Ask yourself the question
Jeremiah 9:23-25
The first Sunday of the New Year. What do you expect your pastor to preach on? I was struck by the title of a book recently - not the content, mind you… I haven’t read the book - just the title: uncomfortable. Is it possible we can become too comfortable in our faith? Now, I don’t mean that the only way you can relate to God is through difficulties and that all comfort is a sign of back-sliding. Please don’t go there. But it is entirely possible to develop a blasé, “que sera sera”, way too comfortable attitude towards faith and our relationship with the Lord.
Just like any relationship, there are certain things that ought to be comfortable… certain points of theology ought to be rock-solid and never doubted, but it is a universal truth that we are not holy yet… a lot of change needs to take place when we hold ourselves up to the light of Christ Himself. We must fight the tendency to get comfortable with sin and take God’s immeasurable grace for granted.
To examine this, I want to turn to Jeremiah this morning. This is the last of God’s prophets sent to the southern Kingdom to warn that calamity is coming. Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet and he wrote the Ecclesiastes. “This prophecy contains several descriptions delivered to the people of the Jews; charging them with the many sins of which they were guilty,; exhorting them to repentance; threatening them with the destruction of their city and temple with captivity in Babylon; and comforting the saints not only with the promise of deliverance for them but of spiritual redemption by the Messiah.” (Boyd’s Bible handbook, 287) The purpose of the book is to teach us how sin, unconfessed and unjudged, will bring full judgment from God in order that His people may be restored.
So… which question ought we ask ourselves? Well, chapter 9:23-25 will be our text and I want to start with verse 25… Jeremiah describes God addressing His own people and he says the following: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh. Literally: circumcised they are still uncircumcised. These are people that have done some religious stuff, but it isn’t reaching the heart. They’ve become comfortable with sin… comfortable to continue living as they are - even if it is an affront to God. Verse 26 even declares: “all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
The question, then, is: “Do you appear to have more faith than you really do?” Jesus calls this hypocrisy and His harshest words are reserved for the hypocrites. Do not pretend to be something we are not… do not get comfortable with where you are in your spiritual development… grow, deepen, and purify your faith. How?

When I was in Germany last, my brother’s family and our’s decided to head to the top of a mountain. Die Herzogstand. It was a beautifully high mountain and we were thankful for the cable car that took us most of the way up. There was a hike of about a kilometers to another peak. My brother and I happened upon a spot, where a path diverged from the well-trodden path. A sign was posted there that read: The more difficult path. Mark and I decided we would take that. We arrived just a little bit before the rest of the family, sweaty, dirty, and exhausted, but we had seen more of the mountains majesty and had a better appreciation for its height, than the rest.
That’s what we’re talking about.

Knowledge of myself
Jeremiah starts with the problem… boasting in your own accomplishments. He references three areas: wisdom, might, and riches. It is worth examining yourself in light of these words…
wisdom - the arena of the mind: that which we conjure up. Sometimes we’re too smart for our own good… we solve our problems without ever consulting God. We don’t ask for His guidance and will in this situation. We think we can figure it out and
Strength - the physical prowess to fix the problem. I can do it… I’m strong enough. I have the willpower to defeat this sin… I don’t need to do it God’s way. I’ve got this.
Riches - there ain’t no problem my money can’t solve. And my faith wavers most when my bank account is small.

Knowledge of God
God brings it into perspective… don’t boast in what you have… boast in your understanding of God and knowing Him. That is our only claim to fame… isn’t that what Paul teaches us? We can’t only boast in Christ… and then we realize we didn’t expend an iota of energy to receive what He freely gives.
What ought we to know about God? I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. (24) God is working good plans on planet earth and in my life. This is something that we should understand - even when all seems to be falling apart… my faith stands on this piece of knowledge: God is good and He is doing a good thing in my life. All the time.
And then what does God love? What does He delight in? What does God love? That which He is working in the world… and which ought to be our focus also.
“Healthy faith doesn’t just celebrate you as you are, but relentlessly molds and refines you into the likeness of Christ.” (Brett McCracken)

Five questions:
Am I spending enough time in God’s Word? Psalm 1
Do I spend enough time praying for others? Matthew 6:9-13
Do I invest enough time in the ministries of the Church? 1 Corinthians 9
Am I involved in the lives of others? Hebrews 6:10
Do I show God’s grace in my life to the unsaved? Colossians 4:5-6