Reformation Sunday (OTA)

Jeremiah 14:1-12
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 “Judah mourns,
and her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are ashamed and confounded
and cover their heads.
4 Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.
8 O you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should you be like a man confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not leave us.”
10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them;
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Je 14:1-12). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Listen to those words repeatedly. I will wait as you read through them again and again. -- This is a distraught people. This is a desolate people. This is a people upon whom you would have mercy or pity. These people see their sins. They have backslid as far as one can imagine.

God does not desire to hear prayers from them anymore. He has turned his back on them he will no longer listen to them. These people have continually turned their back on God. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times now we are getting closer. They have been turned back to God repeatedly, but now their sins need to be purged by sword, famine and pestilence. How close are we?

Our iniquities testify against us. All of us have piled up more sins than could be measured. Let us shout to the Lord, "Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not leave us." St John tells us the LORD listens to us on account of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one who has redeemed his people. He is the one who gave the promise to never leave us. Thanks be to God that he has come because otherwise we would be reading Jeremiah again and again. But you have salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior.