SàThen all the women present and all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to idols—a great crowd of all the Judeans living in northern Egypt and southern Egypt—answered Jeremiah. We will not listen to your messages from the Lord!
AàThis scripture brings to mind my upcoming sermon series, “Once upon a time……” As I think about the legacy that I am leaving for my children the last thing I want is for them to have to make a decision between being loyal to me and loyal to Jesus. Its obvious in this text that these people are choosing to be loyal to their family instead of God. We are brought up that way; there is something that is taught in this culture that we should never break loyalty with our families and if we do we are in some way a traitor or a snitch. The result is we have ended up affirming the ways of the world just as these Israelites and we send ourselves into exile. The fact is that those that came before us didn’t have it all together and neither do we. The fact is, there must be those places where we seek to correct the failings of those that came before us. In fact, I think that my grandfather would much rather me not follow in the footsteps of his racism then to be racist all in the name of being loyal to him. I think my poppy would actually say that if I was racist to remain loyal to him that he would in fact say that I am being disloyal to him and his legacy. The way in which I acknowledge those places where those that came before me got it wrong and seek to live different actually brings honor to them and is the most loyal response because it allows their legacy to continue in a way that is bringing their family closer into what it means to be a devoted follower of Jesus. I pray that my kids will do the same. I pray that they will affirm the ways in which my life honored God and they will seek to correct any of the areas where I left the promised land for exile that they may continue to leave a Godly legacy for my family.
