Beatitudes of Jeremiah
This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, Feb. 17 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The scripture text was Jeremiah 17:5-10 . Life is full of good and trouble, blessings and woes. It’s just the way things are. We rejoice in the bouquet of beautiful flowers sent to make us feel better when we’re sick but oh when that doctor’s bill comes. We enjoy a delicious hamburger cooked to perfection but then it comes with stale French fries. And there are many other, more serious dichotomies that we face daily. Today’s reading from Jeremiah compares two ways of living life: the way that is cursed (vv. 5-6) and the way that is blessed (vv. 7-8) and then Jeremiah wraps it all up with a reflection on the human heart (vv. 9-10). The main theme throughout is trust—what do you trust in, how do you know what to trust in and what in the end proves to be reliable? The curses and the blessings set up contrasts to develop the theme of trust, each section beginning with a direct state...