An Outrage To Love

There’s very few passages that are harder to read than those found in Jeremiah 9, verses 10-22.

Jeremiah had desired to run away and build a shack in the desert to blot out the reality of war from his memory.  He knew that the people he loved and served were riddled with sin. He also knew punishment was descending and he didn’t want to be there to watch when it happened.

And then we see the words of what are thought to be those of our Lord pronounce judgement from a broken heart.

He says, “I will weep for the mountains, and wail for the wilderness pastures.”  (verse 10)
“I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.”  (verse 11)
“This has happened because my people have abandoned My instructions; they have refused to obey what I said.”  (verse 13)
“Instead they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshipped the images of Baal.”  (verse 14)

And then one final blow to our own consciouses in verse 18… “Quick!  Begin your weeping!  Let the tears flow from your eyes.”

The doom here portrayed is dreadful.
And the saddest reality of all is that there had been a momentary pause of mercy during which the sin might have been repented of and forgiven.

But in the meantime Jeremiah had the awful task of communicating the consequences to the stubborn population.

My commentary calls these… the punishments of God… the “Threatenings of Love.”
Because even though it’s part of His sovereignty, the Lord would rather bless.  His very essence is love itself.
Because His love for those He has called unto Himself is deeper than His anger ever is against them.
Because His purpose in punishment is correction not humiliation or shame.

The cuts by a surgeon may be painful, but if in the end it save a life… the risk of hurting momentarily is worth it.

And yet even when God, here, applies the pressure of discipline, we still see disobedience, refusal to listen, and huge dishonor within the body of those chosen to be set apart.

Exile wouldn’t even evoke remorse in most.

And sadly it doesn’t even today.

We are still a nation steeped in sin.
We are still a people radically opposed to indifference in the slightest bit.
We still hold to a self-serving mindset riddled with a compromised value system.

And the truth really is that we will never see sin in all it’s ugliness… in all it’s hatefulness… in all it’s disgrace, until we see it as an outrage done to Love.
We will never see the reality of our sinful condition until we feel what grieves the heart of the Suffering Savior.

While we saunter through life believing the lie that disobedience to God is only that of disregard to “rule of law” and not as a shameful injustice done to the Father’s heart, we will never look upon sin as we should, nor will we ever be willing to repent as we must.

We have to perceive the sin… our sin… as an outrage to Love.  Because it is.  And what breaks His heart, ought to break ours.

God, make us better.