Remember Your Role

NOTE: For this sermon, we are borrowing from the general structure of Jeremiah presented in the “Evangelical Commentary on the Bible”.

Chapters 2-10: Sermons Warning of Disaster - DONE

Chapters 11-20: Stories about Wrestling with People and with God - TODAY

Chapters 21-29: Challenging Kings and Prophets - DONE

Chapters 30-33: Book of Comfort

Chapters 34-39: Case Studies in the Failure of Leadership

Chapters 40-45: After the Catastrophe

Chapters 46-51: Oracles about the Nations

Chapter 51: Fall of Jerusalem

God Feels Betrayed

Something you’ve heard me reference before: the question isn’t ‘how could God allow us to be separated from him’, but rather ‘why would God ever bother to get us back?’

This makes sense because we know Jesus… the ultimate in pursuit of us.

Before Christ, we had only the law of the covenant and there was no wiggle room in that law —> God will be your God and you will be His people… in return you must obey.

In the next section of Jeremiah, we see the penalty of disobedience in absence of a Messiah.

Jeremiah 11:11–15 CSB

11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not hear them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster. 13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah, and the altars you have set up to Shame—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem. 14 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to me at the time of their disaster. 15 What right does my beloved have to be in my house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat prevent your disaster so you can celebrate?

More Wedding Imagery

Depicts Israel as a spouse who betrays their husband.

Reasons: what right does an unfaithful spouse have to anything in the household?

Analogy: Think of good ole daytime court shows. A popular trope in divorce situations appears to be the unfaithful spouse who ends up demanding their ex’s goods after they were the one guilty of infidelity.

We all decry that as ridiculous! Outrageous, even! But that’s exactly what we do to God.

When we push back against God, worship idols of our own making, and try to live according to our own wisdom, we have no more of a claim to the treasures of God’s household.

Can you see NOW why Christ’s sacrifice was such a massive deal on a eternal scale? We were owed NOTHING. We were the ones who rebelled. And yet… Christ.

God Highlights Our Role

In subsequent chapters, God further explains our role which also highlights why Judah’s disloyalty is so abhorrent. He illustrates this… using underwear.

Jeremiah 13:1–11 CSB

1 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on. But do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on. 3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4 “Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates and hide it in a rocky crevice.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem. 10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship—they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11 Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to me”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“so that they might be my people for my fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey.

Existence —> God’s fame, praise, and glory!

Part of the covenant… God being “our God” and us being “His people”

Keyword: OBEY —> Implicates “our end of the bargain” to not be unfaithful

You can see how God is reinforcing over and over again the unfaithfulness of His chosen people.

Two Major Takeaways

God’s people (of which we are “grafted in”) serve a purpose.… to serve God’s fame, praise, and glory.

We can not choose God’s creation while also stealing credit for that creation and handing it over to less gods.

Baal —> In Jeremiah

Job, Family, Social Status, etc —> Our world today

Root of the Issue: Pride

God doesn’t just leave things at “you’ve been disloyal and I’m disappointed”. He actually diagnoses the root of the problem.

Jeremiah 13:15–18 CSB

15 Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken. 16 Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at dusk. You wait for light, but he brings darkest gloom and makes total darkness. 17 But if you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for the Lord’s flock has been taken captive. 18 Say to the king and the queen mother: Take a humble seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.

Core Problem: PRIDE

Can’t elevate God if we’re busy elevating ourselves

Remember the words of John the Baptist...

John 3:30 CSB

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Read about God’s feelings of betrayal from His people in Jeremiah 11:11-15. What are some of the things you have heard people use as “proof” that God isn’t fair? How are many of these “proofs” rooted in a feeling of entitlement? Read Jeremiah 13:15-18. While this section most directly speaks to the leaders of Judah, how does pride cause us to look to other things for contentment, fulfillment, purpose, etc?

Those Directly Enabling Departure from God

Since we’ve already established that we have a “role” in giving fame, praise, and glory to God, it stands to reason that God would treat those who encourage deviation from this role with contempt.

Jeremiah 14:11–16 CSB

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people. 12 If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.” 13 And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you lasting peace in this place.’ ” 14 But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds. 15 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end. 16 The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”

Misleading Others is Serious Business!

When I recently talked about the poor theology of social media, this is one reason why I took it so seriously.

Misusing and misapplying scripture for worldly “good” isn’t innocent or “well meaning”… it detracts from God’s truth and adherence to God’s will.

Beware “religious sounding things” which have an effect far removed from truth… it isn’t to be taken lightly or treated as some sort of “at least they tried” action.

Read Jeremiah 14:11-16 and think about how modern-day figures use religion to advance their own goals or popularity. 1) What are ways you see people co-op Christian rhetoric or high-level Christian “themes” to advance their own interests? 2) How does mixing God’s truth with modern-day social, community, cultural, or political issues cause some folks to misinterpret or fail to appreciate what God really communicates in the scriptures? 3) What are specific scriptures or phrases you hear people use to make a worldly point that isn’t consistent with the Bible?

Beware Trust in Yourself

We can’t just blame religious and public figures who co-op Christianity… we have to beware the trapping of our own hearts.

Jeremiah 17:5 CSB

5 This is what the Lord says: Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind. He makes human flesh his strength, and his heart turns from the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:9–10 CSB

9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it? 10 I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.

Warning against trusting in mankind… Consistent with themes seen elsewhere in the Bible...

Genesis 11:4–6 CSB

4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.” 5 Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Judges 7:1–2 CSB

1 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harrod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You h ave too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’

Even Christ warned against trusting in the abilities of man...

Mark 10:26–27 CSB

26 They were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

Discernment is a skill and must be trained like any other.

We must be vigilant against these false teachings and self-serving religious figureheads because they may distract you from a greater truth… and greater blessing.

Read Jeremiah 17:5, 9-10 and consider the warnings against trusting in mankind too much. When you hear someone talking about life or religion, how do YOU trying to “test” or discern whether what they’re saying is true or not? How can it be hard to tell when someone is mis-using the Bible vs really trying to instruct (exegete) out of it?

Jeremiah’s Hope Through Adversity

In Chapters 19 and 20, Jeremiah is arrested and eventually released.

Jeremiah feels alone and assaulted… no one is behind him.

He laments, but among his lamenting is the anchor of his faith...

Jeremiah 20:11–13 CSB

11 But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed, an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten. 12 Lord of Armies, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you. 13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord, for he rescues the life of the needy from evil people.

Jeremiah laments his situation, but also have inner peace at the One Who Saves.

Our own life is full of individuals competing for our love and attention… but do not forget the One Who Saves.

Though forces of this world will appeal to our pride and our desire to follow our own wisdom, we know we serve a God who is bigger and to he who trusts in the Lord, that individual will live a life of purpose full of God’s fame, praise, and glory.