And we can’t stop – And we won’t stop
We run things, things don’t run we. . .Remember only God can judge ya.
Forget the haters ’cause somebody loves ya
“We Can’t Stop” Miley Cyrus

It is that time of year; graduates around the country sit in their long gowns, wear funny square hats while listening to a brilliant, accomplished speaker give them advice on how to succeed in life. They did it, they graduated. Smart people, with degrees in hand, ready to take on the world, seem to be everywhere this time of year. A real reason to hope.

Recently I decided to watch one of these ceremonies where a famous man (no, it wasn’t the President) was speaking. He stepped up to the podium, slowly unfolding his written speech, and in a measured cadence thanked all the faculty, staff and students of the elite university for having him. And then he began his message, “Dear graduates, you are f*^%$!”

“Huh? What just happened?” Here was a man looking the part of cultured sophistication and brilliance; while pouring out of his mouth came cursing and hot streams of blasphemy. So much for hope.

In this singular moment, I saw a snap-shot of what is wrong with America. We now own more knowledge, understanding, technology, and scientific insights than ever before – – but we have not learned the most important lesson of all…HOW TO BLUSH. Jeremiah 6:15 and 8:12 describe the final condition of a soul, and nation, that has forgotten God:

“Were they ashamed when they committed abominations? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.”

Blushing means I am embarrassed because I have not lived up to the person of worth God has created me to be. Shame is a sign I have offended the God who made me. But this no longer is the norm in America.

We have exalted knowledge at the expense of moral truth, and that is what is truly embarrassing. But the real problem is that we no longer know how to be embarrassed. We just make excuses for our excesses. We have redefined vice as virtue. And we tolerate and embrace those actions and choices that bring corrosion to a civil society. As a result, sin has died in America.

We killed sin, aren’t we brilliant?

In Luke 5 Jesus meets a leper. In his day a leper was ostracized because the disease he was carrying was dangerous. Leprosy spread, and once a person had the dreaded disease, it would slowly but surely eat away until a person died a lonely, disfiguring death.

Leprosy is also a picture of sin. Sin eats away the soul, it corrodes the fabric of society, it is something to fear. We now think we can escape it, but we cant. Have you read the news, have you seen how sin is ravaging families, cities and towns?

I am afraid that our inability to blush is killing us.