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August 28, 2005
Pentecost 15
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Pastor Joel Zank

Disciples of Jesus Don't Get It!

(Jeremiah 15:15-21) You understand, O LORD; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering--do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. 16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. 17 I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails? 19 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 20 I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you," declares the LORD. 21 "I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."

In Christ Jesus, who has freed us from sin's grip, dear fellow redeemed,

Disciples of Jesus Don't Get It! At times they're a bit slow. We may not like to hear that, but it's true. The Bible is filled with examples of believers who, throughout the ages, have been slow to believe what the Lord has told them. Look at our gospel reading for today from Matthew 16. We heard Jesus tell his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to be killed and, then, rise from the dead on the third day. He was very clear. But the disciples just didn't get it. Instead the Savior's arrest, his trial and crucifixion caught them completely off guard, but not nearly as much as did Christ's triumphant resurrection on Easter Sunday. Of course, they had no reason to be shocked, as the angel at the empty tomb was quick to remind them: "[Jesus] is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you..."(Luke 24:6).

No, they hadn't remembered, that was the problem. And that's still the problem today, isn't it? We modern day disciples can be just as slow to listen and believe as all those who came before us. But it doesn't have to be this way. God's Word has the power both to point out our sin and, then, change us so that we can better serve Christ and his kingdom. To this end, may God's powerful Word do it's work in us today as we consider this Bible truth: Disciples of Jesus Don't Get It! 1) We don't get the reward we think we deserve. 2) We don't get the punishment our sins have earned.

This important truth comes to us today by way of the Lord's Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah had the unenviable task of serving as the Lord's spokesman to a sinful and stubborn people who wanted nothing to do with God commandments or his promises. So God sent Jeremiah to be the people's conscience. The prophet was to live his life in such a way that everything he said and did would serve as a constant reminder of how much God hates sin and sinners. If Jeremiah were not clear on that one crucial point, then the people would never repent of their wrongs and never embrace God's promised Savior.

God has sent you and me on the very same mission. Jesus has appointed us to be his salt and light in this world. As salt, we are to be a holy preservative, stopping sinful decay with righteous words and actions that prick the conscience of every sinner. As light, we get to point to Jesus as the world's only hope of rescue from hell, it's only Savior from sin. Please note that we are not working to become salt and light. This isn't an option clause in a contract of discipleship. We are salt and light or we are not Christ's disciples. This is what Jesus means when he says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24).

I remind you of this today, not to discourage you, but to encourage you. I want you to know that as surely as God has given you faith in Jesus, he has made you salt and light. You are serving God's purpose in this world. There are people who are learning the truth about sin and grace because you are alive at this time and in this place. You may not have even been aware of that, but its true by God's gracious doing. It is also true, and this you may be aware of to some degree or another, that people despise you because you are God's salt and light in Christ. This too is inescapable for Jesus says in Matthew 10:22, "All men will hate you because of me..." How sad but true. There are members of our family, people at work, neighbors down the street, folks we have only met in passing, together with a world full of others we've never met who hate us for no other reason than this, we love Jesus because he first loved us. They hate the very thought of us. They hate us because the life of thanks that we strive to live to God makes them look and feel like the sinners they are. They hate us because the saving truth we cling to proclaims Christ as the only path to heaven. So we're branded as intolerant snobs and religious fools. Unbelievers laugh at us and joke about us and even pretend to pity us. It all takes its toll on us.

It certainly took a toll on Jeremiah so he turned to God in prayer, the prayer before us today, a prayer that could well be ours. He says, "You understand, O LORD; remember me and care for me" (v.15a,b). God does understand us. His Son became one of us and so is able to relate to what's happening to us in every circumstance of life (cf. Hebrews 4:15). More than that, we can expect God to remember us and care for us, because he himself has said, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you" (Psalm 50:15). Jeremiah's prayer begins so beautifully. But then suddenly his sinful heart betrays him. Listen: "You are long-suffering--do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake" (v.15c-d).

Jeremiah knew that God is patient or long-suffering. We might think that Jeremiah would praise God for this quality. Instead he's complaining. If God is patient with the sinners are being so cruel to Jeremiah, then the prophet figures he's done for. Those sinners will destroy him.

Who of us hasn't charged God with the same fault? It is fine that God was patient long enough to bring us sinners into his family, but now that we're in, enough is enough. God, we complain, has got to get rid of the world's sinners or they'll be the end of us.

Where does that kind of thinking come from? Only one place - it has its roots in sinful pride. I'm afraid there is lurking in each one of us the idea that we deserve some credit for being the Savior's disciples. We say with Jeremiah: "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. 17I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation" (Vv.16-17). Translation: "Lord, unlike a lot of sinners out there, I've done what you've wanted me to do. I've studied your Word, eating it up so to speak, even liking it. I bear your name, Lord, calling myself a Christian, letting people know that I follow the powerful God of free and faithful grace. Maybe it's time for you to live up to your name and do something about my problems. After all a good share of my trouble is your fault. In case you haven't noticed I have a rather sad and lonely existence because you've told me to live apart from sin and sinners." Be honest; you've had some of those same thoughts, haven't you? I know I have, and it gets worse. Like Jeremiah we go from self-righteousness to self-pity and, then, to out right blasphemy. Again, listen to the prophet and see if you don't hear your own voice echoing his bitter complaint: "Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?" (V.18). When a man dying of thirst heads to a well-known brook or spring only to discover it has dried up, he feels deceived and betrayed. His one hope has been smashed. There have been times, at least in the quietness of our thoughts, where we've said the same thing about God. "I've been set up! God promised me help but then deserted me. He's all talk and no action."

How does God respond to these charges? Verse 19a-b: "Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman." God calls us to repentance even as he calls our accusations completely "worthless." And so they are. They have no value because our charges against God are based on lies. We disciples of Jesus don't get it! We didn't earn our way into God's family, nor do we earn our keep in his family now that we have become his children. God's grace found us and it is God's grace that keeps us his people. If we would only remember this, our anger and bitterness would disappear. Think about it! Our feelings get hurt for no other reason then we think we deserve a reward from God. In fact we're so bold as to name our reward-we demand a trouble-free, joy-filled existence right here on earth, and let anything or anyone who gets in the way of our happiness be cursed. But our attitude changes when we remember who and what we are by nature, damned sinners, who haven't a holy leg to stand on before the judgment seat of God. We don't get the reward we think we deserve. No, we get something so much better - we get more grace. When we believe that, everything changes. Now instead of wanting God to strike down our enemies, we can see those same people as fellow sinners with whom God is patient, as he is with us, because he hopes to make them our brothers and sisters in Christ. It'll take a miracle, but, then, miracles are what God does. We sinner-saints are living proof of that, right?

And that's only the beginning. When we trust that God shows us nothing but grace, we are able to see today's problems as the means through which God plans to bless us tomorrow. Rather than viewing God as a deceptive brook who doesn't live up to the potential of his powerful name, we can see God as the fountain of life, whose faithful love and power never have and never can disappoint us. This is how we should be thinking and speaking and living. But we haven't been. Our thoughts and words and actions have been completely worthless, ruined by our sin through and through. By them we have earned God's anger. For them we deserve his punishment in hell forever.

But listen to this - We disciples of Jesus don't get it - we don't get the punishment our sins have earned! Instead our Gracious God promises: "I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel" (v.21). No enemy is crueler than our own sinful nature. Day after day this traitor threatens to choke the spiritual life out of us. But Jesus freed us even from the enemy within us. He redeemed us by assuming our sinful identity. He became you and me and every sinner. He owned up to all of our self-righteous thoughts, he took the blame for all our hatred and even our blasphemy. He stood before God covered in the sin of all of mankind, so God found him guilty and sent him to hell in our place. There Jesus suffered our punishment till every one of our sins was paid for and there was no more punishment left, not for Jesus, not for us. That's why we don't get it - sin's punishment, that is. It's been taken care of by Christ. That's why hell had to let him go. The grave did too. So now he lives to bring us to repentance as he has again today. Now he lives to forgive us as he does right now. Now he lives to love us and protect us and make us a blessing to this world of sinners, promising us as he did his prophet so long ago: "Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. 20 I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you," declares the LORD" (v.19c-20). More than anything else, our world needs us to be unbendable, unbreakable witnesses of God's Word, speaking clearly about sin and grace so that many more will come to believe this wonderful truth, the truth that Disciples of Jesus don't get it - they don't get the reward they think they deserve; and most important, they don't get the punishment their sins have earned. Instead they get nothing but grace, the undeserved love that God keeps showing to all us sinners for Jesus sake. Amen.