Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. Steve Jobs' life had an inauspicious beginning. His mother, a Catholic, and his father, a Mohammedan, were not married, and they agreed to give him up for adoption, but only to parents who would pay his college tuition. John and Clara Jobs wished to adopt Steve, but as they had no college education themselves, Steve's mother was reluctant. Only after John and Clara, who were not wealthy, agreed to pay for a college education did Steve's mother agree. When Steve was old enough for college, he enrolled but dropped out after one semester and never returned. Yet his lack of college education did not prevent him from being successful. He was one of the developers of the personal computer, one of the founders of the Apple Computer Company, one of the creators of the Apple Computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. His influence in the world is immeasurable. When he died 14 years ago, his net worth was estimated to be over $10 billion. Some said that Steve was aggressive in work because he was abandoned by his birth parents. Concerning that charge, Steve's biographer, Walter Isaacson, wrote, Jobs dismissed this. There's some notion that because I was abandoned, I worked very hard so I could do well and make my parents wish they had me back or some such nonsense. But that's ridiculous, he insisted. Knowing I was adopted may have made me feel more independent, but I have never felt abandoned. I have always felt special. My parents made me feel special. He would later bristle whenever anyone referred to Paul and Clara Jobs as his adoptive parents or implied that they were not his real parents. They were, he said, my parents 1,000%. John and Clara Jobs gave Steve what his birth parents would not. And he regarded them as his true parents and was devoted to them. However grateful the Christian might be toward his birth parents, God has adopted him and is his true father, who has given him every spiritual blessing. And to God, the Christian owes thanks and all devotion. In the days of the divided monarchy of Israel and Judah, the people were, more often than not, in a state of rebellion against God. God sent them prophets to warn them that he would punish them if they did not repent. The people did not repent, and so God sent the Assyrian army to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel and to carry the people away into exile. The people of the southern kingdom of Judah ought to have been moved by this example, moved to repentance, but they were not so moved. So God sent prophets to them to warn them that he would punish them for their sins. One of those prophets was Jeremiah. It was in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah that God called Jeremiah to prophesy. Josiah was a good king, but the people were evil. When the Lord called Jeremiah, he said to him, behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. God would speak to his people, and he would speak through his prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah would prophesy over nations and kingdoms, and he would prophesy both judgment and restoration, both justice and mercy. When God set about saving the world, he began with Abraham and his descendants Israel, and he considered Israel his firstborn son. When Israel were in Egypt, the Lord told Moses to say to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. God considered Israel his firstborn son and desired that Pharaoh release if the Israelites from bondage in Egypt so that they might serve the Lord. If Pharaoh refused, then the Lord would kill the firstborn of Pharaoh and of every Egyptian. After the Exodus, God at Mount Sinai made a covenant with Israel in which he gave them his law in Ten Commandments. And Israel three times vowed to keep it. So long as Israel kept covenant with God, they would be in his good graces. Should they break covenant with him, he would break them. The essence of God's law is that man ought to love God with his entire being and to love people as they love themselves. In Jeremiah's day, the people broke covenant with God. So God told Jeremiah to stand at the gate of God's house, the holy temple, and proclaim. Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings, If he throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if he oppress not the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations. Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. The people did not love God with all their hearts, and they did not love their neighbors as themselves. They did not love and serve God, but rather worshiped idols, even sacrificing their children to them. They did not love and serve each other, but abused each other, stealing from each other, and even killing each other. The rulers whom God ordained to mete out justice oppressed the people, even orphans, widows, and immigrants. Although the people continually broke God's moral law, they continued to keep his ceremonial law. They did not repent of their sins, but they offered the sacrifices God required for sin. And so they assured themselves that they were right with God, even while worshiping other gods. The people were hypocrites. But false prophets assured them that so long as they offered sacrifices in the temple, they had nothing to fear from the Lord. These prophets were liars. Although the people offered the sacrifices the Lord required for sin, he would not forgive them unless they repented of those sins. Not until the people amended their ways would the Lord pardon their sins. Because of the rebellion of the people, the Lord would punish them. The people were unjust, but God would exact his justice from them. Jeremiah prophesied. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate." Before Josiah became king, the people would sacrifice their children to the pagan god Moloch, and they would offer their sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom in a place called Tophet. The scriptures say that when Josiah became king, he defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch. After the Lord would bring judgment upon Israel for their sins, that valley and that place in the valley would be known no longer as the place where the Israelites slaughtered their children, but as the place where the Lord slaughtered the Israelites. When the Lord made his covenant with Abraham, he had Abraham cut a number of animals in half. so that the Lord might walk between the pieces as a sign that the breaking of the covenant deserved destruction. When Abraham laid out the pieces, birds of prey came to devour them, but Abraham drove them away. When the Lord would destroy Israel for violating their covenant with the Lord, birds of prey would devour their carcasses, and there would be no one to drive them away. They would have no appeal to Abraham. Before the judgment, people lived as they pleased and reveled in their sin, but the Lord would turn their joy into sorrow. 23 years later, in the fourth year of the reign of the wicked King Jehoiakim, Jeremiah again prophesied to the people that they did not heed him nor the other prophets of God, and they continued in their rebellion so that the Lord was greatly angry with them. Jeremiah then said, therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, because you have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them in astonishment and in hissing and perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle, and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah warned the people that if they did not repent of their sins, then the Lord would destroy them. They did not repent, so the Lord made good on his threat and would destroy them. God would cause Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to destroy the kingdom of Judah and the other wicked nations nearby, such that those nations would be objects of horror and scorn and everlasting ruin. As Jeremiah had said before, so again, the people rebelled and were happy in their rebellion, but the Lord would turn their happiness to misery. Israel and the other nations would no longer enjoy prosperity, but would be ruined and would serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. As the Lord is just, so also is he merciful. And as he condemns the sinner, he restores the penitent. Jeremiah told Israel that in time the Lord would restore them. The Lord would bring his people out of exile and back to their homeland. He would bring all his people, even those for whom travel would be especially difficult. The Lord said, they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble. For I am father, I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. God would lead his people to salvation, and they would come with sorrow for their sins and pleas for mercy. On the way, God would provide for their needs and protect them from harm. He would care for them because he is their father and they his children, and he loves them. The prophet's message to the nations was that they should hear the word of the Lord and then publish it abroad. And the message is that God, who scattered Israel for their sins, would gather them again. And he would be to them as a shepherd is to sheep. God would redeem his people and ransom them from the strong man who held them captive. God's people would rejoice and sing because God would restore them to greatness. The Lord would bless them, and they would have no more sorrow. All God's people, men and women, young and old, would celebrate the grace of God to them. God would comfort them, and they would no more mourn but rather rejoice. The people would offer so many thank offerings that the priest's share would be more than enough, and all the people would be satisfied by God's goodness. The Lord is devoted to his people, and his people ought to be devoted to him. Of course, this prophecy had a partial fulfillment in the return of the people from exile in Babylon, but its ultimate fulfillment is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who gives his people every spiritual blessing. When Jesus was 12 years old, he went with his father and mother, Mary and Joseph, to Jerusalem, for the Feast of the Passover, as they did every year. When the Passover had ended, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem for home. They supposed that Jesus was among their band of travelers and did not know that he remained in Jerusalem. After a day's journey, Mary and Joseph looked for Jesus among their company, but not finding him, they turned back to Jerusalem to search for him. Three days later, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. Everyone who heard Jesus speak was amazed at his understanding of the scriptures and of the answers he gave to the teachers. When Jesus's father and mother saw him there, they too were amazed. His parents took offense, however, that Jesus had remained in Jerusalem without their knowledge. And they told him how they had anxiously searched for him. Jesus simply replied, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? Jesus was, of course, innocent in the whole affair. He did not understand why they would be searching for him, because although they are his parents, they ought to have known that he, the son of God, could not have returned home with them, but rather had to remain in his father's house, doing his father's business. Of course, this was more than Jesus' parents could understand. Jesus, perfect man that he is, obeyed the fifth commandment and honored his father and mother. Respecting their wishes, he returned home with them with the knowledge that he would one day return to Jerusalem. As with the Annunciation, so here. Mary did not understand, yet she believed and kept these things in her heart until such time that she might understand. Saint Luke comments, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus is God incarnate, fully God and fully man. He is the son of God who came into the world to live as a man and to die as a man. He was always perfectly sinless, yet he had to learn what his parents required of him so that he might do as they required, so long as what they required did not conflict with what his father in heaven required. For his ultimate devotion and ultimate loyalty is to him. Saint Paul has explained what it means for the Christian to be a child of God. He wrote to the Ephesians, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. having predestined us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God, the only begotten Son of God. Saint Paul praised God because He in Christ has blessed Christians with every spiritual blessing of heaven. God gives to Christians every spiritual blessing they need, because before he created the world, he chose them in Christ so that they would be holy and blameless, and all because of his great love. God has predestined Christians to be his adopted children, He has adopted them as his children because of what his only begotten son has done in dying for their sins. God does all this simply because it pleases him to do so, and not because of any merit on the part of those for whom he does it. God accepts a man only if that man is joined to Christ, his beloved son, and as it is And as it is by his glorious grace that he joins a man to Christ, he is deserving of the praise. Saint Paul continues, wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. Saint Paul had heard of the faith that the Ephesians had in Christ and that the love they had for other Christians, and so he continually thanked God for them. He also prayed for them that God, the Father of all things glorious, would give them a special insight into him, that they might understand the hope that he has called them to, which is union with Christ now and forever, the great riches of Christians' inheritance as sons of God, which is eternal life with Christ, and the power of God at work in Christians to make them fit for heaven from regeneration to glorification. Let us understand that God's people are his children and he is their father. Let us honor our fathers and mothers, but especially love our father in heaven with our whole hearts. Let us praise God that he has in Christ graciously adopted us as his children and has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. Now unto the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.