Sunday, September 26, 2004 (Tone 8)
John the Theologian and Evangelist
Kellia: Jeremiah 17:5-14 Epistle: 1 John 4:12-19 Gospel: St. John 19:25-27; 21:24-25
Jeremiah 17:5-14, especially vs. 12: "A
glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." The holy Prophet
and Psalmist, David, in the same spirit as Jeremiah, declares that "Our God is refuge and
strength, a helper in afflictions which mightily befall us. Therefore shall we not fear when the
earth be shaken, nor when the mountains be removed into the heart of the seas" (Ps. 45:1,2 LXX).
Both Prophets look to God as the true and reliable point of safety in the flux of this present life.
In the present passage, Jeremiah explores mankind's too-frequent alternative: trust in mankind -
in making "flesh his arm" (Jer. 17:5). While he says that trust in mankind is "cursed" (vs. 5), he
reveals why primary or ultimate reliance on human beings and institutions is both foolish (vs.11)
and certain to bring us shame and the dust of the grave (vs.13).
Note Jeremiah's analysis: the problem is the human heart which "is deceitful above all things,
and desperately corrupt" (vs. 9). The passage effectively becomes a confession by the Prophet,
including an appeal for the healing of his own heart: "heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed" (vs.
14). It is his realization of the human condition that brings him to his personal need for salvation:
"save me, and I shall be saved" (vs. 14). Let us follow the Prophet's teaching concerning the
human heart that, from him, we may learn to cry out for our healing and salvation.
Jeremiah says that the human heart is "deceitful above all things" (vs. 9). Animals use
camouflage to hide themselves from their predators or to deceive prey while stalking. Before the
battle at Ai, Joshua set a contingent of five thousand men lying behind the city in ambush to
deceive the people of Ai. The same verbal root for deceive appears in that narrative (Jos. 8:12).
Not only is the heart "deceitful," it also is "desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9). Therefore, the Prophet
asks, who can understand it? (vs. 9) Obviously, only God, Who alone can "search the mind and
try the heart" (vs. 10). As the Apostle Paul says, "I know nothing against myself, yet I am not
justified by this; but He Who judges is the Lord" (1 Cor. 4:4). How does the heart come to be
troubled "above all things" (vs. 9)? The Prophet tells us at the very beginning: the "heart turns
away from the Lord" (vs. 5). When this happens, a chain reaction occurs. Apart from God, man
becomes "desperately ill" in a spiritual way because he becomes "a salt waste" where "no good
can come" (vs. 6). He is caught by his own deceit, and believes that he can get riches, "but not
by right" (vs. 11). He deceives and is deceived so that "at his end he will be a fool" (vs. 11).
What is the answer to this sad, universal condition of the human heart? Is it not to take refuge
before the throne of God? This is the first step taken at Holy Baptism, when a candidate is
received. The Priest says, "I lay my hand upon Thy servant who hath been found worthy to flee
unto Thy Holy Name, and to take refuge under the shelter of Thy wings. Remove far from him
his former delusion." The plea is identical to that which Jeremiah uttered.
Only when we reject trust in ourselves, repent, and trust in the Lord will we be able to send out
roots into the stream of Life that flows from the Lord, and thus "not fear when heat comes," nor
be "anxious in the year of drought," but always "bear fruit" (vs. 8). It is the Lord Who heals the
desperate sickness of the heart, being Himself "the fountain of living water" (vs. 13) - exactly
what the Lord Jesus said of Himself (Jn. 7:38). May the Lord heal us so that we may be truly
healed. May He cleanse our hearts and save us with an eternal salvation, so that He is our only
praise. Then shall our sanctuary be His glorious throne on high.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy
of Thy salvation, and with Thy governing Spirit establish me" (Ps. 50:10,12 LXX).
