Friday, March 22, 2019

After the Party

Monday, March 25, 2019

Again the Lord spoke to me and said, “I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  They have returned to the sins of their ancestors.  They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods.  Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.  Therefore, this is what the Lord says:  I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape.  Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries.  Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and burn incense before them.  But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes!  Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns.  You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.  “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah.  Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.  “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things?  Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction?  They actually rejoice in doing evil!  I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit.  But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.  “I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed.  For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”  Jeremiah 11:9-17

While we’re deeply-immersed in the Season of Lent, the Scriptures abound in darkness.  There is little joy in Jeremiah’s weeping over God declaring imminent judgment coming against Israel and Judah for their sins.  However, the entire theme of Lent is judgment for sins!  Therefore, Lent is a time to recognize when the party is over.  It’s a time for introspection, the evaluation of our lives in light of God’s holiness.  Part of that reflection is a look at what’s left after the party.
Don Meredith was an NFL quarterback, who, after his retirement, became Howard Cosell’s booth partner on Monday Night Football.  In the last few moments of most of those Monday night games, recognizing the losing team’s chances of winning had slipped-away, Meredith would break-into song, crooning in his Texas-best country singer impression:  turn-out the lights, the party’s over.  Anyone who has ever partied a little too hard the night before knows the price of that indulgence, groggy headache, queasiness and general despising living at all.  As my late friend Homer Rothrock used to say, there ain’t much romance in it!
There are some alarming parallels between the behavior and attitudes of God’s special people, Israel during Jeremiah’s time, and the current generation in our land.  Both Israel and America were birthed as a knee-jerk to oppression.  Both began as highly moral covenant people, called to live in freedom and respect for their Creator.  Both eventually fell into sin, and had to be called to the judgment bar. 
The parallel most disturbing to me is that of idolatry, giving what belongs to God to anyone or anything else; those things being fidelity in worship, obedience in behavior, and hearts of love, mercy and compassion towards each other.  Israel incorporated worshipping the local gods (including the fertility god Baal) in their religious ceremonies.  They did this for political reasons, making sure to offend no one.  As a covenant people they were bound to the one, true, living God; as sinners they gave away that heritage to cultic worship forms that took away their vows.  Baal is not just the name, it describes the relationship; in the Semitic languages it always means owner.  And that’s what sin is…it owns you.
It’s hard to miss the parallels between Israel and America; we bow at the altar of materialism, pleasing everyone who demands “rights” in the name of tolerance.  We elevate portrayers of violence, sexual perversion, evil behavior, and too many other expressions of the seven deadly sins that would overflow this short devotion.  Worship in America’s churches has become optional, out-of-date, or not relevant.  All the while anger, violence, dissipation, and deceit have replaced kindness, holiness, and self-discipline.
For You Today
Jeremiah was instructed to NOT pray for Israel; they had passed the point of no-return.  I do pray for our nation that we have not joined the parallel completely!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   Pixabay.com
[ii] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

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