「目を覚まして、主なる神を知りなさい」 十月第一主日礼拝 宣教 2025年10月5日
エレミヤ書 Jeremiah 9章22〜23節(他の訳では23〜24節) 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. I am thankful that we can offer worship together again this morning. October has arrived in 2025. Time flies—only three months remain this year. We have also entered the second half of the 2025 fiscal year. In this season, I pray we may walk carefully, treasuring each day. Above all, I earnestly desire we cherish the Lord’s Day as a time to offer thanksgiving and praise to God and Jesus.
The reason is that we do not know how much longer we will be able to worship together with you all in this church. Have you ever considered such a thing? How many more times will we have the opportunity to worship God in this church? How many more times will we be able to return to church, offer praise and prayer, and share fellowship? It seems ordinary, yet it is not ordinary. Every day, and the Lord’s Day every seven days, is a day of grace. I don’t know how many more of these days of grace remain, but I pray that we will treasure them all the while they are given to us.
Now, this morning we will focus on listening to Jeremiah 9:22 and 23. While our church uses the New Common Translation Bible, which has verses 22 and 23, other translations—such as the New Revised Version or the Colloquial Translation Bible—have verses 23 and 24. Please be mindful to avoid confusion.
Now, as we listen to God’s message from Jeremiah chapter 9, we should note that verses 4 through 25 of chapter 10 form a single unit, with the theme being “the betrayal of the people of Israel and God’s judgment upon them.” Even as the Lord God repeatedly cries out through the prophet Jeremiah, “Return to me,” the stubborn people persist in rejecting His words. They continue to ignore God’s heart. Even when their problems are sharply pointed out, far from repenting, they become defiant and refuse to return to God.
On the contrary, there were also those who worshiped not God, but the idols indigenous to that land. Moreover, many people clung excessively to God’s temple, the law, and circumcision instead of God Himself, making these things the foundation of their faith—in other words, they were caught up in a religious misunderstanding. God continually urged them to be freed from such misconceptions, misunderstandings, and falsehoods and return to Him, but the stubborn people refused to turn back to God. One can imagine God felt a deep sense of frustration.
God’s frustration with His people is recorded in chapter 8, verses 4 and following, so I would like to read it. God says this to the prophet Jeremiah. Verses 4 through 7: “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Can someone fall down and not get up? Can someone turn away and not return? Why then has this people, Jerusalem, turned away? They persist in their falsehood and refuse to return. They listen but do not hear; they refuse to speak honestly. None repents of their wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each charges ahead like a horse charging into battle. Even the stork in flight knows its seasons, and the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the Lord’s decrees.”
Verses 8 and 9 also contain the Lord’s intriguing words: “How can you say, ‘We are wise men, possessing the Lord’s law’? Behold, the scribe writes with a deceitful pen, making it false. The wise man is put to shame, struck down, and captured. Behold, what wisdom do they possess, despising the word of the Lord?“ The phrase ”the scribe writes with a deceitful pen, making it false” signifies that those who served God interpreted His word to suit their own convenience, doing things far removed from God’s will.
An example of this is found in verses 10 through 12: “Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will take them. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. They have committed abominable acts and brought shame upon themselves. Yet they feel no shame and do not realize they are being mocked. Therefore, when people fall, they too will fall; when they are punished, they will stumble,” declares the Lord.
Chapter 9 continues with the Lord’s lament. All the people are called “adulterers and a treacherous band” in verse 1, “They go from evil to evil and refuse to know me” in verse 2, and “They multiply deceit upon deceit and refuse to know me” in verse 5. Verses 7-8 declare: “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; their mouth speaks deceit. Though they promise peace to their neighbors, their hearts plot to ensnare them. Can I not punish these things?“ declares the Lord. ”I will surely repay them for their evil.” In verse 11, God asks, “Why has this land been destroyed?” and answers Himself in verse 12: “Because they have rejected the instruction I gave them, have not listened to my voice, and have not followed it.”
I don’t have time to read the entire chapter 10, but it contains Jeremiah’s words pointing out the errors of the people who run after idolatry. Jeremiah’s words are God’s words. I will read verses 3 through 5. “The things that the nations fear are worthless. They are pieces of wood cut from the forest, the work of a craftsman with a chisel. They are adorned with silver and gold, fastened with nails so they cannot move. They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak or walk, so they must be carried. Do not fear them, for they can neither bring disaster nor bring good fortune.” In verse 10, Jeremiah describes God as “the God of truth, the God of life, the King who rules forever. The earth trembles at his anger; the nations cannot endure his wrath.” He continues to urge us to fear this God.
If we are making anything other than God our god, or if we have already recognized this mistake, we must fear the God who holds the authority to destroy us, repent, and return to Him. If we do not immediately return to God without delaying this matter, we will continue to slide down the path of destruction. Most of us understand this intellectually, at least vaguely. We sense deep down that this state of affairs is unsustainable. Though we manage to scrape by on our own strength for now, we live with a lingering anxiety and fear that if we keep charging ahead like this, we might eventually fall apart completely.
However, what then is the cause preventing us from returning to God? God says that what hinders us from repenting and returning to Him is pride. Jeremiah 9:22 declares, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches.’” God tells us that the foundation, the basis, the thing we rely on when we boast is our own wisdom, strength, and wealth. We take pride in the wisdom, strength, and wealth we gain through our own study, effort, and perseverance, finding joy, satisfaction, and a sense of superiority in them. Yet, in the world, there are many people who live in inequality and poverty—people who want to study but cannot, who want to strive but cannot.
The Israelites, who had lived in the abundance God had given them, became arrogant. They began to think that their wisdom, strength, and wealth were achieved by their own power, and their hearts drifted away from God. They mistakenly believed that as long as they were in the temple, as long as they kept the law, and as long as they made their offerings, they and their families would be fine. We may be the same. Yet everything we possess—our very lives, our bodies, our health, our time, and all we hold—is entirely what God has given us.
In verse 23, the Lord declares: “Let the one who boasts boast in this: that they have the wisdom to understand me. I am the Lord; I practice kindness, justice, and mercy on the earth.” What the people of Israel must awaken to understand is the grace of being in a covenant relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is to live in response to that grace—rejoicing in being a people who listen to God’s voice and keep His promises—not to turn their backs and live otherwise.
If there is anything we who live today can take pride in, it is the truth that we are kept alive today in God’s love and mercy. That we live in the salvation of peace and hope is solely because of the cross of Jesus Christ. To rejoice in this, give thanks, and walk daily in response to the Lord’s love and grace is what God desires for us.
The Lord declares to His people who persist in disobedience: “I am the Lord. I will show mercy, justice, and acts of grace upon this land. This is what I delight in.” God is our Lord, and Jesus is our Savior. He is the one and only God who performs acts of mercy, justice, and grace upon this earth. To rescue us from the path leading to destruction, God sent Jesus to this earth. Jesus shed His redeeming blood on the cross and gave up His life, so we have been given eternal new life from God. God says He “delights” in this.
Then, what actions should we choose and desire as our “joy,” we who are kept alive in God’s mercy and justice, and in the grace of Jesus? First, it is to love God. Second, it is to love our neighbor. Third, it is to love and support one another. And it is to share Jesus with those who do not know God’s love, so they may come to know that Jesus is the Savior. Though we face the temptation to live only for ourselves, as believers who follow Jesus, let us pray daily for God’s encouragement. May we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and live as He lived. The Lord is always with us, bestowing His grace upon us.