THOUGHTS ON THE LORD’S DAY
“The World is searching frantically, looking for a cure for Covid-19 while the Church struggles to find the answer for moral AIDS.”
The prophet, Jeremiah, lived and served God in a day very much like our day, the almost total collapse of any public moral standard. The people of God were beginning to accept King Ahab’s gross evils as trivial, no big deal.
There was little, if any, moral outrage for violations of God’s holiness. This moral deafness led to disaster for Israel. And, without widespread public repentance, America will experience the same fate.
So much trash and outright filth is being heaped upon us today that many have come to expect and accept it. The bizarre has become commonplace. America is morally exhausted. We have lost our capacity to discern good from evil. Jeremiah 6:15 says, “Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all. They no longer even know how to blush.”
Most of the intellectual community in our once Christian nation, is now suffering from moral AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Moral blindness of this degree requires practice. It must be taught and learned. In this culture of moral AIDS, words have lost all meaning. Or, they are manipulated to deceive and obscure their original meaning and intent. When words lose their meaning, the Word of God cannot be received.
If sin and repentance mean nothing, then the grace of God becomes irrelevant. The public pronouncement of God’s Word falls on deaf ears. This was Jeremiah’s predicament. Certainly, evil is expected in a fallen world. What should not be expected is for God’s people to accept it. If the Church in America is to make a difference, she must recapture her sense of moral outrage. Not just in her private gatherings, but in the public dialogue.
Our text offers God’s people a three-phase solution for regaining the moral high ground. We must be TRANSFIXED, not on the moral pollution all around us, but on the Lord God, our Creator. He says, “If you return, then I will restore you, and before me you will stand.” We cannot stand before men in public with conviction if we first have not stood before God in repentance.
Second, the Church must be messengers of TRANSFORMATION, not just information. We must “Extract the precious from the worthless.” During this chaos, brokenness and hopelessness many are experiencing, God has placed and empowered His people to be agents of transformation. The public media seems to have nothing but bad news. The Church must proclaim a message of Good News. Jesus is alive and well!
Third, “You will become my spokesman.” God TRANSFERRED His power and authority to the Church on the Day of Pentecost, celebrated around the world in just a few weeks. If the Church will return to God, extract the precious from the worthless and become bold spokesmen for Him, He makes several promises in Jeremiah 15:20. God will make us as strong as a fortified bronze wall. Our enemies will not conquer us because He will protect and rescue us.
May God bless and protect our healthcare providers and first responders in their battle against this ugly virus. In addition, during this world-wide plague, I pray the Church will renew and double her efforts to regain the moral high ground and provide righteous leadership, not only in the church building, but also in the public square, the frontlines of spiritual warfare.