Jeremiah 2:4-13

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the Lord, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look; send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked; be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Luke 14:1

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.

Luke 14:7-14

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Luke 14:1,7-14

The Fountain of Living Water

In general, this sermon is a continuation of the message from last week, that is, that we create our society, and we can create the society we want to live in everyday, in our choices, in our behavior, in the way we drive, the way we interact with people at the grocery store, in a very down to earth and practical, every day sense. Rather than just complain about it, we can create it in our own small choices, our daily choices. Before we look at our scripture readings, I want to say a few words about Labor Day.

 What is Labor Day?

“On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.”[1] We call it “Labor Day.”

“Observed the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.”[2]

Workers contribute to our society. We can see an example of this contribution to our well-being right here in Searsport. Just take a walk down Main Street, and you can appreciate all the hard work that went into the renovation of Main Street. We watched during the past two years as all the workers were out there, working hard on the road, building new sidewalks and curbs, installing new pipes underground, paving new asphalt, wiring in new streetlights, and, by the way, that work did not get done by any politicians. It was a tremendous amount of work, meaning it was human hands, human sweat, human muscle, the labor of human workers that made it happen.

So why do we have Labor Day? Well, Labor Day is more than just a nice way to end summer vacation. The creation of Labor Day was a response to exploitation of workers during the Industrial Revolution in late 19^th century America.

Before there was Labor Day, and “before workers organized and formed unions, there were no regulations surrounding employment, and employers often took advantage of this freedom. This meant that employees were very often required to work extraordinarily long hours, and with no job protection from discrimination, or even violence. Worse still, young children were often put to work in factories, mines, railroads, warehouses, and other dangerous work environments.”[3]  And because of this, workers formed unions to collectively bargain for better treatment and pay.[4]

The First Labor Day Celebration occurred in New York City in 1882 and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The event featured a parade of 10,000 workers. That was in 1882, but it wasn’t until twelve years later that Labor Day became an official holiday. This happened because of something called the Pullman Strike.

Pullman Strike[5]

“During the major economic depression of the early 1890s, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages in its factories. (This was a company that built railroad cars.) Discontented workers joined the American Railway Union and went on strike. They launched a boycott of all Pullman cars on all railroads. Railway Union members across the nation refused to switch Pullman cars onto trains. When these switchmen were disciplined, the entire Union went on strike in June 1894. Within four days, 125,000 workers on twenty-nine railroads had quit work rather than handle Pullman cars.”[6]

The railroad strike wreaked national havoc in train travel. Troops were called in, and things escalated into violence. There were riots, and 13 workers were killed. The strike eventually failed. But it led to the creation of Labor Day. Because of the conflict that year, President Grover Cleveland made labor relations a priority and created the federal holiday in 1894.

Now, you may approve of union strikes, or you may not. My point here is simply to show how important working people are to our country. Real work, important work, gets done by human hands. Too often, working people go unnoticed. But when a union strikes, we suddenly notice how vital workers are. This is the point of Labor Day: to remember the workers, to remember the contributions of working people, so that when we are out and about in daily life, we will treat working people with the respect they deserve, so that we will be grateful for the contribution to our society that working people make.

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Now, let’s take a look at our scripture readings. We return to Jeremiah, this time to the second chapter. Recall that in Jeremiah, we read a response to the Babylonian crisis which began when Babylon invaded Judah three times in 15 years, finally conquering Judah when the capital city, Jerusalem, fell in 587 BC. “During the invasion, the Babylonians broke down the city walls, killed many people, leveled the king’s palace, and destroyed the temple.” [7]

The first ten chapters of Jeremiah is a long section of poetry warning Judah and Jerusalem that if they do not change their ways, God will punish them. Jeremiah was a prophet in the Moses tradition, that is, he was similar to Moses. In chapter one, much like Moses, we read of Jeremiah’s reluctance to speak.

God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you: I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then Jeremiah says, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, “I am only a boy”’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”

The Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow to build and to plant.” (v.5-10)

See, Jeremiah, by himself, was afraid. He didn’t have confidence in himself. He thought of himself as “less than.” He could not speak for himself. But God put a new vision in him. God gave him power to speak. God gave him words and a voice. This is actually quite interesting.

Getting up in front of people, whether it’s to speak or to sing or to play an instrument, is such a mental event. How one thinks about oneself is crucial to public performance. So this is something to really think about. Jeremiah had to get out of himself. He had to get over his self-consciousness, and in a sense, he had to become a different person, a changed person. He took on a new mind-set. He developed a new way of thinking about himself. In fact, he had to forget about himself. I think that’s really the key. He had to forget about himself and forget about what other people thought of him. Then, he found the power to speak. God gave him the words and the power to speak the words. Jeremiah found a new mind-set. The messages we internalize about ourselves are very important.

 Going after worthless things.

In the second chapter, our reading for this morning, the prophet says, “Look at your ancestors, wandering in the wilderness. They went after worthless things, and so they became worthless. Now, you are doing the same thing. You are going after worthless things. You abandoned the true God, and you are worshiping a false God. There are some things that are worthless. They are not worth pursuing. When we go after worthless things, we become worthless.

Living water.

And then, still in chapter two, we have this beautiful image: God says, “My people have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”

You know, a cistern is just a big tank in the ground that holds rainwater, runoff water. And that water is not flowing like a stream, it’s just sitting there in a hole in the ground getting stagnant. (When I was a kid, we had a cistern. We used to pump that water onto the garden to water the tomatoes.) Moreover, the cistern is cracked and leaking. So this is not living water. Why would anyone prefer to drink from a broken old cistern when you could have fresh living water? This is the point Jeremiah is making.

 Luke 14:1,7-14

Now let’s look at the reading from Luke. Jesus goes to visit the house of a leading Pharisee. On the way, he heals a man with “dropsy.” Today, we would call this swelling cause by excess fluid, or, generalized edema. It’s a metaphor for greed. Because of an insatiable thirst, the body swells up. No matter how much the person drinks, their thirst is never quenched. They just keep swelling up and swelling up.

This healing sets up the rest of the story, which takes place at Pharisee’s dinner table. Jesus talks about the social dynamics that happen at a dinner table. The table was a place where people could show their status. Who a person ate with and where they sat at the table indicated status, how important the person was. So here we have an example of Jesus radical view of social norms. He wants to turn the social hierarchy upside down. Don’t try to be important. But be humble. Sit at the lowest place. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Again, Jesus repeats the message of the prophets. When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

In conclusion, dear people, I have presented three stories this morning: the story of Labor Day, the story of Jeremiah, and the story of Jesus at the Pharisee’s table. All three are concerned with taking care of others, not oppressing others, not exploiting others, but taking care of the poor, while remaining humble. This week, we could continue to reflect on how to create the society we want to live in, as expressed in these stories, the meaning of Labor Day, the Fountain of Living Water, and the Dinner at the Pharisee’s Table. Amen? Amen.

[1] “History of Labor Day” U.S. Department of Labor, accessed from the website on August 30, 2025, https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Labor Day History,” Union Plus website accessed August 30, 2025, https://www.unionplus.org/page/labor-day-history

[4] Ibid.

[5] “Pullman Strike Causes and Effects” Brittanica, accessed August 30, 2025 https://www.britannica.com/summary/Pullman-Strike-Key-Facts

[6] “Labor Day History,” Union Plus website accessed August 30, 2025, https://www.unionplus.org/page/labor-day-history

[7] Kathleen M. O’Connor, notes to “Jeremiah,” The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1051.