The Danger of the Easy Path
Have you ever been fooled by something that sounds too good to be true: an infomercial that promises amazing weight loss results without the hassle of diet or exercise, a sure investment with a massive rate of return and no risk on your end, a Cliff’s notes that promises you an excellent grade on a test without having to actually read the book or do any of the studying? We all know the dangers of taking the easy path. Things are never as easy as they look, and the end result never lives up to the promises that were made.
When it comes to our spiritual lives, Satan does everything in his power to trick us into taking the easy path. He promises that his way is the easy way, and God’s way is filled with trials and hardship. He wants us to believe that he is our friend and has our best interests at heart. He wants us to believe that God is holding out on us by denying us the things that will make us truly happy. He did this with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he did this when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and he does this to us each day of our lives.
But Satan isn’t our friend. He doesn’t want us to be happy, he wants us to suffer with him eternally in hell. Unfortunately, so many people listen to the lies of Satan. They believe that God’s way is the hard way because God is telling them to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him. They want the quick and easy way that satisfies every sinful want, lust, and desire. As Paul tells us in Philippians 3, “Their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, and their glory is in their shame. They are thinking only about earthly things.”
Jeremiah the prophet must have faced the temptation to take the easy path. When the Lord called him to be his prophet, he warned him that his message would be met with opposition. Look, today I have made you like a fortified city, like an iron pillar, and like bronze walls, to take a stand against the whole land. Stand against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to rescue you, declares the LORD. During his ministry Jeremiah was opposed by the rulers of Judah, the priests, false prophets, the people, and the king. Jeremiah was beaten, imprisoned, and hated. At one point, as King Jehoiakim was being read the scroll of Jeremiah’s words, he cut off each section and threw it in the fire. Jeremiah knew what it was like to walk the hard path in service of the Lord.
In our lesson this morning, Jeremiah was commanded by God to preach against the temple in Jerusalem. Jeremiah told the people because they had broken the covenant with God by worshipping false gods, the Lord would destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The people were outraged by the preaching of Jeremiah and wanted to kill him. They had fallen for the devil’s lies and took the easy path. They thought they could follow the desires of their hearts and ignore the commands of God. They thought that because they were God’s chosen people and had his holy temple in their midst, they were safe. Surely God would not destroy them if they went through the motions of worshipping him. They could worship God and still worship other gods as well.
We fall for this lie of Satan as well. We think that we can be good Christians and still conform to the patterns of this world. We can be a good Christian and break any Commandment we want as long as it satisfies our sinful appetites. If it feels good, do it because God will just forgive that sin. We make a mockery of the Gospel and ignore the warnings of the Law. We want to have our cake and eat it too. We want to follow the easy path. We want the name of Christian without the struggle of denying ourselves and bearing our crosses.
Jeremiah knew this temptation as well. There undoubtedly were days when he did not want to proclaim the message God had given to him. He must have wanted to run away like Jonah did because he knew the opposition and pain he would face. But Jeremiah remained faithful. He did not take the easy path but remained faithful and preached a message of repentance that the people needed to hear. We do not like to hear the message of Jeremiah either. We don’t like to be reminded that we are sinners who have failed to live as God demands. We don’t like to have our pet sins exposed by the blinding light of the Law. But it is a message we need to hear. We need to be called to repentance so we can confess our sins and turn to Christ.
The world needs to hear this message as well, but the world hates the Word of God. People don’t want to hear how they are sinful. They don’t want to hear that they can’t give into their desires and satisfy every craving of their hearts. The world doesn’t want to hear that God promises a life of hardship and suffering for the people of his kingdom. The world wants to follow the easy path. And we at times want to let it. It is far easier to
remain quiet than to share the message of our Savior. Like Jeremiah we know that we will face hatred and opposition for proclaiming God’s Word. The world will call us unloving and hateful for daring to say that Jesus is the only way to salvation. We don’t want to have those difficult conversations. We don’t want to feel embarrassed that we are talking to someone about religion. And we certainly don’t want people to know that we are Christians because then they might look at us differently or judge us when we join with them in doing things that a Christian really shouldn’t be doing.
It is very easy for us to follow the easy path. It is easy for us to conform to the patterns of this world to avoid the troubles and hardships that come with being a Christian. We know this, but we also know what waits at the end of the easy path. Paul reminds us that the easy path leads to destruction, but the difficult path of being a Christian ends with our citizenship in heaven.
Like Jeremiah, Jesus faced intense hardship and persecution. He could have taken the easy path. He could have avoided the terrible fate that awaited him in Jerusalem. But that is not what our Savior did. Jesus did not take the easy path, but instead resolutely made his way to Jerusalem and ultimately Calvary. Jesus never wavered in his mission. Our Savior loved us so much that he lowered himself to save us. Christ gave up the joy and glory of heaven to be born as a helpless child. He endured all the pain and sorrow of human life for us. He who had never known pain or discomfort knew what it was like to know hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. He became true man so he could place himself under God’s law and keep it perfectly in our place.
Christ never wavered from his path but willingly went to Jerusalem so he could suffer and die. Jesus knew the horror, pain, and agony that awaited him on the cross. He knew that he would have to drink deeply of the cup of God’s wrath and endure the torments of hell for us. Christ never wavered in his commitment because he wanted to save us. Christ offered his life on the cross to pay for our sins and give to us citizenship in heaven.
During the season of Lent, we remember the sacrifice of our Savior. We confess and acknowledge that it was because of our sins that he was nailed to a cross. Jeremiah called on the people of Jerusalem to repent of their sins and return to the Lord. “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the things that you have heard. Now reform your ways and your actions, and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring about the disaster he has pronounced against you.”
We know that we are sinners. We know that we often listen to the devil and his lies and take the easy path. We ignore the commands of God so we can satisfy the cravings of our sinful hearts. We avoid proclaiming the message of God’s Word when it is inconvenient or will bring hardship into our lives. We sin against God in countless ways and know the disaster that God has pronounced against us. We know that we deserve only God’s wrath and punishment. But we also know that God in his great mercy sent his one and only Son to suffer and die to save us. We desire to reform our ways and actions. We want to confess our sins and repent because we know that through Christ God has relented in his anger. He has spared us from the destruction that we deserve and instead has made us his dearly beloved children. We seek to avoid the easy path because we know it leads to disaster. Instead, we seek to walk according to the pattern given to us by Christ and look forward to that great and glorious day when we will be freed from all sorrow and pain and our bodies will be transformed to be like the glorious body of our Savior. Amen.