June 8, 2007
SOMETHING WORTH SHOUTING ABOUT
Jeremiah 9:23-24
I want to ask you a couple questions. As you look back over your life up to now, what personal achievement or personal ability or accomplishment has given you more satisfaction than anything else? What have you done, or what have you become that leads you to say: “I feel really good about this area of my life, or this accomplishment?” Take a little time to ponder that question.
Now look ahead. In the years of life that stretch ahead of you, what would you like to achieve more than anything else? What motivates you? What gets you up in the morning? What really gets your adrenaline pumping?
All of us take pride in and would like to achieve certain things. This is good and right. I believe that it is the way God made us. But this morning, I want us all to evaluate: Are we taking pride in the right things? Are we pursuing the truly important things in life?
As we consider this question, let’s turn together to Jeremiah 9:23-24.
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am Yawheh, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares Yahweh.
The prophet Jeremiah preached to the people of Judah during some of the darkest days of their troubled history. And in his ministry among them, Jeremiah found them to be a proud people. They were a nation of boasters. But when Jeremiah confronted them, he did not condemn them for boasting. Rather, he rebuked them for boasting about the wrong things.
The word “boast” comes from a root word meaning to shout, to break out in a loud cry. Have you ever been to a sporting event, and heard the roar when the home team scores a goal, and makes a great play? What is it about your life that is worth shouting about?
Jeremiah, in these verses, identifies three things that the people of Judah tended to boast about. As we look at them, we will find that mankind has not changed that much over the years.
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom.
The Hebrew word for wisdom covers a wide spectrum of meanings. It first of all includes, as we would expect, all areas of intellectual and academic achievement; to be intelligent, to have a high IQ. The world values that. Education and academic degrees are honored in this world. We are especially conscious of that at this time of year with many schools celebrating the end of the school year and graduations. Academic awards are given out, degrees or diplomas are awarded. We place a high value on being smart, and we celebrate this kind of academic achievement.
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for wisdom also includes areas of practical skill and ability as well. The craftsmen that built the tabernacle in the OT were described as being wise because of their skill and ability with their hands, at building and fixing things, and being able to figure out how to do practical things.
So, this word covers the theoretical wisdom of the philosophy professor, as well as the practical wisdom and know-how of the engineer, as well as the artisan’s skill required by the trades. Is that where you take your satisfaction, your sense of achievement? Is that the area of your life that is worth boasting about?
“No,” Jeremiah says, “That’s not worth boasting about. There is nothing wrong with it. It’s a worthwhile attribute to be sure. But it’s not the most important attribute in life.”
Let not the strong man boast of his strength.
This word refers to physical strength and prowess and skill. In Jeremiah’s day, these would have been exhibited primarily in such endeavors as war or hunting; what were sometimes called the “manly arts.” To achieve in such endeavors was to wear the status of a hero among the people. There are numerous passages of Scripture describing the exploits of King David’s “mighty men”, using this word.
Today, we still honor the courageous warrior, but as war has become increasingly technological, it no longer has the same sense of physical prowess or strength, relying more on the size and sophistication of the weapon. To replace that sense of pride in physical achievement, we have elevated the world of sport to unheard of importance, with whole nations hanging on the exploits of a few athletes. And the status of the successful athletes is almost beyond imagining.
And of course there are countless weekend warriors who live for the weekend game, whether of golf or tennis, or squash. And they take satisfaction in success and defeating a worthy opponent. I remember as a boy I was captivated by sport, and spent lots of time day-dreaming of heroic exploits on the basketball court or rugby field. Unfortunately my exploits remained the stuff of daydreams rather than reality. But the might of the mighty man still grips our imagination and becomes the stuff of legend.
But is strength and physical prowess and skill worth boasting about? There is nothing wrong with it. But Jeremiah states: “No. Let not the strong man boast in his strength. It’s not the really important thing in life.”
Let not the rich man boast of his riches.
It is amazing how contemporary these words are! How common it is for people to take their value from their income and their possessions. How our world values money! Magazines publish lists of the world’s richest men. We live in one of the richest countries in the world. And those riches are the magnet that draws people here from all over the world.
But do riches really ascribe worth and value? Are they really worth boasting about?
“No,” says Jeremiah, “Let not the rich man boast about his riches. That is not where true value lies.”
So, as you answered my opening question: What achievement in your life has given you your greatest satisfaction, did your answer lie in any of these areas? If so, Jeremiah says, you have a skewed value system. How about when I asked you: What would you like to achieve in the years remaining to you? Did your answer lie in one of these areas? If so, Jeremiah says, you have a faulty compass for life. These are not the things that are truly worth boasting about.
So if these things are not worth boasting about, what is?
But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me.
KNOWING GOD IS SOMETHING WORTH BOASTING ABOUT.
To understand means to gain insight as a result of study, examination and careful observation.
To know refers to experiential knowledge, the knowledge of relationship.
From this we learn two things. First, knowledge and understanding of God does not just happen. It is not something we are born with. It is something we acquire by pursuing it. By making God and his character a matter of careful study and attention and observation. It is something we must be deliberate about. What place does gaining insight into God have in your goals and aspirations in life?
Second, we learn that it is not knowledge of facts about God that matter. It is personal knowledge. It is a knowledge that comes from loving him and talking to him and spending time with him and processing all of life with him. It is an experiential knowledge of God that grows and develops as we experience life in his presence, and trust him with each problem and dilemma and praise him for each victory and success. It comes from having a life partnership with God.
To know God in this personal and intimate way and to have that kind of personal insight into him; that is the one thing in life that really matters. That is the one thing that is truly worth shouting about.
And as we grow in our insight and knowledge of God, what will we find out about him?
I am Yawheh who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.
We will grow in our insight into his character. That he is Yahweh and he acts in certain ways consistent with his character.
First and foremost in his character is kindness. This is the word my Hebrew professor liked to translate as “loyal love”. It is the word closest to the New Testament word agape or covenant love. As we grow in our insight into God’s character we will find him to be a God of grace and love and kindness.
But our insight into God’s character will not stop there. We will also find him to be a God of justice and righteousness, and a God who is concerned that justice and righteousness be done on the earth. These are qualities in which God takes great delight. Now if we know God and we know that God takes delight in these qualities of kindness and justice and righteousness, how will that affect our priorities and our value system as we operate in our own sphere of influence? Will we not also have the desire to be a partner with God to demonstrate kindness and justice and righteousness, and to value these qualities over wisdom and strength and riches? And if we did that, how would our lives be different? How would our priorities be different?
In Jeremiah 2:13, the Lord makes a sad accusation against his people. He says:
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
In forsaking the spring of living water, some of the cisterns they have tried to dig for themselves are the sins of putting their confidence, their boasting in their wisdom, their strength and their riches. But these are broken cisterns! They can’t hold water. They will not truly satisfy the deep longings of our hearts.
Now Jeremiah is calling them back. Here is the spring of living water: to know God in a relational way. To have deep and intimate insight into his character. To know what delights him, and to pursue those same values and attributes which are characteristic of him and which he longs to see reproduced in the lives and actions of his people.
So, as you measure your life and world view and value system by the standard of Jeremiah 9:23-24, what do you find? Have you been taking pride in the wrong achievements, the wrong attributes? Are you pursuing the wrong goals, setting your life direction by the wrong compass? Do you need to repent, to turn around, to make the knowledge of God once again the primary pursuit of your life?
As we pursue the knowledge of God, let me point out a very good place to begin. It is found in Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we gaze at the cross of Christ, and make him the boast of our life, what will we discover about God? Is it not the same 3 attributes which Jeremiah mentioned: His love, his justice and his righteousness, all blended together in the great act of redemption on the cross of Calvary? This, above all else, is the one thing worth shouting about!