Peace in God’s Way
Jeremiah 28: 5-9
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fifth Sunday after Pentecost is the Old Testament reading Jeremiah 28. In our Old Testament reading we encounter a showdown between Jeremiah and Hananiah. At stake is the truth. Who is the true prophet of God? Is it Jeremiah or Hananiah? Which one of these men truly speaks the Word of God to the people? What message can we really believe? In the battle between Jeremiah and Hananiah the question was one of calamity or peace.
Jeremiah told the people that they had sinned against the Lord. He told them that God’s judgment was coming because of their refusal to repent of their sins. Jeremiah told them that the Babylonians led by King Nebuchadnezzar would come and invade the land. He told the people that they would go into exile for seventy years. The message of Hananiah was very different. Hananiah told the people that the Babylonians were getting weaker and that within two years Judah would be free and that the nation would live in peace. The words of Jeremiah spoke of calamity. The words of Hananiah spoke of peace. Which message to you suppose the people wanted to hear? You guessed it, the message of Hananiah. The problem of course was that Hananiah was the false prophet. Any person who believed his message had put their faith in a false hope. The words of Jeremiah were true because he was the real prophet of God. The Babylonians did come and the people were placed in exile.
The world wants peace. Yet so often, the peace that the world desires and proclaims proves to be an illusion. On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London from Munich after a meeting dealing with the crises in Europe. Adolf Hitler was demanding that Germany take possession of a portion of Czechoslovakia. In an act of appeasement Chamberlain had signed an agreement that allowed Germany to take what it wanted. Standing in front of 10 Downing Street, Chamberlain read a statement in which Hitler and Chamberlain declared that the Munich Agreement was symbolic of their desire that Germany and Great Britain never go to war with each other again. Chamberlain went on to declare that he believed the agreement meant “peace for our time”. In less than a year, world events demonstrated that Chamberlain could not have been more wrong. On September 1, 1939, Hitler’s German panzer divisions rolled into Poland and initiated Word War 2, the most horrific armed conflict the world has ever seen. It is just as Jeremiah warned that peace apart from God will never be real.
The message of peace that Hananiah gave to the people was false. The message that Chamberlain gave about “peace in our time” was also false. People want peace but all too often they look for it in the wrong place. The world offers peace by telling us that it is better to be politically correct than to tell the truth. We are told that it is better to compromise with the world than to stay faithful to the Lord. False prophets like Hananiah will want to make us comfortable in this world. False prophets like Hananiah will tell us to ignore God’s judgment against sin. False prophets like Hananiah will tell us that God wants to give to us earthly victory. We will be tempted to look for peace in the wrong places. The world offers peace of mind through possessions and wealth and a secure financial future. The world offers peace through prestige and status.
The words of Jeremiah reveal to us that all of these things that I have been mentioning are a false peace. Jeremiah reveals that God’s Word is more precious than getting along with the world. He tells us that God will judge sin. He tells us that true hope comes from the Lord. The things of this world will fade away. Wealth, prestige, and status will come to an end. The promise of peace will never be delivered by the things of this world.
Last Tuesday, Barbara and I were looking at our backyard from our deck. We were admiring how good our lawn looked. We talked about the work we put into it in order for it to look just right. The lawn looked pristine. That was Tuesday. On Thursday the big windstorm hit. As you well know, it was a powerful storm that struck Chatham, Springfield, and the surrounding area. Our backyard looks quite different now. I would not use the word pristine to describe it. The big tree that was in our back yard was split in two. Part of the tree came crashing down on our garage. Tree branches and debris covered everything. Our fire pit was demolished. The turtle sandbox was smashed. The entire neighborhood looked like a war zone.
We are thankful to the Lord that no one was hurt. We are all doing well. We also know that the damage can be repaired, and that things can be replaced, and new trees can be planted. I bring up the big windstorm because it is a reminder that true peace can never be found in this world. It is a reminder that the things of this world are fleeting and do not last. Even if things can be repaired, they can always be destroyed again. There is no such thing as peace in this world. We are reminded that true peace can only come from God.
Jeremiah was the true prophet of God. He was the one who spoke the truth. He told the people that a calamity was coming. He was right. The Babylonians conquered Judah and placed the people in captivity for seventy years. Jeremiah’s words of warning were true, but we need to remember that his words of promise were also true. Though God condemned sin through Jeremiah, his final word announced hope for the future. Jeremiah told the Israelites that they would return to their land after their captivity and that the Messiah would come in the future. He was also right about that. After seventy years of captivity the Israelites did indeed return to their own land. The Babylonian empire collapsed and when the time was right the Messiah came into the world.
Jesus is this Messiah who has established God’s Kingdom and is the One who gives to us true peace. He does not give the false peace of the world, but He does give to us peace with God. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead have defeated sin, death, and the devil and has brought true peace. We are, in fact, at peace with God because the sin that made us His enemies has been removed. We have been given life and salvation. We have been given eternal life. That means that the peace that Jesus gives to us is an everlasting peace. We don’t need the other kinds of false peace when God is for us and with us, giving us everything we really need.
The Lord calls us to repentance and faith. By the power of the Spirit, we turn away from our sins and we turn to God. We trust in the Lord knowing that He is the giver of all that is good. We have peace with God and peace with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We are at peace with those around us because they too, are forgiven sinners, exactly as we are. When things like a windstorm come up, we are given the opportunity to help each other, to check in with each other, and to pray for each other.
Jeremiah and Hananiah have a showdown in our text for today. Hananiah proclaims peace but it is a false peace. Jeremiah speaks the truth that acknowledges the presence of sin but promises peace in the future. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jeremiah’s words have found their ultimate fulfillment. We already have true peace through faith and Christ. We now wait for His visible return when we will rejoice in the fulfillment of that peace on the Last Day. Amen.