don't be fooled

Rembrandt. The Prophet Jeremiah Mourning over the Destruction of Jerusalem.

1630. Oil on panel. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
For Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007 (Proper 19)

There is a stream of thought that thinks a loving God couldn't possibly bring condemnation to anyone and that somehow we'll all pull through. Don't be fooled. Judgment came to the northern kingdom of Israel with the fall of its capitol Samaria to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. Despite this, the people of the southern kingdom refused to repent:

My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good. (Jer. 18:22)

This appears to be a deeply innate human tendency. I found confirming evidence this morning in my garage. I've been very clear with my boys about the importance of putting the garbage lids back on the containers, and keeping any garbage sealed up. Otherwise, one is libel to arrive home discovering that our dog Godfrey (that he is a family namesake makes it all the more painful) has decorated the driveway with various accoutrements of trash. At times they appear to be senseless children that have no understanding!

Judgment did come to the southern kingdom with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Judgment will also come to the entire earth:

The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.

So what . . . ? Here is the so what:

O Jerusalem (a.k.a. people of God, a.k.a. dear reader) wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

. . . Don't be fooled. Fortunately for us, there is still time.

don't be evil

Jeremiah 18:1-11
for Sept. 9, 2007 (Proper 18)

Google's corporate motto is "don't be evil". Given the widely shared perception that most corporations are just that, Google's PR Director must be a genius (or recently hired).

"Don't be evil" is the message of Jeremiah 18. "Well, no, (huff huff), of course not!" we reply. Yet might there be evil lurking deep in our hearts - evil that has been there so long that we no longer even take notice?

This chapter provides an easy way for us to make a self-diagnosis: evil manifests itself as stubbornness; stubbornness manifests itself as an independent spirit; an independent spirit manifests itself as a refusal to repent.

Yet note that what is really at the source of all of this is ... 'evil'. Let me now trace this back in my own heart. Am I one that thinks the notion of repentance is either silly or doesn't apply to me? If so, am I one that prefers to set my own course? If so, is my independent spirit due to stubbornness? If so, is my stubbornness in fact due to evil that I'm allowing to reside deep in my heart?

Neither individuals nor nations can afford to harbor such evil, for it leads to inevitable destruction. Yet the individual or nation that repents makes itself malleable once again in the potters' hands. Such clay can be made profoundly useful and beautiful in an instant. Hope then remains: just don't be evil.