Give Thanks To the Lord Our Righteousness

11.28.21 [Jeremiah 33:10-16] River of Life (Outdoor Thanksgiving)

Prov. 30:7-9 “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. Amen.

Newness surrounds us as far as the eye can see, really. New homes. New businesses. New restaurants. New medical facilities. New parks. Newness surrounds us. How can we see all this newness and not recognize these as signs of abundance & prosperity? Especially during a pandemic. Many communities in our country saw long-established businesses close their doors for good. We experienced something different. New businesses opening. So many new homes were being built that we couldn’t keep up. And still the builders can’t seem to keep up with demand.

Even though we are surrounded by all this new-ness we still face old struggles. Traffic. Crime. Inflation. Even when you’re surrounded by the many tangible proofs of newness and blessings, it doesn’t mean that we are filled with gratitude and appreciation.

That is the timeless struggle that the writer of the Proverbs puts his finger on in our opening prayer. (Pr. 30:8-9) Give me neither poverty nor riches. If I have too much I may forget it comes from the Lord. If I have too little, I may not trust in his power & love.

The children of Israel faced this struggle often. The Lord Almighty had always been with them. He had always taken good care of them. From Ur to Egypt to Canaan. It is nothing short of amazing that such a small clan survived unrest and war, drought and famine, decades in the wilderness. Not just survived but thrived.

The Lord Almighty provided for the people and animals of Israel. But he did more. He kept his good promises. He brought them to the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk & honey, fortified cities & mature vineyards. Then the Lord spoke a new good word to his people. (Dt. 28:1) If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. (Dt. 28:11-12) The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground…The Lord will…bless all the work of your hands. (Dt. 28:13) …You will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

But Israel wouldn’t obey the Lord Almighty or carefully follow all his commands. When God blessed them with much, they forgot the Lord. When God cut back on their blessings to call their attention to their wicked ways, they grumbled & complained, dishonored & denied the power, love, & goodness of God. This is the Old Testament in a nutshell. Eventually, their sinful and forgetful ways fractured their nation in two. The northern 10 tribes kept the name Israel. The southern two tribes—Judah and Benjamin—simply went by Judah.

Even though they were unwilling to live as one, both nations walked the same path of disobedience—just at different speeds. Israel hastened headlong into idolatry. Judah did the same, but convinced themselves that they weren’t as bad as their lost neighbors to the north. The Lord knew better. He sent prophet after prophet—men like Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah—to warn the people of the consequences of their unfaithfulness and disobedience. All the things that God said he would bless, ended up being (Dt. 28:15-20) cursed. But even still, God’s people thought they knew better. They put their trust in princes and property. They made alliances with foreign powers instead of making sacrifices for their many sins. They brought offerings to Baal, Asherah, and even Molech, instead of repenting of their forgetful and sinful ways.

They underestimated God’s faithfulness. The Lord Almighty never makes idle threats. When he sends his words of warning, it is because he is patient and abounding in love. It is because (Ezek. 33:11) he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn from their evil ways and live. It is not because the Lord Almighty makes idle threats.

During the ministry of Jeremiah, Judah learned that the hard way. God sent Jeremiah to announce the coming destruction. But Judah didn’t want to listen. In fact, they threw Jeremiah in jail for it.

This is where we must stay on our toes, spiritually speaking. Because it is easy for us to look at Judah with a kind of spiritual smugness. To examine their defiance and rebelliousness with a How could they be so foolish? How could they forget? kind of attitude.

Let us not forget that is precisely what they did with Israel. They fooled themselves into thinking that their spiritual heritage as God’s people, their claim to the chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple insulated them from anything really bad ever happening to them. They forgot that even these were gifts from God himself. Blessings.

And sometimes, we do the same, don’t we? We look at the wonderful blessings that God has showered upon us and we think these are proof of our spiritual superiority. We think we have a great family, a good job, a comfortable life because we have done everything right. We think life is good because we’ve done good. We’ve confused blessings with rewards. A reward is something you earn. A blessing is something you’re given freely because the Blesser loves you.

A rewards mindset with God’s Law will always lead to sin. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will tell the truth, but only when it’s to our advantage. Only when we are going to benefit. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will worship God, but only when we feel his presence. Only when we feel good. Or like we’re growing. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will respect authority, but only when they are telling us to do makes sense to us. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will be faithful to our spouses and loving to our family, but only when we feel like that love and respect is being reciprocated properly.

When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will distort the truth when it’s convenient. We will lie when the consequences of the truth are too much for us to bear. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will look for reasons to complain about Sunday morning worship or be dissatisfied with God’s Church. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will give into the sinful nature of our children so that we can be their friends or be too harsh because we are ashamed. When we have a rewards mindset with God’s Law, we will use the sinful failings of our spouses as an excuse for our own selfishness & sin.

Far too often we have a rewards mindset when it comes to God’s Law. Even as we read about the promise of blessings in Deuteronomy 28, we fall into that way of thinking, don’t we? After all, the Lord Almighty does say, if you obey me I will bless you. It sounds like a reward. Especially if we view God primarily as a boss. But remember how God referred to Israel. They were (Jer. 3:19) his children. He longed to be near them as a Father does his children.

If a Father says to his children: I have this wonderful meal I’ve prepared for you—but you need to get your chores done, you need to wash up and be at the table at 5 sharp is he compensating them for doing their chores, washing their hands, and being punctual? Is dinner a reward? Of course not! But if you refuse to do your chores week after week, if you show up late for dinner day after day, eventually, a good Father is going to clean up dinner before you can enjoy it with him. A good Father follows through on his word. And a good Father rejoices in keeping his promises.

This is what Jeremiah proclaims in these verses. Yes, God our good, heavenly Father was going to clean up the table and take away so many of the blessings from Judah. But it was only going to be a for a short while. For (Jer 29:10) 70 years, many of his children would live in captivity. Then the Lord Almighty would come to them and fulfill his good promise. He would bring back all the blessings that a good Father longs to give his children.

What makes a Father rejoice more than to see his children get married and succeed at work? What makes a Father rejoice more than seeing his children joyful and glad and have more than enough to meet their needs? What makes a Father prouder than watching his children grow up and one day, grab the check at dinner and say Dad, I’ve got this?

God has done all this for Judah and Jerusalem. But the Lord Almighty had a bigger and better promise than just (Jer. 33:11) restoring things back to normal. He has blessed all his children.

Jeremiah 33:10-11 is the picture of peace-time. People getting married. People bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. Shepherds resting their flocks in the pastures. None of this stuff happens when a country is at war or a city under siege. People don’t get married when they don’t know if they are going to see tomorrow. People don’t bring thank offerings when they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Shepherds don’t hang around in the open fields when the enemy is about to open fire. God restored peace to Judah and Jerusalem. And he tells us why. Not because Judah or Jerusalem had earned or deserved it. It was a blessing. The Lord Almighty used this blessing of geo-political peace to bring (Jer. 33:16) safety and salvation to all his people.

Don’t you see the prophet Jeremiah anticipating the beginning of the glorious plan of salvation we will celebrate in less than 30 days? The sounds of joy and gladness. Mary and Joseph getting married. Giving thanks to the Lord Almighty for giving them the good gift of a Son and a Savior.

And God announced his blessing to whom, first? That’s right, shepherds from the towns of Judah. In Bethlehem, David’s town, God made a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line. Jeremiah reveals Jesus’ mission—(Jer. 33:15) to do what is just & right.

Jesus understood the goal of God’s Law. He knew that God’s Law was good because it came from the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever. So he didn’t just do what was right when it meant he would be rewarded. He longed to bring his Father glory in his obedience. He joyfully kept the Law in thought, word, and deed. He came to be the Lord Our Righteous Savior.

That title tells us everything we need to know about Jesus. He is Our Righteousness, or righteousness that has been credited to us by faith. He has done what we would not & could not do for ourselves. He saved us by shedding his holy, precious blood. The Lord Almighty humbled himself. He made himself weak and vulnerable. He was treated unjustly so that we might be saved. He was executed as an unrighteous criminal, so that we might live in safety. Give thanks to the Lord Almighty because he has done mighty things to save us.

Our Bridegroom didn’t just make a promise to love us till death do us part. Our Bridegroom, Jesus, died for us to make us his very own. His love moved him to pay for all our sins so that we might take on his name, Righteousness. God has blessed you with this gift.

This is the gift that makes all things new. This is the reason we rejoice. Being surrounded by new stuff is tremendous—until it fails in some new way. And everything new fails. Being surrounded by new stuff is great—until it breaks down. And everything does.

Being surrounded by God’s mercy, which is new every morning, is better by far. Being protected by the Lord Almighty allows us to enjoy the temporal blessings we have with peaceful contentment. The Lord Almighty knows what we need. He provides our daily bread—and so much more—and he who did not spare his one and only Son will not neglect our physical needs. This same Lord calls us to leverage the blessings that he gives to us to expand his kingdom. Yes, newness comes with challenges. But it also provides so many opportunities. Each new home is another family that needs to know about God’s mercy and love.