“The Brethren & the Cistern”

Jeremiah 38:7-13

Quest for Best – requires vital, valuable friendships


INTRODUCTION:

Steve Berthoff – 5’2”
Joined together – I – helicopter
He – tunnel rat
ear plugs, flashlight, 45, 2-13mo. tours
David Kleber –pinochle, author Rubinstein, 1968 Ford Mustang

Jeane & Eric Witherspoon – parents away from home – Memphis
Invited home for lunch after church
Their home = refuge
Tracked, supported us the 8 years with OC

Hal Prather – came to know Lord thru our friendship
Met for lunch on Wed – J. Gilligans – Irish nachos

Mickey Bryce – music minister in Phoenix
Jedi Knights together is some star wards in another day.

Still stay in touch – by and large – with these.

You are getting the picture that life is good when it includes vital, valuable, friendships.

Friendships I have in mind – soul brother relationships, deep, strong, open, and on-going.

Life without a friend is lonely.
Life without a friend is missing a key ingredient
Pervasive, important problem, 20th century

LONELINESS

Loneliness and lack of friendships seem to be accentuated during the holidays. What is a simmering problem during the year can become boding-over situation around major holidays – especially Christmas. I wonder if you are here today in need of a friend? Maybe you have come today and you know someone who needs a friend and you need to be a friend to him? Jeremiah 38 is God’s word for us today. He wants to speak to us about Jer. And one of his friends and provide us with some insight, challenge, direction to make our lives better.

Our man, Jeremiah, - monumental figure in his day, towering man in a day of little people, king-pin of his ear, first hand participant in the events that become the hinge for a millennium!

Many factors made him that man.
But one key ingredient to his life – were his friends.

Henry Adams “one friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, 3 are hardly possible.”

Jeremiah had 3 – all 3 literally saved his life on different occasions. (speaking of saving one’s life – do you know why lawyers are always buried 27’ down? Because deep down, they are pretty good guys)

One friend was named Ebed-Melech – all we know of him is found in Jeremiah 38 and 39. Look at his story – see him as a man – take home some lessons about friendship.

I. Jeremiah 38:7 (read text first) ‘But … draws out attention to a startling contrast – Jeremiah is lowered into a cistern (6). He is there because of plots of officials of the land (1-3) who have manipulated the King, Zedekiah (5) who is a marshmallow man – carries the imprint of the last one to squeeze him (not the kind of person you want for a friend)

Jeremiah in a cistern is in danger. Cistern is a pear-shaped, concreted structure in ground for storing water.

Growing up in 1st grade in Colorado – water for our house came from a cistern. If not enough rain – bought water. I have memories of watching that being filled.

One of the good parts of our sewer line problems last week was meeting Ed Miller – replaced that line for us. In talking about where and how, got to talking about our old cistern off northeast corner of our house. He told me there are many old cisterns in Upland – used in years gone by for a water supply for the firemen. 1” rain on a roof like ours could provide 1200 gallons into a cistern.

Jeremiah’s cistern had no water in it – but plenty of mud, silt, and sediment from over the years – and Jeremiah is in danger of perishing as he sinks lower and lower into that cistern.

This is his worst experience of imprisonment – 37:21 – had been in courtyard of the guard; 37:16 had been a long time in a vaulted cell in a dungeon. Now on verge of a slow, suffocating death.

II. Jeremiah 38:7 “But Ebed-Melech ….. cistern”
Ebed-Melech is no marshmallow – name = “servant of the king”
A. He is Cushite (modern day Ethiopian)
Has known exile
Has known what it means to be uprooted (foreigner in strange land)
B. He is an official in the royal palace
(conspirators are his peers)
C. He is a lover of God (39:16-18)
He has come to know the Lord as his Lord
Has understood what is right – 9a
D. He is Jeremiah’s courageous friend (39:9)
Not afraid to confront the king!
Not afraid to oppose his peers!
Takes the risks necessary to save his friend
Remarkable man and he gives us insight into 3 lessons of friendship –

1) The best kind of friend you can have or you can be is one who loves the Lord. Ebed-Melech continually trusted the Lord.
Relationship with Lord – 1) sense of self-worth
2) find our value there
3) gives us significance

He knew what we believe – woven in womb – always led in His triumph – all authority – He has gifted us, willing to take risks, has courage, stand alone. This 1 reason – Ebed-Melech is such a good friend for Jeremiah. Though a foreigner with fewer rights, though a candidate for palace intrigue and plots, he stands by Jeremiah.

Illustration: The assembly in Corinth was filled with people who were seeking their own way, regardless of the impact upon others. Selfishness had poisoned their view of Christian liberty, so that some indulged in questionable practices without any concern for their ore sensitive brothers and sisters. It had turned the Lord’s table into a celebration of division and party spirit, rather than a focal point of fellowship and unity in remembering the Lord Jesus. Their “selfism” had turned the doctrine of spiritual gifts into a search for the spectacular and the exciting, rather than a desire to be encouraging and edifying. All of that “seeking their own” earned from Paul the biting rebuke that they were living like mere men and displaying nothing of true spirituality (1 Cor. 3:1-4). Do Your Own Thing may be a popular slogan, but it is also the essence of sinful selfishness.
A life curved in on itself cannot act in love. The attitude is beautifully reflected in the classified advertisement that appeared in a rural New York newspaper: Farmer, age 38, wishes to meet woman about 30 who owns tractor. Please send picture of tractor.

It is hard to be a friend when you feel this way – no one who knows the Lord every need to feel worthless, insignificant, inferior, or unacceptable. Strengthen that relationship – become kind of friend many are looking for – and you will have friends, too.

2) Friendship is good where there is an expression of loyalty.
(7) he heard they had put Jer. Into the cistern.
(7) concerned enough to keep track of Jer.
(8) cares enough to intercede – to act!
No debate, no hesitation, to drop what he’s doing (term paper, had the flu, was reading story to child, reading important negotiations, etc.)
(9) intervenes with strength and force of character and imagination. Confronts the king with the crime he had allowed to happen “thrown him into a cistern” (6)
Probably has assessed King Zedekiah as a marshmallow. He is a loyal friend to Jeremiah. He stands against his peers, (7) even as an outsider.

What action have you taken to express your loyalty to your friend?

3) Friendship is good when there is depth of commitment.
Risked his life – Jeremiah not popular (4)
Appears to be a traitor
Going against the crowd in crisis situation of siege. His friend more important than his job, his life, his future.
(10) enlisted aid - thought ahead – ‘cool’ and collected – clear thinking, got rags and old clothes (so much detail), nothing forgotten, urgency.

More important being a friend than getting a friend, meeting his needs rather than seeking to have his own needs met.

How would you evaluate the depth of commitment to your friend? What will it take to stop you from being a friend?

CONCLUSION:
Nothing better to contemplate in this Christmas season than friendship God offers us in Christ Jesus. The Bible describes us a enemies of God. Christ made it possible to be His friend. With Christ as your friend, there is no need for loneliness.
Jeremiah - Big Man - had the capacity – strength to accept the friendship of Ebed-Melech. It is always easier to give friendship than receive it. Give from strength – must receive friendship from weakness. Easier to say – “Can I help?” than “Would you help me?”

?Be a Big Friend?
1 – Get closer to the Lord – set your anchor there
2 – Express your loyalty to your friend this week
3 – Look for ways to deepen your commitment. Ebed-Melech made it possible for Jeremiah to be a monumental figure during a key millennium – Same opportunity is yours.


DISCLAIMER: These messages are offered for your personal enrichment. There is no legal copyright on this material. You have my full permission to use any of this material as long as you cite the source for any substantial amount used. Enjoy!