Title: The Burning Center/Jeremiah 20:7-13
Contents
Jeremiah was a prophet who was active just before the destruction of Judah. As a prophet, he was told by God that he would be taken captive to Babylon and that Judah would be utterly destroyed. Unfortunately, he was prophesying judgment and curse, not good news. It is not very pleasant to be warned of judgment and curse no matter how great a sin one has committed. "Unfortunate things will happen to you." It is better not to listen to these words. But Jeremiah proclaimed a great plague that shook the ears of those who heard it. "The corpses of the dead will become food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and when the enemy besieges, men will eat the flesh of their sons and daughters." Jeremiah's heart cannot be at ease when he has to deliver such terrifying words. Moreover, Jeremiah was beaten by Pashhur, the guard of the temple, and even imprisoned in a dungeon. How injustice and anger must Jeremiah be when a person who preaches the word of God encounters such a difficult event?
1. Grievance and Prayer to God
Jeremiah can't stand it and he is complaining to God. If we were to unravel his grumbling prayer, which is not at all prophetic, it would be something like this. "God deceives me, does God intend to bully me? All right, God has won. Everyone mocks me as soon as I run out of words. God, are you feeling better now?" Do not be surprised by the prophet Jeremiah, who is pouring out his heart with primary colors. In fact, our prayers are clich d and dry because they are so holy and polite. But Jeremiah is now completely open to God. This kind of honest prayer is necessary in order to be healed of a broken heart. What kind of prayer can God not accept? The problem is that when something happens, we pour it out to humans rather than tell God. Jeremiah went to God and wept and complained. Look. Complaints to God are never left behind.
2. Resignation: I will never speak the name of the Lord again.
Jeremiah is now submitting his resignation to God. He did not know that God's work would be so difficult. That is why they say that they have been deceived by God. After that, I decided not to do God's work. He wanted to live comfortably without God. Maybe he wanted to forget everything and go for a walk humming with a light heart.
Sometimes we really want to live without burden. At least as far as our religious life is concerned, we are tempted to let the church take it easy without burdening us. Everyone has this kind of thinking when their faith is weak. So one day, while fighting, he suddenly resigned.
3. Burning Center
“It feels like my heart is on fire, so my marrow burns, I can’t stand it because I’m frustrated.” This is Jeremiah's confession of resigning from God. I was able to endure the brief beatings, ridicule, and contempt I received from my neighbors, but the loneliness of the soul that comes from being cut off from God is so severe that I can't stand it. Most of all, I couldn't bear it without preaching the word that God had given me. So Jeremiah again declares his surrender to God.
Rather, I feel more comfortable doing God's work even if I am ridiculed, imprisoned, and beaten. We had a burning passion for the work of God. The same is true of all the saints here. Everyone has a burning center for God's work in their hearts. It's just that all the desires to do good are hiding and sleeping. Just as Jonah, a servant of God, slept in the bottom of a boat.
4. God who sees the heart
Right now, we are running through the world, but there is a thirst in our souls to get closer to God. Even if we are disobeying now, this is not our true heart. We want to obey. It was not our true intentions that we complained and grumbled for a while. It is to restore the true hearts that are hidden in the secret places of the heart and lungs after the fall of Adam. So I believe that the sweat, tears and blood we shed will renew our church and save this nation.
□ Yes Tue 1. Coture works
The mother cow gave birth to two calves. As the calf grew, it was time to make kotour. The eldest calf told the farmer what was going on. "Please don't make kotours to me." The farmer answered. "If you don't do kotour, you'll end up like a pony... "No. Master, it's an old idea that you can get a job done only with kotour . Let's see. If you don't do kotour , you'll do twice as well." As promised, the eldest calf yokes and pulls the plow by himself, without a cotture. The calves grew up and became adults. However, the eldest calf, who did not wear a kotour, gradually began to get tricked. So he ran away from work or kicked back at the farmer who came to catch him. However, one day, when the younger brother who had been wearing kotour came back from the field, he was nowhere to be seen. The owner answered the brother-so who asked where he was. "I didn't do any work, I just tricked and sent it to the slaughterhouse."
(Cheon Chaebong, Thinking Fairy Tale)
□ Yes Tue 2. Holy Jealousy
Crossing the Yanghwa Bridge in Mapo-gu, Seoul, there is the holy site of Jeoldusan Mountain. This is the place where thousands of Catholics were martyred due to the persecution of Daewongun in Byeonginhae in 1866. It was used as a place to kill Catholics by selecting Yanghwajin (now Jeoldusan), where the French fleet had entered, saying, "The river soil contaminated with the sheep (Western barbarians) must be washed with the blood of the Seohak group." How hard was it to beheaded at the top of a riverside cliff, or dragged up to the top of a mountain peak, beaten with a knife or bound and thrown alive into the river under the cliff to death? 200 years ago, they went to study in axioms and abandoned the superstition that exploits souls and found and believed in the true God. They are living forever by killing themselves as a ray of light to illuminate the dark times. Pope Paul IX said on December 19 (the solar calendar) of the year Byeongin, when the persecution continued, "I feel holy jealousy at the bountiful harvest to be reaped from the blood of the martyrs."
□ Prayer
God, we are all your servants. We should do the Lord's work with joy, but we were afraid, so we erred in the Lord's work and did not fully obey God's will. However, our true hearts still love God, and we have hearts that want to work for the Lord's kingdom. May our good heart overcome the evil and lazy body. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.