Jump Start # 3438

Jeremiah 6:15 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall along those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.”

It’s Halloween time again. It seems that more and more are decorating their houses with giant spiders, tombstones and great big skeletons. More and more outlandish seems to be where people are headed. I’ve never thought too much about the Halloween season. Let the kids put on customs and go trick or treating is about as far as I go. Some love horror movies. Some love haunted houses. Not me. Don’t need to pay money to get scared, just drive on some of these highways around here or jump out of an airplane.

But I saw a decorated house that was so fitting for our times. A whole family of skeletons, mom, dad and the kids. All different sizes. There was even a dog skeleton. In the dad’s hand, was a can of beer. I looked at that and thought, that’s what drinking will do for you, turn you into a skeleton. What a statement. Some likely honked their car horns and cheered when they saw that. I shook my head. How sad. No shame. No embarrassment.

Our verse today, taken from the prophet’s sad lament of the condition of the nation, states that they did not even know how to blush. That expression is interesting. We don’t normally teach someone to blush, it just happens. The reason why it happens is because someone has a moral compass and a sense of right and wrong. We’d say that they had a conscience. But when the compass is busted and nothing is wrong and everything is right, a person no longer blushes. That’s why obscene words do not bother some. That’s why immodesty doesn’t bother some.

When a person comes to Christ, they are not only forgiven of their sins, but that moral compass gets realigned in their heart and shame, guilt and embarrassment naturally follow. Culture has moved the out of bounds line and nothing is wrong these days. Lie, cheat, steal, do what you have to for your own well being.

And, this moral compass is first set correctly in the home. It is in the home where certain words are not allowed. It is in the home that parents approve of what is being worn before the teens leave the house. It is in the home that the moral structure of what is expected and what is right and wrong is taught.

As children age, they find others who do not have much of a moral compass. Kids say things that they shouldn’t say. They do things that they shouldn’t do. As they try to influence your child, it is that moral, godly compass that will protect them and help them.

Learning to switch channels when indecent commercials come on. Learning to stop a movie because the language is out of bounds. Learning to say “no” to others is part of developing that moral compass. Shame, guilt and sorrow are emotions and feelings that many want to deny, run from and do all they can to remove them. But shame, guilt and sorrow have a place in our lives. They have a way of keeping us in bounds when we step on the line of right and wrong. Filters are necessary, not only on our furnaces, but in our hearts. Recognizing that some things are not good, decent or helpful can keep us where God wants us to be.

Here are some reminders for us:

First, telling someone it is ok when something is not ok, is simply not ok. We don’t do well when others cry. We don’t like it when others feel bad. But putting band aids on the problems will not change behavior. It is good that the prodigal felt terrible. His actions were wrong. And, those feelings led him back home. Had someone told him, “It’s ok, you’ll be fine,” he may have stayed with the pigs.

Second, some people stay in the land of shame, guilt and sorrow. These emotions, though God given, are not intended to be our story nor define our character. Peter wept bitterly after he denied Jesus. But we know Peter as that courageous preacher of Acts 2. We know him as the steadfast, unbending faith who refused to be silent when he was told not to preach Jesus. We know him as going against all his upbringing and speaking to the Gentile Cornelius. We know Peter who wrote the powerful letters near the end of our Bibles. Peter did not continue to weep all his life. Peter did not drown in his sorrow. He moved on with the Lord and he did incredible things for the Lord.

Guilt, shame and embarrassment ought to move us to better choices and better behavior. We ought to learn. We ought to do better.

Third, the more blasphemous and ungodly our culture moves to, we must make sure that we don’t follow that at a distance. The first use of the “D” word in a movie was Gone with the Wind. That was shocking. Today, there are places that use that word in advertising and on cups at fast food places. Other words, once shocking and off limits, are becoming the norm and are becoming accepted. We must make sure that we are not accepting things that years ago we wouldn’t. Society is always shifting and moving and the direction isn’t towards the cross. We must remain where we are, steadfast and unmovable. And, it’s not just a language thing. Indecency, immodesty, and accepting things we once believed were wrong, becomes a huge problem in our faith. Has God moved? Has the Bible shifted? Why have we?

Unable to blush—that’s not a compliment. A skeleton with a beer in his hands—the sad sign of our times.

Roger