“Loyalty in God”                        February 19, 2012

*Are there any avid golfers in the congregation?  The only type of golf that I enjoy is miniature golf.  I find it exciting to play eighteen holes filled with hills and curves, obstacles, and waterfalls.  It is always a celebration whenever I can make a hole-in-one.  If your love for golf goes beyond the colored balls and smaller putters, then you may also find enjoyment in watching the sport on television.  If so, then you may have caught the beginning of the 2011 U.S. Open championship.  To introduce the tournament, NBC showed a short video with a group of children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  In addition to the kids, the footage also included scenes of U.S. soldiers, the American flag, and flashbacks of previous U.S. Opens.  After the children had said, “One nation”, the scene quickly switched to another setting.  It then returned to the youngsters finishing the Pledge by quoting, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.  It was obvious that “under God” was omitted from the Pledge of Allegiance.  Afterwards, NBC, received the news that many viewers caught the absence of “under God” in the prelude.  This type of behavior is evidence that certain individuals place their devotion more in people, sports, or country than they do in God.  They would rather shine the spotlight on earthly matters and try to hide the Lord in the shadows.  However, as NBC discovered, God cannot be easily put on the shelf.  The Israelites, during the time of Jeremiah the prophet, was taught a similar lesson in loyalty toward God.  First, the Lord utilized the faithfulness of a certain group of individuals in their ancestor to encourage His children to become more dedicated to Him.  Next, commitment in God could have been achieved much easier if His people had listened and obeyed His instructions the first time they were given.  Finally, the Lord was clear that fidelity in Him would result in blessings; however, infidelity would bring upcoming punishment.  This morning, we will take a closer look at the thirty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah to see how we can become more loyal in our relationship with God.                     

“¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim (Je-hoi’-akh-in) the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ^2 ‘Go to the house of the Rechabites (Rekh’-a-bights), speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.’  ³ Then I took Jaazaniah (Ja’-az’-a-nigh-ya) the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah (Habb-a-zinn-eye’-a), his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah (Idd-dal-eye’-ah), a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah (Ma-as-eye’-yah) the son of Shallum (Shall’-um), the keeper of the door. ⁵ Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine.’  ⁶ But they said, ‘We will drink no wine, for Jonadab (Joh’-na-dab) the son of Rechab (Rekh’-ab), our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ ⁸ Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.’  ¹² Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?’ says the Lord. ^14 ‘The words of Jonadab  the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. ¹⁶ Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.’  ¹⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.’’’”

*I would guess to say that each of us here today could name at least one person or thing that receives our loyalty.  Possible examples could include spouses, children, friends, occupations, hobbies, athletes, teams, and the list may go on.  Unfortunately, at some point, individuals and earthly interests may let us down or not return the same devotion we demonstrate to them.  On the other hand, the Lord is the perfect example of faithfulness.  Listen to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 89:5-8, “⁵ And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.  ⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?  ⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.  ⁸ O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord?  Your faithfulness also surrounds You.”  Using the Rechabites as an illustration, God was trying to prove to His people that they could trust in Him even more than the descendants of Rechab did in their ancestor.  If it was possible for the Rechabites to be obedient to a fallible family member, then surely the Israelites could place their trust in the perfect God.  Today, we have the same reassurance that our loyalty to God will not disappoint us.  Our confidence in Christ can be way more secure than any reliability we may have in people or possessions.  We must first be willing to depend on God for all areas of our lives.            

*Teachers know that students need to learn the value of following directions after the initial prompt.  One way of helping children to understand the importance of sticking to the rules is through object lessons.  For example, there is exercise known as the surprise test that teachers can give to their students.  Listen to one particular version of the exam: “Follow each direction below.  1. Read everything before doing anything.  2. Put your full name in the upper right hand corner of this page.  3. Write your name at the bottom of this page.  4. Write the date in all capital letters in the upper left corner of this page.  5. Draw five small squares under your name.  6. Put an X in each square you drew.  7. Put a circle around each square.  8. Put a circle around all of sentence 7.  9. Put an X under your last name.  10. On the back of this paper write the numbers 1 to 10.  11. Draw a rectangle around the word paper in direction 10.  12. Loudly call out your first name when you read this so your teacher can see who got this far.  13. If you think you have followed directions carefully up to this point, call out, ‘I have!’  14. On the back of this page, add 109.34, 1984 and 8965.  15. Put a circle around your answer, then a square.  16. Count from one to ten backward in a normal speaking voice.  17. Punch three small holes in the top of this page with your pencil point.  18. If you are the first person to get this far, call out, ‘I am number one!’  19. Underline all even numbers on the back of your page from direction 10.  20. Say aloud, ‘I am almost finished.’ 21. Now that you have finished reading carefully, do only sentences 1 and 2.”  Referring back to Jeremiah 35, the Rechabites would have been similar to those students who read all the directions and saved themselves many unnecessary steps.  We read that they were instructed by Jonadab to abstain from drinking wine and building homes.  They did not need continual reminders to stay away from the things their ancestor told them to avoid.  On the other hand, the Israelites would have been like those students counting down from ten and blurting out, “We are number one.”  God repeatedly sent the prophets to warn the Israelites of the coming punishment if they continued living in sin.  We can learn a lot from both the Rechabites and the Israelites in how we respond to God’s instructions.  Loyalty to the Lord can be developed if we will carefully listen and abide by His directions the first time they are received.  If not, we may find out later that we took the long route to reach God’s will for our lives. 

*In the end, it was clear that the Rechabites would receive a blessing from the Lord because of their loyalty to Him and their ancestor.  In contrast, the Israelites would soon face the consequences of their treachery against the Lord.  The God of Israel attempted many times and in several different ways to turn His people back to Him.  Ultimately, it was the choice of the people whether to give their complete allegiance to God.  Unfortunately, their steadfastness on sinful behavior lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and their exile to Babylon in 586 BC.  This single chapter in God’s Word could be a wake-up call for us here today.  God might be trying to redirect our devotion away from worldly passions and back unto Him.  The Lord could be asking if we still one nation under God, one Church under God, and each an individual under God.  If not, then possibly we are opening ourselves to God’s pending punishment.  Then again, we could choose to model the same devotion of the Rechabites toward the Lord and their God-revering ancestor.  May we resemble the same level of loyalty as those who found everlasting favor in the sight of the Lord.