I. The Feast of Our Lord and Giver of Life 00:00
…that you are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We declare that no matter what we encounter in this world, our end is in you. And we pray that you’d open our eyes to see the things you are accomplishing in our lives today and in our church today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Today is a fascinating day in our church calendar, because it’s actually a feast day that was declared by our patriarch in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. So this is not a feast day you see on the Roman calendar or the Anglican calendar, but on our calendar. And the reason we do that is because this church and our wider denomination were founded on the idea that all life is sacred. In our canons and our documents, the first thing it says is that we are a pro-life church. You don’t get to be a part of us and not be pro-life. You know why? Because you don’t get to be a part of him if you’re not pro-life.
So let’s talk a little bit about that. First of all, I want to contrast the idea of a culture of life and a culture of death. And I know you may be tired of hearing this idea of a culture of something. “They have a culture of toxicity, they have a culture of this or the other.” It’s like, I get it, that word is so overused. But it is apt, right? A culture is that which the collected people believe and act out together. And that’s important, and it’s important to be a part of not our culture but his culture. And his culture, as we declare in our feast: it’s the Feast of Our Lord and Giver of Life.
And so when we look at this: famously, John Paul II spoke about the culture of death that was welcomed into Western cultures especially, as they began to legalize abortion, as they made access to the killing of your baby something that is not only legal but acceptable, and then later on approved and celebrated. And so when you look at that, and you look at the exterior, it’s no wonder that as we celebrate our Lord and Giver of Life, we center on this primary issue of the rampant killing of babies. I’m not going to spend a ton of time talking about that today, but I want you to see that this idea of God as the Giver of Life, and at the same time accepting this practice of killing that which is made sacred because it’s in his image, is completely antithetical.
And so when we talk about this, I want to talk about the culture of life described by Jeremiah in our Old Testament. I want to talk about the different facets of what it means to be a part of a culture of life, in the context of Jeremiah’s prophecy about what it would be like when God redeemed the world.
So when we look at this, it’s quite telling that Jeremiah had a terrible life. By that I mean a painful, suffering life, where every word he gave, even if it was initially accepted, was eventually rejected; where he was persecuted and eventually potentially killed for the things he chose to stand up for: for standing up for the right to life, for standing up for God’s will in his nation.
Now, it’s very clear in this time with the Israelite people, where Jeremiah is talking to them, that they have joined a cult of death, because they’ve literally joined a cult of death. They had a god, you know, Baal and others, where it was literally a part of your worship to sacrifice living children to him so that you could have abundance, right? They were trading life for what they would see as prosperity. They were worshiping a god of death. And in that moment it’s super clear what’s going on.
And yet today we struggle to realize that the same practice can make itself really easy. Today it’s branded as medical care, right? How about end-of-life care that ends in euthanasia? Or, “We need to really worry about women’s reproductive rights,” as if the thing that’s focused on here is their ability to create life. It’s backwards. Reproductive rights literally means “sacrifice your baby,” which is worshiping this god of death. It’s absolutely bonkers.
I want to make it clear that Jeremiah was talking to the same type of people as we are today. They’re called humans, who have had the same temptations from the beginning: to turn from the God who gives all life and try to master the world by worshiping a god that is ultimately death.
II. Exile and Return 04:53
So when you listen to this prophecy, just think about it for us today. What God spoke to that culture is the same words that God speaks to us today. And so when we go into this, it’s not separate from us. It’s a part of what we are living through today and what we’re called to fulfill in our midst. And so let’s look at Jeremiah and begin in chapter 31, verse 10:
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’” Jer 31.10
Now you’re thinking, “Okay, but we’re not Israel.” Are we not? What is Israel in this context? It is the chosen people of God. If you’re in this church, you’re a part of the chosen people of God. And this prophecy is not just for Israel, but by God’s grace we find out it’s actually for everyone. The whole world is called to be a part of his chosen.
And so when we look at this, it proclaims the pattern that is throughout all of Scripture, the story of God. The pattern is this: exile and return. Because what did God do in the beginning? He made the world, and it was good. He made it very good. And yet we rejected him, went our own way, and entered into exile. But ever since then there’s been this pattern where God brings us in, and then we leave, and then he brings us in, and then we leave. And so Israel’s been in this back-and-forth pattern with God, this exile and this return, where he saves by his mighty power. And in this moment they’re about to be entering into exile again, into the Babylonian captivity. And in the midst of that nation, which is running from God, worshiping the culture of death, God speaks a word of hope: “Hear the word of the Lord. He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
Let me just say that there is never anywhere you can go that God cannot rescue you. Not just you individually, but even as a people. Look at people who were literally sacrificing their babies on the altars to this god of death, whom God was still pursuing in love, to rescue and redeem. This is what God does. Exile and return is the story of the entire world. Ultimately, God is saving us all from the consequences of sin and death in his Son, Jesus Christ.
So you say, “Okay, but why is Jeremiah preaching?” He’s giving this prophecy to this people, the Israelites. What does it mean to them? Well, it means that there would be an end to their captivity in Babylon, that they would return to Jerusalem and restore the temple. And that happened. But it means more than that. It also means that Jesus, God himself, would come and establish a new covenant and a new way, so that forever after… what did it say? He will keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock. And what is Jesus doing to this day? He’s keeping the chosen as a shepherd keeps his flock. So ultimately this prophecy was fully fulfilled in Jesus, and we get to live it out.
I’m laying this groundwork and talking about this so that you know that everything in here you have access to today by the power of Jesus Christ. All of these promises are for us today. It’s how we create a culture of life: we enter into the promises of God.
III. Hands Too Strong for Him 08:17
Now, when you look at this next verse here, in verse 11, it makes it very clear what I was just saying:
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. Jer 31.11
Now, he’s thinking of the Babylonians, the Syrians, previously the Philistines, Egypt, all of these people that were too strong for the Israelites, and God redeemed them, rescued them from that. But we know it’s deeper than that: that there’s a fundamental flaw in the heart of every human being, and that is that we have given ourselves over to the ways of sin and death, and that the enemy, sin and death, is too strong for us. But Jesus was the ransom for us. In fact, he took our sin and death on the cross. He paid the price of our sin and death, that we might live forevermore.
So when you look at this and you say, “What is the enemy too strong?” Well, when was the last time you tried to muscle your way through temptations? When was the last time you said, “I will never lose my temper again. I’m standing here and I’m declaring it,” and then the littlest thing happened and you blew your top? I’ve been there. “I’m never going to drive angry again. I’m going to be good. I’m going to be Jesus. I’m going to listen to good music. I’m going to just internalize this. I’m going to be Jesus to the world.” And then the guy cuts you off, at just that moment when you’re running late, and almost causes an accident, and you are there again. You cannot beat sin. It is an enemy that is too strong for you. But the good news today is that he did beat sin, right? And you get to walk in his victory.
And guess what? You’re not going to get away from death. In fact, two of the most common stories in all of human literature are about the people who are trying to defeat sin and death. The first one actually has its own branch. It’s called utopian literature. What happens is, you get somebody who has a really good idea, and they make a world without sin. But you all know what happens next. It’s tyrannical, awful, abysmal, and it results in the end of everything. That’s what happens when we collectively try to beat sin without Jesus. And we know it. We tell the stories to remind ourselves that that’s what happens. Or, you know, if you can find a character in a story trying to cheat death, they’re the villain. Always look for the person who’s looking to cheat death, to beat death, and they’re always the villain, story after story. They’re trying to make themselves like God. Instead, we’re invited to die and join Jesus in resurrected life. That’s the answer.
“For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from hands too strong for him.” He has ransomed his people. You’re already redeemed. You don’t have to be subject to sin and death. The end of the story is life.
IV. Radiant over the Goodness of the Lord 11:26
So we continue in verse 12:
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Jer 31.12
What did I say? Because of Jesus, this is us now. We’re called to participate in this. So what do we do on Sunday mornings? We come and we sing aloud on the height of Zion. That’s what the liturgy is. We are going to heaven to worship God. That’s always the way the Church has talked about the liturgy. We come together to be the body of Christ, and we lift up our hearts, right? We come before the throne and we worship him. So when you’re singing, “Holy is the Lord,” we’re joining with the angels. That’s not just poetry. It’s not just to sound good. It’s actually what we do. We come and we sing the praises of God.
“And they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord.” I know, the mirror lies. I don’t feel very radiant when I look at myself in the mirror, metaphorically or physically. But I will tell you, I’ve got Jesus in me, the hope of glory (Col 1.27), the light of the world. That is what we’re called to be. And occasionally I look at you guys and I get glimpses of it. Not so often for some of you. No, I’m just kidding. But the point is, as we grow together, we begin to shine with the light of Christ for those around us. We become radiant over the goodness of the Lord.
“Over the grain, the wine, and the oil.” I love that, right? Even in Jeremiah, God was setting up the new covenant. What do we do on Sunday mornings? We eat the bread, the grain, and we drink the wine. The body and blood of Christ is the goodness of God. It says they will be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, the grain and the wine. The goodness of the Lord is the body and blood of Jesus that we share. And the oil: the oil represents the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit you were given at your baptism. You are sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever. What is the seal of our faith? It is the Holy Spirit in you. So we are not just coming together to eat of the body and blood of Christ, but we are coming together to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. We come together, and you go forth with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead within you. No wonder they were radiant. No wonder they were singing aloud with joy over the grain, the wine, the oil.
V. The Young of the Flock 14:42
And then further: “over the young of the flock and the herd.” Now, this young of the flock has to do with the new thing God does in us. It has to do with the abundance, because what God does is bring life where there was death. In fact, it’s no accident that when I tell people I have five children, they look me up and down and go, “Are you Catholic?” Because, for all its flaws, the Catholic Church has stood for life, because that’s what our God is. He’s the Giver of Life.
I rejoice over the young of the flock. Mostly. I mean, it’s hard sometimes, right? The young of the flock are naive. They can be a little bit challenging. But, you know, by the grace of God they are the joy among us. When you see all those kids run down to get prayed for, doesn’t your heart leap within you? I mean, personally, if I’m opening my eyes, every time I see that I get excited for our church and for the young of the flock, right? It’s what God does in our midst. He brings new life.
And think about this: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6.21). If you treasure life, then your heart will lead you to beget life. And I will say Saint Michael’s is a great example of that, right? Eight children, nine children, five children, four children. I mean, we are countercultural, I will tell you that. We are living in a cult of life. That’s why we have a school, right? We are obsessed with new life and what God does in our midst through the new life he brings. That’s where our treasure is, and that’s where our time and our money go.
How many arguments do you hear online? “You can’t have children. You can’t afford it. They’re going to ruin your life.” They’re worshiping a cult of death. If life was in the highest position, then you wouldn’t care about the time and the money, because you’d be getting life. I’ll lay down my time and my money so I can get life, and life abundantly (John 10.10), the thing Jesus promises us. They’ve got their priorities upside down: “Preserve all your time and money,” so you can die and lose it all. It’s just so bonkers. No. Pour out your life on your kids, on your community, on the life around you. Beget life among you. Be radiant.
VI. Like a Watered Garden 17:00
Okay. “Their life shall be like a watered garden; they shall languish no more.” Languish is such a poignant word. It means to become weak, to lose strength. We have been given Christ in his Holy Spirit so that we never have to languish again. Even in our weakness Christ is made strong (2 Cor 12.9). We don’t become weak. We actually become more full of him as we go through these things, where we lay down, we take up our cross, we lay down our burdens and go before him, and we become strong, because he is strong in us.
So when you look at this and you think about the well-watered garden: gardens are full of good fruit. They’re ordered, they’re protected. They’re places of peace, of beauty, of joy. You can walk the world with a watered garden within you. That’s the really important part. You remember how Jesus fell asleep when there was a storm that would literally have capsized the boat, and they shook him awake and said, “Don’t you care that we’re dying?” (Mark 4.38). He was in his watered garden. He wasn’t worried. He knew he was in the hands of his Father. He knew he was right where he needed to be. And when he got up, he said, “O you of little faith. Don’t you understand? Don’t you have that garden within you?” You know that the God of the universe has made his dwelling place in you. What can man do to you?
So in every situation we can have peace that surpasses understanding (Phil 4.7). But you have to work on that stuff within you. It doesn’t just happen. It’s a process of crucifixion and resurrection. It’s painful. But you put yourself on the cross, you sacrifice your wants and needs, and you open yourself up to what God wants to do instead in your life. And over time you find that you have a reserve of peace. You have a well-watered garden of good fruit, the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5.22–23): kindness, gentleness, joy. All of these things are growing within you by the power of God.
VII. Mourning into Joy 19:20
Okay, verse 13:
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. Jer 31.13
Often we can frame Christianity in the most demanding terms. Bonhoeffer says the call of Jesus is the call to come and die. Great, love that, wonderful. But that’s not the end of the story, right? Come, die, and be resurrected. Experience life abundantly. What is God doing in your life today? He is turning your mourning into joy. He is trading your sorrow for his gladness. There is nothing you encounter in this life that is so painful that God cannot redeem it. That’s the hope we have.
So even though, of course, you have to understand that the Christian life is full of suffering, just like everybody else’s, the difference is: we suffer with the hope of resurrection, whereas they suffer with the hope that they can escape their suffering somehow. It’s a different type of belief. Our belief is in his power to redeem. The belief that you can escape your suffering is a way of embracing death, because what is escape from suffering except escape from life? Life is pain. Anybody who tells you differently is selling something, right?
I’m serious. There is something here. There’s something about “My life is so painful that I have to turn off my brain and watch Netflix for twelve hours,” or “My life is so painful that I have to drink myself to insensibility,” or fill up my time with busyness to distract myself from the reality of suffering. All of these things are little deaths you’re embracing. God’s life is awake and aware in the suffering. In fact, Jesus came and entered into our suffering. He didn’t avoid it. He went right there, because he knew that on the other side of suffering was this. What is this? This trade, from mourning to joy, from sorrow to gladness.
In fact, it says even further, “Those who sow in weeping shall reap with joy” (Ps 126.5). So your weeping is actually the seed that creates joy in your life. That’s a really wonderful thing, because no matter what, you’re going to weep. You’re going to encounter suffering. Thank God it means something. Thank God, by the power of the cross and resurrection, our suffering is actually the work we get to participate in, the suffering of Christ, and then we get to experience his joy and his resurrection. This is what it means to be in a cult of life and not a cult of death.
VIII. The Soul of the Priests 21:58
Okay, so much more here:
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord. Jer 31.14
God’s talking about the fact that when he comes, he will restore a right relationship between the people and their God. First the priests will be restored with God. Because the two problems Israel faces are that the priests are corrupt and the people don’t follow; they’re rebellious, right? These two are the constant thing. The priests are evil, and so they’re not even leading them to the right God, and the people are not doing their duty by following the priests. It’s this weird thing: rebellion begets corruption begets rebellion begets corruption.
And God says, “No, I will make it good again. I will satisfy the priests with an abundance in their soul.” Right? Because the corrupt priests were gathering all of the wealth to themselves. They had an abundance of death, right? They had an abundance of money that would do nothing for them. And God, in this moment, in this prophecy, says, “No, I will satisfy their souls with the abundance.” And how is our soul satisfied? The body and blood of Christ. That’s it. That’s the center. It’s the mystery at the heart of the universe, that our souls will only find their satisfaction in him.
“And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.” So when you have the priests satisfied in God, then they can teach the people to be satisfied with his goodness. It’s the symbiotic relationship God set up, so that we could all be brought up to the full stature in Christ. All of us, clergy members and bishops, et cetera, are here so that you can be brought up in the fullness of Christ. And that’s the relationship being articulated here.
IX. Rachel Weeping for Her Children 24:14
Okay, verse 15. Now it takes a turn. We have this great prophecy, and then it says:
15 Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Jer 31.15
We, in our religion, in our practices, in our belief, in our culture of life, do not shrink from the tragedy of the world. We see the tragedy. We know Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted. We’re not afraid of that pain. But instead, like Jesus, we’re called to join into it. In fact, we have that great song line (we haven’t sung it in a while) that says, “Break our hearts for what breaks yours.” We actually want to feel like God has designed us to feel. God designed your pain and suffering architecture. Your ability to experience the world in its fullness includes the ability to experience suffering.
War, abortion, poverty, disease, drugs, addiction, sin, depravity: all of these things, war, abortion, poverty, they take children from their mothers. That’s what’s being elucidated here. All of these things take children from their mothers. The world is not the way it should be, not yet. We’re against all of these things. We feed the poor because we’re against people being hungry because they don’t have enough, because, you know what, that’s what our God does. And so we live that out by feeding the poor. We’re against abortion because we’re against the idea that the solution to your problem is ending a life. All of these are the result of sin.
And I just want to encourage us, as we talk about all the goodness God’s calling us into: let’s not flirt with sin. Let’s not just have a casual relationship with our sin. I know it, because I do it too, right? You excuse yourself: “Well, I was pretty good today. I read my Bible. I did all these things. So I’m going to overindulge in my eating.” Or, “I’m going to ignore… You know what? I deserve a break from self-sacrifice and service of my family.” We have all these reasons why we don’t want to live like Christ. Let’s not flirt with sin. The results are war, abortion, poverty, disease, addiction. These are the results of our sin, even our little ones. You don’t get to have a little corner of your heart to yourself. It’s all his.
But you know what? The depth at which you are willing to put that on the cross is the depth at which you experience the resurrection of God in your life. He’s leading you step by step there, but you can shortcut the process and just go straight to him. And what I mean by shortcutting the process is, you can get in the fast lane with God when you lay out all of those things and say, “You know what? I’m not holding on to anything. It’s all yours, God.” It’s all his anyway. How good is he, to let us work that out for ourselves, right? It’s like, “Oh, you’re finally realizing it’s an invitation.”
X. They Shall Come Back from the Land of the Enemy 27:47
Okay. Rachel is weeping; she refuses to be comforted. We’re not ending there, praise God. But instead, in verse 16, it says:
16 Thus says the Lord: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.” Jer 31.16
What did I say? Mourning is a part of the work we do to encounter the resurrected God. There’s a reward for your work, declares the Lord. They shall come back from the land of the enemy. Hallelujah! Everyone you have ever lost will come back from the land of the enemy. How amazing is that?
In fact, this is the chief difference between the culture of life and the culture of death. If you want to know if you’re in a culture of death, ask yourself, “What happens when you die?” Think about the answer. If the answer is nothing, if the answer is just death, then that’s what you serve. That’s what you worship. In the Christian world, we come from life, we go through death, and we enter life again. It’s all life. We worship the God of life. In the atheistic idea, all of the world is a cosmic accident that came from nothing and goes to nothing, that came from death and leads to death. If you believe that, if you internalize that, you will worship death. You will live in a cult of death, because it is your end, it is your purpose, it is the only thing for which you exist. That’s called a god: your end is your god.
Our end is a marriage between heaven and earth, between Christ and his Church, a final union that is an abundance of life forevermore. And Rachel, who is weeping for her children, is embracing her children now in heaven, because we serve a God of life, and they were never fully gone. God rescued them. In fact, we have a great icon, the icon of the Anastasis, or the Resurrection, where Jesus is pulling out Adam and Eve. He’s rescuing us from the pit of death.
In fact, in our New Testament we read in 1 Corinthians 15, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15.26). How are you going to destroy death today? Embrace it, because Jesus is there. Not worship it; it’s the enemy of God. But through it you encounter Jesus, who has destroyed death, trampling down death by death. This is what it means to be in a culture of life: that we know we have come from life to life, that everything we do when we serve Christ is so that life may abound. In fact, we are going to eternal life, measureless, infinite, beyond our grasp. That’s how good it is. All shall be redeemed, made new. Every tear shall be wiped from our eyes. It’s not a denial of death or pain or tragedy. It is its redemption.
I’ll say one more thing. It’s really easy to fall into a trap in our world of trying to weigh your suffering against the goodness. In fact, I listen to some people who are really wrestling with the reality of Christ and trying to decide whether they will believe in this Savior, and one of the biggest things they’re really wrestling with is, “But there’s so much suffering in the world. How could I believe in a good God?” I’m not talking about people who are casual atheists and are trying to use an argument to support their atheism. No, they want to know what the answer to suffering is.
And there are two answers. Number one: Christ, God, who made life, who made everything good, who had no flaw within him of any kind, entered into our suffering. Number one, he’s there with us. But there’s always number two, which is: he redeems it all. The scales between suffering and goodness: we often think they’re either even or slightly tilted towards suffering. Let’s just be honest, that’s kind of how we operate in the world. It’s a modern sensibility to think of it that way, but it’s a human problem from the beginning. We have no idea how good our lives are, and we will only know in the light of eternity. Goodness has outweighed evil. And we cannot even comprehend it. The evil and the suffering of this world shall pass away, but all things shall be made new and good.
So whatever suffering you’re going through, whatever things you’re wrestling with, whenever you think of what it means to be pro-life: it means to celebrate that which God has created and fight for its protection. All life is sacred. Your life is sacred. Treat yourself that way. In the end, our reading today ends with this:
17 There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. Jer 31.17
Thanks be to God. Amen.