Peacemaking Continued

Scripture: Jeremiah 7:8–10 (NRSV)

⁸ Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, “We are safe!”—only to go on doing all these abominations?

Meditation:

Our world has fallen so far so fast that we are no longer able to recognize evil when we are participating in it. We steal from each other daily by refusing to acknowledge that we are complicit in the social schemes that take wealth from one person and give it to another.

            We murder daily by making false and derogatory statements against those we disagree with. We permit the slaughter of millions of unborn babies and call it choice. We have become so numb to our own violent and warlike attitudes that we no longer cry when our neighbor is killed or injured.

            We make our offerings to Baal in the form of money given to promote slavery and crimes against the most helpless of humanity. We support wars that kill innocent children and people in countries whose names we cannot pronounce because we have believed the lie that such killing makes us safer at home.

            And then we have the boldness to come into the presence of God and declare that we are safe because we have not committed any sin. We pray prayers such as if a people who is called by my name will repent of its evil ways I will surely come and heal their land. When we know full well that we have no intention of repenting. And God’s healing hand is withheld from our land.

            Our hearts are set on murdering the innocent children. We refuse to turn our weapons into plowshares because those who make such weapons feel they have the right to continue to enjoy their livelihood and standard of living. They live as to say to hell with the death and destruction these weapons produce.

        We are no longer the home of the free and the brave, but we have become the very antithesis of a Christian nation. While there are a few brave souls who continue to live a life that picks up a cross and follows Jesus. The vast majority of our citizens don’t follow the ways of Jesus. It would simply deprive them of their creature comforts and God forbid if they were forced to endure a reduced standard of living.  

            We are no longer a nation under God, but a nation lives by the rule of violence toward others and to hell with obedience to God. Our days of suffering are just beginning. Will we truly repent before it is too late?

            God has given us instruction in the ways of peace. We can truly begin to reach out to our neighbors who are in need and provide for their needs. God will supply from God’s awesome storehouse the love and care we need to provide each other. Guns and missiles can truly be made into implements of peace. It will take each of us taking up our crosses and refusing to let the unborn die anymore. God is waiting for someone to stand in the gap for the poor and disenfranchised. May he find that someone in us. Amen.