A Sermon on Jeremiah 9:23-24
In our text, Jeremiah wants to know what you consider important. Only Jeremiah doesn’t use the more polite word important. Instead, he chooses a potentially offensive word boast. Jeremiah knows that we talk about what is important to us, and what is important to us is what gives us security and standing. We like to talk about what sets us apart from others and gives us an advantage over them.
Jeremiah isn’t trying to say that nothing should be important to us. He knows that we will boast about or talk up one thing or another. Like the God in whose image we’re made, we humans are communicating beings. We continually talk about what’s on our minds. Jeremiah’s concern is that we call attention to what is truly important.
In verse 23, Jeremiah summarizes what we typically value or consider important. First, Jeremiah mentions wisdom or what we might call achievements of the mind. The book of Proverbs, of course, considers God-centered wisdom the greatest good. The father in Proverbs instructs his son to get wisdom, which he associates with the fear of Yahweh. Biblical wisdom has to do with recognizing that everything and everyone exists for the glory of God. To be more specific, the wise person understands that God wants to exalt his incarnate Son over all creation. Living wisely, then, means getting to know Jesus and promoting his kingdom in every area of life. Jeremiah, however, has a self-sufficient wisdom in mind. He’s thinking of intellectual arrogance that listens to no one else or academic elitism that judges people by what they know and where they learned it. The wrong kind of wisdom also includes mock humility that listens uncritically and approvingly to everyone—all in the name of tolerance and relativism. Too often, the one who boasts about wisdom rejects the self-revealing God of the Bible and tries to live without reference to him. A Richard Dawkins, for example, might believe that human reason and the scientific method can solve all problems and make us better people. The thing is, technologically advanced humans continue to hurt one another. We just do so now with computers. The collective achievements of the human mind, while impressive, have not dispelled the darkness from the human heart.
Second, Jeremiah mentions strength. Again, there’s nothing wrong with a sound mind and a healthy body. The Old Testament celebrates Caleb who fought Canaanites in his eighties. What happens, though, when a boxer proclaims himself the greatest; when a singer booms, “I did it my way”; when a football player struts after a touchdown or a tackle; when a leader betrays the hope and good will of those who follow; or when a skilled contractor takes advantage of a customer? Strength can become intimidation, bullying, oppression, or shoddiness. The glory of strength is short-lived as Muhammed Ali, Frank Sinatra, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson now know. How many of yesteryear’s athletes have died in their fifties, including Steelers? How many corrupt leaders have left office to no one’s regret? Isaiah compares us to withering grass and fading flowers. James likens us to a vapor, which is even more ephemeral. Our intellectual and physical strength do not last. In contrast to the eternality of God or even the age of the universe, we are here today and gone tomorrow. Likewise, the achievements of our strength are soon forgotten or eclipsed.
Third, Jeremiah mentions wealth. We’re all interested in money, and we have to have a certain amount to get along in this world. It’s funny, though, how we get a little bit in our pocket and start to feel secure and smug. We might also think that living in this neighborhood or driving that car makes us a cut above someone else. Wealth has a way of leading to greed, consumption, and exploitation. We buy houses and toys and pass legislation that we can’t afford. Then, a financial downturn reminds us how uncertain and fleeting riches are. Of course, we give everything back at death. There are no U-Hauls behind hearses.
What humans are said to value is not necessarily bad in itself. Most Israelites would have considered wisdom, strength, and wealth good. In fact, they may be blessings from God. Jeremiah does not condemn the possession of wisdom, strength, and wealth. He does say, however, that we should not boast in them. Boasting entails a lack of humble gratitude and a head full of deception. Read our text in light of chapters 8 and 9 and note the vocabulary of falsehood. We are living a lie if we put our trust in our intellect, strength, and wealth. Assigning ultimate importance to these does not constitute wisdom but folly. The blessings of God cannot take God’s place, and how thankless we are to want them more than him. He alone offers the security that we too often try to find in his blessings. Because God has promised to provide for our needs, we need not hoard his blessings for our promotion. Rather, God’s blessings give us the means to advance his kingdom and minister to other people.
If verse 23 tells us what humans consider important, verse 24 tells us that God values kindness, justice, and righteousness. Hearing these words together, the Israelites might think of the Exodus. God showed his kindness to his people in Egypt by remembering his promises to the patriarchs. God’s justice is seen in putting down the oppressor and liberating the exploited. God’s righteousness is seen in giving the law that offers a model of a redeemed community.
For us, God exemplifies each of these in the person and work of Jesus. Out of kindness, God has not treated us as our sins deserve but has forgiven us. Forgiveness, however, does not mean that God goes soft on justice. On the cross, Jesus suffered the consequences of our sin in our place and so satisfied God’s justice. Moreover, God has promised to set all matters right and mete out justice to the impenitent. Throughout the Bible, God comes to the defense of the disadvantaged. As for righteousness, God is the lawgiver who differentiates right from wrong. This lawgiver kept the law in our place and imputes his righteousness to us. Dressed in the righteousness of Jesus, we are able to imitate our Savior and live kindly, justly, and righteously.
As God is kind, just, and righteous, so we in Christ are to be kind, just, and righteous. Doing so is the only appropriate response to what God has done for us. We should kindly treat others as God has treated us—forgiving them, not holding grudges, showing patience, and being generous. We should treat others fairly, work to eliminate entrenched corruption, and relieve the misery of those who have been mistreated. We should keep the commands of God and so indicate our desire to be like Jesus, the Righteous One. In so doing, we model a redeemed alternative to the conventional wisdom—the self-serving and dog-eat-dog mentality—that pervades our world.
It is proper and good to enjoy the gifts of God, but these do not give us an occasion to brag. If we’re going to boast about something, we should talk up our relationship with God. We should praise him for what he has done for us, and we should promote what he values: viz., kindness, justice, and righteousness. For Jeremiah, this is what it means to know God. Knowing God is not so much intellectual as relational. The person who knows God loves his or her neighbor. He or she uses the blessings of God—wisdom, strength, and wealth—to enrich others.
Negatively, the right kind of boasting avoids valuing God’s gifts more than him. Positively, the right kind of boasting receives those gifts with gratitude and uses them for Christ’s kingdom. We know God when we know what is important to him and imitate what he does. How has God blessed you with wisdom, strength, and wealth? How can you use them this week to promote kindness, justice, and righteousness?