I gave this sermon the title “Soul Satisfaction”
which means there needs to be some definitions given. First, satisfaction, then what the soul is,
and last what soul satisfaction might be.
Well, to be ingenuous I thought it might be appropriate to look at the
world of music to grasp what satisfaction might be because satisfaction is
somewhat of a recurring theme; believe it, or not.
When I look to the world of music concerning the
topic of satisfaction I immediately go the Rolling Stones and their meaningless
song, “Satisfaction”. You all are
familiar with the chorus, “I can’t get no satisfaction. I can’t get no satisfaction. Cause I try and I try and I try and I try,
but I can’t get no, I can’t get no.” Apparently,
satisfaction is something very difficult to get. Unfortunately, if you read the rest of the
lyrics, you will find yourself being very unsatisfied with Mick Jagger’s search
for satisfaction. He talks about driving in his car and the man on the radio is
telling him just a bunch of useless information. Then he’s watching his TV and the man on the
TV has no good advice because he doesn’t smoke the same brand of cigarettes. Then, he’s driving around the world signing
all kinds of great big contracts, but the girl he’s trying to pick up keeps telling
him to come back next week. So, he’s a
bit unsatisfied. Boo hoo!
Well, the world of Rock ’n Roll is a bit shallow on
the topic of satisfaction. Perhaps we
should turn to the world of the Blues. Let’s
enter the world of Mr. Eddie James House, Jr. otherwise known as Son House. He sang a powerful song on the experience of
grief called “Death Letter Blues”. It’s
about a man who was working somewhere far off who gets a letter that his wife
is dead. So he rushes back to say
goodbye to her in the morgue and then goes through the funeral. The last two verses are poignant: “I woke up
this morning about the break of day, a-hugging the pillow where my good gal
used to lay. Oh, I woke up this morning oh about the break of day, hugging the
pillow where my good gal used to lay. It’s
hard to love somebody who don’t love you, ain’t no satisfaction no matter what
you do. Oh, it’s hard to love somebody who don’t love you, ain’t no
satisfaction no matter what you do.”
That is a dissatisfaction that anyone who has loved another for a
lifetime will know. The death of your
spouse leaves one brutally dissatisfied.
Satisfaction in the world of the Blues is always
relational and always involves unfulfilled love between a man and a woman. Let me stress that again. Satisfaction is a relational matter. One cannot be satisfied without good
relationships. This is one thing that
the world of the Blues has in common with the world of the Bible. When we talk about being satisfied in the
Biblical sense, we have to talk about relationship as well, but we have to add
God into the mix. Satisfaction isn’t a
simple matter about something that “I” feel.
It is something we the people of God feel together as the result of what
God has done for us. Satisfaction is
contentment with what the Lord has provided.
Looking at this text in Jeremiah, the LORD is
announcing that he is going to bring his people back from exile. Years before, the LORD sent his people
packing into exile in Babylon because of their covenantal infidelity; their
idolatry. The LORD was not satisfied and
so he wasn’t going to give them anymore of his love, so to speak. King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and
took away the king, the officers, the soldiers, the artisans and
craftsman. He took all the gold from the
temple as well as all of the gold Solomon had amassed. Those who had everything, lost
everything. The LORD sent a very
wealthy and powerful people numbering about 10,000 into exile. But now over seventy years later, he was going
to bring back only a remnant of them.
Most had had actually faired well in Babylon. This remnant would be those who actually
longed for the Land that God had promised and who were not satisfied simply
with the comforts of Babylon. It would
include the weak and the vulnerable – the blind, the lame, pregnant women and
women giving birth. Moreover, God was
going to bring them back in what appears to be the rainy season when there was
lots of flooding, which meant danger. God’s gift of satisfaction would not be easy.
In the Hebrew
text of this passage the word for “together” appears twice – the first, to
describe this rag-tag caravan of the weak and vulnerable and the second, to
describe them once they had returned and the LORD had turned their mourning
into joy and they would dance having had their souls satisfied, satiated on the
Goodness of the LORD. The Lord was
promising this weak, vulnerable remnant soul.
Soul satisfaction has something to do with being a people in unity,
people who have suffered together, wept together, and prayed together and who
have found joy together in the Goodness of the LORD, his steadfast love and
faithfulness.
Now, to talk about soul satisfaction we have to have
to think about what we mean we mean by the soul?. In Hebrew the word is “Nephesh” and it does
not mean an immortal, eternal energy blip that leaves the body after death to
go on to eternity. That’s the Greek idea
of the soul and it is utterly unbiblical.
The Nephesh is the totality of oneself, body included as we stand before
God our Creator and are in relationship with him and with others. To be out of relationship with God is, in
essence, to be soulless. Jeremiah says
that it is the LORD’s blessing upon this rag-tag people, the LORD’s provision,
his Goodness that will make their souls, their nephesh’s, like a well-watered
garden. The soul of the priest will be
satisfied with abundance. Imagine that
a well-paid minister. Therefore, soul satisfaction is what arises when the
people of God, that’s us, together realize and experience the steadfast love
and faithfulness of God, the Goodness of the LORD, after having suffered
together, wept together, prayed together and been brought to joy together.
Last Wednesday was New Years day. I suspect that many people spent a little bit
of time reflecting that yet another year has passed. Some made decisions about things they want to
change that are making them unhappy, unsatisfied. Others realized that they have already lived
more than half of the years they can expect to live and pondered what they want
to do with the rest of their lives.
Others realized yet again that they only have a handful of years left
and are pondering the life-matters, the relational matters, the family matters
that need to be put in order, the things that need to be said, forgiveness
sought and forgiveness granted.
Yet, those are all the questions of soul exile. A greater question to ask is “Is my soul
satisfied?” Do I look back on life
knowing I’ve been led by the LORD in his steadfast love and faithfulness and
can look forward to the same for the rest of my life? How has the LORD turned my weeping into
joy? Who are those with whom I have wept
and prayed? Who are those with whom I
have suffered and been brought to joy with?
Those are the questions we need to answer for ourselves for those
answers are the evidence that we are part of that remnant – the people of God
whom God promises soul satisfaction.
Amen.
