Bible Passage: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Pastor: Michael Willitz
Sermon Date: February 13, 2022

Bulletin February 13, 2022

Jeremiah 17:5-8

⁵This is what the Lord says.

Cursed is anyone who trusts in mankind,

who seeks his strength from human flesh,

and who turns his heart away from the Lord.

⁶He will be like a juniper bush in the wasteland.

He will not see good things when they come.

He lives in a dry place in the wilderness,

in a salty land where no one lives.

⁷But blessed is anyone who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

⁸He will be like a tree planted by water.

It sends out its roots to the stream.

It does not fear the heat when it comes.

Its leaves will remain green.

It is not concerned about a time of drought.

It does not stop producing fruit.

Trust in the LORD, who Gives Living Water.

Dear fellow redeemed in Jesus Christ our Lord,

In the text today, the LORD would have us consider two very different plants. One is a shriveled and emaciated shrub. It endures a wretched existence, and it does no good for anyone. It lives in the middle of the desert with no irrigation. You can’t grow a garden out there. You can’t grow an orchard or flowers out there. If you do have the unhappy lot of being out there in the desert, you will find this miserable and desolate shrub wasting away all by himself.

Then there is another plant, a lush plant, a fruitful plant. It is a lively and sturdy tree, and it grows beside a flowing stream. With his roots this tree reaches out into the stream, pulling up plenty of water continuously to his trunk and branches. As a result, this tree flourishes even on the driest of days. Even in a time of drought, you will find a pleasant place under the shade of his leafy branches with plenty of refreshing fruit to eat.

Of course, these plants are not simply plants; they are people. The desolate shrub in the desert is the cursed man, the man who trusts in human strength. Meanwhile, the flourishing tree by the river is the blessed man, the man who trusts in the LORD. When we are presented as we are today with these two contrasting alternatives, there really is no question as to which one is superior. Faith in the LORD beats faith in man, clearly, obviously, and eternally, and the comparison of the two is not even close. It is profoundly better to be that tree drinking deeply from the stream than to be the shrub withering away in a salty wasteland all alone.

So, knowing all of this, why is faith in man so prevalent? Why do people place their confidence in human knowledge, in human strength, in human wealth, and in human ingenuity? Why do people assume that some man is going to help them and save them, whether it be a man who lives in a White House or a man who wants to live there, whether it be a face on the screen or a voice in the earbuds, whether it be the person you look up to or the person you are intent on becoming? Why do people place their trust in mankind and not look to God to help them in every need?

Surveying the Scriptures, we can find a few reasons why people place their trust in man rather than trusting in the LORD. One reason is that people place far too much stock in the things that they can see. Think about Jesus’ lesson about the rich man and poor Lazarus. The rich man occupied himself with earthly riches and earthly goods, with things that he could see and touch and taste. He didn’t concern himself with God or the unseen judgment to come. Day after day, he neglected his neighbor and nothing bad seemed to come of it until the day when his life ended, and he found himself in hell. The good things of this life do not last. That’s why Jesus assess these good things the way he does in today’s Gospel text, when He says, “Woe to you who are rich, . . . Woe to you who are well fed now, . . . Woe to you who laugh now, . . . Woe to you when all people speak well of you. . . ,” [24-26]. The treasures that we can see, and the pleasures we can enjoy are all nice now, but they are not going to last. Like a deceptive mirage in the desert, these earthly things are fading away. If we think that we can draw lasting blessing from them, we will end up disappointed.

Another reason people trust in man and turn their hearts away from the LORD is the desire for control. Think of Saul, the first king of Israel. As the time for battle was drawing near, and the prophet Samuel hadn’t arrived yet to offer sacrifices to the LORD, Saul took it upon himself to offer the sacrifices. He disobeyed the LORD and did things the way he thought they needed to be done. He followed the exact same pattern later when the LORD told him to completely destroy the Amalekites. Instead of obeying the Word of the LORD, Saul left the king of the Amalekites and all their best animals alive. As a result, the LORD rejected Saul and removed the Holy Spirit from him. Saul wanted control, he wanted to do things in the way that he determined was best, and his life ended in great ruin and despair, like the desolate shrub in the desert.

We could surely think of other reasons why people place their trust in man, but if we dig down far enough, we will find one ultimate reason beneath them all. The reason people trust in man and not in the LORD is because by nature, sinful man does not believe that God has his best interest in mind. By nature, sinful man does not believe that God’s ways will be best. Wasn’t that at the heart of Eve’s disobedience? The serpent lied to her and told her that the forbidden fruit would make her like God. So, thinking that God must have been holding out on her, Eve took a piece of fruit, and she ate it and she fed some to Adam. Now, it is in our sinful nature to doubt the goodness of God and to doubt whether He really has our best interest in mind.

But there is no proposition that could be more wrong. God does have your best interest in mind. God does intend on your ultimate good. He wants you to live and to flourish eternally, like the tree with green leaves and abundant fruit. That is why the LORD is so insistent that you trust in Him alone. He alone can sustain you. He alone can save you. He alone can redeem you from sin and from death and from eternal desolation and destruction in hell. And He loves you so much that He has done so. He has redeemed you, and He has paid the highest of costs to do it. The eternal Son of God came to our world. He took on flesh, He took on blood, and then He offered it on a cross. He died for your sins and then rose from the dead so that you might be His and so that He might be yours, and so that you might receive from Him eternal blessings and life that will never end.

The LORD demands that we trust in Him, and He puts Himself out there. He offers Himself as the Savior that no one else could be. So how do we trust him? How do we gain the faith to believe Him? How do we become people who rely on the LORD rather than people who rely on man? Well, remember the two plants, the withering shrub and the flourishing tree. The difference between those plants is the stream. The shrub leads an empty life with nothing to sustain it, but the tree is constantly enlivened and invigorated by the life-giving water of the stream.

Dear friends, the LORD has placed you on the bank of a life-giving stream. He has given you His Word, a flowing stream of living water. So let’s immerse our roots in this water. Let’s drink deeply from this life-giving stream. Listen and soak in the faith-building promises that your Savior speaks to you in His Word:

He says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” [Mark 16:16].

He says, “This is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the Last Day,” [John 6:40].

He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” [Matthew 11:28].

He says, “Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you cross through the waters, I will be with you. When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned, and the flame will not set you on fire,” [Isaiah 43:1-2].

In the Word we find our Savior’s stream of living water, with promises that give us life and sustain us through every earthly trouble. And yes, we will certainly face many troubles in this life. Our text doesn’t say that the tree completely avoids times of drought and heat. It simply says that the tree does not fear the heat, and the tree is not concerned about a time of drought.

Just because the Apostle Paul is a Christian doesn’t mean that the LORD immediately takes away the thorn in Paul’s flesh. But Paul doesn’t need to fear that thorn, because God has promised, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness,” [2 Corinthians 12:9]. Just because the disciples are following Jesus doesn’t mean that their earthly lives overflow with riches and with laughter and with fame. But they don’t need to be concerned about their sufferings here and now, because Jesus has promised them, “Your reward is great in heaven!” [Luke 6:23].

Let the world put its trust in men, and let the world boast about its riches. We have the God who forgives sins and who raises the dead. We have the promise of His salvation and of an eternity of joy with Him. We have the stream of living water so that we may trust Him and produce fruit that is good and pleasing in His sight. We have Jesus, the only Savior, and with Him, we are eternally blessed.

Amen.

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