Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
When I was young, I saw a movie with Paul Neuman. Cool Hand Luke. It was a good movie, if not a bit controversial. Luke is shown working on a road chain gang breaking rocks under the hot sun. The trope is similar in many movies. The convict is given a hammer and told to break rocks. The task is daunting. Strike after strike the stone is pummeled, with no visible result. Suddenly after fifteen or so the rock shatters. But it wasn’t the last one that did the trick. Every strike weakened the structure of the stone until it bursts into pieces. Jeremiah says that’s how God’s Word works. It isn’t always a sudden strike of lighting that converts a person, but the effect over time. But it does work. That’s God’s promise.
In Jeremiah’s time, around the 6th and 7th Century BC, false prophets were proclaiming that everything would be just fine. Even though Israel was continually threatened by Babylon. From verse 17:
They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you.’ (Jeremiah 23:17, ESV)The prophets proclaimed security, prosperity, and God’s blessing. Even for those who had rejected God.
But, through Jeremiah, God made it clear. The dreams and visions were false. They contradicted God’s clear true word of his prophet. They were counterfeit when they said, “you will have peace.” Jeremiah told them it was different, and he suffered for his proclamation.
We see it today in the church. False prophets preach that you can see God’s blessing by external standards. If you are blessed with money or fame, if you feel good with your life and success you are obviously pleasing God. It bleeds in from the culture. Impressive work, visible goodness all equals God’s favor.
In fact, you can’t impress God with good works. Despite what our modern false prophets say. Good works are a result of faith; faith doesn’t grow because you do them. You can’t tell how God feels about you by physical blessings. God uses them for the benefit of all people. The only way to please God it through faith in Jesus Christ.
And without faith it is impossible to please [God] (Hebrews 11:6a, ESV)It is the sin of pride that tells us we can work our way into God’s good graces.
The Law is a hammer, Jeremiah says. It breaks apart the “rock” of pride in us. It destroys self-righteousness. It destroys the delusion of our false self-religion. We don’t like it. It destroys our delusions that good works do anything for our relationship to God.
There are two men. One man, an unbeliever, builds a hospital wing for children with cancer out of real compassion. Another man, a Christian, builds one to impress his wife. The world crowns the unbeliever the better man. But God looks for faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. With faith, even flawed works are covered in Christ’s righteousness. God sees it differently. In the final judgement the one without faith only receives God’s anger. “You have rejected my Son, get away from me.” And to the believer, “Your motives where sinful, but you are covered by the robe of righteousness won for you by my son. Enter the joy of your master. Well done, good and faithful servant.” Or simply from God’s own word,
And without faith it is impossible to please [God] (Hebrews 11:6a, ESV)And in faith, it is impossible not to please God.
The two men above reminds us that what seems good to the world isn’t worth anything in pleasing God. It is only faith. As Swedish Lutheran bishop and author Bo Gierts put it, the human heart is a rusty tin can on a junk heap, we are rescued only by God’s mercy.
This reminds me of the words of Bo Giertz, a Swedish Lutheran bishop and pastor. In his novel The Hammer of God, he paints a picture of what our hearts really are… In the booka young pastor says, “I have given Jesus my heart.” The older pastor responds,
Do you consider that something to give Him? The heart is a rusty old can on a junk heap… But a wonderful Lord passes by, has mercy, sticks His cane through it, and takes it home with Him. That is how it is.The hammer of God’s law crushes that illusion, that we have anything of worth to offer God. The reality is quite different. We are a rusty tin can, we are rescued completely by grace.
The Hammer of God hurts, and we don’t like it. It smashes our idols, our moral comparisons, and our “good works” that we try to use as a bargaining chip with God. It exposes the truth about sin. It is much worse than we think. It is totally corrupting. Charles Spurgen, the noted preacher put it this way.
If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are far worse than he thinks you to be. Charles Spurgen.Enter Jesus. He picks up the rusty tin can with his can and takes it home. It is a recuse from a hopeless situation. He forgives through his life, death on the cross, and his resurrection. You can do nothing to save yourself, any more than the tin can can remove itself from the junk heap. Forgiveness is the key. It is why he came. It is why he taught. It is why he allowed himself to be crucified. He takes our sin, all of it, and that punishment we deserve for our sin, on himself. His death is the only way it could be done. Any other way denies the total corruption of sin. Any other way denies our hopelessness, without Jesus.
The hammer of God, his law, hurts, but don’t be afraid of it. Cherish it. When his law confronts your sin, it is God’s mercy at work. It shows us our sin. It is necessary to see how helpless we are so that we depend more on the work of Jesus. That’s what faith is, depending totally on Jesus for our salvation. In faith, then, we can live in thankful freedom. Knowing that our sin won’t keep us from God. Good works follow faith. They serve our neighbors in need. And God is pleased when they do just that. The law keeps us from holding up our sin filled works as a way to please him.
God’s Word is a hammer, a necessary one. Our hearts are stone that must be broken. There is nothing good in them, and we need that delusion shattered. But once the stone is broken, Christ steps in with His cross. He lifts the rusty tin can of our lives from the garbage heap, not because of what we bring, but because of His mercy. On the cross He bore every sin—yours, mine, the whole world’s—and in His resurrection He secured the victory no one can take away. Faith in Jesus isn’t about what you do for Him; it is about what He has already done for you. On the cross it is finished, and in Him your salvation is certain. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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