Is There A Cure For Our Land
by Rev. Thomas Benge
Text Jeremiah 8: 19-22 (use Parallel)
Introduction:
Living in this day and age, we are aware of the condition of the entire world due to modern day technology and the tenacity of the news media. More than a few times, I’ve heard it said the media only reports bad news. And that assessment is more true than not. War, conflict, plague, and natural disasters seems to happen somewhere everyday, Murder, cruelty, political corruption, societal decay, the woes of the world never seem to cease.
The genre of television programming known loosely as talk shows, parade daily the worst of human nature, and every kind of deviate doctrine. I tell you, it’s enough to depress the most enthusiastic of us, just as Jeremiah was depressed when he penned our scripture lesson for today. The icons of society are falling. Those whom we have made idols, now more than ever are being exposed to have clay feet. Institutions that we have depended on for decades are now insolvent. Social Security, public welfare, political parties, the military, and educational institutions are all failing us. The last verse of today’s text, verse 22 raises a cry that has echoed through the 200 centuries, and is louder and more desperate than it has ever been. It is for this reason I’d like to trouble you for the next few moments with the question and subject: "Is there a cure for our land?"
First Movement - The Diagnosis
Our land is sick. The people are sick. The spirit of our country is weak. We need a cure. If a cure is needed, if a prescription is to be filled, the illness must first be identified.
The 1st Chapter and 19th verse of Ecclesiastes says; “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
That being true, and the word of God always available to give us guidance, we should look for a Biblical model to give us some clue as to what’s wrong with our land, our people, and our country. Let’s look at the Hebrew nation of Judah, and listen to the prophet God appointed to diagnose the condition of their society, to identify the problems of our own.
The first things to consider, is why would God commission a prophet of doom? Why would He send such a messenger, crying of abandonment, jealousy and retribution?
The reason is simple. God was hurt. I know that sounds incredible, but not so when you remember that God is the God of love. God loves us. He always has, he always will. He made us. He provides everything we need to continue our existence. He has revealed Himself to us through the mysteries of nature, and the reality of our conscience.
The Psalmist has said: 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork”. Psalms 97:6 “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.”
Judah and Israel, knowing that God was sovereign in the universe, heirs of the promise He made to Abraham, went whoring after the gods of the people God defeated for their sake. God lamented to His prophet: For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
Then He says to the people: “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone. Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble, they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the numbers of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.”
God was hurt. God was disappointed. He still is. Even so, God continues to bless us. The Godly and the Ungodly are the beneficiaries of His love and grace. Each day the sun rises, the fields yield heir increase. Each day is another opportunity to repent. He calls to us constantly to come to Him and receive the peace and love He has to offer. But ye are a stiff-necked people, puffed up by our foolish perceptions. We worship creations rather than the creator.
He told us from the beginning: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
So what is the diagnosis? What illness do we suffer from? Brothers and sisters, we suffer from the visitation of iniquity of our fathers. Our text says; Jeremiah 8:19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
The Living Bible translates this verse this way: Jeremiah 8:19 Listen to the weeping of my people all across the land. "Where is the Lord?" they ask. "Has God deserted us?”Oh, why have they angered me with their carved idols and strange evil rites?" the Lord replies.”
Does this sound familiar? Do you hear the cries of the people across the length and breadth of this land? In the land of plenty, children go to bed hungry. In the country whose money contains the inscription "In God We Trust" people are sleeping in doorways, using newspaper as blankets. In the leading technological society on the earth, people lie in sick beds with no medicine, no medical care, praying for a healing that does not manifest itself. Why? Is not the Lord in America? Is not her king in her?
My brothers and sisters, except for a few faithful, which gather together as we are gathered together today, our society has turned her face from the Lord, and hence, the Lord has turned His face from our society. We are afflicted by the same sickness Judah fell victim to; Idolatry.
Our society has turned our face from the Lord God, and worship idols made by men’s hands, or established in men’s heads. We have disobeyed the First Commandment, and have sought other gods to pay homage.
We don’t pay the tithes God commands, because we are too involved with making sacrifices to gods with names like General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. Others are committed to the gods Visa, Master Card and American Express. Some can’t find the time to come to the sanctuary on the Sabbath because it’s more important to sit at home worshiping the icons of sports. Kobie, Shaquelle, Tiger and Serina.
Crack cocaine has become a god to some, heroine to others, and alcohol to still others. The physical pleasures of sex have become a god to many. And who among us has not been motivated solely by this nation’s number one god, the dollar?
There are those that make appearances in church periodically, out of what they perceive as obligation rather than serving the Lord through commitment and dedication. But know this my brothers and sisters, God is watching! He sees all and knows all! The cities of America cry out because the judgment of the Lord is at hand. And yet America fails to hear the cry of God’s prophets from pulpits all over this land!
Beloved, our woes, our failures, our illness, and our national demise are the visitation of the sins of our fathers on this generation, and the visitation of our sins upon our children! Look back! Look back and remember!
Remember the sins of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s? The 60’s permissiveness; free love - rebellion – no prayer in schools. The 70’s, drugs - return to demonology - Cultism, Anton Levey, Charles Manson, Jim Jones. The 80’s, plagues - political corruption – dissolution of the family – The 90’s, every man for himself - our babies are killing babies – cyber-predators – the apostate church – the advent of the European Alliance (restoration of the Roman Kingdom.) Our youth have no respect of God, themselves, or human life. Our schools are turning out functional illiterates. The prisons are over flowing with the youth that was to be the promise of our tomorrow.
Fear fills the hearts of the people. Who among us feels safe other than when we are locked in our homes behind bars and gates like prisoners? Who dares to go to a fast cash machine after dark? Which of you does not feel uncomfortable when approaching a crowd of young people gathered on a corner? No one! No one I tell you! And it’s because our land is sick! Her people are sick! We need a cure!
There are thousands of churches in Michigan alone! All claiming to serve the Lord God! All supposedly houses of prayer. And we pray. We pray for deliverance. We pray for our leaders. We pray for an answer. But no deliverance, no leadership, no answer comes. Is God not in America? Is her king not in her?
God told Jeremiah to tell Judah, and now he tells us: Jerimiah 2:17 “And you have brought this on yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God when he wanted to lead you and show you the way! (TLB) Jer 2:21-3:2 God has shut the windows of heaven to our prayers as a nation, because we have worshiped idols!
Second Movement: The Prognosis
Our text says: Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (KJV) Jer 8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. (KJV)
A nation that deserts the Lord is a nation in line for real trouble. A nation that forsakes the Lord is a nation that faces the most devastating of consequences. One of the most horrible proclamations I’ve ever heard was given to the nation of Israel by Moses, as he told them the results of forsaking and not serving the Lord as He decreed in His law.
Deuteronomy 28:45-28:61 (TLB)
Merciful Heaven! Don’t you realize that the word of God is true and never changes? He means and does exactly what He says! Always! We face utter destruction as a nation if we don’t forsake our idol worship, and seek the face of God! Does it seem to you that today there are diseases that we’ve never heard of before? AIDS, the return of Polio, new venereal disease?
Look at Deuteronomy 28:61. Does the pollution of our waters and air, the mysterious flesh eating virus, and the advance of killer insects, ring fearfully like the warning of Deuteronomy 28:60?
Does the desertion of children by parents that leave them in fire trap houses, without food and supervision, surrounded by filth, evoke visions of Deuteronomy 28: 56?
What about Crack, PCP, Ice, the Date Rape Drug, asbestos, lead poisoning, toxic waste, the greenhouse effect, the break down of the protective ozone layer? I tell you brothers and sisters, the sins of the fathers are being visited upon their children!
Third Movement: The Cure:
Jerimiah 8:22 “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (KJV)
The question then is, what do we do about it? What changes are necessary to cure the ills of our society? How do we quell the tide of murder, perversion, corruption and mayhem? How do we as a nation turn back the wrath of God? Should we depend on politicians who smile into cameras, spouting lies that no one believes, ending their speeches with the hypocritical party line of "God bless America?" Will changes in the law of the land, stiffer penalties, more prisons, capital punishment and cries for a new morality make the difference?
Can we depend on medical research or environmental scientist to return us to good health, or return the balance of nature?
I say no my beloved! Our answer is not there! You see, there is no balm in Gilead. There is no elixir concocted from the exotic plants of the Amazon jungle. There is no synthetic generic substitute produced in the laboratories of the Lilly Company or Dow Chemical that will cure the ills of our land.
There is no physician with a prescription for the sickness that fills the land. No legislative act that will bring down the false idols. No world leader will rally mankind to one purpose. No public service announcement will change the hearts of men.
But I’ve come today to tell you, praise the Lord, there is a cure! One divine cure! One prescription for our ailing nation. A cure for our dying world!
That cure comes from a single tree, planted only once outside the walls Jerusalem, on a hill called Golgotha. A tree without roots, watered briefly, for eternity, with blood that dripped from the side of a sacrificial lamb. A tree that stood for only a few hours. A tree that offered no shade, harbored no nests, waved in no breeze, and produced only one piece of fruit, the saving grace of God!
God has declared at: 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (KJV)
Celebration: It’s up to God’s People
The judgment of nations differs from judgment of individuals.
When the Lord God declared judgment upon the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham beseeched Him to spare the city for 100 righteous people. During their negotiations, the Lord said He’d spare tens of thousands, for the sake of ten good people.
Ten people who feared and served the Lord.
Ten righteous people could not be found, and the cities perished. But this promised reprieve from God on two of the world’s most historical wicked cities illustrates the power of God’s people. God sees the deeds of His people, knows the workings of their hearts, and hears and answers the prayers that conform to His perfect will.
We all have the opportunity to serve as children of the Master, as heirs with Christ His son. Through faith and submission to Him, all things are possible. Beloved, we can save our nation, if we are the righteous ones God seeks.
The book tells us, if we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, that if we believe in our hearts that he died for our sins and was resurrected by God the Father; that if we submit to the ordinance of baptism, and accept the remission of sins because of the blood of Christ; we, yes we are, accounted the righteousness of Christ! And cloaked in His righteousness, we are the children of God!
Jeremiah was chosen and called by the LORD GOD to announce a fatal diagnosis to the kingdom of Judah. His mission is the same mission given to preachers today. We are to proclaim to the nations of the world that we are facing the wrath of God due to our godlessness.
James the Just, Christ’s brother in his epistle to the church says this: James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (KJV)
So let’s pray church!
Let us humble ourselves before the throne of grace. Let us pray for those of our kinsmen who don’t know the Lord. Let us pray for the turning of our nation from its useless idols and sinful pleasures, to the Lord God in heaven.
Let us pray for forgiveness and the strength to turn from our wicked ways!
It’s up to God’s people, to pray for deliverance!
It’s up to God’s people, to pray for direction!
Are you not God’s people? Is not Jesus your Lord and Master?
Are you not God’s people? Is not Jesus in your life?
Are you not God’s people? Are you not Born of the Spirit?
Are you not God’s people? Then let’s call on His name!
JESUS, will you help us?
JESUS, grant us mercy!
JESUS! Shine your light, on a dark and troubled world!
JESUS, heal our land, for mercy’s sake!
JESUS, heal our land, for righteousness sake!
JESUS, heal our land, for your name’s sake!
JESUS! Heal our land! Help us!
For we are your redeemed!
We are your people!
Amen.
