I found the best description of Jeremiah this week as I was preparing my sermon for today. In introducing the Book of Jeremiah, the writers says: “poetry and narrative, metaphor and myth, sermonic exhortation and theological defiance converge in what can seem like a cacophony of non-melodic speech …”
The writer goes on to acknowledge the challenge posed by the Book Jeremiah’s multi-facted conversation that moves towards healing and hope in a radiant future, ALL the while being deeply affected and influenced by the historical and present day reality in which the prophet has arisen and offers his message …
Confused slightly?
What ALL of that means is that Jeremiah is a prophet standing in a place of history where huge changes and transitions are rocking the boat in which the little nation state of Israel sits, and while people are trying to make sense of it all, Jeremiah dares to stand up and offer a discomforting view not only of politics, economics and society at large, but Jeremiah dares to suggest that everything the people rely on for comfort and security is about to be wiped away …
Jeremiah appeared on the scene in a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The Babylonian empire has risen to power in the east and is now threatening Israel … Jeremiah, rather than offering empty promises of deliverance and hope that say “we will overcome … we will prevail” instead says the equivalent of: “we’re pretty much hooped people … we better get ready to lose, cause it doesn’t look good …”
The people didn’t want to hear this … they didn’t want to hear that defeat was the ONLY outcome … so they locked Jeremiah up and went on with their lives …
History tells us that not only was Jeremiah right in his assessment of what was about to happen, he was likely under-estimating the result of the Babylonian invasion and victory … The Exile that saw the temple destroyed, the intelligentsia and prominent hauled off in chains to far off Babylon and the total disruption to the nation, the people and the psyche of Israel was beyond comprehension … even today, with a Century of armed conflict, war and terrorist attacks, NOTHING we’ve experienced in the modern era can compare to the sheer magnitude of what the people of Israel experienced when the Babylonians came and conquered them.
And so, it was in the midst of ALL of this that Jeremiah’s warning to rely on a New Covenant – not a covenant carved in stone and preserved as a holy relic of the past, but a living Covenant that is found in the hearts of ALL believers.
A living Covenant that is carried with you wherever you go and is not reliant on a temple, or a holy site, or even holy rituals – but is lived and breathed with the passing of each moment in life …
The heart of this New Covenant for Jeremiah is the notion that EVERYONE will know the Lord … they will not need the rituals of the Temple, or the intervention of the Priests and Scribes, but rather will share and live and celebrate this Covenant because of the faithfulness God has continued to show in our world and in our lives …
And so the Prophet Jeremiah offers a blend of “poetry and narrative, metaphor and myth, sermonic exhortation and theological defiance converge in what can seem like a cacophony of non-melodic speech …” because he is speaking in a confusing and tumultuous time … the old ways make little sense, but people are clinging to them because they are comfortable and familiar … the economic and political system is broken and in desperate need of reform, but no one knows what to do, so they blindly continue to trust and believe in it … the safety and security of the nation is being threatened and everyone is relying on the military to protect and comfort them even though it is obvious there is very little that can be done … and so the people stand frightened and confused … and desperate for some comfort … and in this moment, the Prophet speaks.
Not words of comfort that sooth a troubled soul … rather the prophet speaks the truth … the uncomfortable, troubling and disturbing truth that ALL is NOT WELL.
Six Centuries later another prophet speaks to his disciples in the days leading up to his own death and dares to suggest that they need to be willing to follow him even to death, and be prepared to lay down their life for what they believe …
Today, we like to make this notion into a heroic thing – soldiers and heroes will risk their lives for the Common Good … but what if the intent of this idea is not the defense of the Common Good, but the willingness to question the validity of the Common Good?
What if the very thing we are being asked to risk our lives for, is a harsh and needed critique of the values and things we hold dear?
The Prophet seldom speaks a message that the mainstream of society can accept much less follow … the Prophet is the voice that calls US – you and I as the children of God and people of faith – back to God.
Rabbi Abraham Heschel writes of prophets “they speak and act as if the sky were about to collapse because Israel has become unfaithful to God … the prophet is the man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul, and he is bowed and stunned at humanity’s fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of humanity; no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to that silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is RAGING in the prophet’s words.”
In to that context fall the words of Jesus who said – “take up your cross and follow me …” “the one who loses his life for my sake gains it …” and “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies it bears much fruit …”
In the last waning days of Lent, we are called to pause and consider that too often in the Church we lull ourselves into a place of comfort and complacency by knowing that beyond the darkness of Holy Week lies the wonder and majesty of the Resurrection … but to get TO the place of Resurrection demands taking time in the dark shadow places that the Prophetic voice thunder from …
When I was a student at Queens’ I was privileged to work for a time with a Catholic priest of the Order of Mary Immaculate – the Oblates … Father Brian Primeau was one of the most caring and sensitive men I have ever met. He was the Chaplain at a Catholic High School in Kingston, and I was there as a student intern … during the year we had many conversations, but one that has stuck with me for the last couple of decades was a conversation we had about his own Ordination.
Father Brian described the spiritual retreat he was on prior to his ordination and how he progressed through the events of holy week only to stall in the Garden … over and over his mentor-guide would say “Brian go back to the garden … go back to the garden …”
Until Brian, out of sheer frustration said “God, what do you want from me?” as he knelt in prayer in the garden … then it hit him … he was in too much of a hurry to move from the garden through deep dark events of Holy Week and stand at the tomb … in his frustration the light went on so too speak … his mentor wanted him to stop avoiding the uncomfortable places … to linger in the darkness and to understand and experience what lessons those shadowy place offer …
As a Church, Fr. Brian went on to reflect, we’re too anxious to get to the Empty Tomb of Easter that we don’t want to acknowledge what MUST happen to get there … we want to rush from the Garden to the Garden and skip the beatings, the suffering, the death and the profound aloneness …
And it is in that place- in that dark shadowy place – that the prophet stands calling us not only to linger, but to fully trust God …
As a society and culture, we stand in a tumultuous time that has remarkable parallels to the experiences of the people of Israel … things are NOT what they seemed even a decade ago … our world is gripped with fear and uncertainty … the things that seemed certain and trustworthy in the past are suspect today … and so, our habit is to reach BACK and hold to what is familiar and comfortable … and yet, we hear the voice of the Spirit speaking through Jeremiah and Jesus, questioning us … is this what God wants of us? Of the Church? Of the people of faith?
Marvin McMickle, a southern Baptist preacher and writer notes of the modern Church “within Congregational life, there is a tendency for the preacher to become preoccupied with such pressing matters as new members’ or confirmation classes; the maintenance or renovation of the church building; whether or not the annual budget will be met; and how to maintain a feeling of intimacy in the face of a rapidly growing or shifting membership. What may be lost in the rush to respond to these issues is the congregation’s responsibility to respond to an escalating problem of homelessness in the community, or overcrowding in the jails, or the abuse of drugs and alcohol in the local schools.”
He goes on to insist that the role of the modern preacher is to sound the alarm that THESE other problems are OUR responsibility, and that we cannot ignore them and remain faithful to our calling … the voice of the prophet tells us clearly that our task is to move from a place of comfort to a place of discomfort …
The words of Jeremiah and Jesus are about moving past comfortable ritual and soothing tradition, and LIVING the words of our Faith … living our faith is about being willing to take risks and chances and daring to linger in the shadowy dark corners of our world … living our faith requires sharing and celebrating the vision and calling of our ministry and mission …
As a people of faith – as a Church, we want to avoid those uncomfortable corners … but the prophetic voices of Jeremiah, Jesus and others challenge us to think and act otherwise … in a tumultuous time, what is needed is the living of faith … and that starts with the grounding of prayer, and continues as we TRULY dare to live out our faith and heed the prophetic voices challenging us to trust fully in God rather than heeding the whispers that tell us otherwise ...
May it be so – thanks be to God … Let us pray …
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