Trust in, Trust is

Rev. Steven D. Spencer, Pastor

Jeremiah 17:5–8

5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

            Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain. “It's not what you don't know that tends to get you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Just over 30 years ago a man was driving down the coastal highway in California. He was driving at nearly twice the speed limit, doing over 100 mph. Each time he came to a curve in the road the wheels would squeal and tires would hit the soft shoulder sending a spray of dirt gravel behind him. Each time he went around a curve he nearly lost control of the car, putting both he and passenger at risk.  It was right after one of these curves that a California Highway Patrol officer was sitting in the turnout. As this man came flying around the curve he continued at over 100 mph right in front of the Highway Patrolman. The officer went into pursuit. It took nearly 2 miles for the officer to catch and pull the over the man. The patrol driver, desiring to defuse any hostility, questioned in a rather jocular fashion, "We're kind of in a hurry aren't we?" But the driver responded in Japanese, "I don't understand any English." The patrolman took the driver and passenger to the nearest Highway Patrol Office. It took two hours to find and get Japanese interpreter. The first question he asked was, do you know how fast you were going? To which the driver responded, "Yes I was doing 101 miles per hour, what's the problem?" You see in Japan the speed limit signs were white. And the signs the man saw on the side of the road were also white. The Highway the man was driving on was --- California HWY 101.

“It's not what you don't know that tends to get you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” I want to take a moment to read our text once again for you Jeremiah 17:5-8.  "Thus says the Lord:  “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."  So far the Word of the Lord!

Over the past year, time and time again, I have appealed to you not to fall into the traps of the flesh, the traps of this world, or the traps that the devil constantly is setting for us. Maybe you've even gotten tired of hearing it. But it's so easy for us to fall into those traps, so I continue to caution you. But why is it so easy for us to fall into these traps?  

I believe it's because we tend to separate ourselves into two distinct people. On one hand we are a person of this world. We live in a physical universe. We might have a whole bunch of rules on how we deal with this earthly realm. Then on the other hand we are a spiritual person. And we might have a whole bunch of rules on how we deal with the spiritual realm. We might have a completely different set of rules for both. If you don't believe this situation exist, consider for a moment something that you may have said at work, somewhere outside these walls, something that you would never say here.  Consider a behavior that you would never tolerate here. Yet out there, in the world, it's everyday. Coarse jesting, rough language, haughty behavior, intolerance, anger, you name it. 

Why am I taking time to point out something you already know?  Because this isn't just our mindset, it was the mindset of the people who heard this Word of God first from the lips of Jeremiah in 600 B.C.  They needed to hear these words, just like you do today. Because  “It's not what you don't know that tends to get you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Here are the facts. You aren't two separate people. You are spiritual but you're living in a fleshly world. C.S. Lewis says it this way: "My head is in heaven, but my feet are still here on earth." So the Lord says:  “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. Quite literally it says: "Cursed is the man who trust in himself and the strength of his own arms, whose turns his heart away from the Lord."

The picture painted by Jeremiah is of a man who is only concerned about self. By his own strength he gathers to himself wealth and abundance. He has power and authority.  Eventually what he considers to be his strength will also take him captive.  In the end our Scripture says, "He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land." I've spent many of my youthful years hiking and riding motorcycles out in the Mohave Desert. The scrubs out there are much like the ones in the Middle East. They are small, prickly and thistle like. They tend to be out on their own. They are neither good for scenery or for food. They might provide a little shade to rattle snakes but nothing else. They spend their life surviving not thriving.

I've met people like that too; perhaps you have also.  You can't get close to these people because they are prickly.  All their focus seems to be inward. It's all about surviving not thriving. Martin Luther said original sin is "incurvatus in se!" To be curved in on self. This is the type of behavior we're talking about, where a person is so caught up in looking inward that they never look outward. There life is like being a scrub in a parched place where no one wants to live. You know the type of person. If they won a million dollars they would complain about the taxes. If someone gave them a new car they would complain about the insurance. They are the type of person that lights up a room by walking out of it. They are the type of person that relies only on their own strengths and ways. And they are vocal about it; their way is the only way.  “It's not what you don't know that tends to get you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”

But the prophet Jeremiah says there is a better way.  "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord."   I want to point out two important things about this verse. First, "Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord."  Quite literally it says, "He receives a blessing who trust in the Lord." Trust here is a verb. It's an action. The verb trust always has an object of its action; in this case it's the Lord.  When that action happens it creates a blessing. What blessing? For starters you won't be like the one who trust in self. Your focus won't be curved in on self but will be outwards. You won't be like that bush in the desert, alone on your own. You will be in a much better place. But more about that in a moment! Secondly, "whose trust is the Lord." The word trust in this part of the verse is a noun. The word sometimes is rendered hope or confidence by other Bible versions but in the Hebrew it is usually translated TRUST. It is more than an object it is a person. You see, it is trust personified!

The blessings for this person, "He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." The person whose trust is the Lord is like a tree. Thriving, alive, bearing fruit and shade for the comfort of others. When things get tough for this person no problem, no stress, no anxiety because they are not focusing inwards, they are looking outward, they're looking upwards, they are looking at the cross at The Trust Personified. They realize this life is just temporary and something better is yet to come.

Jeremiah's prophecy is spiritual but uses earthly language. Therefore earthly people only see the earthly element. St. Augustine says: "Common things for common people, but spiritual things for spiritual people."

The water the tree planted by is the river of life. It points to waters of baptism where you have been rooted into Jesus Christ.  Rooted through baptism, connected to the living God, to trust personified. Colossians 2:12 "having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."