Word to the Wise
Thursday, March 16, 2023 - 3rd Week of Lent - Thurs
[Jer 7:23-28 and Luke 11:14-23]Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces to me.....When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech. [Jeremiah]
Jeremiah is traditionally referred to as "the reluctant prophet." This is not just because of his initial resistance to the call he received from God [Jer. 1:4-19], but also his complaints about the difficulty of the calling throughout his ministry. His dramatic prophecy (as well as his complaints) have given birth to a word in English: "jeremiad." One can hardly blame him, given the difficulty of confronting an entire nation with their failure to live in accord with the very covenant that created them and sustained them throughout their history.
The role of a prophet is to hold up a mirror and ask if the image is in accord with God's will. He or she can expect hostility. This is especially true when the message challenges widespread prejudice against different classes of people or reveals ugly history continuing into the present time. Ask anyone who dares to raise the history of ethnic discrimination and violence in our own nation! Ask anyone who dares to raise a voice against elective abortion! A preacher who dares to mention these topics will be accused of "preaching politics." The parable of the Last Judgment in the Gospel According to Matthew [25:31-45] seems often to have fallen on deaf ears and hard hearts: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for these least brothers of mine, you did for me....Whatever you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me."
Jeremiah hated his calling because he knew that he would be opposed and persecuted for what God commanded him to say. But if his or other great prophetic voices do not prevail over the forces of secular deafness and darkness, our future will be dark indeed. Lent is a good time to confront our biases and prejudices that can keep us from "seeing the Lord" in others and responding to their needs. Has "faithfulness" been banished from our speech? Jeremiah and Jesus are waiting for our reply. AMEN