Sermon for 11/27/22: First Sunday in Advent

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Misplaced Trust
Jeremiah 23:5-8

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

The Kingdom of Judah, through its heritage as an offshoot of Israel, began as a “theocracy.” Though both Israel and Judah had kings, the church was still the state, in a sense, and the state was the Church. Political leaders also served a spiritual purpose; they were to protect the nation from which Messiah would come. But they had not faithfully done what God had given them to do. These leaders were unfaithful stewards. Many of them had actively advocated the worship of pagan gods. And instead of trusting the Lord, they put their trust in alliances with neighboring nations, to protect them from their enemies. In the end, it was a first commandment issue; who did they really trust? And if that was not bad enough, the nation as a whole had done the same thing. Yes, there was a faithful remnant. There always is; that’s the promise of God. But warning after warning had fallen on increasingly deaf ears. God had told them what the consequences of their lack of trust in Him would be. And that was why Jeremiah saw what was left of a nation, groveling in the dust. Never again would Israel, as a nation, rise to the heights they had once known. David had put the lesson they needed to learn very simply in one of his Psalms: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Is there something here for us in the experience of Judah and Jeremiah? Do we have issues with misplaced trust? There has always been in American history a kind of Messianic hope: the idea that America serves some godly purpose beyond other nations of the world. It’s almost a modern day continuation of the theocracy of Old Testament Israel. This probably stems from the Puritan and Reformed theology of many of the nation’s first citizens, who came to a new land with the belief that it was God’s will that they establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Never mind the fact that Jesus and the New Testament both assert that there is no such earth-bound kingdom. As Jesus told Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

Have we inherited a misplaced trust in the political and social structures that surround us? Are we waiting for the next big political election to solve our problems? Are we placing our hope in the next decision handed down from the Supreme Court? Is that where we put our trust? And if we know better than to put our trust in these mortal authorities, does that mean that we should just ignore what is going on around us? Of course it doesn’t. We are still our brother’s keeper. We Christians are living in two worlds at once, balancing precariously. Though this world is passing away, it is still our responsibility to do what we can, under God’s Word, to bring a godly influence to the workings of this world.

Instead of mortal princes, we must seek out and put our trust that One who came riding into Jerusalem, the One proclaimed as King, the One whom Jeremiah in our text calls “The Lord our righteousness.” He was King of the Jews, to be sure, but He did not enter His city to establish an earthly kingdom. Jesus was, and is, King of the Jews, but only in the way of the Gospel. As St. Paul tells us in His Epistle to the Romans, true Israel consists of all those, both Jews and Gentiles, who follow and belong to Christ by faith in His work of salvation. Jesus is King of an Israel of faith, not of place or space.

And this, then, is how we must see this One whom Jeremiah presents to us. When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, it was the fulfillment of all the promises that had been made to David and his kingly descendants. Since all of Judah’s kings had failed, the Lord Himself would step in, not merely as king, but, above all, as Savior. This branch of David, of whom Jeremiah prophesied, would be righteous in every way. He Himself would be righteousness, and so He would rule righteously. He would supply the righteousness before God which we all lack. Here the whole Gospel, the whole message of Scripture, is summed up in a few glorious words: “The Lord our righteousness.” But for that to be true, the Lord Himself must have become one of us, having taken all that we are upon Himself.

These words point us to Advent’s great focus: the miracle of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh. They point to this most comforting truth: through His perfect obedience, suffering, and death, the Messiah has won for us reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sins. What He is and what He has done—all of that is for us. He has given us righteousness which we could never have gained for ourselves. Here is the door that opens heaven and keeps it open: “the Lord our righteousness.” What He did, He did for us. He has made us His own. This is our sure and certain hope.

Have you misplaced your trust? Is it in men or nations, in political systems or social structures? Are you seeking a Messiah from among men to redeem you from the evil of this world? Wait no longer. He has come, and He is here. Place your trust where it must be placed: in Jesus Christ, “the Lord our righteousness,” who loved you and gave Himself for you. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.