“How well do WE listen?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, March 30, 2023
Jeremiah 26:1-16 (Forward, p. 60) CEV p. 795
Often in the Scriptures there is a distinction between hearing, that is, taking in the message with our outward ears, and actually listening, actually pondering the message, accepting it and acting upon it. Such was the tension that Jeremiah repeatedly faced during his time as a prophet. We see some of that in today’s passage.
God has given Jeremiah some very strong and pointed words to convey to the people of Judah who come to worship in God’s Temple in Jerusalem. He warns them that unless they pay attention this time, and stop their wrongdoing, they will most surely face God’s punishment. And, not only that, they need to start obeying God’s laws and teachings. If they don’t the Temple—and Jerusalem itself—will be destroyed, empty and in ruins.
And how did people react? You guessed it, they rose up in arms against Jeremiah and his message. The prophets associated with the Temple, the priests and everyone there immediately found offence with his message, and the royal officers went one step further and had him arrested and forced to stand trial—all because they didn’t like what he had to say. In fact, many of those present were loud in exclaiming that Jeremiah deserved the death penalty.
The judges, however, were of a saner frame of mind. They explained that Jeremiah was only saying what he believed God was telling him to say. And then leaders from other towns backed this up by recounting a bit of past history. A previous prophet, Micah, had prophesied this sort of thing and the king at the time, Hezekiah, had heeded his message and prayed for his city and people, and thereby, they had been spared God’s intended judgment. Fortunately, for Jeremiah, the judges heard them out and Jeremiah’s life was spared.
But did the king, Jehoiakim, Jerusalem, Judah—or anyone else for that matter—take Jeremiah’s message to heart? Not in the least. In fact, the king even put to death another prophet, Uriah, who came with the same message from God. And, seeing as no one ever really listened to what these prophets had said, listened and responded, then exactly the disasters that the prophets had predicted came to pass.
All of this causes me to ponder about us today: is God sending us some messages about us and the fate of the church or the fate of the world? And what might He be saying? Is His message solely on the ‘religious’ side of things, dealing with things from our personal and church related lives, or could it also have to do with things from a larger and broader scene, touching on things, for instance, like pandemics and health care, global warming and climate change, international trade and relations, artificial intelligence, espionage and international threats to national security and government, reparations for past wrong-doings or injustices, or personal rights and freedoms? And, in this sense, how do we know if it is indeed God who is speaking to us?
Maybe today’s passage gives us some clues. Firstly, the judges in Jeremiah’s took their time and listened to some other voices, voices other than those clamoring for a quick and drastic conviction. And secondly, they listened to history, to what God had done in times past. For us, that is the testimony of the church and the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, which, in the latter case, is a steady, reliable and trust-worthy guide. It is my conviction that God is indeed trying to speak to us today, and in many varying ways, and so what we need to do is to listen, to consult together, and to seek God’s guidance through the Scriptures and through history. Amen.
Forward notes: “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord; speak to them all the words that I command you; do not hold back a word” (verse 2).
“Early in my life of faith, when I was still a teenager, I started praying these words: ‘Lord, make me honest with you and honest with myself.’ I do not recall why I started praying them, though perhaps intuitively I felt my own propensity to obfuscate, to hide like Adam in the garden. Over the years, I have applied that prayer not only regarding my wrongs but also to my life in general.
“The Lord God is telling Jeremiah to speak truth, all the words. As a priest, I understand—though don’t always like—the fact that preaching requires me to speak truth, often uncomfortable truths but always with love, which like sugar, as Mary Poppins would say, helps uncomfortable truth go down.
“Accepting the truth about ourselves—the good, the bad, and the ugly—is at the heart of humility. This is not about self-abasement but rather honouring God’s word in our lives.”
Moving Forward: “What truth is God telling you today?”