Cracked

Jeremiah 2: 4-13, OT page 699 Hear the word of the Lord, O House of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. Sermon Our reading here from Jeremiah brings to us a remarkable metaphor. God’s people have forsaken the fountain of living water in favor of cisterns they dug out for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. A cistern, as you can tell just from reading this passage, is supposed to hold water, so a cracked cistern fails to fulfill its purpose. Many old homes here in Columbia have one – they are different from wells in that they don’t fill up with water from some spring; the purpose of a cistern is to hold the water that is put into it. You could divert your gutters into a cistern so that the rain from your roof all flowed into this holding tank. You wouldn’t need the water in a season of abundant rain, but if the excess water from your roof flowed down into a cistern it would be there in a time of drought for you to drink or bathe with, unless of course your cistern was cracked. A cracked cistern reminds me of my first car. It had a transmission fluid leak, which was no big deal so long as I remembered to pour extra transmission fluid into it, but if I forgot, because of the leak, there would be no fluid in the transmission to help me shift into reverse. Even then, I might still be OK, so long as I remembered to never pull into a parking space that I could only get out of by going in reverse, so I got into the habit of pulling through in a parking lot and I managed just fine. And even when I forgot to refill the transmission fluid and needed to back out of a parking space, even then I had it under control as I could just put the car in neutral, push it out of the parking space, then shift into drive and be on my way. I wanted to be self-reliant, I wanted to have this thing figured out on my own, I didn’t want to waste my time getting it fixed – I had things to do, and by no means did I have any intention of asking for help – as you can tell I was just fine on my own. That is, until I parked in a garage at the top of a hill. I didn’t have any spare transmission fluid to put into the leaky car, so I put the car into neutral and started to push the car out of the garage, and the car started to move and then it started to really move. I ran around to the front of the car to try and slow down its progression. Then when I couldn’t, I got out of the way and watched the car careen down this hill of day lilies until it hit a big enough tree and came to a stop. Even in this moment, standing at the top of the hill looking down at my car, I tried to think of a way to get myself out of this situation. And only after coming up with nothing did I resort to asking for help. In our scripture lesson from Jeremiah, the Lord seems to be wondering why – why if I brought them up out of the Land of Egypt would they not trust me enough to ask for help? Why, if I brought them into the Promised Land would they turn away? If the priests were looking for me why didn’t they just call my name? If the prophets were struggling for something to say to the people, why did they choose something that does not profit when I am right here? Why – If I am the fountain of living water – would they dig for themselves cisterns, cisterns that cannot even hold water? That’s the same as me asking myself, “Why didn’t I just ask for someone to fix my leaking transmission?” Well – I simply had to be in a place where I absolutely had no other option but to call out for help. That is the moment that we fear of course – the moment when the quick fixes don’t fix. When, after trusting our own sense of direction we admit to ourselves that we are completely lost. When the car is at the bottom of the hill – only then do we call out for help – and only when the cracked cistern is dry do we remember the fountain of living water. It’s a tearful thing to do too. It’s humbling beyond measure, but it’s not just humbling, it’s humiliating – the world looks completely different when a person finally comes to the conclusion that this plan I’ve worked up all by myself that made me feel secure and in control is broken and if that car is going to get back on the road I am going to need some help. The help was there of course. The help would have been there long before if I had only called out. After calling on my parents, they not only arranged to have the car pulled up this hill, they also arranged to have the transmission fluid leak fixed. What was I so afraid of? Maybe you know. Or maybe you think you don’t, but if you have been trusting in a cistern rather than the fountain of living water you will find yourself in a similar situation soon enough. Satisfied with the behaviors you’ve developed to get by, burying down deep the unresolved issues will keep the relationship going but won’t bring about the kind of relationship that you want – you’ll be OK for a while of course, but sooner or later the moment will come when you’ll go to that cistern you’ve built, that you’ve put time into, and you’ll go to that cistern with thirst but you’ll walk away unsatisfied. Our society is right about there too. Our attention has been pouring in to television, money from our pocketbooks has been flowing right down in to the entertainment industry, we’ve been following its rules and have bought into the idea that we’re only as good as we look and we’ll be happiest the more people we have paying attention to us, but when we go down for a drink there’s nothing in that cracked cistern but Miley Cyrus – and if you’ve been surprised by her behavior I ask you, “what did you expect?” The cistern is cracked and it’s running dry. This world of ours built up around entertainment, our safety enforced by violence – sure, it may keep you and I satisfied for a while, but once the rain stops this cistern that we’ve built is going to keep leaking. Sooner or later it will be dry and we’ll finally be in just the position we need to be in. Finally – when there is no other option – we’ll cry out for help. Finally – in complete desperation, when there is nowhere else to turn we’ll confess that our ways are broken. Finally – thirsty and desperate for even just a drop – you’ll call out for the fountain of living water and you’ll wonder why you depended on that broken cistern for so long. In his book Mere Christianity CS Lewis wrote that we are all like children making mud pies in a back alley, refusing an invitation to the beach, because we’ve never been there and surely what we don’t know can’t be better than what we’ve grown used to. I don’t know what it is exactly that you’ve grown used to, but I do know this, that the Lord intends you to have something better. If your marriage has been barely tolerable and requires you to keep your true feeling buried under a pile of hurt and resentment, know that the Lord will lead you to something better if you are ready to give up the broken cistern you’ve grown used to. If your addiction is manageable, know that it isn’t really, and will soon enough lead you to emptiness and despair – but as soon as you find yourself there you need only to call – to call on the Lord who is the great deliverer. Shame will try to keep you from calling out for help, and maybe you’ll feel like a failure – as though perfection and self-reliance were ever qualities of God’s elect. While it’s easy to believe that you’re supposed to have everything figured out by now, the quality that stands in the way of happiness, salvation, sainthood, isn’t imperfection but denial. So let’s face facts - Your cistern leaks, but that’s not the problem, as you never needed it. Give up on your cracked and broken ways and come to the fount of living water. “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” It is grace after all that saves us. If you are lost – call out – and be found. If you are blind – let the Lord open your eyes. It is grace, not your own strength, that has led you this far, and grace will lead you home. Amen.