The Empty Chair

First Lesson: Jeremiah 33: 14-16
Responsive Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13
Gospel Lesson: Luke 21: 25-36

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”-Jeremiah 33:14-16.

Once I got done with Seminary, I worked as a substitute teacher. I had the whole gamut of teaching experiences: elementary, middle school, and high school.  Minnesota also has what are called Alternative Learning Centers or (ALC’s) which seek to educate students who are at risk in dropping out of traditional educational models.  So I spent days substitute teaching at ALC’s where behavior wasn’t always up to conventional standards.  My most vivid memory was one day when an 18-year-old boy came into the classroom got on top of the table and started running back and forth.  You were encouraged not to lose our cool as to not provoke a further outburst.

I remember one day having an unusually long day at an ALC.  Kids were frequently talking back, not paying attention, and there might have been a near fight or two.  It was one of the rare days of substitute teaching where I seemingly would check the clock every two minutes even when there were hours left in the school day.
If I wanted a role model to respond to a situation such as this, I should look to a gentleman named David Bunton who taught at a similar school in Australia[1].  Mr. Bunton was a quiet man who had countless rough days teaching in a school such as this one.  Mr. Bunton though had one thing that he would do when students would frustrate him.  He would sit at his desk and quietly pray for his students.

Something remarkable ended happening with Mr. Bunton’s students. Dozens of his students became believers even as Mr. Bunton was unable to share a word about his faith due to rules within his school.  Many of them even entered the ministry as either pastors or missionaries.   A quiet man sitting in prayer brought about a great harvest in the lives of some of Australia’s roughest students[2]. 

Mr. Bunton understood the meaning of our lesson from the Book of Jeremiah which proclaims “the days are coming.” when salvation will come to God’s people despite living in days with seemingly no hope.

Now despite how long of days Mr. Bunton had teaching in difficult schools, such things are nothing compared to the worst years of human history.

 A few weeks back, I was reading a news article that asked an interesting question: “What was the worst year to be alive in the history of the world?”

There would have been some strong contenders in 1349 when Black Death killed half the population of Europe[3].  1918 would be another strong contender with flu estimated to have killed between 50-100 million young adults worldwide.

But perhaps the worst year to be alive in all of human history was 536 A.D[4].  What happened in 536 A.D. is a volcano erupted in Iceland causing mysterious fog covered Europe, the Middle East, and Asia so that the sun would be unable to let forth its normal light for the next eighteen months.  It was like continually living under the moon.  This event was thought to begin the Dark Ages.

 Among the other effects of the 536 volcano: the lack of sunlight caused a great worldwide famine, temperature drops brought snow to China in the middle of the summer, and  Europe’s economy would soon ground to a halt[5].  Within a few years, the Bubonic Plague would strike wiping out half of the population of parts of the Roman Empire to speed up its collapse[6].

Now in thinking of the worst year in all of human history, let me ask another question: “What was the worst year in Old Testament or the nation of Israel?”

The answer would be 587 B.C. the year when King Solomon’s temple would be destroyed and the nation would fall under the captivity of the Babylonian army under its wicked King Nebuchadnezzar II.  Jeremiah the prophet whose name is on our lesson for Today proclaiming the days are coming when God’s promises of salvation become true was a firsthand witness to Jerusalem’s fall in these days.

To understand Jeremiah, you need to know that he seemed to be an unlikely person to give a word of hope such as the days are coming.  Jeremiah’s ministry within the nation of Israel lasted nearly 40 years.  Jeremiah was nicknamed over these years “The Weeping Prophet.” Jeremiah over all these years had been continuously proclaiming that Israel would soon fall to a foreign power because the nation chooses to worship foreign Gods.

Israel was such a mess during Jeremiah’s lifetime that people sacrificed their children to these foreign gods of death and destruction[7].  The officials of Israel cared for Jeremiah’s message so little they imprisoned him. Jeremiah eventually gets thrown down into a cistern, hoping that Jeremiah would starve himself to death drowning in the mud[8].Jeremiah’s life was marked by very little reason to have great religious hope.  Here was Jeremiah right after giving forty years of pessimism, continually warning of pending doom doing a 180-degree term by giving people a word of great hope the days are coming[9].

Jeremiah had Israel live out its darkest of ages. Jeremiah kept calling out like the school teacher Mr. Bunton in prayer that God bring eventual salvation to his land and his people. Jeremiah knew that the people of God were way too fickle, to bring this salvation themselves failing to follow the Ten Commandments again and again.   So God would need to bring forth a new promise a promise of God’s ultimate grace[10].

580 years after Jeremiah saw Jerusalem fall and God’s people sent into exile[11].  Jeremiah’s promise that the days are surely coming came true.  This promise serves as a reminder that even in the worst death and destruction that God’s presence shall never leave this earth.

Mere miles away from Jerusalem in the town of Bethlehem, a woman gave birth to a descendant of King David of whose kingdom would have no end.  The birth of the Christ Child serves as a reminder to all God’s people that the Messiah is surely coming soon. A day will soon be here when righteousness fills the land and peace fills the land, even in those days like Jeremiah witnessed where nothing but carnage filled the Earth.
What does all this mean to us as we begin on this day our Advent season as we eagerly anticipate the birth of our Savior.  What does this mean when like in Jeremiah’s life, things aren’t looking so good within our own life.

Let me close with one final story:  A man’s daughter once upon a time called up a local church asking for the pastor to see her dying father[12].  The pastor was new to the church and had never met the man before.  He walks into the room where he the man lying on his bed propped up by pillows and an empty chair beside his bed.

The pastor walks in introduces himself and asks if the chair is for him.  The man responded “Oh year, would you mind closing the door[13]?”

The pastor was confused, but he followed the man’s request.  The man pipes up[14]: “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my family.  But I never really understood how to pray.”

So I kinda gave up on it, well one day I was having a conversation with my best friend who told me: “Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus[15].”  Here’s what you should do, place an empty chair in front of you, and see Jesus sitting in that chair.  Remember Jesus promised, “I’ll be with you always[16].” Then you converse with him no different than you and I are doing.

So I started talking to the chair for a few hours each day, don’t want my daughter to know, so she doesn’t put me in some sort of “funny-farm.”

The Pastor is moved by the guy’s faith in the greatest of personal adversity as he prepared to meet his maker.  The Pastor and Joe pray together and the Pastor goes back to church.

A few days later, the daughter calls to say that her dad died earlier that day.
Pastor asks: “Did he die in peace[17]?”

The daughter replies: “Yes, he told one of his corny jokes, kissed me on the check, and then I left for the store.” I came back an hour later, only to see the strangest thing.  Dad right before he died, leaned out over the bed, and rested his head on the empty chair that sat beside it[18]. “The days are coming, indeed!

The Biblical prophet Jeremiah understood Advent. He understood the nature of waiting!He understood this isn’t always the easiest thing to do when a room full of misbehaving students surround you, yet in the case of Mr. Bruton God’s plan for our salvation is much grander than what we can see in any individual moment. For whereas the Earth might seem so dark that you can’t see any sunlight on this day, Our God’s presence remains.  We need not look further than the nearest empty chair to remember this! Amen

[1] Atwood, Brian. “Unclaimed Blessings.” Sermon Central. 6. Feb.2003. Web. Nov.15.2018.  The following comes from a story in Leadership magazine submitted by Brian Ronnefeldt of West Perth, Australia. 
[2] Atwood, Brian. “Unclaimed Blessings.” Sermon Central.
[3] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’”  Science. 15. Nov.2018. Web. Nov.19.2018. 
[4] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’”  Science.
[5] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’”  Science.
[6] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’”  Science.
[7] “Jeremiah.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 16. Nov.2018. Web. Nov.19.2018.
[8] Jeremiah 38:1-13. 
[9] Hyde, Randy. “The Days Are Surely Coming.” Sermon Writer. 2006. Web. Nov.18.2018. 
[10] Sylvester, Emily. “Jeremiah 33:14-16.” Sermon Writer. 2012. Web. Nov.18.2018. 
[11] Giese, Ted. “The Righteous Branch.” Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Regina, Saskatchewan. 29.Nov.2015. Web. Nov.15.2018. 
[12] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Nov.15.2018.
[13] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching.
[14] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching.
[15] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching.
[16] Matthew 28:20. 
[17] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching.
[18] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching.