RBWords

     I have often encountered situations where someone says to me, "I tried to tell him (her, them) but he (she, they) wouldn't listen."  Jeremiah is warned by God that people are not going to welcome what he (Jeremiah) has been commanded to say! The reason seems to be sheer stubbornness in pursuing a course of action that would bring disaster on them.  I have to say, personally, that I have experienced that kind of stubbornness in individuals or in a group.  Jeremiah knows that he has to say what God tells him to say.  He also complains about having to do it because he knows the stubbornness of the audience as well.  The Israelites thought they knew better than God and put their hopes in an alliance with Egypt against Babylon.  The policy failed disastrously for them and they were taken into exile.

     Whether it be as an individual or as a nation, stubbornness in a destructive course is a tragedy.  Naaman the Syrian (in yesterday's scripture) at least knew how to listen even if his pride was wounded.  On the national level, we Americans often embrace the notion of "American exceptionalism" which holds that we are not like the rest of the world and that "God is on our side."  On an individual level, we make lifestyle choices that destroy our bodies and minds, often in pursuit of wealth.  Jeremiah, like most of the prophets, learned how deaf and stubborn a people can be.  Jesus, in today's gospel, is accused of being a servant of the devil!  Nevertheless, both Jesus and Jeremiah remind us that we cannot afford to say, "They won't listen to me."  We cannot withdraw God's message into our private little worlds because we think nobody cares.  We may have to learn new ways of communicating, but there will always be new ways of being stubborn as well.  God's message is worth the effort and frustration that can come at times.  AMEN