We Have All We Need

Based on Jeremiah 2:4-13
First delivered Sept. 1, 2019
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr


            Where do you turn when things aren’t going well? Customers aren’t coming in like they used to and sales are down. The pancake and sausage supper used to be the big event everyone came to in October. But now people don’t come like they used to and it’s becoming a struggle to get volunteers. Your investments were having an excellent return but now the losses are mounting. You and your spouse used to get along pretty well, but lately it hasn’t been so good. Your relationship is on the rocks. What do you do when you hit obstacles, or even hit a wall?

            Consultants make their living by being called on when things aren’t going well. They come in with their years of experience, their questions and assessments, and their strategies for turning things around. When relationships aren’t going well, counselors are ready and able to help couples bring the issues out on the table and improve their communication, all in the hope of restoring a happy relationship. Financial advisors are willing to help you rethink your investment strategy and perhaps, for a fee, manage your money for you in the hopes of getting a better return. Or maybe you can go to a seminar, take a class, read a book, get a life coach, ask for advice from your friends. When things aren’t going well, there are a lot of options that we can turn to get things back on track. People are there for you and, often for a fee, are ready to give you advice and tips, to help you take back control of your life.

            Things weren’t going so well for Israel. When God first led them to the Promised Land, things were pretty easy. They were able to eat from the fat of the land, enjoying the fruits of the crops planted by the people Israel displaced when they moved in. Remember, the Promised Land wasn’t empty. People were living there. God gave Israel land that was already populated. But that’s another story. The point is that as the years went by, things weren’t as great as they used to be. Sometimes the harvests were plentiful, but other times they weren’t. The Assyrians were always threatening Israel and, in fact, invaded Israel and forced God’s chosen people to pay a tribute to the Assyrian king. They knew the legends about the glory days of David and Solomon. But those days had gone by. Things just weren’t the way they used to be. Who would Israel turn to when things weren’t going well?

            In those days, every nation had their own gods and goddesses. Egypt had theirs, the Greeks had theirs, which we all learned about when we were in school as we read those old Greek mythologies. The Phoenicians had theirs, the Persians had theirs, the Assyrians had theirs. When Israel entered into the Promised Land, the people that lived there had their local gods. Your national gods and goddesses had the job of providing for the health and prosperity of the people who lived on that land. The job of the people was to perform the necessary rites to appease the gods so that the gods would in turn provide for the people with a good harvest and protection from their enemies.

            So, the leaders of the Israelites, the priests, the prophets, the rulers, started getting this idea. Maybe they need to get to know the gods native to the land they were living on. This was, after all, the territory these gods are responsible for. Maybe the Israelites need to practice the rituals that the natives did in order to appease the gods. Then maybe the harvests will be better and they will be liberated from the oppression of the Assyrians. Things will be better if they turned to the gods of the land upon which they currently lived. Yes, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had got them there, delivering their ancestors from slavery in Egypt and leading them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. But maybe now the people need to turn to the local gods because things aren’t going so great. It’s like God got them there but now they need to make a break from the God of their ancestors and instead cast their lot with the local gods. They needed to take control of their situation and do what they thought was the best available option to make things better.

            Well, Jeremiah isn’t going to have it. As a prophet through whom God speaks, Jeremiah calls out Israel for their wrongdoing. What Jeremiah is challenging is how Israel responds to their challenging times. It’s not the first time that things weren’t going well for Israel. Time and again they had experienced famine and invasion and oppression. And the classic response during those times of suffering was a collective lament, a crying out to God. “Where are you, God?” We see that cry all through the Psalms. Job airs his complaints toward God in the face of what is clearly unjust suffering. There are plenty examples of Israel calling out to God for help in times of need. When things are bad, Jeremiah gives the appropriate response in verse 6. In this time of suffering, Israel was supposed to say, “Where are you, God? The one who brought us out of slavery in Egypt and led us through the wilderness to this Promised Land of plenty?” Israel was supposed to ask God for help, acknowledging what God did for them in the past, how God had provided for them. And they want to know from God what God’s plan is for restoring them. The correct response is to expect God to do what God does, which is to redeem, restore, renew. God is a saving God. So Israel ought to have turned to God and called out to be saved.

            But that’s not what Israel did. Jeremiah calls them out for forsaking God and instead attempting to appease the gods of the natives. Rather than stick with the traditional response in times of need, the leaders of Israel came up with a new idea. And this sets Jeremiah off. He asks Israel if they know of any other nation that forsakes their own gods? Does the Egyptians? The Greeks? The Assyrians? The Phoenicians? No, they do not. Israel has a god. In fact, Israel’s god is the only true God, the source of life, the creator of the heavens and the earth. Or, as Jeremiah puts it, the fountain of living water. But Israel has forsaken the fountain of living water and instead has chosen to dig their own cisterns, cracked cisterns that don’t hold water. They chose to appease the local gods which are no gods. They think that by appeasing the local gods that they will be assured of bountiful crops and perhaps even liberation from their oppressor as the local gods fight for them. Incredible. Jeremiah says, “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord.” It is inconceivable that Israel would forsake their God, the only true God, who has always been faithful to Israel, in some crazy idea that they can take control of the situation by appeasing the local gods instead. What were they thinking? Of all the ways to make their situation better, the One who can actually help them, their God, the source of living water, they turn their backs on. They choose their help from other sources. When times were tough, and things weren’t going so well, they turned elsewhere.

            So, tell me. What do we do again when things aren’t going so well? Do we turn to God, the faithful one, the savior, the source of living water? Or do we turn to counselors, consultants, advisors, and motivational speakers? I wonder if there is something about Jeremiah’s warning to Israel that we need to hear.

            Now, maybe I’m not being fair. I am confident that most counselors, consultants, advisors and motivational speakers would take issue with me saying that if people use their services that those people are turning their backs on God for help. It’s true, that doesn’t seem fair. And I don’t mean to say that it’s a binary choice: either look to God for help or look to others for help. Obviously, the way God helps us is through people. It may very well be that when you are facing a financial problem, it is prudent to seek out a financial advisor. If your relationship is on the rocks, it may be a good idea to see a counselor. If it appears your business needs to change direction in order to meet shifting consumer demand, it is probably a good idea to reach out to a consultant. We can do both. We can turn to God for help and turn to others for help. You don’t have to choose one or the other.

            But the question is this: when things aren’t going well, do we tend to turn to God and to others, or do we ignore God and go straight to the advisor, counselor, consultant or motivational speaker? It has been my experience that when problems come up, or things aren’t going well that used to go well, the tendency is to problem solve. People get together and start brainstorming ideas. People call mentors or experts for advice. People ask around and see what other organizations have done in similar situations. People scan the internet for resources that address the issue, or go read articles or books. And maybe somewhere along the way someone thinks to bring the concern to the Lord in prayer. Or not. Honestly, in my life it seems that more likely than not when facing difficult times, crying out to God for help is an afterthought. It seems more prudent and practical to go straight to researching for answers and problem solving, coming up with creative ideas, digging our own cisterns.

            But this is the worst thing that I’ve seen happen. Things aren’t going well. The problems facing us are real and seem insurmountable. The future looks grim. And there is no one that can help. There are no consultants or advisors available. No one will understand. No one really cares. We are on our own. We are alone. That is a scary place to be. To feel like there is no one you can turn to, or there is no help available anywhere is a truly frightening spot to be in. It is just one small step to despair, to giving up, to deciding that things just aren’t going to get better and nothing can be done. Can you imagine a worse feeling? To believe that not even God can help?

            But is that true? Is there ever a time that God is not willing and able to be our help in time of need? I can’t conceive of any situation where God is not present and not already doing everything God can to restore, renew, and make things better. God is love. God is the creator. God is life. Lovingly creating life is what God does. We are never alone. We are never without God’s assistance. No matter how bad things are, or how dire the situation, God never abandons us. God never forsakes us. God never gives up on us. Jesus said that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. So, the fact is that whenever we find ourselves in situations where things aren’t good, we can always turn to God. We can always cry out to God and say, “Where are you? You are the one who created us, who called us and claimed us as Your children, who has delivered us from the power of sin and death. You are our deliverer, our savior, our rock, our living water. And we need You. We need Your help. We need Your deliverance. We need You to act.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with turning to God for help when times are tough, and even to demand for God to help us. You can scan through the scriptures and find examples of Israel crying out to God for help, and even demanding God’s help, because they know they can’t save themselves. They know there is no one who has the power to save and restore than God. And they act on their faith by calling out to God. If we have faith in God to help us and to make things better, then we can call out to God for help and not be shy about it.

            But then we reach out. We are not alone, not only because God is with us but also because we are members of the body of Christ. We have brothers and sisters in the faith literally around the world. And every Sunday, over 1 billion of our siblings gather together for worship. The truth is, if we are in need of help to address whatever problems we face, we don’t have to look far if we have the eyes to see. And it’s not just fellow Christians we can turn to for help, much less fellow United Methodists. We have people who practice other religions or no religion at all, but are people of good will. They can provide help and insight and access to resources. The potential web of relationships that we have just among ourselves is vast. So, we can cry out to God in our time of need and we can reach out to other Christians, others with expertise, others of good will, and ask for help and support. We don’t have to figure things out or make things better all by ourselves. We have God and we have our community.

            This morning, as we receive communion, let this be a reminder for us that we are well supplied in our relationships. Communion reminds us of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And the act of receiving communion is something we do together and is being done in churches all around the world. It is a global action. Communion reminds us of our relationship with Christians all around the world. Communion reminds us that in our time of need, we don’t have to search far to find help. Our help is in the Lord and in our relationships with our Christian siblings.

            We all know that not everything is going well. And I’m not just talking about our church, or the United Methodist Church at large. I don’t need to give you the litany of problems that plague our community, our city, our nation and our world. Things could definitely be better than they are. This, right now, is not as good as it gets. But I am convinced that if we continue to trust in God and strengthen our relationships with our neighbors, fellow Christians, and the wider community, that we will be ok. With God and with the community we find ourselves, we have all we need. There is no need for us to dig our own cisterns that will only crack and won’t hold water. God, the source of living water, is with us. And the fountain from which this water flows, the community of God, is ours to enjoy. So, let us turn to God in our time of need, turn toward our community for help, and trust that somehow, someway, what we need will be supplied. For truly, with God and God’s people, we have all we need.