RECLAIMING OUR POINT OF REFERENCE

Jeremiah 8:18-9:11; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Galatians 5:1

There is a desperate need in America for us to be a people who acknowledge the wretchedness and evil pent up within our American soul and realize the absolute necessity that we reclaim a measure found outside of ourselves. Not a comparison of our educational standards to other nations; not a comparison of our technological and medical discoveries to other countries; not a comparison of our governing style to the United Nations; but a comparison to the absolutes of God's character and the holiness characteristics that once made our nation great.

"The old America had the mind to sift through these strengths and harness them. The new America finds itself without a point of reference." (Zacharias, Deliver us From Evil p. 39) We don't know who we are anymore because we have lost our purpose as a nation.

I say this gingerly, as an American Indian. The American history is riddled with unholy acts and atrocities. But yet, understand that these were corrected by a court system that meted out justice. For example, many of the tribal properties in Michigan and elsewhere were essentially stolen from tribal families either by coercion, inappropriate trades or just plain old theft. However, when brought to the U.S. Courts, time and again the Tribes were dealt with fairly and with justice.

We are not, however, a "theocracy." A theocracy is a nation that is ruled directly by God. If you want a good example of a theocracy you have to look no further than some Muslim nations that impose religious law on everyone- at least in public. The Taliban that ruled Afghanistan before 9/11 were so dominant that people had to bury televisions in their backyards.

I don't want that kind of government. I don't want a Christian government ruling our nation. When Christianity gets political power there is trouble. However, how about Christians bringing Biblical principles and values into their work as politicians? How about Christians running for office, changing laws that reflect proper moral justice? How about us as Christians just simply living a life of perfect love for God and perfect love for people?

Introduction- Jeremiah as the Weeping Prophet.

If Isaiah is the thundering prophet then certainly the next prophetic writer in the Bible is Jeremiah as the Weeping Prophet. Jeremiah lived a life of incredible paradox: a

Jeremiah sensed God's constant presence and yet felt oftentimes that God was far away.

Jeremiah loved his countrymen and yet hated the sin that was separating them further from God.

We can have feelings much like Jeremiah. We sense his constant presence and yet we see the suffering of our friends, neighbors and family members and wonder "where is God?"

We love our nation and yet grieve because of the lostness of our nation who seems to more and more turn their backs on God and his ways.

How can we reclaim our point of reference as a United States of America? How can we see our nation return to God? How can we endure in times like these?

The Problem of Truth Decay.

One of the great habits that my daughter is teaching my grandsons is the concept of brushing their teeth. Every night they love to suck the bubble-gum flavored toothpaste and chew on their toothbrush. The idea is to develop a habit that will keep their teeth intact not only as children but for a lifetime.

We all realize the need for tooth brushing to avoid tooth decay. In a similar sense, we need to engage in a regular habit of developing certain spiritual disciplines that help us to avoid what we might call "truth decay."

Truth decay is so prevalent nowadays that a new word was coined a few years ago called "truthiness." It's not that something is true, it's just "truthy." In the movie from the 80's- "The Secret of My Success"- one character's comment rung too honestly then and seems to be just as so today, "There is no right or wrong, only opinion."

In our day much as Jeremiah's four tragedies that promote truth decay:

• The People were no longer people of truth.
  
• They did not speak truth to God.
  
• Friend deceived friend.
  
• They lost their sense of guilt.
  

We must reclaim a sense of truth that makes us honest before God, honest to others and, especially, honest to ourselves.

The Fulfillment of Truth and Consequences.

Make no mistake about it: we live a life of truth and the blessings of God will pour out from heaven. We live a life of un-truth and there will be consequences. Our prisons and jails are full of people who ignored the truth of the law; many more live in prisons of there demise because they have chosen to ignore God's Word.

Throughout our scripture text we saw glimpses of God judgment on the nation of Israel who had ignored God and ignored obeying his truth. Jeremiah begs God, "Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away." (v. 19a) he saw judgment coming much like many of us have a hard time seeing our great nation continuing to turn from God without some sort of consequence.

Truth is an important ethic to live by. Without truth we celebrate life in a sea of falsehood and lies. For us as Christians we grieve very similarly as Jeremiah:

• Jeremiah grieved over the lostness of people in their sins. We grieve for so much: friends and family with cancer, deaths, diseases, broken bodies; we grieve for the tragedies in society- the loss of life to senselessness, the loss of right and wrong, the loss of our moral compass. Sin is tragic whatever the capacity. It's one thing when we suffer due to things beyond our control but quite another due to our own doing.
  
• Jeremiah grieved over the judgment as a result of their sins. Payday someday. Galatians 6:7- "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." This comes to us nationally, corporately as a church and most definitely individually. We cannot do sin and live a life of lies without punishment. Are we as Christians grieving not only over the lostness of our neighbors but are we looking in the mirror at ourselves?
  

Jeremiah can no longer hear the sounds of animals in the woods and mountains. Chapter 9:10-11 describes the desolation and the place becoming a haunt of jackals.

Jackals were wild scavengers who prowled the remote places, living off of leftovers- the scraps and carcasses of the dead animals. The land was becoming quite literally a place of darkness, death and destruction not fit for human beings.

The Falsehood of True Lies.

 

• Falsehood in Family Life. Spouses lying one to the other or to each other; children being disobedient to their parents not so much out of childish behavior as out of a rebellious heart. Or as one movie quoted a few times: "You can't spell families without lies."
  
• Falsehoods in Public Life. Advertisers love to lie about their product to get you to buy it. How many of us have been roped into purchasing something that did not live up to its advertising?
  
• Falsehoods in Politics. Need I say a whole lot more?
  
• Falsehood in Education. I used to get so frustrated about the lies the evolutionists tell in our public schools. It's not so much of me being against the evolution theory- fine, teach it- but at least be honest about it.
  
• Falsehood in the Church. This is an even greater tragedy above all- when church members ever engage in falsehoods- lying about others in order to elevate one's self or worse yet, lie about someone to drag them down.
  

 

So where do we go from here? What must we do?

Restoring Truth to Everyday Life.

What will change our world is when nations such as ours is changed by through Jesus Christ- the power of the gospel message that Jesus saves and transforms. What will change our nation is when communities such as ours is changed by the power of the gospel message that Jesus saves and transforms; and what will change our communities is when the Church- with Christians such as us- are truly changed by the power of the gospel message that Jesus saved and transforms the human heart.

I am convinced that when the world out their sees us truly loving God and truly loving others as our self, then there will be an unleashing of the power of God that a lot of us haven't seen in years or in our lifetime.

So where does our responsibility come into play?

• Repent for our own untruthfulness.
  
• Become people of truth.
  
• Grieve over untruth.
  
• Be filled with love in truth.
  

We cannot expect government to legislate morality unless the Church is living up to its own expectations. We will never see the kind of change in our world unless we as Christians are living the life of Christ in the world.

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Conclusion- A Balm in Gilead

Outside of Israel to the east in what is now modern day Jordan, there was a type of plant that produced a balm that was often used to treat wounds and burns. This balm of Gilead would be comparable to the aloe vera balm you might keep in your medicine cabinet.

Jeremiah asks the questions, "is there no balm in Gilead?" He recognizes that there is nothing to heal the wounds of sin. He grieves over the lostness in such a way to recognize that no matter what he does, how long he prays that nothing is going to save the people… except God himself.

Jesus similarly grieves over the lostness of his people and he came to do something about it. Jesus gave his life so that his people- not just the Jews first but also us Gentiles- could enjoy this power of salvation.

Our Balm of Gilead is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that comes to our aid in forgiving our sins and giving us a new life- a new way to live.

Now we have a reason to pray and to help our world. Silver and gold have we none but what we have we give to them. The prayer for healing for our nation begins with us. We cannot cede this elsewhere. We have what the world needs- we have the love of Jesus Christ. We have the medicine that will heal the wound of our people.

And in the words of the Apostle Paul from Galatians 5:1- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Set us free, O God, that we might live a life pleasing to you and a blessing to our neighbors. Help us by your Holy Spirit to love you with all of our heart, mind, body and soul. And help us to love our neighbors- our husbands, our wives, our children, our grandchildren, our relatives, our neighbors next door and down the street. Help us to love all Mexican people, black people, white people, American Indian, mixed races and the life. Help us to live a life of perfect love for you and experience the power of the gospel in everything we do. In Jesus' Name. Amen.