“God’s shattering Word,” Jeremiah 23:29

Jeremiah 23:23-29

Listen to Sermon

Pastor Tom Johnson, August 14, 2016

Earlier this year, those of us in the church office began to hear a knocking sound coming from the ground. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat… It started early in the morning and continued until late at night. And it went on for days. And then for weeks. We put two and two together when walking by where the Jewel grocery store used to be. Pock-pock-pock-pock-pock-pock… It was deafening if you stood right by it. I caught a glimpse of this huge jackhammer which our structural engineers call a breaker—a large hydraulic hammer on the end of an excavator. We learned later that neighbors that live next door were compensated tens of thousands of dollars for the inconvenience. We at First Saint Paul’s received no such compensation. These huge hammers are used to break up concrete and rock. The old concrete and the embedded rock are removed. The noise and the disruption may at the time may seem disordered, chaotic, and a nuisance.

The Lord God says in our Scripture today that his Word is “like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.” And, as we heard in our readings, God’s Word can be a bit troubling and disruptive to our lives. It can be confusing and painful to experience the hammer of God’s Word. Scripture pounds away at our hearts of stone. God breaks apart embedded sin deep within our lives. He challenges entrenched lies that deceive us. He tears apart bad alliances. He excavates debris that clutters and confuses us. He chips away at unbelief in our minds. He clears away wrong thinking. In the truest sense of the word, God deconstructs our lives. He dismantles old structures. He tears down dilapidated edifices. He stirs things up so that those things not needed may be more easily removed. Sometimes we hear the faint rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat… in the background of our lives. There are other times we experience the deafening pock-pock-pock-pock-pock-pock… up close and disturbingly close. But we should not be afraid. We should not fear. We should not demand compensation for our troubles. This is not divine vandalism. God’s Word is hammering away, yes. But he is dealing directly with our hearts of stone and our rocks for brains.

At the time of Jeremiah, a hammer was in the hand of a stonemason may have also seemed to be only a destructive tool. But it is a necessary step in building. It is not the end but the beginning of a project. Stonemasons took hammers to rock to clear a way for a stronger foundation. They chiseled away at stones so that they would fit tightly together—block upon block—fitting each piece together to make a secure wall.


So God’s Word hammers away. It takes aim at the lies in order to speak the truth in love. He pounds away at the old to prepare for the new. He takes away the debris to give us something better, more useful, and for our good. God’s hammer removes obstacles that are in the way of better things. He will lay a more solid foundation in its place. The uncomfortable work of the Law serves to bring the comfort of the Gospel.

Ironically, just as we were driving up LaSalle this morning to worship, we saw and heard another one of these jackhammers pounding away. Even though much smaller, it reminded of the work being done just one block away for those weeks. Since that breaker was pounded away at the concrete and rock—soon after the oversized jackhammer stopped its assault on the ground and our eardrums, there was much quieter activity. We could see concrete trucks moving in and out of the area. We could hear workers speaking loudly over their machinery. And because of that deep and firm foundation, it seems like floor upon floor has just sprung out of the ground.

So Jesus says he makes all things new. He takes out our hearts of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. He sends his hammer but also the mortar to bind us together. He lays the foundation of his perfect life, death, and resurrection. He secures the foundation with the cornerstone of forgiveness as the true Messiah. And prepares a place for us—a place for us to come together as the Body of Christ—the Temple of the Holy Spirit. And he assures us that we have a place to call home now. The hammer will no longer need to strike at the rock and stones in our lives. Jesus will have made all things new. We will dwell with him—and he with us—forever.