Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 30, 2022                           (today’s lectionary)
Jeremiah and Jesus
The word of the Lord came to me. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, I dedicated you as a prophet to the nations. I have appointed you. Gird up your loins and stand up!
Jeremiah is in trouble. God has chosen him as his instrument, his mouthpiece, his prophet. Betrayals and even attempted murder, exile, rejection, even the death of his wife follow in the wake of God’s determination to speak through Jeremiah to his people Israel, who have left their faith in Yahweh far behind. But really, Jeremiah is in the hands of his Maker and his Friend.
I will not leave you crushed on their account. It is I who have made you a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass against the whole land, against Judah’s kings and princes, against its priests and people. They will not prevail over you, says the Lord.
Today’s lectionary juxtaposes the hard-like-flint story of Jeremiah’s life as persecuted prophet, with Paul’s generous and grateful description of love in his letter to the Corinthians. Makes me think. Why?
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous or rude, it does not seek its own interests and is not quick-tempered. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing.
Jeremiah loses his cool more than once in the stories that follow his call from God. At times he does seem to rejoice in the failures of those who have turned away from God. Like any of us he is sometimes overwhelmed and enraged by the situation God keeps him in.
You seduced me, Lord, and I was seduced. You were too strong for me, and you prevailed. Now all day long I am an object of laughter. All around, everyone mocks me. (Jeremiah 20)
At times God shows compassion on his servant, but mostly he just gives him more impossible work to do. And Jeremiah does the work, Jeremiah speaks the words he has been given to speak. It’s easy for me to say, but it’s true. God IS LOVE.
Love rejoices with the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. Love never fails.
This is GOD we’re talking about here. YAHWEH is LOVE. Jeremiah is not God, he is God’s prophet. And God loves him very much.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the Perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now I know in part; then I shall know in full, even as I am fully known.
Jeremiah’s persistence pays off. God’s love rolls over him like a cool mountain stream. Even as he laments, he receives the grace and mercy and peace of God that mark a well-lived life.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3) …
Margaret and I sang a medley of worship songs in Mt. Pulaski after we were married, and we sang this song. Even as the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and carry off the people, Jeremiah is reassured, and we are too.
In you I take refuge, rescue and deliver me, listen and save me, for you are my only hope. You have taught me from my youth, and I will sing of your salvation.
But God insists that his people accept His direction.
Build houses and settle down, then seek the peace of the city where you live in exile. And in seventy years I will fulfill my good promise. I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. You will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I WILL BE FOUND BY YOU. (Jeremiah 29)
In the Nazarene synagogue, Jesus read from a scroll of Isaiah. But he also told stories about Elijah and Elisha, and as he was shouted at and driven out to be murdered, he surely remembered Jeremiah as well.
No prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Jeremiah and Jesus were both called to wield a sword, not a whisk. Both insisted, at God’s command, that their hearers choose the kingdom of God, or continue following their own way.
And Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.
(Jeremiah 1, Psalm 71, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Luke 4)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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