The Lord saves unworthy Christians.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 14, September 3, 2023

Mercy and peace to you all, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.”  Amen.

Jeremiah 15:15-21  ¹⁵O Lord, you understand.  Remember me and care for me.  Take vengeance for me on those who persecute me.  You are slow to anger.  Do not take me away.  Keep in mind that for your sake I bear disgrace.  ¹⁶Your words came to me, and I devoured them.  Your words became my joy, the delight of my heart, because I bear your name, O Lord God of Armies.  ¹⁷I did not sit with the band of partygoers, nor did I celebrate with them.  I sat alone, because your hand was upon me.  You filled me with indignation.  ¹⁸Why is my pain unending?  Why is my wound incurable, refusing to heal?  Will you be as deceptive as an intermittent stream to me, like a source of water that a person can’t depend on?  ¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says.  “If you repent, I will take you back, so that you may stand before me.  If what you say is worthwhile and not worthless, you will be my spokesman.  They must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.   ²⁰I will make you like a bronze wall to this people.  They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and to rescue you,” declares the Lord.  ²¹ “I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (EHV)

The Lord saves unworthy Christians.

Dear disciples of the saving Lord,

            Few believers have had as hard and lonely a life as the prophet, Jeremiah.  You and I may watch the turmoil our world is undergoing and wonder what lies ahead for us, but few of us will ever have to face being so despised by our neighbors as this faithful servant of the Lord.  However, like Jeremiah here in our sermon text, Christians sometimes do fall into despair and begin to accuse God of being less than faithful to His promises.  Whenever you find yourself feeling crushed by the role God gives you, remember that The Lord saves unworthy Christians.

Jeremiah had the unenviable task of proclaiming God’s wrath to a people who boldly rejected the one true and faithful God who had given them everything.  Throughout their history, God blessed them with the promise of a personal Savior.  He rescued them out of slavery, set them apart as a people loved and preferred by God, built a fence of protection around them, and delivered them from invading neighbors and powerful enemies.  Yet, in spite of God’s loving care for this people, a love so strong the Lord God describes Himself as being a husband to this people, the majority of them went whoring after the Canaanite idols and mythical gods that could do nothing at all for the Israelite people. 

There were times when Jeremiah felt truly all alone in the world.  A few friends took pity on him, at times, but most normal relationships were forbidden to Jeremiah.  This was actually an act of kindness on God’s part, because He was planning to bring merciless destruction upon this nation that had turned completely against the Lord.  Therefore, while Jeremiah faithfully carried God’s warning of the approaching doom and destruction, the prophet was hated, rejected, and abused by his fellow Israelites.

It seems that because of the unrelenting scorn of his neighbors, Jeremiah began to feel that God wasn’t carrying through on His warnings fast enough.  He complained, “O Lord, you understand.  Remember me and care for me.  Take vengeance for me on those who persecute me.  You are slow to anger.  Do not take me away.  Keep in mind that for your sake I bear disgrace.”  Jeremiah didn’t want to be forgotten.  He feared that God was being too soft on Israel.  What if God held back His wrath?  Would Jeremiah have nothing to show for his faithful proclamation of God’s words?  Jeremiah actually complains that God isn’t carrying out His promised judgment fast enough.  Jeremiah was as much as saying: “Get it over with.  Don’t give these cruel, idolatrous people time to repent!  Give me vengeance on them!  I deserve it!”

There are times when we likewise get ourselves in trouble with the Lord.  We start to think we deserve God’s action because of our faithfulness to Him.  It’s very easy, even for faithful believers, to forget that we too are saved only by God’s grace.  Listen again to Jeremiah’s painful complaining: “Your words came to me, and I devoured them.  Your words became my joy, the delight of my heart, because I bear your name, O Lord God of Armies.  I did not sit with the band of partygoers, nor did I celebrate with them.  I sat alone, because your hand was upon me.  You filled me with indignation.  Why is my pain unending?  Why is my wound incurable, refusing to heal?  Will you be as deceptive as an intermittent stream to me, like a source of water that a person can’t depend on?” 

Jeremiah had become a bit like the prophet Jonah who eagerly waited to see God bring destruction upon Nineveh.  Jonah also wanted to see God’s wrath in action, but he was bitterly disappointed at God’s mercy.  We might examine our own hearts to find times when we sinned by seeking vengeance rather than mercy.  How often have we thought God should deliver justice on someone else?  At the same time, the Holy Spirit through St. Peter reminds us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Now, you and I would never accuse God of being unreliable, would we?  Or do we already?  Did you ever wonder why God doesn’t just smack down on terrorists, warmongers, school shooters, and family killers, instead of letting them carry out their wicked plans?  Do you ever wonder why successful celebrities and politicians make such dumb mistakes and hurt innocent bystanders like the American people?  We hear self-righteous people spout off all the time about how bad others are, so why doesn’t God just put an end to this world so that we “good people” don’t have to deal with all this heartache and pain anymore?  Or maybe I’m the only one who has heard others say things like that.  I do know that I have been guilty of shaking my head when others fail.  God be merciful to me, a sinner.

Our sermon theme says: The Lord saves unworthy Christians.  So, why does God save unworthy Christians?  Well actually, it’s because that’s the only kind of Christian there is.  Furthermore, if we should ever start to think we are worthy of God’s grace, we will have crossed over the line into false self-righteousness and will find ourselves outside of God’s grace and mercy.  As St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law are completely separated from Christ. You have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4)

Thankfully, God corrected Jeremiah, and He corrects us at the same time.  Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will take you back, so that you may stand before me.  If what you say is worthwhile and not worthless, you will be my spokesman.”  How these words must have cut Jeremiah to the heart.  He had thought himself so faithful to the Lord, yet God told him, “Repent!”  And if God was willing to call faithful Jeremiah to repentance, how much more our sinful hearts as well?  How could we dare stand before God saying, “See how well I have served You!”?  Not one of us will ever be saved by the strength or goodness of our actions.  As Isaiah reminds us, “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth.” (Isaiah 64:6)

Whenever we look inside ourselves for righteousness, all we will find is fault, filth, evil, and condemnation.  Of ourselves, we simply cannot measure up to the holiness God demands.  It’s not that God judges us unfairly, but rather that we tend to judge God with a false measuring stick.  So, the Lord tells all who would follow Him, “Repent!  Turn away from looking inwardly for righteousness and find it in Me.”  He says, "If you repent, I will take you back, so that you may stand before me.”  Through Isaiah, the Lord declared, “Let the wicked man abandon his way.  Let an evil man abandon his thoughts.  Let him turn to the Lord, and he will show him mercy.  Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)  Repentance means turning away from any thought of impressing a righteous God but falling fully at the feet of Jesus for the mercy and grace freely available from our loving Lord and Savior.

The Lord further admonished Jeremiah saying, “They must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.  I will make you like a bronze wall to this people.  They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to save you and to rescue you," declares the LORD.  Jeremiah felt tremendous pressure to follow the wickedness of his fellow Israelites.  Idolaters hate to hear that their idols are useless.  The Israelites had fallen in love with worshipping the Baals even though those idols had no power at all; they were, at most, useless pieces of carved wood. 

Jeremiah’s neighbors despised hearing what he had to say.  They even tried to get him to abandon the messages God gave him to proclaim.  However, to do so would have brought Jeremiah under the same terrible wrath God had enlisted Jeremiah to announce upon his idolatrous neighbors. 

Jeremiah felt completely abandoned and alone among his neighbors.  However, the Lord will never abandon anyone who follows Him in truth.  However much the world might fight against us, however much our idolatrous neighbors might hurl insults and threats at us, they can never really harm the believing, repentant Christian, because our God is with us to save us.

Jesus returned to heaven promising His followers, “Surely I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)  St. Paul confirmed God’s care for believers when he wrote in his letter to the Romans, “All things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Dear friends, as we hear of Christians being martyred for their faith, as we see how the world fights against the message of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, and as members of our own families turn against the pure Word of God, it might seem like it would be a whole lot easier just to go along with the crowd and avoid all those disputes here on earth.  In fact, many false, or weak-kneed, preachers actively encourage that.

The trouble with going along with the crowd is that it leads to damnation.  Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it.  How narrow is the gate, and how difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:13-15)  Jesus also declared, "If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.  You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

The Lord reminded Jeremiah that even though his earthly task was difficult, his eternal reward will be out of this world.  God said to Jeremiah, "I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless."  No matter what wicked men might think they can do to believing Christians, in the end only God’s decisions matter.  When the Lord calls us to believe in Jesus, it is because God has determined to take us to heaven for the sake of His Son, who lived and died and rose again so that we could be found innocent and holy in God’s eyes.  God counts Jesus’ perfection as ours.  He counts our sins as belonging to Jesus, but Jesus paid with His life for all the sins of the world.  Therefore, God declares to all who trust in Him, "I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless."

The Bible declares that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  That is a fact of life since sin broke our world.  But God doesn’t leave us defenseless or without hope.  He sent Jesus to live for us, punished His own Son with death so that we can live forever, and raised Jesus to life again as the Firstborn of many believers.  Even though not one mortal deserves a place in God’s heaven, because of His mercy, love, and kindness, The Lord saves unworthy Christians. 

Dear friends, our God reserves a place in heaven for each of you.  Believe in the Lord Jesus and live.  Trusting Him completely, repent of any tendency to turn against God, for His love for you is unending and completely sure and certain as the one way to eternal life.  Repent and believe it: The Lord saves unworthy Christians.  Amen.

The Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.