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.
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.
