“BE BOASTFUL!” Jer. 9:23-24
INTRO – 2 young boys got into a bragging match about their fathers. “My daddy is stronger than your daddy.” “Well, my daddy can run faster than your daddy.” “Well, my daddy can beat your daddy up.” “So what, my mama can beat my daddy up!” (illus. from sermon by Douglas Bryan, www.sermoncentral.com).
When we think of boasting, it is usually in a negative way. Dictionaries define boasting as “glorifying oneself in speech; or talking in a self-admiring way; or speaking w/ excessive pride” (www.dictionary.com). Most of the time, we don’t like to be around someone who does this. Kind of grates on your nerves when someone is doing this, doesn’t it?
• Someone who boasts b/c they think they know it all.
• Someone who boasts b/c they think they are above everyone else.
• Someone who boasts b/c they are obsessed w/ themselves, their needs, their wants, their desires.
• Someone who boasts b/c they think they are better than everyone else.
• Someone who boasts b/c they are full of pride and full of themselves.
Folks like that usually are pretty obnoxious. Kind of like this guy (show clip from “The Emperor’s New Groove”). The emperor definitely fits the definition of a boastful person! Like the woodpecker who was pecking on the trunk of a dead tree when a sudden bolt of lightning hit the tree and splintered it. Woodpecker flew away unharmed. He looked back to where the dead tree had stood, and boasted, “Look what I did!”
The nation of Judah had become proud and boastful. They had mistakenly assumed that they could worship God and also bring back some of the worship of other gods alongside the worship of the One True God. They wanted to make the other nations – Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan – think that they were as powerful, as smart, and as influential as these larger nations. One way that they tried to accomplish this was by doing away w/ some of the reforms that the godly king Josiah had brought about during his reign. Judah’s pride and boastful attitude caused them to compromise their convictions and their devotion to God and God alone.
God will not settle for 2nd place in our lives. He will not tolerate compromise and continual sin and rebellion against Him and His commands for our lives. He is a holy God who demands holiness in the lives of His children. As someone once said, “It does not matter who you are; it matters who God is;” and who He is is a God of holiness, purity, and righteousness, all of which He expects in our lives.
The prophet Jeremiah had some pretty strong words that God had given to him to give to the people. Jot these verses down. Listen to these verses:
• Jer. 2:9,11-13
• Jer. 5:11-13
• Jer. 6:16-17
• Jer. 7:24
• Jer. 8:6-9
• Jer. 11:13
They were headed down a path that was leading them so far away from God. Had nothing at all to brag or boast about. Thought they were smart. Thought they were spiritual. Thought they were getting away with their compromised convictions. But God knew where they were and what they were doing, just like He knows where each of us is in our spiritual lives right now.
How God’s heart was breaking over the sin of His people! They were sinning against Him and proud of it. No one was going to tell them how to live their lives. No one was going to put any restraints on their lives. They were going to worship their false gods no matter what God had said about it.
So many in our world live this way. “I can do anything I want to do no matter what the Bible says about it, and nobody can tell me any different.” We see it everywhere.
• If I want to abort my baby, I will.
• If I want to marry my homosexual partner, I will.
• If I want to cheat, lie, steal, lust, or do anything else, I will.
Not only do so many live this way, but there is a boastful, prideful attitude so many times that accompanies these actions.
So what is the big deal about boasting? We hear professional athletes do it all the time. Why preach a sermon about boasting? 2 reasons:
I. SELFISH BOASTING HAS NO PLACE IN THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE – v. 23
A. Look at the focus in this verse:
a. “the wise man…the strong man…the rich man…” – the focus is on the man, not on God.
B. The first steps away from God take place when we take our focus off of Him and begin to focus on ourselves.
a. The very first sin occurred when Adam and Eve allowed the serpent to divert their attention away from their relationship w/ God and place their focus on themselves.
b. Every sin since then has happened when someone has taken their eyes off of God and placed them on themselves.
C. Any time that we begin boasting about what WE have done, what WE have accomplished, or what WE have, we are taking our focus off of God and putting it on ourselves.
a. The wise person boasts about their wisdom, their intelligence, their creativity, their ingenuity – all the while forgetting Who the giver of wisdom is.
i. 1 Kings 4:29 – “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.”
b. The strong person boasts about their strength, their power, their ability to influence and sway others – all the while forgetting where their strength comes from.
i. Ps. 118:14 – “The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.”
c. The rich person boasts about their riches, their portfolio, their bank account, flaunting their material possessions – all the while forgetting who owns everything.
i. Ps. 49:16-20 – “Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing w/ him when he dies, his splendor will not descend w/ him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed – and men praise you when you prosper – he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life. A man who has riches w/out understanding is like the beasts that perish.”
D. Truth is that most of us probably don’t go around openly boasting about our wisdom and strength and riches. But it’s the position of our heart that is most important.
a. We don’t hear many people boasting like Muhammed Ali did before his 1971 fight against Joe Frazier: “There seems to be some confusion. We’re gonna clear this confusion up on Mar. 8. We’re gonna decide once and for all who is king! There’s not a man alive who can whup me. I’m too smart! I’m too pretty! I AM the greatest! I AM the king! I should be a postage stamp – that’s the only way I could get licked!”
E. You and I wouldn’t brag and boast like that. But you and I would and do live our lives like that.
a. “I’m too smart!” “I’m too pretty!” “I’m too strong!” “I’m too crafty!” “I’m too good!”
b. And when the focus of our hearts and lives is on ourselves, we are setting ourselves up for a fall.
i. “p-r-I-d-e”
ii. “s-I-n”
c. By the way, Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali on Mar. 8, 1971.
II. SPIRITUAL BOASTING DOES HAVE A PLACE IN THE XN’S LIFE – v. 24
A. Look at the focus in this verse – it is definitely different from v. 23.
B. There is only one time when boasting is appropriate – when we are boasting about God.
a. Ps. 34:2 – “My soul will boast in the Lord…”
b. Ps. 44:8 – “In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.”
c. 1 Cor. 1:31 picks up this verse from Jer. – “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
C. The mark of a maturing Christian is one who has come the understanding that they have nothing to offer God, that life is ALL about Him.
a. They understand that their salvation is all about Him.
i. Eph. 2:8-9 – “…not by work so that no one can boast.”
b. They understand that it’s only b/c of the cross that they have anything to boast about.
i. Gal. 6:14 – “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus X, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
D. Xns, let’s do some boasting. Let’s boast about God! Let’s boast about Jesus! Let’s get our eyes off of ourselves – our needs, our wants, our desires – and focus them on Jesus.
a. If the def. of boasting is “glorifying oneself in speech,” then let’s glorify Jesus!
b. If the def. of boasting is “talking in a self-admiring way,” then let’s talk in a “Christ-admiring” way!
c. If the def. of boasting is “speaking w/ excessive pride,” then let’s speak w/ excessive pride about Jesus!
E. Practicing this spiritual boasting changes our perspective on so many things:
a. Our worship
b. Our service
c. Our plans and dreams
d. Our relationships w/ others
CONCLUSION – If you’ve ever watched “Cops”, you’ve probably seen episodes where the police are chasing the bad guys at night. Using a helicopter equipped w/ a high power spotlight called “Night Sun.” Remote controlled. 30 million candlepower. Can melt asphalt. When that light is focused on the criminal, there’s nowhere for him to hide.
You and I need to make sure that the spotlight of our lives is focused totally on X and away from us. Then and only then can we boast.
