After the Party

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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©

Lenten Walk - Part 27

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Friday, March 23, 2018

While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave him this second message:  “This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord:  Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.  For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:  You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords of the enemy.  You expect to fight the Babylonians, but the men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger.  I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.  “Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace.  I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns.  I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion.  Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth!  The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them.  Jeremiah 33:1-9^(NLT)

It’s always a danger to take a single verse out of the context in which it is set, and proceed to build a life’s philosophy – or worse, a theology of God’s character – on that single, isolated verse.  You can, for instance, take John 3:16 and assume that all there is to the Christian life is belief – just acknowledge God loves you, and that’s all God requires.  And in one sense you’d be right; you went forward in church, responding to the invitation of the preacher at the end of the sermon…or at a Billy Graham crusade.  On the strength of God’s promise you were saved.  But now what?  Did walking the aisle conclude your responsibility to God?  Of course not…there’s much, much more ahead.

So, think clearly, and a little more thoroughly here about Jeremiah 33:3, where God says call unto me and I will show you great and mighty things you didn’t know.  So many people quote that as if it is their life’s theme…to rub the magic bottle of God’s promises and suddenly all the universe stops for them as God unfolds mysteries and pours out Cadillacs and stock dividends from above.  It’s the ultimate God as vending machine concept – prosperity theology on steroids!

How does that hold up when you read the rest of the chapter?  That single verse is more a challenge to peel back the bandaid you’ve used to cover up the tumorous cancer in your body, and take an accurate look at how much trouble you’re really in.  That one verse isn’t a panacea against trouble, whether it be financial, family, fatalities, friends, or forecasts…it was an announcement to Jerusalem that because of the peoples’ wickedness, no matter what they chose to do, the judgment of God was about to fall.  This was a wake-up call, not a magic, get-out-of-jail-free card!

Such is the whole temperature and purpose of Lent; we dwell in a fallen world, and judgment is all around us.  The religious-minded among us who want to make sure they’ve covered every angle might hunt for a few verses that sound good if isolated from their context, so we can quote Bible and have the peace we crave.  But it is like whistling in the dark – doesn’t change anything in heaven, or the outcome of God’s will on earth. 

Lent is our reminder that we are part of our fallen world, and there is the blackness of sin to face like an indellible stain.  Lent is also our reminder that, like Lady MacBeth, we cannot get that stain off our record.  Lady Mac had manipulated her husband into killing the King of Scotland, and, tortured, she now sleepwalks the castle feverishly rubbing her hands to get the blood off – out, damned spot, she cries…and the blood remains…as does our guilt.

But Lent is also our reminder that forgiveness is ever in abundant supply in the heart of God.  For those who practice the hard work of repentance, restoration is God’s loving response.  The lenten walk is not without its’ menacing, brutal, reality of the darkness of humanity’s love of sin; neither is it devoid of the promise of light!

For You Today

If you want to walk in the light you must know enough to turn from the darkness.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com