The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 21  Read: Jeremiah 15 Listen: (3:49) Read: Galatians 6 Listen: (2:18)

Aug 22  Read: Jeremiah 16 Listen: (3:52) Read: 1 Thessalonians 1 Listen: (1:27)

Aug 23  Read: Jeremiah 17 Listen: (4:50) Read: 1 Thessalonians 2 Listen: (2:53)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 15.18-19

18 Why is my pain unending 
and my wound grievous and incurable? 
You are to me like a deceptive brook, 
like a spring that fails. 
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says: 
“If you repent, I will restore you 
that you may serve me; 
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, 
you will be my spokesman. 
Let this people turn to you, 
but you must not turn to them.

Reflection: The Weeping Enduring Prophet

By John Tillman

Jeremiah was faithful for a long time.

God made Jeremiah a wall of bronze that the people would fight against but never overcome. (Jer 1.18-19) God also warned Jeremiah that the people would not listen or respond to correction (Jer 7.27-28).

For Jeremiah, telling the truth has not brought measurable success. He has been rejected rather than revered and persecuted rather than praised. Earlier in his writings, he complained that the people had been deceived by false prophets of peace.

Even though God told Jeremiah from the beginning that the people wouldn’t listen, he must have hoped that they would. Now, that frustration spills out. Jeremiah complains to God that he has been “like a deceptive brook” or a “spring that fails.”

We often call Jeremiah the “weeping prophet.” He is open with his emotions about both national and personal issues.  He mourns the events he prophesies against Judah. He laments the rejection, abuse, and torture he endures at the hands of religious and political leaders.

But Jeremiah is also the enduring prophet. No matter what insults they throw at him or what pit they throw him down into, he holds firm to the truth.

Jeremiah was never taken to Babylon, but in many ways, he was an exile right in his own country. Most of us will never know what it was like for Daniel to be kidnapped and taken to a distant country as a slave. But we might identify with Jeremiah who watched his own country change for the worse despite his best efforts. Judah became a place where, “Truth has perished…vanished from their lips.” (Jer 7.27-28)

Learn from Jeremiah’s determination, toughness, and emotional vulnerability. Jeremiah cries, but never compromises. He complains, but never surrenders. He calls for rescue, but never stops resisting. It’s good to weep, but we must also endure.

Also, learn that God was not upset with Jeremiah either for the failure of his message or his complaining about it. God heard Jeremiah’s complaint and reconfirmed his promise to him that he was and would be God’s faithful spokesman.

We aren’t facing anything as awful as Jeremiah did. But if you are frustrated with stubbornness, corruption, and people refusing to listen, share that with God. God will not be upset with you either. He’ll confirm his promise to you too. Stay faithful to the truth and repent of any bitterness or apathy creeping into your heart.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

But I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me.
In the evening, in the morning, and at noonday, I will complain and lament, and he will hear my voice.
He will bring me safely back…God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me. — Psalm 55.17

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: The Wall or the Wrecking Ball

As a wall, Jeremiah would stand against his peers as they pushed against him, trying to make him crumble.

The Wall or the Wrecking Ball

Read more: Mock, Mock. Who’s There?

Paul warned…investment in fleshly, worldly things, would not yield spiritual, eternal things. To expect so, is to mock God.

Mock, Mock. Who’s There?

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 19  Read: Jeremiah 13 Listen: (4:11) Read: Galatians 4 Listen: (4:13)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 13:7–10

7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Reflection: Burn Out, Rust Out, or Rot Out?

By Erin Newton

There was a saying I heard in seminary: Better to burn out than rust out. A friend would quip: “But either way, you’re out.”

The saying was meant to encourage people to enter ministry with passion and fervor. The saying helped keep the flames of motivation going when long years of service weighed you down. The contrasting negative option was the picture of doing nothing—either through laziness or apathy. Those people rusted. Obviously, fire sounds cooler than oxidation. Duh.

Yet the friend’s retort was telling: Neither ash heaps or rust are helpful tools.

Then there’s a third image of being “out”—Jeremiah’s depiction of the rotten linen belt.

Linen is a fiber, one we tend to relate to for its coolness, comfort, sturdiness, and breathability. But it’s a natural fiber which means it’s of this earth—from dust it came and to dust it shall return. (Which in its purest state means it won’t leave pollutants in creation.)

While linen can start decomposing within weeks, this belt is meant to be purposefully worn. Belts are utilitarian. Belts are secured to their wearer.

Israel and her pride were this belt. But they had turned to worshiping other gods. They became stubborn and neglected their duties. The purpose and utility they were supposed to perform were tossed aside. So God says he will bury this belt. To dust it will return. When it is dug up, it’ll be tattered and weak—useless.

So now I amend that seminary saying: You can burn out, rust out, or rot out—but either way you’re out. What’s the better solution? Even if you aren’t in ministry. What if you’re just trying to live your life in a way that honors Christ? 

Burning out might look flashy and impressive, but there is purpose to retreating and relaxing. Some might assume you can only fight fire with fire, but we know that water will also do the trick. 

Rusting out from apathy is truly shameful. Laziness is not any better. I guess rust is still our lesser preference. 

Rotting out would be to deny our call, forsake our God, and refuse to change. The rusty ones might not be too helpful but they are still faithful. Rotting out is the bottom of the list. 

What should we do instead? 

Look out – for God’s direction. 

Cry out – for God’s wisdom. 

Work out – our salvation with fear and trembling.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your name’s sake. — Psalm 79.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: A Neglected Garment

Let us consider ourselves with sober judgment. Do we treat our status under Jesus with disdain? Neglect? Pride?

A Neglected Garment

Read more: Why the Cross?

Why the cross?…people express discomfort with the cross. “Isn’t it gross?” “Isn’t it violent?”

Why The Cross?

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 17  Read: Jeremiah 11 Listen: (4:09) Read: Galatians 2 Listen: (3:44)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 11.14-16

Reflection: From Worthless to World-Changing

By John Tillman

In Jeremiah’s day, worship thrived, but the city’s and nation’s spiritual condition was flatlined. Josiah’s revival had brought soaring attendance and restored worship practices, but the effects didn’t last long.

If Jeremiah evaluated Jerusalem’s worship as an industry, he might call it booming. People and priests ate holy, consecrated meals at the temple. He could smell the meat of sacrifices burning and cooking, hear prayers and songs, and measure the economic activity of buying and selling animals, grain, oil, and wine for the offerings. But that isn’t how God evaluates worship. God looked at all these activities and asked Jeremiah, “What are they doing?” (Jer 11.15)

What made God question their worship? What made it worthless instead of world-changing?

Sometimes God condemns worshipers for cheating him by offering sick, deformed, or dying animals (Mal 1.8). But that issue doesn’t appear in Jeremiah’s writings. The problem wasn’t corrupt ceremonies in the temple but corrupt hearts in the worshipers and corrupt actions in the city. Jeremiah condemned idol worship, wickedness, and evil schemes. 

Modern people don’t often build idol statues but don’t let that give you a false sense of superiority. We just express idolatry differently. If all our idols were visible statues, our cities would be littered with them.

Would God ever look at our worship activities and say, “What are they doing?”

If he did, he wouldn’t judge our worship by the data of our attendance, the decibels of our singing, or the decimals of our giving. God looks past the outer measurements of worship to the inner condition of the heart (1 Sam 16.7). Heart condition is measured by different data. Out of the heart, the mouth speaks and the person acts (Matt 15.18-19; Luke 6.45; Pro 17.3; 21.2; 27.19).

Worship should make you ask the same question God asked: What am I doing?

Look for idolatry in yourself the way God does—look at the results. The idol of indifference makes us shrug at injustice against others. The idol of favoritism fuels oppression of enemies. The idol of violence celebrates war. The idol of gluttony (whether for wealth, pleasure, food, or drink) results in starvation.

Jeremiah called often for changes in society but none of that was possible without changes of the heart. Outward changes, whether in your personal life or community, grow from inward changes. Allow God to change you and your world can change.

True worship changes your world, beginning with the inner world of the heart.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Hear the voice of my prayer when I cry out to you, when I lift up my hands to your holy of holies. — Psalm 28.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Apotheosis of Politics

The way the founding fathers (or current want-to-be leaders) are venerated as if they were apostles or Moses or Jesus, frightens me.

Apotheosis of Politics

Read more: To Kill a Prophet

There is a risk when you confront bad behavior or rebuke fellow believers. Sin has a way of infecting our hearts…

To Kill a Prophet