Jeremiah 8:4-12

The test came back positive, which is not a good thing. You had gone in a few days before, and the test showed something was there. A growth, a lump, something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Something that meant there was a problem. And it’s time to talk to the doctor.

Except, when the doctor walks into the office, he’s all smiles. He comes in, says “Hi” with the most cheerful voice, pats you on the back and says, “Okay, let’s have a look.” And he talks about the weather and he talks about an upcoming vacation and what his kids are doing this summer. And as he’s rattling along, you interrupt, and you say, “Hey, I thought there was a problem. I thought the test showed there was something wrong with me. Is this serious or not? Is there a problem?”

And the doctor smiles and shakes his head and says, “No problem. Yes, there is cancer, but cancer’s not really a problem. Now, nuclear war, that’s a problem. World hunger, whew, that’s a toughy. But cancer, naw, we’re not going to worry about that. Just smile.”

It’s an awful thought that a doctor would treat something as serious as cancer in this way. But every day, there is a sickness more deadly than cancer, there’s a disease, more serious, that is laughed about and shrugged off and ignored. Every day, our rebellion against God is brushed away as silly. Sin is labeled as quirky behavior. Evil is now considered eccentric, kind of funny, something to be recorded and put up on Youtube.

And when people are confronted by the sin, when they’re reminded that pride and gluttony and greed are deadly, they smile and roll their eyes and say, “You know, there are more important things to think about. Global warming, that’s something to worry about. North Korea, now there are some problems. But pride, envy, losing your temper? What’s the big deal? We’re fine. We enjoy our lives. We don’t have a problem with ourselves. We like ourselves. We’re at peace with ourselves. We’re at peace.

Peace. Peace. Except, there is no peace. We’ve been finding peace for the past few weeks. Unshakeable peace, like Mount Zion. Peace that cannot be moved, because the Lord surrounds us. Peace along the way of wisdom, peace that only comes from knowing Jesus.

But the peace that we’re talking about is a certain kind of peace. It’s the shalom kind of peace. The kind of peace that doesn’t change with the value of the dollar, with IRA accounts. It’s the kind of peace that isn’t really affected by changes in health. Peace, shalom is as solid as iron. Peace, shalom, is knowing that you are absolutely okay, and nothing, ever can change that.

But there’s a different kind of peace, a false peace, that most people are willing to settle for. It’s a peace that comes from ignorance, and this ignorance is often a choice. We choose to be ignorant, so that we can enjoy a sense of peace. We understand that sin is a problem. We just wouldn’t call what we do an actual sin. We know that doing what God requires only leads to pain and suffering. It’s just that we don’t really think that God is requiring us to do those certain things. I mean, those things are optional, right? They’re good things, they’re just not mandatory.

So, if what we’re doing isn’t really sin, and what we’re not doing isn’t really required, then we’re fine, we’re good, life is happy. We’re at peace. Peace.

And God says, “No, there is no peace.” Verse 4:

“Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: ”‘When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return?

What do we do when we trip and fall? We stub our toe, we catch our foot on the leg of a table, and we go down. And we may sit there for a moment, in pain, in some anger, maybe in a few tears. But if nothing is broken, if everything is working right, then after a few moments, we get our legs under us and we lift ourselves up. What do we do when we go the wrong way? We meant to head west, and instead we turned east. We meant to go down aisle 14, and instead we went down aisle 15. When we realize our mistake, what do we do? Do we just keep heading west, hoping it will turn into east? Do we just stay in aisle 15, hoping that what we were looking for is really in that aisle? No, we turn around and go back. We start taking steps in the right direction.

So why, then, says the Lord, verse 5:

Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.

We fall down, we get back up. We get lost, we get unlost. But when we sin, we keep on sinning. When we sin, we call it something else. When we sin, we compare it to someone else’s sin, and come out looking pretty good. When we sin, we continue to sin until it just becomes a part of our personality. It’s who we are. It’s what we do. It’s not sin. It’s just us.

But us, we are sinful. And God notices. Verse 6:

I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.

We don’t just dabble at sin. Sin isn’t just a hobby. We are passionate about sinning, not that we’d ever call it sin. We are passionate about pointing out the sin of other people. We are passionate at finding out about the latest marriage to have broken up. We talk passionately with other people about the problems in other families. We can’t wait to talk to someone about that person who was caught driving drunk last weekend. Not that we’d call that a sin. Not that we’d ever call it gossip. And since we don’t call it a sin, since it’s not gossip, we can live comfortably with ourselves. We’re at peace. Peace.

And sure, there are things that we absolutely must do. We are to honor our fathers and our mothers. We are to keep the Sabbath Day holy, though we’re not always sure what that means, and we give ourselves a lot of loopholes out of that one. Sure, we are to do what God commands. But then, aren’t there, what shall we call them? Aren’t there holy suggestions? I mean, Jesus gave us the great commission, to go into all the world and make disciples. But can’t we kind of understand that as the Great Suggestion? It’s a good idea, but if we don’t do it, that’s understandable? Not everyone makes disciples? In fact, most people don’t make disciples? So aren’t we actually just normal if we never made a disciple in our life?

Jesus tells us to forgive each other. He tells us to forgive each other, not once, not seven times, but 490 times, which by then means we’re forgiving the hurt all the time. But when Jesus told us to forgive, that was good advice, right? I mean, forgiving is hard. Forgiving seems impossible. So, if forgiving is impossible, then how can God expect us to forgive? He suggests. He gives advice. So when we don’t do those things, then we’re fine. It’s not like we’re sinning when we don’t make disciples. It’s not like we’re sinning if we don’t forgive. It’s not like we’re sinning if we don’t give as the Lord has given to us. It’s not like we’re sinning if we don’t use the gifts that the Spirit has given us. And if we’re not sinning, then we are comfortable with ourselves. We’re at peace. Peace.

But there is no peace. Verse 7:

But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.

How can we not know what God requires of us? Most of us are here every Sunday, many of us morning and evening. Most of us hear the requirements of the Lord weekly, and have heard them for decades.

But we sure don’t look like it. Verse 8:

“How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?

We’ve read Romans 1:26 before.

They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil

We know God told us not to spend time in gossip and slander. But we do it anyway, even if we falsely call it “sharing information”. We’ve read Matthew 28:20, the great commission, but we’ve convinced ourselves that that’s what we pay pastors for, that’s why we support missionaries. Pay the plumber to fix the pipes, pay the mechanic to fix the car, pay the missionary to make disciples. And we are at peace.

But not for long. Because of our creative adjustments to the commands of God, verse 9:

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?

We pretend to be wise, and we don’t have a clue. We act so saintly, but we are actually so sinful. We talk good, we cover our shame. Verse 11:

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.

We can’t cover up the sin. We can’t pretend it’s not there. We have heard the command of Jesus to make disciples, and we have failed. We haven’t made one disciple. We have heard the command of Jesus to forgive, and we haven’t. We hold on to the resentment. We have sinned. We have lusted. We have been arrogant and proud. We have envied. We have lashed out in anger. We have sinned.

And the Lord asks a hard question. Verse 12:

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?

It’s tough to face this question. Is what we do loathsome? Is what we talked ourselves out of disgusting? When we didn’t make a disciple, were we nasty, obnoxious? If our sin doesn’t stink to us, then the rest of verse 12:

No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the LORD.

For those with no shame, for those trying to convince themselves that they can have peace, without the repentance, there will come a day when reality will hit. They will be brought down. It will be impossible to fool themselves into thinking that there is any peace. There will be no peace, there will be only suffering, always, for eternity.

This is the future we face. We will fall. We will be brought down, unless Jesus steps in the way. Unless He fell for us. Unless He was brought down instead of us. But that can’t happen unless we stop trying to fool ourselves. We know what God wants. We know His requirements. God’s commands are not optional. We can’t pick and choose. This book is not a book of advice. These are obligations.

And unless we admit, straight out, that things are not okay, that we we’re not comfortable with ourselves, that our sin is obnoxious and revolting, we will never truly know peace. Telling ourselves that we are at peace guarantees that we will never find peace. But facing our failure at making disciples, naming our gossip, admitting our resentment is the first step towards finding peace. It sounds backwards, but when we admit that we are not at peace, that’s how we find peace. When we recognize that we are not okay, then we’ll be okay.

Because it’s in our repentance that Jesus pays the price. Jesus takes the fall. Jesus is brought down. Jesus is put to an eternal death so that we could stand, so that we could be raised up, so that we could live an eternal life.

Every day, until the day we die, we will discover more areas of sin, evil and wickedness that we never thought we had. We’ll be surprised, and we’ll be shocked, and we’ll be shamed at the smell of our sin. Our rosy, positive, optimistic view of ourselves will be wiped away. We will not have peace.

Except, when we’re shamed and shocked, when we lose our peace, that’s when we find it. As we admit our failures, we find our freedom. As we confess in our sin, “There is no peace, there is no peace,” that’s when we find peace. We’re surprised to find Jesus, welcoming us, assuring us, correcting us. As we confess and admit, we hear Him telling us, “I took those sins, those nasty sins. I took you, and I washed you. Now, Peace, peace, I give you peace.