amen! May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the LORD’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.” Jeremiah was not a traitor to the Babylonians, even though his fellow Jews accused him of it. His deepest desire was for the exile to end and for worship life in Jerusalem to flourish. He wanted peace and happiness to reign among the Jews.

But it wasn’t going to happen. Hananiah had not received this message from the Lord. The Babylonians were not going away any time soon. The exiles weren’t coming back in two years. Life in Judah was not going to get better soon; it was going to get worse.

But that’s not what the people wanted to hear. They loved what Hananiah had to say. He spoke wonderful words.

What do you want to hear? Wonderful words that are lies?

None of us would want that. But we know people who do. They want to hear that this is what they have to do in order to be saved. They want to hear that God’s commands regarding sex and marriage no longer apply. They want to hear that sin doesn’t exist and everyone goes to heaven. But those are lies.

But what about us? Like I said, none of us wants to hear lies. Not until lies will allow us to do what we want. Let’s just bend the rules a little bit. Jesus will understand. He knows this will make me happy. Just tell me I’m OK with God and leave me alone. Let me follow this path that wanders away from the Lord for just a little while and I’ll be sure to find my way back to him soon. Let’s agree to live and let live. And all will be well. There’s no such thing as a small spiritual danger. You wouldn’t want to hear lies from your medical doctor. Why would you listen to lies from someone about your God? What do you want to hear?

Part II.

Obviously, you want to know the truth. Lies aren’t real. They are not reality. The truth is reality. You want to know the truth so that you can deal with the situation properly.

Even when the truth hurts. When it crushes. When you had hoped to hear something far different.

That’s the message that Lord had given Jeremiah to share with the people of Judah. In fact, the Lord had placed that message in the mouths of many of his prophets. It’s what Isaiah had foretold 100 years before Jeremiah. In spite of the Jewish effort to resist Babylonian influence, the Babylonians were going to rule. In fact, they would not only rule over Judah, but also over all the surrounding nations: Moab, Edom and Ammon to the east and south; Tyre and Sidon to the northwest.

And not just for a few years. Jeremiah had told the Jews they would serve King Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his grandson. The Jews should not hope that the Babylonians would be a momentary blip on history’s screen. They were here and they were here to stay.

In fact, ten years earlier the Lord had told the people through Jeremiah that the Babylonian rule would last 70 years. They still had about 60 to go. Jeremiah realized that’s not what the people wanted to hear. Those words were harsh. They were crushing.

No Jew wanted to hear those words, but they needed to hear those words because they were the truth. It would not have been the loving thing to do to let these people think that Hananiah’s prophecy was true. The loving thing was to inform the people of the truth, as hard as that was to hear. That didn’t make Jeremiah popular. Jeremiah could have kept his mouth shut. But that wouldn’t have shown his love for his people or, more importantly, his love for his Lord.

So, what do you want to hear? Harsh words that are true?

Indeed we do. I need to know the truth about myself. You need to know the truth about yourself. And the harsh truth is that none of us is good enough for God. None of us has attained his holy standards. All of us have even succumbed to the temptation of wanting and doing what he forbids. As nice as we usually are, we can be cold, indifferent, judgmental, prejudiced, greedy, self-centered and egotistical. Like the Apostle Paul the evil we shouldn’t do we do, and the good we should do we don’t. And I shouldn’t hope for heaven because I deserve hell. How do I know that? Because that’s what God says. That’s the truth as harsh as it is to hear. And when I take that truth to heart, then God has another truth for me to take to heart. It’s the sweetest news any sinner can hear. I’m forgiven and so are you through the holy life and the innocent death of Jesus Christ. In fact, he rose from the dead to make me sure of it. Those are truths that never get old. Those truths will never change. Why wouldn’t we want to hear them and believe them every day of our lives? Amen.