ROUTE 66 EP 030

Lamentations of Jeremiah” – Sermon Series Recap

A panoramic look at Lamentations, God’s discipline, and hope in Christ

1. Orientation to the Book and Historical Context

1.1 Placement in Scripture and History

• The pastor connected Jeremiah, Lamentations, and 2 Chronicles:

  • Jeremiah – the prophet who warned Judah for years.

  • Lamentations – traditionally attributed to Jeremiah; a poetic book of grief after Jerusalem’s fall.

  • 2 Chronicles 35:25 –

    “And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.”

  • Historically, Lamentations fits:

    • After the death of King Josiah.

    • During/after the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.

• The pastor reminded us:

  • The Old Testament is not arranged chronologically.

  • Prophets (like Jeremiah) lived and spoke during the historical events recorded in books like 2 Chronicles.

Who God Is (from this section):

• God is a truth-teller and covenant keeper:

  • What He warns, He fulfills.

  • His judgments in history are not random but follow long periods of warning and pleading.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• A believer living in a different culture and time, but under the same holy God.

• Called to take God’s Word seriously, not as optional advice.

2. What Is Lament? – The Emotional and Biblical Depth of Lamentations

2.1 Nature and Structure of Lamentations

• Title: “The Lamentations of Jeremiah”.

• A lament is:

  • More than sadness or a few tears.

  • A passionate, intense outcry of grief and pain.

  • Often associated with death, burial, and unbearable loss.

• Structure:

  • Chapter 1 – 22 verses

  • Chapter 2 – 22 verses

  • Chapter 3 – 66 verses (three times 22, the center and largest)

  • Chapter 4 – 22 verses

  • Chapter 5 – 22 verses

• Simple summary:

  • “A despairing poem about the destruction of Jerusalem.”

2.2 Vocabulary of Lament in Scripture

• The pastor highlighted “lament vocabulary” to show the depth of grief:

  • “Sore” lamentation (cf. Genesis 50):

    • Grief so intense your body hurts; sore throat from holding back tears.

  • “How” / Howling (Jeremiah’s usage):

    • Loud, almost animal-like cries of anguish.

  • “Bitter” weeping:

    • “Ugly crying,” not dignified or controlled.

  • “Bewail / Wail”:

    • Public, loud mourning; Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.

2.3 Examples of Lament (Pastor’s Illustrations)

• A widow’s ongoing grief after her husband’s death — still crying at specific daily moments (like morning coffee).

• The Book of Joel – the virgin whose husband dies on the wedding day; covenant never consummated, deep covenantal grief.

• Story from a youth crisis center:

  • A boy with leukemia cried out at night: “Mama, mama.”

  • No one came; over time he stopped crying.

  • Picture of stopped lament — not because things are better, but because hope is gone.

Who God Is:

• God values and records lament.

• He is not indifferent to tears; lament presumes Someone is listening.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are invited to lament honestly:

  • Over your sin.

  • Over the brokenness around you.

• Living in modern American culture (often allergic to grief), you are called to recover biblical lament as a normal part of faith.

3. Jeremiah’s Ministry and Heart: Personal and Corporate Grief

3.1 Jeremiah’s Calling and “Failure”

• Jeremiah preached faithfully:

  • Warned that Babylon would come if Judah did not repent.

  • Lived to see:

    • Babylon invade.

    • Jerusalem fall.

  • Humanly speaking, he had no recorded converts.

• Pastoral analogy:

  • Modern pastors often measure success by numbers (“How many are you running now?”).

  • Jeremiah’s “numbers” were terrible yet he was faithful.

3.2 Jeremiah’s Identification with His People

• Jeremiah lamented:

  • For the people.

  • With the people — often saying “we have sinned”.

• He was not detached or superior; he bore the burden as one of them.

Who God Is:

• A God who sends prophets to warn, not to gloat.

• A God who grieves over His people’s destruction.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• As part of Christ’s Body:

  • Called to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

  • To lament over:

    • Broken families.

    • Sin-dominated lives.

    • People who say, “I know what’s right, but I can’t/won’t do it.”

• Sin in the church should move us to tears, not gossip or cold analysis.

4. Lamentations as a Panoramic Book of Consequences and Structure

4.1 Simplified Structure (as presented by the pastor)

• The pastor organized Lamentations roughly as:

  • Jerusalem – their condition

    • Spiritual and physical ruin because of sin.

  • Jehovah – His anger

    • God’s wrath against ongoing rebellion.

  • Jeremiah – his plea (Chapter 3)

    • Deep lament; yet statements of hope and trust.

  • Return to Jehovah’s anger

    • Continued judgment as sin persists.

  • Jerusalem – their condition (again)

    • The book begins and ends with a broken city.

• Pattern: Judgment – Lament – Hope – Judgment – Lament.

4.2 A Book of Consequences

• Key message:

  • “Obey God—or else.”

• Our culture often removes the “or else” from moral decisions.

• Many young people grow up insulated from consequences.

Who God Is:

• God is holy and a truth-teller.

• He does not overlook rebellion; He responds to sin with real consequences.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• Your choices have consequences.

• “If you choose to sin, you choose to suffer.”

5. Key Scriptures in Lamentations on Judgment and Distance

5.1 Lamentations 1:5 – God Afflicts Because of Sin

Lamentations 1:5 – “Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.”

• The affliction is explicitly from the LORD, not just “the devil.”

• It is because of a multitude of transgressions.

Application:

• Not all hardship is Satanic attack.

• Some suffering is God’s discipline for our sin.

5.2 Lamentations 1:16 – The Comforter Seems Far

Lamentations 1:16 – “For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.”

• Sin creates a sense of distance from God.

• The consequences affect the next generation (“my children are desolate”).

Application:

• Your sin affects:

  • Your relationship with God (felt distance).

  • Those around you (family, friends, spiritual children).

5.3 Lamentations 5:22 – Feeling Rejected

Lamentations 5:22 – “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.”

• This is how the people feel.

• The pastor clarified:

  • God is against their sin, not capriciously against them.

  • They are experiencing the fruit of their own choices.

Who God Is:

• A God whose anger is real but is directed at sin.

• His rejection is never random; it is holy and just.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are capable of self-deception:

  • Blaming God for consequences you created.

• You are called to own your sin and seek restoration.

6. God’s Discipline: Parenting, Separation, and Reconciliation

6.1 Hebrews 12 – Discipline as a Mark of Love

• Hebrews 12:8 –

  “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

• Hebrews 12:9–10 –

  “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”

• Hebrews 12:11 –

  “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Key truth:

• No discipline feels good in the moment.

• It is proof of sonship and aimed at holiness and righteousness.

6.2 Parenting Analogy and Practice

• Pastor’s family principle:

  • “If you choose to sin, you choose to suffer.”

  • Children were warned; if they disobeyed, they agreed: “I choose to suffer.”

• Discipline often included:

  • Separation (to room/bathroom, door closed):

    • “Fellowship is broken.”

  • Time alone to think.

  • Then reconciliation:

    • Opening the door.

    • Talking, forgiving, hugging.

    • Reaffirming: “The discipline is over; you still belong; we love you.”

  • If discipline occurred near bedtime, they would call the child back out:

    • Restore them to the family circle that night.

Who God Is:

• A Father who:

  • Disciplines for our profit.

  • Sometimes “separates” in fellowship to make us feel sin’s weight.

  • Then seeks reconciliation, not permanent distancing.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• As God’s child:

  • Discipline is evidence you are truly His.

  • You are called to submit to His discipline and trust the afterward.

• As a parent (if applicable):

  • Your discipline should:

    • Hurt in a measured way (never abusive).

    • Be followed by reconciling love.

    • Aim at your child’s holiness, not your venting.

7. A Deep Personal Example: Discipline, Cancer, and God’s Sovereignty

7.1 The Burlington Café Story

• Pastor’s 12-year-old daughter:

  • Getting into trouble on the school bus:

    • Using friends’ phones for Snapchat.

    • Seeing and sending inappropriate things.

  • He removed her from the bus; she protested.

• He drove her down a gravel road to a café in Burlington:

  • She feared he might kill her (showing how intense it felt).

  • They sat, talked, and cried.

  • He wrestled: How do I wisely discipline a pre-teen girl?

• That same day he took her to a movie (a horror film he didn’t even want to see):

  • Torn between punishing and helping.

7.2 The Cancer Diagnosis and Theological Reflection

• Two weeks later:

  • She was diagnosed with leukemia.

• The pastor was careful:

  • He is not saying:

    • All cancer is because of personal sin.

    • Every sick person is under punishment.

• But in their story:

  • They had prayed: “Jesus, do whatever it takes to get my daughter’s heart.”

  • He sensed God saying:

    • “You asked Me to take care of it. I’ve got it.”

  • Conclusion:

    • God handled the situation more thoroughly than any human discipline could.

7.3 Ongoing Consequences and Her Perspective

• Years later, same café:

  • She was denied a handicap placard, cried with frustration.

  • She lives with:

    • No cartilage in her legs.

    • Extensive joint damage.

    • Likely ongoing surgeries and early disability.

• He told her:

  • Because of her decisions and path, she will suffer physically for life.

• Her response:

  • “Dad, here’s how I see it:

    • Yes, cancer. Yes, my body is messed up.

    • But I have a Father in heaven who wanted my heart.

    • And He was willing to use cancer to get it.”

• Two sides of the same coin:

  • Real consequences and suffering.

  • A loving Father using even that to win a heart.

Who God Is:

• A God who:

  • Does not waste suffering.

  • Can weave discipline, consequences, and love together.

• His work is often deeper and wiser than parental or human attempts.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• Your suffering:

  • May be discipline.

  • May be spiritual surgery.

  • Is never meaningless if you are His child.

• Ask: “Lord, what are You doing in my heart through this?”

8. Lamentations 2 – Fire, Wrath, and Refinement

8.1 God’s Wrath as Fire

• Lamentations 2 portrays God’s wrath like flames of fire.

• Linked with Hebrews 12:29:

  “For our God is a consuming fire.”

Everyday symbolism:

• Whenever you see or use fire:

  • Remember that God’s wrath consumes.

  • Ask: Could God’s holy fire burn up the sin you keep clinging to?

8.2 Fire’s Double Effect

• Fire:

  • Destroys what is evil.

  • Purifies what is precious (like refining silver – impurities rise and are removed).

Who God Is:

• A consuming fire who:

  • Can destroy sin.

  • Can refine His people.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You should not desire God’s wrath on you.

• But you should desire God’s refining fire to consume your pride, lust, bitterness, and unbelief.

9. Lamentations 3 – The Central Chapter of Hope

9.1 Structural Significance

• Five chapters; Chapter 3 is the center, triple length.

• Emphasis:

  • Mercy

  • Compassion

  • Faithfulness

  • Hope in the midst of ruin.

9.2 Key Verses from Lamentations 3

• Lamentations 3:18 –

  “And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD.”

  • Honest confession: “My hope is gone.”

• Lamentations 3:21 –

  “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.”

  • Hope returns through remembering truth about God.

• Lamentations 3:22–23 –

  “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

• Lamentations 3:24 –

  “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”

• Lamentations 3:26 –

  “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”

• Lamentations 3:29 –

  “He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.”

Key observations:

• “Hope” appears repeatedly.

• The famous hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” is rooted in this chapter, in a context of destruction and grief.

9.3 Personal Illustration – God’s Mercies New Every Morning

• Pastor’s childhood story:

  • His dad became disabled; long hospital stays.

  • Traumatically saw his dad vomit tomato juice after surgery; thought it was blood; wondered if he’d ever have a dad again.

  • Mornings at the table, his mother would say:

    • “Boys, God’s mercies are new every morning. It’s a new day.”

  • She was quoting Lamentations 3:22–23.

Application:

• You may cry yourself to sleep; the problem may still be there in the morning.

• But each sunrise is a fresh mercy from God.

• Say aloud if needed:

  “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed… They are new every morning.”

Who God Is:

• Compassionate:

  • His mercies do not fail.

  • They are new every morning.

• Faithful:

  • Steady even when everything around is ruined.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are someone who:

  • Can name your despair (3:18).

  • Can choose to recall truth (3:21).

  • Can anchor in God’s character, not circumstances.

• In dark seasons:

  • Do not withdraw from Scripture.

  • The pastor warned:

    • Israel turned away from God’s Word right when they most needed it.

    • Don’t repeat that mistake.

10. Sin, Hidden Suffering, and Contemporary Patterns

10.1 Hidden Suffering and Secret Sin

• Many live in silent turmoil:

  • Ashamed of choices.

  • Outwardly functional, inwardly unraveled.

• God may use inward unrest as discipline:

  • A “burning, itching” in the soul that won’t let you rest until you deal with sin.

10.2 Modern Examples

• Prescription drugs as “clean” street drugs:

  • Start with real pain.

  • Move to sharing, trading, selling pills.

  • Can escalate to needles.

• Workaholism:

  • Man works multiple jobs, identity rooted in productivity.

  • When his strength fails, he doesn’t know who he is; sometimes even contemplates suicide.

• Same-sex parenting and generational dysfunction (pastor’s observation):

  • In his limited experience, he has not seen good outcomes.

  • Main point:

    • When we build life against God’s design, consequences often surface later.

Who God Is:

• Designer of family, work, and human identity.

• He built reality in such a way that going against His design leads to dysfunction.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are called to:

  • Examine hidden sins and heart-idols (not just obvious addictions).

  • Refuse to root your identity in work, performance, or anything other than Christ.

11. Lamentations and Christ – From Jeremiah’s Burden to Jesus’ Suffering

11.1 Jeremiah as a Picture

• Jeremiah preached ~20 years, no repentance, then judgment came.

• He lamented over a nation destroyed by its own rebellion.

• This foreshadows Jesus:

  • Jeremiah laments judgment that has fallen.

  • Jesus bears the judgment Himself.

11.2 Jesus in Gethsemane – Matthew 26

• In Matthew 26, in Gethsemane:

  • Jesus faces the cup of God’s wrath.

  • He prays:

    • “Let this cup pass from Me… nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

  • He knows:

    • The sin of the world will be placed on Him.

    • “The wages of sin is death” (cf. Romans 6:23).

• No one suffers more in Scripture than Jesus:

  • Bodily torment.

  • Bearing God’s wrath for our sin.

11.3 New Testament Hope and Identity

• 1 Corinthians 15 –

  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

  • Our hope extends beyond this life to the resurrection.

• Ephesians 2 –

  …having no hope and without God in the world.

  • Without Christ, people are truly hopeless, no matter how good life looks.

• 1 Timothy 1:1 –

  “…Jesus Christ, which is our hope.”

  • Hope is not a feeling; Hope is a Person.

Who God Is:

• In Christ:

  • The God who took on flesh and laments our condition.

  • The God who suffers for us.

• He is not only Judge but Redeemer.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• Apart from Christ:

  • You are without hope and without God.

• In Christ:

  • You are someone whose hope is a Person:

    • Not “tomorrow will be better,” but “Jesus will be enough, even if nothing changes.”

12. Hope vs. Despair, Eeyore Christianity, and Mental Attitude

12.1 When Hope Is Gone

• Many reach a place where:

  • They can’t see light.

  • Others think their life is fine; they have secret suffering.

  • They flirt with the thought: “I can’t live anymore.”

12.2 Sin’s Empty Well

• Addictions:

  • When someone can’t get their “thing,” they feel desperate.

  • They will beg, borrow, steal.

• “Max’s” saying:

  • “The devil will always take you to the empty well.”

  • Sin promises relief, delivers emptiness.

  • Even if it works “for a season,” it ends in deeper emptiness.

12.3 Eeyore Mindset

• The pastor used Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) as an analogy:

  • We think he’s cute, but spiritually:

    • He represents chronic, stubborn pessimism.

    • The pastor bluntly said: “At the end of the day, he’s a stubborn ass.”

• Some believers:

  • Carry a dark cloud everywhere.

  • Respond to any plan with, “It’ll never work.”

  • Cannot see God’s new mercies.

Who God Is:

• God says:

  • His mercies are new every morning.

  • You are His child, forgiven and loved.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You must resist:

  • Chronic pessimism that denies God’s promises.

• You are called to:

  • Live in light of Lamentations 3 — not ignoring pain, but refusing to deny God’s faithfulness.

13. Lament in the Church: Tears, Prayer, and Seeds

13.1 The Call to Grieve

• The pastor pleaded:

  • “Can I beg you today to grieve?”

• Observation:

  • “We don’t do that enough.”

  • Sin should hurt; we should cry out to God more often.

13.2 Tears as Water for Seeds

• Picture of a Wednesday prayer meeting:

  • A believer asks prayer for a co-worker whose life is wrecked.

  • Their voice cracks; they’re near tears.

• Spiritual principle (echoing Psalm 126):

  • Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.

  • Tears are like water for the seeds of:

    • Evangelism.

    • Ministry.

    • Repentance.

13.3 New Testament Tears

• The pastor noted there are different kinds of tears:

  1. Tears of bondage – when sin is whipping you.

  2. Tears of rejoicing – when you meet Christ and are set free.

  3. Tears of worship and devotion – when you pour your heart out to Him.

• Example:

  • Luke 7 – the woman with the alabaster box:

    • She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears.

    • Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for showing Him no love, while she lavished love and repentance.

    • Her tears represented both sorrow over sin and love for Jesus.

Who God Is:

• A Savior who:

  • Receives weeping sinners.

  • Defends them against self-righteous critics.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• A Christian life without tears may be shallow.

• You’re invited to:

  • Cry over your sin.

  • Cry for others’ souls.

  • Cry in worship.

14. A Positive Example of Lament – 1 Samuel 7

14.1 Israel Lamenting After the LORD

• 1 Samuel 7:2 (paraphrased):

  • The ark (symbol of God’s presence and mercy) was in Kirjath-jearim for 20 years.

  • During that time:

    “All the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”

• Context:

  • Worship was out of order; the ark was not in its rightful place.

  • Israel realized:

    • “Things are not as they should be.”

14.2 Why This Lament Is Good

• They weren’t just sad about circumstances.

• They were lamenting after the LORD:

  • Longing for His presence.

  • Wanting Him back at the center.

Who God Is:

• A God who responds when His people lament after Him.

• He is not indifferent to a people who long for His presence again.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are called to:

  • Lament not only losses, but the distance between you and God.

  • Long for Him more than relief, comfort, or quick fixes.

15. Practical Living in Modern American Culture

15.1 Seeing Spiritual Lessons in Everyday Life

• Ruined city (Lamentations 1):

  • When you see:

    • Potholes.

    • Vacant buildings.

    • Declining towns.

  • Let it remind you:

    • This is what neglect and sin do to a city and to a soul.

• Hitting potholes:

  • You think, “I’m surprised my rim isn’t bent.”

  • The pastor suggested God might say:

    • “The rim of your life is bent. You can’t keep doing this.”

15.2 Responding to God’s Conviction

• The pastor spoke about the altar call:

  • Old Testament altar: place of sacrifice.

  • Church “altar”: place to bring:

    • Sin.

    • Burdens.

    • Needs.

• He lamented that:

  • In a hyper-connected but less truly social culture:

    • Many resist responding publicly.

    • Some later admit, “I should have gone forward,” but fear held them back.

• Exhortation:

  • Your response to God matters more than your response to people.

  • Sometimes being seen allows others to help you.

Who God Is:

• A God who invites response:

  • To confess.

  • To repent.

  • To seek help.

Who You Are / How to Live:

• You are part of the Body of Christ:

  • Your pain is our pain.

  • Your repentance encourages others.

• When convicted:

  • Don’t be cowardly.

  • Respond—whether at an altar, in prayer, or by seeking counsel.

16. Core Theological and Practical Takeaways

16.1 Who God Is (Summary)

• Holy and Just:

  • He afflicts because of sin (Lamentations 1:5).

  • He is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).

• Loving Father:

  • He disciplines His children for their profit, that they might be partakers of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

  • Discipline is proof you are His son/daughter (Hebrews 12:8).

• Compassionate and Faithful:

  • His mercies are new every morning; His compassions fail not (Lamentations 3:22–23).

• Redemptive and Hope-Giving:

  • Even in Tribulation, His aim is restoration of Israel.

  • In Christ, He bears the wrath we deserve.

16.2 Who You Are in Light of This Sermon

• A sinner capable of:

  • Real sin and real self-deception.

  • Hardness (not lamenting) or tenderness (lamenting).

• If in Christ:

  • A child of God, not a spiritual orphan.

  • Someone whom God loves enough to:

    • Confront.

    • Correct.

    • Restore.

• A member of the Body of Christ:

  • Your sin affects others.

  • Your tears and repentance help water seeds of faith in others.

16.3 How You Are to Live (Today, in American Culture)

• Take warnings seriously:

  • Don’t buy into “only positive” Christianity.

  • Do not build life on “You can be anything you want” without asking, “What does God want?”

• Accept consequences:

  • “If you choose to sin, you choose to suffer.”

  • Don’t resent discipline; seek the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

• Recover biblical lament:

  • Lament your own sin.

  • Lament the sins and sufferings of others.

  • Let tears be part of holiness and love.

• Stay in the Word during hardship:

  • Especially when life caves in, do not avoid Scripture.

  • Return again and again to Lamentations 3.

• Lament after the Lord:

  • Like Israel in 1 Samuel 7:2, lament not just circumstances, but distance from God.

  • Long for His presence more than anything else.

• Anchor your hope in Christ:

  • Not in circumstances, not in vague optimism.

  • Remember 1 Timothy 1:1 – “Jesus Christ… is our hope.”

  • When you feel like Lamentations 3:18, fight to recall 3:21–24.

17. Summary Statement

• Lamentations teaches:

  • Sin brings consequences.

  • God’s mercy always offers hope in suffering.

• God’s discipline—whether in ancient Jerusalem, future events, or your life today—is not the cruelty of a tyrant, but the severe mercy of a faithful Father whose compassions do not fail and who desires you to share in His holiness and the peaceable fruit of righteousness.