Is there no balm in Gilead?

Jeremiah 8: 18 – 9: 1, OT page 709 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her? “Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?” “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored? O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people! Sermon It’s not always easy to tell how seriously to take an injury, so I can understand why Diane Mesick waited to see a doctor after stepping off a curb the wrong way. Unfortunately, the pain just wouldn’t go away. So, even though it didn’t make sense that a step off a curb would cause any real problem, Diane was worried, and she went to the doctor to find that she had broken two bones in her foot. And it’s a good thing she went to consult her doctor, for when she consulted her husband, he told her “to walk it off.” Ray’s advice reminds me of a comedian I heard recently on TV – he was talking about his father’s reluctance to take his children to the doctor – what he would do instead when they were sick was to prescribe Robitussin – and he would prescribe Robitussin for absolutely anything. “Say you have a headache son, take some Robitussin,” he would say. “Got the flu, Robitussin.” “Sinus problems, Robitussin.” “Broken arm – pour a little Robitussin on it.” Now I’m no doctor, but I have a feeling that’s not going to cut it. The patient’s suffering is going to continue, healing is unlikely, so when the people of Israel are wounded, God wants them to have the advice of a real doctor. Our 2nd scripture lesson describes God’s frustration with the authorities in the land who should be helping the people to understand why they were invaded by a foreign army, why the city of Jerusalem was sacked, and what steps they must take to keep such a horrible punishment from being inflicted upon them again. God is clear in the book of Jeremiah – because of the people’s sin this army from the north has come down, but God’s representatives are not so clear. Essentially the only explanation or advice given to the people to help them understand what has happened and to prevent the same thing from happening again, is to walk it off or pour a little Robitussin on it. Because of the lack of understanding of Israel’s leaders, their inability to prescribe proper treatment, here in Jeremiah the Lord is getting frustrated. In the verses preceding our second scripture lesson, God’s frustration with the inadequate advice given to the people is made plain. To the religious authorities who should have helped the people to repent of their sins and to turn away from their wicked ways, the Lord says, “How can you say, “We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us,” when in fact the false pen of the scribes has made it a lie.” To those who, according to God, should have helped the people heal after the damage done to them, God declares that they “have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.” And in verse 22 of chapter 8, the passage we’ve just read, the Lord asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my people not been restored?” The Lord wants to know where the real doctor is – the doctor who will take the injury seriously – who will not gloss over the truth but will bravely diagnose and prescribe treatment with integrity so that the people can heal. In Israel there seems to be no such doctor, no one is brave enough to speak the truth. And maybe that’s because those who are in a position to speak know that the problem is not just an unwillingness to say what is hard to say, the greater problem is that even if there were a doctor to speak the truth chances are his or her voice would be ignored by the people who are masters at closing their ears to what they don’t want to hear, deluding themselves with instruction that is far too easy to do any good. I confess, that I am often an example of deluding myself with instruction that is far too easy to do any good. I haven’t seen a dentist in at least five years. But I have started chewing teeth whitening gum. I plan on seeing a dentist at some point, but I fear the truth – the truth that after five years of neglect my teeth are probably in bad shape, so rather than going to the dentist’s office to face the facts I go to the gas station’s gum rack where I don’t have to hear the truth – the truth - that I need to get back to flossing regularly, that I need a new toothbrush, that the gum I’ve been chewing doesn’t actually do anything. But that gum does do something – it makes me feel like I am doing something. It’s like the exercise bike in your basement that you can’t make yourself part with in the yard sale even though the only use it gets is as a drying rack for your clean clothes. It’s like my friend who wants to lose some weight so he started ordering a diet coke with his Big Mac Combo Meal at Macdonald’s. It’s like the self-help book on dealing with depression that you bought when what you really need is to see a counselor. It’s like the ring you bought her when what she really needs is an apology. It’s like a Band-Aid on a deep cut that won’t ever heal until you seek out the kind of help that will actually address the true severity of the wound. Considering the wounds of our community, the high school in need of renovation, the YMCA on the brink of closure, the horrors of domestic violence – our community needs to be dealing with some hard truths, grappling with a prescription severe enough to actually bring about real healing. Instead I fear that we will gravitate towards a quick and easy fix – a mega dump that promises to bring in enough money to solve all our problems. Where is the real doctor? “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” There is – but to get the help that he offers, first you must be ready to hear the truth. The truth that our prognosis is not just bad – it is worse than we ever dared to imagine. That we are not just sick, that there is not just a problem, for our position is pitiable. Too often have I heard justifying words from individuals trying to make a case for themselves before the seat of judgment. They tell me, “that they’re a pretty good person, they try to treat people right, and they try to be honest and good, so surely God will reward them for their efforts.” They fail to see how serious sin is. You don’t just need to floss a little bit more to make your soul bright and shiny – you can’t work out harder to get it off - the truth is that sin is a condition for which there is no self-help guide, no do-it yourself treatment, there’s nothing you can pick up from the gas station to make it any better. If you know that’s the truth – if you know that no matter how hard you’ve worked at it you don’t feel like you’ve made yourself pure – if you know that no matter how hard you’ve tried you’re still left wondering whether or not you’ve made God proud – if you know that there’s a sickness within you that you can’t heal yourself – then today know that you are in exactly the right place, for while too many in the world think that the church is a refuge of self-righteousness – a place for good, pure, and upright people, the truth is that the church is a hospital for sinners who throw themselves at the feet of the only one who can make them well. This past week an interview was published with Pope Francis, after his first 6th months as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The interview was conducted by Antonio Spadaro, a member of the Jesuits, and he asked the pope point blank, “Who are you?” The Pope nodded and replied, “I do not know what might be the most fitting description…I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” If the Pope is an example to us, he is not here an example of right behavior or blamelessness. He is an example to us here in his ability to face the truth of his condition. He has not concurred sin, but he witnesses to the one who has. There is a balm in Gilead – to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead – to heal the sin-sick soul. Thanks be to God. Amen.