i've been making my story

while they're waiting on glory

A sermon on Jeremiah 13, of all things...

Jeremiah is instructed to buy a new pair of “linen shorts.” And by linen shorts, we mean what my grandmother always called “unmentionables.”

Jeremiah was a bachelor, he had no wife or children. But lest you think God is just giving the guy a lesson on when it’s time to replace his undergarments; God tells Jeremiah NOT to take the skivvies off. Not even to wash them, even!

Then God sends Jeremiah off to Perath. 

Now keep in mind, that trip was extremely long! Like, months long! And, keep in mind, the traveling conditions: hot and dry. Okay, that should be about all the information you need to imagine the state of Jeremiah’s BVDs by the time he got to his destination. Not exactly fresh…

Finally in Perath, Jeremiah is relieved. And boy, do I bet he was relieved, because there he finally got to take off those old Hanes. In Perath Jeremiah is  to leave his nickers in the cleft of a rock!

And then… 

And then; well, that’s it! After Jeremiah buries the worn and ragged Fruit of the Looms, there is no further word from the Lord! 

…So Jeremiah just returns home.

Of course, though, we know the object lessons God was giving. Those grimy boxers, just like God’s proud and disobedient people, are destined for ruin…

➤ But doesn’t that seem like quite a bit of work, and ickiness, to make such a straightforward point?

After all, it’s not news, is it; to hear that Sin has a way of ruining things?

Does God really need to have Jeremiah act out that lesson? 

After all, we’ve all felt that way, haven’t we?

Those times when our actions catch up with us. When the consequences get the better of us. 

They don’t feel good, do they? They don’t make you feel like a freshly washed piece laundry, hanging on the line in a nice spring breeze. 

No, they make you feel like a pair of unmentionables, rotting underneath some rock. 

The truth is, life itself has a way of teaching us what God has Jeremiah do to with that pair of delicates. Because life isn’t always delicate with us!

 When the consequences of our pride and disobedience catch up with us; we, like that pair of briefs, are left worn out and ragged…

➤ So what exactly is God revealing with this prophecy Jeremiah has to act out?

…Now, perhaps you’re thinking, that isn’t all God sends Jeremiah to do!. And if you are, Good On Ya! Because you’re right; that’s only half the prophecy!

So, what else does God have Jeremiah do? What’s the second half of this prophecy???

➤ Yes! God sends Jeremiah BACK, to go and fetch those old knickers!

The Word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah again; and this time, tells him to make another round trip to dig up those old and rotting briefs!

Finally, after all that, God explains the significance of those tattered undies… 

But did that really need explaining? The point has already been made! Sending Jeremiah back to retrieve those old briefs seems like beating a dead horse!

When Jeremiah hid those bloomers, they were already BEYOND wearing!

What exactly is God revealing in this prophecy, and why is God is particular about all the details?

★ There’s this great Seinfeld gag where Jerry is talking about how he doesn’t buy into the whole “vintage clothing” scene. That to him, buying someone else’s, old clothes isn’t trendy but gross!

Then, at the end of his routine, he has this throw off line, saying what no one wants to buy, what will never be in style, is someone’s old underwear. 

And he’s right, isn’t he?

At Goodwill you can find almost anything, but not underwear! And no one sets out a box their old briefs at a garage sale!

➤ But THAT’S exactly what God sends Jeremiah to do!

And THAT, THAT is the revealing part of the prophecy! 

Because we ALREADY know not changing your delicates and then burying them, will only ruin them. AND we ALREADY know Sin does as much to us too; leaves us torn up and worn down!

But, what we DON’T already know, what we NEVER expect, is that God would send anyone to get something so rotten!

The point of this little object lesson isn’t that turning from God will only lead to our ruin! We spend our lives learning that! 

No, what this prophecy reveals is, God will send someone—Jesus, the Christ—to go and get what has suffered the degradations of Sin!

It’s this second-half of this prophecy, the part we’re all too quick to pass over, that tells us something we don’t already know! 

How God sends Jeremiah back to get those old, rotten underpants!

This prophecy isn’t about us, it’s about God!

Through Jeremiah God shows us what God will do, and has done in Jesus Christ, to claim us. Even when we’re falling apart and rotting!

➤ And we’d NEVER see that, if God hadn’t revealed it! 

Would we?

The real reason you can’t buy preowned undies is, because WE can’t bear the thought of anyone else knowing about our’s!

We spend our lives trying to hide our unmentionables. We keep those garments buried at the BOTTOM of our dresser. We throw them away.

But today God shows us, nothing is beyond God’s redeeming!

God is revealing, what we’d die if it was ever revealed!

*So instead, God dies for us!

➤ We’ve all felt like Jeremiah’s tattered delicates, haven’t we?

And when we do, we worry our lives are doomed for the hamper of history. 

But what God shows you is, that’s when God sends someone to rescue you! 

And not just anyone, either! But the one Jeremiah pointed to, the Holy One!

Your dirty laundry is what Jesus has come for! Not to shame you though, but wash you!

Those rags of your life that are stained and coming apart; they are the blue light special YOUR Lord and Savior can’t pass up! As far as The One who has come, your rags are his suit and tie! 

God sends Jesus, the Obedient One, to go and fetch our old garments. 

…And then, God puts them and their destruction on Jesus!

In Jesus Christ, God has taken those parts of your life that are worn out and covered in stains, and put them on the Son of God, the one without blemish!

As Saint Paul once said, “For our sake God made Jesus to be sin - who knew NO sin; so that in HIM we might become the righteousness of God!”

God has taken your sin stained clothes and put them The One who has come; Jesus Christ!

Your “Sunday Best” ISN’T those parts of your lives you like to show off! It’s the one you try and hide! Because those items are what Jesus comes to put on for you!

And you have NOTHING hidden in your closet Jesus is too good to put on!

➤ But that’s not all either, as the good salesman says! 

Because when Jesus puts on your unmentionables, in return he GIVES you his heavenly gown! 

As Saint Paul said in another place, “In your baptism YOU have put on Christ!”

In the cleft of the rock, you and Jesus have a little clothing swap!

Jesus puts on your unmentionables; and in return gives you his heavenly Hanes. And the rest of his wardrobe for good measure! 

You’re wearing the briefs of immortality, if you like to think of it like that!

And I hope you do! 

Because I know hearing your pastor rattle on for 10 minutes about underwear is a little uncomfortable. But that’s only because we imagine God as a pious, little “no-god.” A god who’s too good to get messy washing our dirty linens. 

But that’s not the God Jeremiah obeys, and the God Jesus Christ reveals!

The God who comes for you is a God who’s not too good to go through your wardrobe, seeing those tucked away numbers you’d die is anyone else knew about!

So take those garments out of hiding. You know, the ones you’re ashamed of. The ones covered with stains and full of holes, and wear them to church. Because it is here that Jesus comes and puts them on himself, so that you may wear HIM instead!

In Jesus Christ, God takes your underwear that are full of holes, and puts them on the holy one! And in return, gives you the bloomers of the one whose rose is e’er blooming!