Sunday Sermon, 17 August 2025
Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Jeremiah 23.23–29, NRSV
Diamonds are revered as the most precious and valuable of all gemstones. This is because of their purity, their beauty, and their rarity. When light falls on a diamond, it refracts and disperses in different directions, causing a brilliant display of colour.
But the diamonds we see today were formed in darkness. Over a billion years ago, deep in the mantle of the earth, they were subject to intense heat and pressure which created their unique carbon structure. They were then brought to the earth’s surface through violent volcanic explosions – high speed was necessary to prevent them from reverting back to graphite.
The diamond is therefore a symbol of something valuable which has been formed in extreme conditions.
Over the next few months, we will be listening to, and learning from, the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. You may wonder what can be learnt from a Jewish prophet who lived over 2,500 years ago. In the book of Jeremiah, we find something infinitely more precious than a diamond. Like a diamond, its wisdom is old, but it is also durable and has been tested by time. Most importantly, it is a gift which reveals itself in the most challenging and testing of circumstances.
The diamond-light that shines brightly in the book of Jeremiah is the revelation of God. Jeremiah presents us with an astonishing vision of God. This is not simply knowledge about God. Rather, it is knowledge of God, which comes from God himself. It is God’s address to us, his self-revelation to us, which provokes a response.
God’s revelation is living and active. It is not like a dictionary definition that gives us information we can learn, nor is it something that we can sample and put under a microscope. It is best captured in the prophet’s own words. It comes as fire and as a hammer, to refine and reshape us, as we are touched by the holiness of God. That is the treasure, the light, the dazzling diamond.
In contrast, the darkness in the book of Jeremiah is the horror of the Babylonian Exile. More than 2,500 years ago – around six centuries before the coming of Christ – the people of Judah found themselves trapped in a struggle between two great powers, Babylon and Egypt. They were a small player in larger power games. They were consumed by terror as their city and temple were destroyed by the Babylonians, and their leaders and nobility were carried off into captivity in a distant and unfamiliar land.
It is into these testing times that God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah. As we journey with Jeremiah over the next few months, we should be mindful of his situation. At times his criticism of his contemporaries may sound severe, but we must remember that he prophesied in trying times. And we should be grateful that we, who do not endure the heat and pressure faced by this lone prophet, can nonetheless participate in the treasure that comes out of it.
In this morning’s text, the bright diamond-light of God’s self revelation is brought into focus in his transcendence and his immanence.
“Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off? … Do I not fill heaven and earth?”
God’s transcendence – his being ‘far off’ – means that he is not dependent upon his creation. He is wholly other. The transcendent God is beyond our understanding and comprehension.
In contrast, his immanence – his being ‘near by’ – means that he is intimately involved with every detail of his creation. In his freedom, God chooses to be present to us. We see this in the prophets themselves. The word they bring us is not exhaustive knowledge of God. But it is enough that we can know how to respond to this God, and hear of his saving power and love. And in future weeks we will see that his immanence is shown finally and fully in his electing to be with us in his son, Jesus Christ, who inaugurates the new covenant.
Did you know that there are more stars in the observable universe than there are grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches and deserts? We see God’s transcendence when we consider that before the big bang, God was there. And yet God’s immanence tells us that this same God who knows every star, every galaxy, and every grain of sand, also knows every hair on your head. God cares for all of his creatures, big and small.
To put it simply, God is not like us. He is pure uncreated being. We are finite, limited creatures. Words fail us, and yet in a breathtaking phrase, we are told that God fills ‘heaven and earth’.
Last week I spent a few blissful days walking around the Buttermere valley of the Lake District, up Red Pike, High Stile, and Wainwright’s favourite Haystacks. As I walked, I pondered this verse from Jeremiah. Every blade of grass underfoot, every swallow in the sky above, and every mountain peak on the horizon proclaims God’s presence. Our transcendent God is immanent and present at all times. This is not simply knowledge to be learnt. It is a truth to be experienced and lived, and to be grateful for.
In our passage, Jeremiah warns that it is possible to forget this God. We may wonder how it is possible to forget such a wonderful and magnificent God, but bear in mind that knowledge of God comes from God, and he can withdraw this knowledge when we set our hearts on things that are less than worthy. We will consider this in future weeks as we hear Jeremiah’s warnings against idolatry, and the temptation to compromise on truth.
But this morning, we are gathered to worship a God who has revealed himself as both transcendent and immanent. A God who is above all, but also for all. Like a diamond formed in the depths of the earth, Jeremiah’s unique and piercing vision of God still speaks to us today. May we open our lives to the refining fire of his word, and may we be shaped and formed according to the pattern of his holiness.
Amen.