‘RUN WITH THE HORSES’ 7-25-10  Jer. 12:4-7, 13

     When I was younger I visited my older brother on Lake Wateree in the summer.  He had a sailboat, and we would go out on the lake.   It was wonderful.  I loved the quiet and the speed, as well as the beauty of the lake.  But the second day we went out- we got about to the middle of the lake, and the wind disappeared.   We sat in the boat for hours.  It was really, really hot.  Finally the wind picked up just a little and we tacked back and forth trying to make it to the dock.   The “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” describes being stuck in the doldrums-  like “more idle than a painted ship upon the painted ocean.” 
Jeremiah describes lifelessness.  Lifelessness because of wickedness; lifelessness to God; and lifelessness because of worry. 

He starts off saying, “How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered?”  

I. This is ECOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL RUIN- The Bible speaks of ecological disasters in many places.  The plague upon Egypt was an ecological disaster- the Nile- their source of fresh-clean water turned blood-red, and the frogs died and flies died, and bugs came, the crops died, locusts came.  It was a real ecological disaster, and amazingly it was tied to the Pharaoh enslaving the people of God and not letting them go.   Elijah said because the people followed Baal, there would be no rain upon the land.  All the water dried up.  One of the most vivid images of ecological and spiritual disaster in the ultimate sense is what is recorded in Revelation (8,9)- where a third of the earth, trees, and grass were burned up; a third of the sea was ruined- with a third of the sea creatures dying;  plagues coming upon human beings- then it says, the rest of humankind, not killed by these plagues still did not repent (9:20).”  They had totally secularized their view of God.  They saw no connection between the spiritual and the physical- their behavior and the consequences of their actions. 
In our day many have separated God from the world- like there is a spiritual side that does not interact with the physical/environmental side.  But this is not the Biblical view.  The Gulf Oil Spill has wreaked havoc on our land since April with one engineering failure after another.  Then about four weeks ago the governors of Louisianna, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama called for the people to pray that this would end.  Many made fun of this call, and some said it was illegal and unethical!  A tropical storm which was supposed to turn into a hurricane was headed through the gulf.  But after the prayer the tropical storm veared away from the site and a few days later the spill was finally capped (7/15).  Some would say this was just a coincidence, but I would say the God who created oil and oceans was at work.  All of life belongs to God.  Our time- every breath is a gift from Him.  I am very much aware of this since Kay was diagnosed with leukemia.  Our bodies are not our own- but they are the temple of the Holy Spirit- and we are to care for them.  The earth is not ours- it is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. 
Jeremiah makes the astounding claim- “Because those who live in the land are wicked the animals and birds have perished. 
We live in a time in which people are consumed with our environment because they know we are dependent and inter-dependent in the world.  But we have left a key element out of the environment- the God who made it.  We are like fish trying to change the water in the aquarium when we need the keeper of the aquarium to come.   We are trying to pretend we live in a closed world in which God is does not care enough to intervene or is unable to do so. 

II. LIFELESSNESS TO GOD- The people were saying, “He will not see what happens to us.” 
Our vision is limited.  When I take my glasses off you all are a blur.  But God doesn’t need glasses- He made the eye.  Because God’s presence is everywhere, He easily sees all things.  God is like the air that is all around us, and rubs up against us.  The everywhere God doesn’t need a telescope to see.  What is amazing in the last generation we are beginning to understand how we can see better.  We can see at night through night goggles.  We can see living individuals trying to hide through heat-seeking vision.  We can see through walls with special equipment.  When I was young, we could not have television from around the world in a heartbeat.  We can see into a person’s body through MRI’s CatScans, ultrasound.  Now, satellite TV can give us a picture from Baghdad at the speed of light-literally in milliseconds.   Machines are great.  The wisdom we have to make machines I believe has been given to us from God to help us in life.  But God, who made the eye, and gives us the wisdom to see better- is much more advanced than we are- even with our greatest machine.  We also can hear things through sonar, and special listening devices that allow us to hear through closed doors.  God does not need a sound system or hearing aids- though we may.    God hears all things. 
     Yet, we who believe live like these Israelites did.  We live as if we can hide from God.  We say to ourselves- God does not see me nor does He hear me.   Jeremiah was saying, the people are doing all these vile things pretending God does not see.
     Have you ever seen a baby playing peek-a-boo?  Scientists confirm that the baby really thinks that if they cannot see you- if they cover their eyes- you disappear.   It takes wisdom (and I believe faith) to understand that just because we don’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.   Yet people will do things on their computers and think no one- especially God- will see what they do.  People will watch something on TV- and some really vile things are available in our living rooms and dens- and think that God does not see, or perhaps all of a sudden He just doesn’t care about what we see, what we hear, or how we behave.  Can fool your parents, can fool your friends, can even fool yourself- but God sees and knows what is really happening.
     The other part is that God does see what we do, and if we are doing well- if we help someone without seeking help in return;  if we are working on someone’s house for GOoDWorks without expecting them to ever help us back;  if we give a can to We Care- putting it in a basket and no one see us doing it- God sees.   When we sacrificially give to the Lord- giving at risk and with faith- God sees though no one else does.  The reality is life without God is nothing- it leads to the grave and to destruction.  But life with God is a life of meaning and hope- knowing that God sees and cares and loves- calling us to do the same.

III.LIFELESSNESS BECAUSE OF WORRY- ( FINDING ENERGY- )- If you’ve run with people and got tired- what about when you run with horses.

The first four verses are about Jeremiah complaining, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (vs. 1).   Look Jeremiah was tired.  He was really worried about his people leaving God, destroying the land, living wickedly and God doesn’t do anything? 

Eugene Peterson says of Jeremiah that he was the same age as Josiah and figures that Jeremiah’s father, Hilkiah was the priest who found the scroll of Deuteronomy that caused a revival among the people.  Jeremiah was an architect of a great revival.  But when Josiah died, the people fell back into their old ways.  It was heart-breaking for Jeremiah to watch a people who were close to God falling back into moral and spiritual evil. 
God answered Jeremiah- saying- this is wearing you out!  It is like listening to the news and thinking the only thing we can do is wring our hands, and say to ourselves the world is going to hell and God doesn’t seem to care.  But God does care, and we need to remember He does.  The rest of this chapter is saying to Jeremiah- you’re wearing yourself out over things that don’t affect you directly, but you will be directly affected. 
We may love our people, our country, but God loves others who go astray more than we do.   Our job, like Jeremiah’s is to point out where they are going astray- and not shrink back from doing that, but also leave them and us in God’s hands.  We do not need to wear ourselves out physically, mentally and spiritually over a people and a culture that is purposefully trying to leave God out.  “I know the plans I have for you- to give you a future and a hope.”

If we have raced with men on foot and are weary, how will we compete with the horses? 
     In 480 BC King Leonidas of Sparta held off hundreds of thousands of Persian troops with only 300, by fighting them in a narrow pass where their numbers would not matter.  If they had fought them all in the open, even if they fought bravely, they would not have lasted.  But if we take our troubles and worries one by one as they come- we will win the day. 
     If things are going okay for us, and we are letting worry destroy us, what will happen when real trouble comes?  Jeremiah was later made fun of by other religious leaders;  He was called a traitor by the government; His own brothers forsook him.  He was put in prison and left to die in a muddy hole in the ground.  God was saying, “Look, nothing has happened to you- I have been looking out for you, and will continue to do  so- but you’ll have rough times ahead.” 
     Someone said, Worry is fear's extravagance. It extracts interest on trouble before it comes due. It constantly drains the energy God gives us to face daily problems and to fulfill our many responsibilities. It is therefore a sinful waste. A woman who had lived long enough to have learned some important truths about life remarked, "I've had a lot of trouble -- most of which never happened!" She had worried about many things that had never occurred, and had come to see the total futility of her anxieties. Chuck Swindoll said “Worry pulls tomorrow’s cloud over today’s sunshine.”  One writer said we worry 40% about things that will never happen; 30% about things that can’t be changed; 12% about criticism of others that is mostly untrue; 10% about health- which gets worse with stress and worry; But we worry about 8% about the real problems we will face.   Paul says be anxious for nothing- but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God.  Many of you here today are worried.  The answer is not to hide your head in the sand- or do drugs- or to allow yourself to be consumed with worry.  The answer is give yourself to God- who gives us a hope and  a future. 
     Do not let worry about the past or the future destroy your present- bringing lifelessness and the doldrums to your life.  Rather give yourself to the God who sees, who enables you to run with the horses- who gives you a future and a hope.