February 13, 2022 Text: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Dear Friends in Christ,
If you are married think of the spouse sitting next to you. What attracted you to them? Certainly what we had in common but also what is different about us. In marriage our differences complement one another. Toni is a morning person. I’m a night person. This opposite attraction worked well when the boys were young. On our recent trip our opposites were in full bloom. I’ve studied the atlas since I was old enough to read. That doesn’t interest my wife. We’ve learned we are at our best when she drives and I navigate. Opposites attract.
If you are not married think of your friends. The same hypothesis is at work. A lot in common but there are things they do differently that you admire or appreciate. Opposites attract.
In our text for this morning opposites attract. Our relationship with God is severed by our sin. We are cursed. But we are blessed because of what the Lord has done for us. Let’s take a look.
“OPPOSITES ATTRACT”
We have before us in the prophet Jeremiah the opposites in which we might trust. He is often called the prophet of doom. And yes he is clearly proclaiming God’s judgment against misplaced trust in our text.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” (v. 5) We have seen a world trust in the knowledge of man these last two years and it is starting to look like men and women have had enough. People are marching in the streets and going to the courts. What has brought this about? Quite clearly it is because people in high places are telling us what to do and yet they do the opposite. They are not walking the walk or living their mandates. We have all been led down the rat hole long enough and the trust is lost.
But more than this is how so much of this has had people turn away from their faith or cocoon themselves away. Believe me I have tried and you cannot insulate yourself from the world. Man is depraved. Man is idolatrous. The more control we seek the more it slips through our fingers. We trust in ourselves and this is just as bad because then we are only concerned about me, moi, mine. That doesn’t work in marriage, that doesn’t work in friendships and it doesn’t work spiritually either. Verse 6 shows that it just brings loneliness and blindness and doom.
Our text invites us to direct our trust to the one who is truly in control and who graciously chose us – the Lord. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” (v. 7)
The object of proper trust is the Lord, who became opposites. Opposites attracted in the Lord. The Word became flesh. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14) God became man. “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Col. 2:9) The Lord became seeable and knowable in Christ.
The Lord is the opposite of our sinful nature. In Adam we are defined by sin and death. Our nature in Christ is defined by His righteousness and life. The Lord became opposite for our sake. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
Opposites attract in us. We are at the same time saint and sinner. Kind to a stranger, raising our voice to a family member. Praying to our Lord for rescue and then forgetting to thank Him. We must daily make confession and then trust in the Lord’s opposite word: absolution. Having been forgiven we can then be more consistent in our trust. Trust in man will always fall short. It will always disappoint. Think of the people you love the most. Haven’t they at some point fallen short when you have trusted them to say something, do something, and act a certain way? Sure we have. It leaves us like a parched shrub in the desert.
When has trusting in the Lord let you down? I know you have what you think are examples swirling in your head. Can’t you look back and see that this trust was rewarded. This trust was warranted. This trust brought salvation. This trust watered the roots of your soul and took your anxiousness away. As you exhibit this trust then you bear fruit for the Lord’s Kingdom. “He never gets rattled.” “She always seems at peace.” “How do they always handle things so well.” This is what trust in a never disappointing Savior looks like.
Recognize how all the opposites attracted in Christ to overcome our own opposition to God. In so doing, we can now head in the opposite direction of our natural inclinations and trust in the Lord and abide in His blessings.
Amen.