To Let the Word Get Across to You
( Jer 20:1~6 )
Pastor, Seong Woo Kim
We can be truly changed when we listen to the Word. How then can we hear the Word?
1. Undo the chains within you. Pashur was the senior priest in the Temple, second in authority to the Chief Priest. He heard the Word in the temple, but had Jeremiah the prophet beaten, imprisoned and put in the stocks. He heard the Word, but didnt listen to it. In order to let the Word get across to us, we need to unfasten our chains first. When we accept and confess our sins, weaknesses and shame, we can unfasten our fetters and be able to listen to the Word. As for me, after confessing my inferiority complex about my appearance and my adulterous life, I began to listen to the Word. Robert Hardy, a missionary came to Korea in 1890. He was disappointed that he couldnt see any fruit from his mission no matter how hard he preached. Then, while praying, he realized that he had superiority complex about his school background and his white race and that he had ignored Koreans. He confessed these sins to God and the people, which ignited a great awakening among them. History shows that the movement of the gospel is accompanied by the confession of sins. Thus we can be changed by finding out what binds us and unfasten them.
2. Being hard pressed on every side, we listen to the Word. When Pashur released Jeremiah, he did not here Jeremiahs thanks but his curse instead, 'The LORDS name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.' Magor-Missabib means fear on all sides. Not a few people are suffering from fear after confessing their sins in their community. Pashur had the same fear because he released Jeremiah with his own power and refinement, not with the power of the Word. Some people reveal their sins on a whim, driven by the atmosphere of the community or just to show off. And they soon regret confessing their sins and fall prey to fear. Pashur means freedom. Like Pashur, I used to have it all my own way. I enjoyed my freedom as no one corrected me. Then I was put in a disciplinary action from the church, which distressed me. When I was caught in the fear from all sides, God visited me and persuaded me with the Word. The Acts 2: 20 says, 'The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.' Have you lost all your hopes after losing everything, caught in fear on all sides? Thats the time when Jesus visits you. He will restore what weve lost one by one in his way, building his eternal kingdom within us.
3. When weve lost everything, we listen to the Word. Notice the word 'all' that repeats from verse 5 on. Why did God say that he would take away all our possessions? Its not because of our problem spouse or parent but because of 'us,' who dont listen to the Word. I didnt listen to the Word despite the great trials caused by my parents and the suffering of losing everything that I had. Then I surrendered to God after hearing the Word that says I would see my family taken captives because of me, dazzled by the false prophets and the lie of the prosperity gospel within me. I began to understand my father from the perspective of Redemption history, knowing that he endured the trouble because of me who didnt listen to the Word. Now Im praying that my father will listen to the Word and help him go to church every week. Todays passage begins and ends with the verb hear in verses 1 and verse 6. The moment when weve lost everything with fear on all sides is the very moment when we should listen to the Word. May God bless us all to listen to the Word with all our effort through worship and our QT.
... the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things (Jer 20:1b)
