The Glory that
Empowers Trust
Jeremiah 17:5-8

† In Jesus’s Name †

May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ empower and strengthen your dependence on Jesus the Messiah!

Cursed are We?

The Old Testament passage this morning starts with such a encouraging word!

CURSED ARE Those who put their trust in mere humans!

My first reaction to this was to thank God for being, well, more cynical than most – and therefore I don’t trust anyone!

Part of that is growing up in a very cynical part of the country, part of that comes from working in the jails as a chaplain, and part of it comes from being a pastor, and part of it comes, to be honest, from looking in the mirror!

But while I say I don’t trust anyone… that isn’t true!

We trust people every day, from doctors and nurses to tax advisors and mechanics and family members and friends.

Some those things we trust to them are life-affecting decisions ranging from medical advice to whether our cars are safe. And if they are wrong, there is a heavy price to pay!

But this sermon isn’t titled “It pays to be cynical…” It’s about what happens when we trust in the Lord, and let Him care for us…rather than turning to human strength.

Dried out Shrubs

Jeremiah is pretty clear about the effect of relying on mankind for answers about life the universe and everything. Hear His words again,

(Those ) who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD. ⁶  They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.

On the fringe of salt flats, barren lands you find these shrubs or trees that look more like weeds. Because the water in the ground, if there is any, has too high of a salt content, the water they have access to is limited and it won’t sustain growth.

They have no hope of becoming like the tree in last week’s sermon, no chances of giving shade and respite, or having branches which would let birds rest and fruit for humans and animas to be nourished by.

The simply dry up and die, to be blown about by the wind, never having a home, never having a future.

Spiritually, that is exactly what happens when we give up on God, when we dismiss Him to trust in some human to provide for us what we need to sustain life and hope, to help us get through the challenges, to deal with guilt and shame.

That is the curse, the inability to deal with the broken relationships, here on earth and with God.

That is a curse to heavy to bear, a pain that echoes through an empty soul.

Replanted!

There is hope for those so “cursed”

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. ⁸  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought!

The picture here for planted is God carefully removing us from the barren, salted soil, to be in a lush valley alongside the river bank, where the ground is full of the nutrients we need to grow.

That is the relationship we have with God, where He cares for us, provides for us and puts in a place where we are hidden in Him.

That’ why we aren’t bothered by the heat or drought- for God draws us deep into His love, deep into this place where He knows our needs, and we can rely on His care.

This idea of being planted and/or replanted in a good place is important. To have the power to trust God includes the trust to know we are where we should be at, among the people we are called to be alongside – and that God provides the trust to dwell with Him there. But He is the one who plants us there, He is the one who removes from us the barrenness, the lack of love and mercy, the absolute dry bones, and gives us life!

And that is why Jeremiah can confidently state, “Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

The more we see God at work here, the more comfort He gives us, the more we realize how He is working through each of our lives. We produce life – in the leaves and in the fruit because His life works its way through us.

That’s Jesus take on this, as those He takes root in produce 30,60 and 90 times their own life as it is invested in others.

This is the effect of trusting in Jesus, of knowing we die with Him and are raised with Him, AMEN!