「主の言葉と呼びかけに応えて生きる人の幸い」 九月第四主日礼拝 宣教 2025年9月28日
エレミヤ書 Jeremiah 7章1〜15節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. I am grateful to be able to offer worship together with everyone this morning. Time flies—September ends this Tuesday, and Wednesday marks the start of October. Hoping autumn weather settles in soon, I look forward to enjoying this season fully with all of you. Deacon E has planned an autumn event: a walking and bowling outing in November. Even if you don’t bowl, just seeing our church family having fun together will be delightful. Please join us for this autumn event!
Autumn is also known as the “season of appetite.” After enduring the hot summer, our appetites wane and our bodies weaken, so autumn is a time to eat delicious foods and regain our strength. Starting in October, lunches after worship services on the first and third Sundays will resume, allowing us to enjoy meals and fellowship together. We hope you look forward to this. Autumn is also called the “season of reading.” The reason is that autumn offers pleasant weather, making it a season ideal for leisurely reading. Therefore, let us read the Bible in our daily lives. At our Wednesday prayer meetings, we are studying the Gospel of John. In Sunday morning church school, we are studying the Book of Jonah. During evening worship, we hear God’s message from the Acts of the Apostles. Please make this autumn a season for reading God’s Word, the Bible, abundantly.
Now, in our morning worship, we are hearing a series on the Book of Jeremiah. This book of Jeremiah records how the people of Israel forgot the God who rescued them from Egypt and brought them into the promised land flowing with milk and honey. They stopped listening to God’s word, failed to keep their covenant with Him, and began worshiping the worthless and detestable idols of that land. As a result, they brought ruin upon the land given to them. Even after God repeatedly called them to repentance through the prophet Jeremiah, they rejected it all. They were driven out of the promised land, became a captive people, and tumbled away from God’s blessing. Reading this is truly heartbreaking.
However, what is written in this book is not merely about events from ancient times. It is a word of guidance urging us to examine our own faith—to ask whether we, living in modern society, are not committing the same mistakes as the people of Israel. Therefore, this morning, I desire that each of us examine and scrutinize the faith given to us by God through our Savior Jesus Christ. Please note: this is an opportunity to look inward, not to find fault of others.
Now, this morning we will listen to Chapter 7. Let us read verses 1 and 2: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim this message there. Say to all the people of Judah who come through the gates of the Lord’s house to worship the Lord: Hear the word of the Lord!’” God commands Jeremiah to speak His word at the temple in Jerusalem. “Proclaim” means to summon the people, and “say” means to declare to them.
What does the Lord command Jeremiah to tell the people of Israel? It is found in verses 3 and 4: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Repent of your evil ways and deeds. Then I will let you live in this place. Do not rely on empty words like ”The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.“’” “Correct your ways and your deeds” means to remember the covenant with God and keep it. In other words, it is a very serious call to return to God with all your heart and live in a right relationship with Him. God says that if you return to Him, He will let you dwell in Jerusalem as promised.
Here it says, “Do not trust in empty words like ‘the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’” In a book I read for study, it stated that this phrase “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord” was a “magic spell or charm to ward off misfortune.” It explains that in those days, many people believed that simply being in the temple meant absolute safety—that they would be protected from all calamity and attain happiness. Rather than fearing God, they placed their faith in the physical structure of the “temple.” This belief originated from the time when Jerusalem was miraculously protected, along with the temple, during the siege by the Assyrian army.
Then what about us? Have we not somewhere deep down convinced ourselves that as long as we return to church and offer worship, we’ll be safe—protected daily from disaster and misfortune by the merciful God? That receiving comfort and encouragement in worship, finding peace, is enough? Have we not somewhere deep down convinced ourselves that as long as we come to church, give offerings, or say “Lord, Lord, Lord” during worship, we’ll be fine?
But God asks, “Do you truly believe that is my heart?” Such assumptions lead to complacency and a weakening of faith, thinking, “God is merciful, so He will forgive me even if I can’t always make it back to church when it’s convenient.” Gradually, returning to church every Sunday to bow before God, offer praise, and listen to His Word becomes every other week, then once a month. Obeying the Word and keeping the promises made to Jesus are increasingly neglected. Therefore, we need to tighten the belt of our faith once more.
God repeatedly tells the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, “Return to me,” inviting them: “Fear me and keep my covenant. Then you will live long in the promised land.” Yet the people of Israel take God’s love and mercy for granted, greedily devouring it while refusing to obey His word.
In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, Only those who do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” Jesus teaches that faith is not merely lip service, praising God and Jesus with words alone. What matters is cherishing God’s will and doing His will with all our strength. It is not faith in words, but faith accompanied by action—action is what matters.
So what exactly is God’s will? The answer is found in verses 5 and 6: “Here, you must correct your ways and your deeds, practice justice toward one another, not oppress the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, not shed innocent blood, and not follow other gods to bring disaster upon yourselves.” “Here, correct your ways and your deeds” means to repent and return to God, loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
“Practice justice between yourselves, and do not oppress the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood.” This means you must welcome those who are small and weak, pushed to the margins of society, those in need of help, those ignored by society—welcome them as your neighbors, love them as yourself, and practice justice before God.
Loving God and loving your neighbor is the will of God that He requires of us. While there are many other good deeds, all good deeds are rooted in these two loves—love for God and love for your neighbor. They become deeds pleasing to God, flowing from His abundant love, and are used by Him. God does not forget those who live this way. In verse 7, God says, “Then I will let you dwell in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors, forever and ever.” A place where we can dwell eternally has already been prepared by God, and we are invited there.
But verses 8 through 11 issue a warning once more: “Yet behold, you are trusting in these empty words, which have no power to save. 9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods you have not known— 10 and then come and stand before me in this temple that is called by my name, and say, ‘We are saved’? You are doing all these detestable things. 11 Does this temple that is called by my name seem like a den of robbers to you? It does to me, declares the Lord.” Why is the same thing repeated? The reason is that our hearts are weak. We prioritize our own affairs and our hearts drift away from God.
But God asks: “When you come to this temple called by my name and stand before me, saying ‘I am saved’—do you truly believe you are saved when you stand before me?” Is it not merely a delusion? He seems to be asking if we are not hiding our own weakness. Most people would say, “I’m barely managing my own affairs. I can’t possibly take care of others too,” and I am among them.
However, we are beings who must rely not on our own strength, but on the Lord God. Yet the people of Israel fell into corruption because they did not fear God, forgot God, and did not obey God’s word, thus tumbling away from God’s love and blessing. So then, is it acceptable for us to similarly tumble down the slope toward destruction? Of course not. Precisely because it is not acceptable, God called the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Return to me and obey my word.” And through Jesus Christ, He calls us to come to God.
The Lord causes the people of Israel to look back on a part of their history. Verse 12 reads: “Go to my sanctuary at Shiloh. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel, even though I had placed my name there.” Shiloh was the place God first chose as holy ground. The Ark of the Covenant was placed there, an altar was built, and worship was offered to God. But because the sons of Eli the priest did evil in the sight of the Lord, that place was destroyed.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God called the people of Israel, saying, “Return to me and find your blessing.” This morning, through Jesus Christ our Savior, who redeemed our sins on the cross, God calls us: “Return to me, listen to and obey my word, Jesus, and find your blessing.” Though we skip verses 13 and following, those who live responding to the Lord’s words and call will find happiness, while those who do not will continue to wander in darkness. Let us not take God’s love and the Lord’s grace for granted, but rather believe in Jesus, become humble, and walk daily in grace with gratitude and joy. Let us respond to His grace.