I don't know any better (Jeremiah 9.17-26)
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Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skilled women to come;
let them quickly raise a dirge over us,
so that our eyes may run down with tears,
and our eyelids flow with water.
For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
“How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.”
Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ears receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a dirge,
and each to her neighbor a lament.
“Death has come up into our windows,
it has entered our palaces,
to cut off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.”
Speak! Thus says the Lord:
“Human corpses shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves behind the reaper,
and no one shall gather them.”
Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth;
but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin:
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.
Intro: (Rewrite this…..)
For me……….One of the most awe-inspiring things to ever experience is to meet somebody that has purpose……………..
(pause)
If I’m having a bad day…………..the one thing that can turn my day around is to talk to somebody who has an understanding of their purpose………..
(pause)
Because I enjoy talking to people who are clear about where they are headed…
(pause)
Because when you speak to that type of individual………….the fact that they understand their purpose…………overflows into other areas of their lives……and they might not have a penny to their name………but they are happy as can be…..
(Pause & Expound)
You see………….the purpose that they have substantiates their mission………..and they refuse to walk around in life without a sense of direction…
(pause)
Things may not be perfect for them………..but that does not stop them………because they clearly understand that where they are…. is not the ending of the day……………but a moment in the day that will eventually pass…
(pause)
It’s almost as if……………they don’t even know any better…………
(pause)
It’s almost as if…………they have convinced themselves that there is something greater than who they are…………that is operating on their behalf….
(pause)
And as I begin to examine my tendency to become motivated about purpose from the standpoint of the individual……………my vantage broadened and I considered God…………..
(pause)
And I said to myself…………..Self………….what if God is on a mission?
(pause)
And when I thought about the possibilities of God being on a mission my enthusiasm level…………multiplied…………as I began thinking about the possibilities of God being on a mission………..
(pause)
Because I don’t know about you…………….but once my mind begin to wrap around the fact that maybe God is on a mission……………
I placed myself into the equation…………..and wondered…………
“How do I fit into what God has planned?”
(pause)
And see…………..this is why the Devil wants to keep us from understanding God’s role in our lives…………….because if we ever get to a position to ask the question……………
“What good am I to God?”
(slight pause)
AND…Because God is who God is………………God is not going to allow you and I to believe that we are less than we were created to be………….
(pause)
Some kind of a way……………God is going to speak up……………..even if God has to use a donkey……………to let you know…………
(Holler this) “I CREATED YOU………FOR MY GLORY”
(pause & expound)
You don’t know what you mean to God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(pause)
Get this in your spirit………………
(slight pause)
God created you………….for God’s glory…………..and that means what you mean to God………….is bigger than what you mean to yourself……………
(pause)
But the problem is that we have miscalculated our worth and how it connects to God’s glory…………
(pause)
And sometimes the reason this happens is because we have allowed our hearts to shift………….
(pause)
According to the verse 17 leading into verse 23………Jeremiah is pronouncing…..a word from the Lord………..
And in this word he is requesting the presence of those women of Jerusalem who are professional weepers………meaning they knew how to cry better than anybody……
And these professional weepers were supposed to teach their daughters how to cry…………
And the purpose of their crying was based on the children and young men who were killed when the Babylonians broke into the city….
(pause)
Now stay with me because Jeremiah continues to unveil the picture that God has given to the people related to the severity of this Babylonian massacre…….
by describing the dead bodies as cut grain left behind the reaper in a field……….
(pause)
And God is sharing this information to paint the fullness of the picture as it relates to the devastation that is experienced at the hand of Babylon…….in Jerusalem….
(pause)
And Jeremiah says………..there is no one to gather it!
Meaning…………..nobody can come behind and clean up all of this……….
(pause)
I wonder if there is anyone who ever felt like this………
(pause)
Jeremiah says…………..
If you didn’t know any better…………..you would think there was no hope for Jerusalem…………based on the judgment of God as it relates to their sins……….
And just when I thought I had heard it all…………….Jeremiah added another proclamation in verses 23-24……………
Look at it now………..
Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth;
In other words…………….
No matter how much you think you know in your mind about what happens in this world……………it’s not enough to receive glory!
(pause)
And Jeremiah says………….
“The foolishness of God…………is wiser than the greatest of humanity’s wisdom”
That’s why you can walk up to somebody with a whole lot of sense in terms of natural wisdom………..and things that are useful from a practical perspective……
And when they reach their limitations……………God says…………
“They don’t know any better”
(pause)
Look at it now…………..
Because Jeremiah says also…………….
“Neither let the mighty man glory in his might”
In other words……………
“God is saying I put you together…………..”
“I’m the one that scooped up dirt and created your muscles”
(pause)
And there is absolutely no substantial way by which you can authenticate your case………….
that would cause me to believe that your strength deserves my glory…………….
(pause)
And in my spiritual imagination………..I hear God saying…………
“I have more in my pinky…………than they got in their whole body….”
(pause)
Look at it now…………..
Because Jeremiah says………….not only does glory not belong in your wisdom………..and not only does it not belong in your might……………
But keep it out of your ability to produce resources also………………
Meaning……………..
You think you’re blessing yourself……………..with what you have accumulated……
(pause)
But you don’t have anything on me…………..
(pause)
Freedom…………….
we have yet to really experience the blessings of God………….
(pause)
What we are calling blessings…………is really just grace and mercy………..
(pause)
We’re too disobedient……………to really be blessed the way God wants to bless us……………..
(pause)
Look at somebody and holler………….
(You aint seen nothing yet……)
Look at it now……………..
Because in verse 24 God says this is how I need the people to respond to what I said in verses 17-23………….
(pause)
And to be honest……………verse 24………….makes no sense to the natural mind……………..
Because verse 24 says……………when you see devastation in your life………..give God glory………….
(pause)
(Option: Say something that highlights the confusion, EX: Urrrrrrrr!)
but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
In other words……………
“Let me show you what you need to brag/boast about!”
(pause)
- Boast in the fact that you understand who I am……………..
- Boast in the fact that you know I am your God……….and I show faithful love……
- Boast in the fact that I am a God of justice………….
“Really God…………….”
“Really Baker………….”
I hear God saying……………..
“I need some folk that don’t know any better”
And when devastation happens they don’t get confused and forget about why I created them in the first place……………….
(pause)
Because the reason I created them was based on their heart…………
And regardless of what it looks like………….I did not make them to break them………….
(pause)
But………………I will do whatever I got to do……………to complete my mission…………..of being glorified by what I created……………..
(pause)
And that’s good news…………………..
(pause)
CONCLUSION: (NEEDS TO BE RE-Written with current events)
Because when I read in the news how over 100 women die each week while giving child birth……………..I need to know what God is up to…………….
(pause)
And when I watch on CNN how U.S. Ambassadors are murdered in cold blood in Egypt………………..I need to know what God is up to……………
(pause)
And when I am reminded of the senseless killing of Bobby Tillman 2 years ago in the AJC…………..I need to know what God is up to…………….
(pause)
But because I don’t know any better………………………..
(pause)
The Holy Spirit keeps reminding me…………….that God is on a mission!
(pause)
And even though I sometimes feel like crying………………….
(pause)
There is an excitement……………..deep down on the inside…………
(pause)
Because maybe…………..it’s time for a Jeremiah to rise up out of the dead bones in that field…………………and remind somebody that…………
Because you mean so much to God…………….God is willing to go after who God loves……………..
COMPLETION………………………