The Park Forum

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.

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…

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 14  Read: Jeremiah 8 Listen: (3:52) Read: James 4 Listen: (2:25)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Aug 15  Read: Jeremiah 9 Listen: (4:38) Read: James 5 Listen: (3:01)
Aug 16  Read: Jeremiah 10 Listen: (3:51) Read: Galatians 1 Listen: (3:05)

Reflection: Can’t Get There From Here

By John Tillman

Today, instead of giving directions, we plug an address into a GPS-enabled device and trust the technology. We used to give landmarks, count intersections, and describe signage. 

“Watch for the sign. You can’t miss it.”
“When you think you’ve gone too far, you are almost there.”
“Take the third right turn past the Big Chicken.”

If the legendary “Big Chicken” landmark in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta ever disappeared, half of Atlanta would be hopelessly lost. The Georgia rock band R.E.M. (who would definitely know the Big Chicken) used another trope of getting directions in their 1985 song, “Can’t Get There From Here.” The phrase humorously implies that you first have to get somewhere else before you can get to where you want to be.

GPS devices are imperfect technology, based on imperfect maps and human observations and measurements. But even the best directions won’t get you where you are going if you fail to follow them.

In the wisdom of God’s law, people of Jeremiah’s day had the best directions from the best source and still ended up hopelessly lost. They made wrong turn after wrong turn. Like a GPS that keeps saying, “Make a u-turn” when you have missed your intersection, prophets like Jeremiah continually tried to correct Jerusalem’s course. 

Jerusalem wanted to return to God’s blessings but wouldn’t return to God. They charged ahead in the wrong direction. Despite ending up in places they didn’t want to be, they weren’t willing to turn around. Are you?

The way of Jesus is a Christian’s “GPS” and Christ’s cross and resurrection is our landmark. Have you lost sight of the landmark? Are you ignoring the call to turn around? Have you ended up somewhere you don’t want to be?

No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14.6). You can’t get there from here, but you can get there through him. Whether it is the first time you turn to Jesus, or whether you’ve lost your way and need to return, at his feet you’ll find the place we need to get to before we can get where we want to be. 

Don’t be too stubborn to admit you need directions, take your foot off the gas, and ask for help. Turn around. When you seek first the kingdom of God, every direction God wants to send you is an open road (Matt 6.33).

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23

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

Read more: To Whom We Draw Near

We must choose whom to resist and whom to draw close to. May we draw close to God and be safely kept in his hand.

Read more: Having vs. Knowing God’s Word

What does it mean to be wise? How can we know if truth and wisdom have been handled falsely?

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 13  Read: Jeremiah 7 Listen: (5:18) Read: James 3 Listen: (2:38)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 7.2-11

2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: “ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 9 “ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,  burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.

Reflection: A Different Kind of Greeter

By John Tillman

Jeremiah wouldn’t make a great church door greeter.

Even as a mostly introverted person, I love churches with smiling, happy, engaging greeters. Having greeters actively welcoming people is an important part of the modern church environment.

God sent Jeremiah to “greet” people at the Temple’s entrance but God didn’t tell him to have a warm smile and a pleasant demeanor. Jeremiah stood at the door and warned people sternly. Imagine a scowling prophet, growling something like the following to you as you arrive to church:

“I don’t care how happy you act when you enter these doors or how much you say you love this place and love God! You must change your ways! You are deceived if you think you can oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed innocent blood, and bow down to other forces and idols, and I won’t notice! Instead of a place of worship, you have made this a den of robbers!”

Jeremiah is hot-tempered and prickly Instead of warm and fuzzy. Jesus remixed Jeremiah when he cleansed the Temple. (Matthew 21.12-14; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45-46)

Unlike modern churches, the Temple was designed only for Jews and believers. There were restrictions on who could enter and how far. Because Jesus did away with those distinctions modern churches welcome anyone, believer or unbeliever, into holy space without exception. The devout believer, the absolute skeptic, and the sin-addicted outsider are all welcome. We are all sick and Jesus is the doctor.

But what if we think we aren’t sick?

Jeremiah’s warning told the seemingly devout they were deceived. They thought they were righteous sheep but were ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7.15; Acts 20.29) They thought they were rich but were poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3.17) Jeremiah, and God, judged them not by their demeanor but their deeds.

As we enter worship, let us imagine a different kind of greeter. As you pass smiling people, ask the Holy Spirit, “What parts of Jeremiah’s warning apply to us today?” Would Jeremiah (or Jesus) say to us, “You have made this a den of robbers”?

Are we shedding blood? (Or profiting from suffering?)
Are we oppressing foreigners or other vulnerable people? (Or supporting those who are?)
Are we devoted to the idols of culture, such as politics, pleasure, wealth, or notoriety?

Don’t despair. When Jesus cleared the temple of “robbers,” he called the wounded to himself. Go to Jesus. Repent. Fall on his mercy and grace.

Divine Hours Prayer:

Jesus taught us, saying: “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:17-19

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

Read more: Where is the Love?

Who does Jesus love? Who or what is he fighting for? …allow Jesus to clean out your Temple courts…Are you willing to let him do it?

Read more: Much Demanded

God judges those with little lightly and those with much heavily. This should be sobering to us who are greatly privileged.

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 12  Read: Jeremiah 6 Listen (5:10) Read: James 2 Listen: (3:32)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 6:16-17

16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.
    But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
    But you said, ‘We will not listen.’

Reflection: Highway of Legends

By Erin Newton

Once every few years, my family drives from Texas to Colorado. There are a few routes you can go, but we generally prefer to go through New Mexico rather than through Kansas. Why? Mountains. We live in such flat terrain that any sort of large hill is worth celebrating. If we can ever make the trip with extra time to spare, we talk about taking the scenic byway in southern Colorado called the “Highway of Legends.” The route takes you past key places from various Colorado lore—what sounds like a contemporary parallel to Jeremiah’s “ancient paths.”

I assume, despite the pleasures of just seeing mountains in the distance, driving through the byways would be pleasant and restful for my soul.

The language of paths and roads reflects the universal and timeless imagery of life as a journey. Each time we are met with various choices or life experiences, we stand at the crossroads. Jeremiah reminds us to look, think, and ask.

The ancient roads are the good paths. This is not some call to live like it was “in the olden days” or to bring back some bygone “great” era again. The good paths are well-worn by saints who have gone before. They are the tracks through the Red Sea, the routes through the Wilderness, and the footsteps across the Jordan.

Jeremiah is calling the people to remember the One who had led them all this way. God is the ancient path. God is the good way. And if they would simply take his hand and walk alongside, they would find rest for their soul.

I am exhausted lately. Is it my own schedule? Is it the frenzy of summer activities? Is it the state of our economy and the strains on our wallets? Is it the constant need to examine information coming our way: is this real, true, unbiased, fair, good, and worth my time?

I long for rest. I read this verse and scoff at the response of the people, “We will not walk in it.” But I’m sure we are tempted to respond in the same way.

God tells us the ancient path is to trust in him. The ancient path is to see that creation is good. The ancient path is to call out for help. The ancient path is to help one another. The good path is listening to the call of God.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

The earth, O Lord, is full of your love; instruct me in your statutes. — Psalm 119.64

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

Read more: Maintain Love and Justice

It is not just modern people who notice one justice system for the poor and another for the rich. Hosea saw and condemned it. Ephraim saw and abused it.

Read more: Cut and Run from False Prophets

Part of the crisis of abuse within the church is that powerful leaders, in God’s name, shamed their victims into silence.