The end of Jeremiah's ministry

Today's reading is an interesting contrast from Pastor Kuehl's wonderful farewell last weekend.

We read of the end of Jeremiah’s 40-year ministry (Jeremiah 38-39). For 40 years, Jeremiah pronounced “sword, famine and plague” on the people of Jerusalem. For years he was ridiculed as a false prophet. There were plots against his life. At the end of his 40-year ministry, he doesn’t receive cards and gifts but imprisonment. 

But the story ends with the LORD able to protect his prophet. There were still some God-fearing people like Ebed-Melek. Ebed-Melek was a foreigner, from the region south of Egypt. The people of Judah did not believe, but this foreigner did. In faith he acted and rescued the prophet. 

The importance of the Judgment Day in our own ministries

The judgment day for Jerusalem did come just as Jeremiah foretold. For 18 months the city was under siege. How many died by famine and plague before the sword of the Babylonians entered the city! Imagine the horror and suffering!

As you read this lesson, remember what the LORD said through the prophet Ezekiel at about this same time: “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

Pictures of the devastation in Gaza provide modern day images of the horrible judgment that came upon Jerusalem. War, famines and plagues warn us the final judgment day is coming. May we recognize the LORD’s saving love in this warning, and daily turn from our sins. May we learn from a Jeremiah of 500 years ago who posted on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg: "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent,' he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance" (Thesis 1 of Dr. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses).

An understanding of Judgment Day was the beginning of a new ministry

In our New Testament (John 4:1-26), Jesus spent time with a woman not ready for the Judgment Day. She was a woman whom the world labeled as unworthy of anyone's time. Not only was she a foreigner, a Samaritan, but she had made life choices that alienated her from God and from the rest of society. 

Jesus loved her. He revealed her sin so that she might know there are no secrets from God. Yet this God who knows all still loved her and revealed himself to her as the Messiah, the promised Savior. 

Tomorrow’s reading shows how a person with a clear understanding of the judgment and a clear understanding of God's grace in Christ makes an excellent missionary. A new ministry begins whenever the Holy Spirit works the miracle of faith in another person.

Notice the importance of the "one"

Finally, find comfort in our Savior God's concern about individuals... the "one," you and me.

• As HIs city is facing destruction, the LORD cares for his prophet Jeremiah and for Jeremiah's rescuer Ebed-Melek.
• As Jesus begins his busy ministry, he cares for a foreigner who needs to know his forgiving love.

Dear brother/sister, you are equally precious to your Savior. You are his "one."

Prayer: Lord, make clear to us the coming judgment. Work the miracle of repentance in our hearts every day. May your Spirit daily turn us from our sins and turn our hearts to you for the living water of forgiveness and life. Let us live as foreigners in this world, making clear by today’s life-choices that we aren’t living for the present, but for the eternity Jesus has prepared for us. Use us as foreigners in this world to be missionaries who lead them to your heavenly home. Amen.