Does Anyone Hear Jeremiah?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:7-14

Jeremiah 23:7  "So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’

Jeremiah 23:8  but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Jeremiah 23:9  Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble.  I am like a drunken man, like a strong man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and his holy words.

Jeremiah 23:10  The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land lies parched and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.  The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.

Jeremiah 23:11  “Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the Lord. 

Jeremiah 23:12  “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall.  I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:13  “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. 

Jeremiah 23:14  And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible:  They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.  They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

          I read a story about a pastor attending a community luncheon, and I believe the beginning of the story encapsulates this modern world we are in -- a sad mirror of what once was -- this world where we are wondering what has happened that we are in such a sorry state.

          The story begins ... Long after the incident, he would think about what he was wearing, as if that had to do with it; brown slacks and jacket, open collar yellow golf shirt, and brown loafers.

          The lovely redhead had fairly pranced over to him before the luncheon meeting began, saying, "You've lost weight."

          He searched his memory, but couldn't remember her.  But he smiled, said, "Bless you, I wish that were true.  I do need to lose weight."

          She returned his smile, saying, "You come on over to my house sometime, I bet you'll lose some weight."

          He noted the wedding ring she wore, and almost without thinking he responded, "A soul has no weight, and I'm afraid if I came over to your house, that's all I would lose."  Then suddenly in that instant, his skin crawled as he realized perhaps he had misunderstood her.

          But the redheaded lady backed up just a step, and her jaw dropped ever so slight, indicating she understood him perfectly.

          She craned her neck forward just a bit and asked in a conspiratorial voice, "Are you a preacher?"

          "Guilty as charged," he said.

          "Well, hon, you might have said something," she pouted.

          Fingering the silver cross hanging across his chest, he answered, "I thought I did."

          "Oh poo, everybody wears one of those these days," she answered.

          Just at that moment, a man stepped rudely between them and began to ask him a question about the new repair project at the elementary school.

          He tried to concentrate on what the man was saying, watching her move off, but a verse from Jeremiah kept playing through his mind, that he was surrounded by adulterers and evil doers, and none of them would turn from his wickedness." (Jeremiah 23:14)

          That much of the story makes the point of this sermon.

          How often my wife and I have sat watching television as commercial after commercial depicts a parent lying to their children, of one adult lying to another, meant to tell a story and sell a product.  And when my wife points out how harmful that is, to simply expect that everyone does it, I can only respond, "It's the world we live in."

          I could be quite content if I never again heard the excuse, "But everybody's doing it."

          Doing what?  Cheating on their exams?  Doing tattoos that will one day turn to a purple mass defacing the skin God made pristine and alive?  Bits of silver metal jabbed into the skin of their face, their lips, eyebrows, and who knows where?  Is everybody lying to one another, and lying with one another?  Does everyone cheat their brother and sister to make a profit for themselves? 

          Are all pastors preaching a new amalgamation of Christianity and Islam that does not glorify Christ?  Preaching a gospel that will make you rich if you will only "name it and claim it"?  Do we all walk past those in need, those hurting, those without any knowledge of Jesus Christ?  Do we all serve ourselves first?  Is everybody doing it?

          No.

          No, they're not.  However, current events would make you think so, for duplicity and mischief reign at the highest levels.

          At  6 p.m. Central Time, the President of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama, appeared before the Congress of the United States to present to them his "Jobs Bill" speech.  For a week prior there had been bits and pieces leaked from the White House about this speech.  On the one hand he was going to demand bipartisan action from the Republicans, on the other hand, the speech was being ballyhooed too much by those expecting too much.  It was the be-all answer to the nation's economic problems, it was not the answer.

          Finally, it was time.  The Congressional Sergeant-at-Arms announced the President of the United States, and President Obama made his way to the podium amidst a standing ovation and many handshakes and hugs and smiles along the way.  In terms of rhetoric, he went on the offensive immediately, speaking for about 45 minutes, intoning 19 times, according to media reports, "Pass this bill!"  He spoke of spending $450 billion dollars to fix the jobs problem, saying repeatedly, "It will be paid for," without explaining exactly how, except that the Congress was to find tens of billions of dollars to cut in wasted spending.  He spoke of cutting Medicaid and Medicare among current users to preserve it for future users.  He spoke of continuing jobless aid, without saying how it would be funded.  He spoke of tax cuts for small business employers who hire those who have long been out of work.

          And yet, once again ignorance of business practices raises its ugly head in the Oval Office.  Those who have never had to make business decisions, never had to meet a payroll, or deal with the mountain of federal red tape, simply do not understand. Tax cuts are great, but Pres. Obama misunderstands what creates jobs. Small business owners hire people based on increased business. They don't hire to gain a tax cut, and pay employees to sit idle. Taxes and refunds happen in the second quarter of next year, but new employees have to be paid next week.

          In the context of his speech, he said, "What we can’t do – what I won’t do – is let this economic crisis be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that Americans have counted on for decades." 

     Great idea, but this is in the context of the speech in which he called for Social Security and Medicare cuts, and only a week after his decision to remove protections against smog, so that his words carry no real weight.  Did he really think no one would remember?  No one would notice?  No one would care...that the President of the United States lied?

          He repeatedly talked consensus, but also repeatedly warned the Congress that it was his way or the highway, that he would hold the Congress responsible if they didn't pass his bill.  That never worked on the playground and it doesn't work in Washington, D.C.  If you want cooperation, you build bi-partisan consensus, and threats don't do that.

          While the context here seems to be economic, it goes far deeper than that.  If my son's bicycle has a flat tire, tightening the handle bars, adjusting the seat, oiling the chain will not positively affect the problem.  The tire remains flat.  I have not addressed the real problem, and neither has Pres. Obama nor the Congress.  We are a people oppressed by economic disaster, but that is merely the surface problem, the most obvious manifestation of a much deeper problem.  We are also oppressed by greed, hunger for power and money, by sexual misconduct, selfishness, lying, and more.

          For 50 years the people of Jeremiah's time ignored the God-given warnings of the weeping prophet.  He complained to God at one point that he was surrounded by adulterers and evil doers, and they would not change.  Finally God removed His arm of protection and they became a conquered people. 

          I don't know about the adulterers -- that's beyond my sphere of knowledge -- but the self-serving evil doers, the liars, the manipulators for personal power, they are as rampant in this age as apparently in Jeremiah's.  Until we once more teach ethics and morals in our homes, in our schools, and in our churches, the God who created us is not likely to recognize our miserable state as glorifying Him in any way.  We are no longer surprised by evil-doing, in fact, we equivocate about it, we offer up excuses for it.  There is no longer a standard of selfless service; what is good, and right, and fair are no longer even expected. 

          We have fouled, and allowed others in power to foul, our bed, and now we lay in it.  Ours is a God-given freedom, no government gave this to us.  We have an inherent right and responsibility of action.  Time to change the sheets and get back to expecting clean living and deference to the good of one another, as Jesus Christ in His Sermon on the Mount teaches us. 

          The prophet Jeremiah is once again weeping, as once again his inspired pronouncements, so fitting to our current time, are ignored, once again.  Who will hear him?  Who will take a stand for the truth kept alive for us down through the ages?  Who will raise the standard that proclaims the victory of good over evil?  Who hears the weeping prophet, weeping for our ignorance, for our poisonous man-is-god treachery, who will hear?  

          The President doesn't hear.

          The Congress doesn't hear.

          Does anyone hear?  Jeremiah's people didn't hear, either.

          Amen.