Jeremiah 28:7-9

“As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” vs. 9

Upon hearing the words of Jeremiah, the prophet Hananiah upped the ante by repeating his prediction that peace was just around the corner for Judah, and Jeremiah went away in silence. He didn’t believe the prophecy of peace, but only time would reveal the truth. That’s what makes it so hard to figure out what we should believe about the future. The current COVID predicament is a case in point. Everyone knows that the virus is going to hang around for a time, but what shall we do in the meantime? Our experts are giving contrary directions, and some are doing it with great certainty. But which prophet shall we believe? The one who says it’s safe to resume normal activities with some precautions or the ones who say the worst is yet to come? Under what conditions shall our schools reopen? Right now the politicians hold the purse strings–their decisions will direct us. Shall we believe them? And what about churches? When will they be safe for in-person worship? We’re craving a Jeremiah with some definitive word from the Lord. And the truth is that we’re just not going to know–we have to wait until time reveals what was right. And that’s not easy to do! Especially when decisions have to be made.

Thought for the Day: What has helped with my reopening choices in recent weeks?

Jeremiah 28:5-6

“and the prophet Jeremiah said, ‘Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles.” vs. 6

Jeremiah wasn’t the only prophet in town during the years of his ministry. There were many rivals and he was familiar with them all. One of them, Hananiah, was a particular favorite of the Jerusalem elite because he brought words from the Lord that perfectly aligned with the desires of their hearts. He told the gathered priests that Jeremiah was wrong–the country faced a return to prosperity and not destruction–and he said it with passion. Jeremiah responded with sarcasm, a handy tool for a prophet, and said “Amen” to what Hananiah had said. “It would be nice if the country had a rosy future–who could be against that!” In our time we see this in the ongoing conversation about global warming. Right now the Hananiahs have the center stage and the power to control the narrative. It would be nice if those who paint beautiful pictures of the future were right and the nay-sayers were wrong. Unfortunately just making stuff up and making optimistic projections doesn’t do a thing to alter the real consequences of climate change. Sadly, it could very well be that once again the Jeremiahs will have the last word, no matter how much we might like them to be wrong.

Thought for the Day: Why was Jeremiah so pessimistic?

Matthew 10:35-39

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” vs. 34

There are many who wish that Matthew had not bothered to include these words of Jesus in his gospel. They’re disquieting and harsh, especially to those who love harmony in daily living. Frankly it would be nice if we could just take scissors to these verses and excise them from the text, something that Thomas Jefferson actually did in his personal version of the gospels. The problem is that it’s important for us to hear what Jesus had to say, even if we don’t like what he said. He’s obviously not talking about arming his disciples and having them carry weapons as a part of their mission. But he is saying that our obsession with harmony in relationships can keep us from our call to speak the truth in the course of our ministries. In our efforts to be nice and inoffensive we bite our tongues and ignore comments and behaviors that we know in our hearts are wrong. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with being on good terms with family and friends, but harmony can never be the highest value for followers of Jesus. That doesn’t mean seeing how many folks we can get to “unfriend” us on Facebook–being offensive is no virtue in itself! But our integrity as Christians demands truthfulness, and possibly alienating someone that we love.

Thought for the Day: Which is more important to me, being “nice” or honest?

Matthew 10:24-33

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted.” vss. 29-30

Discipleship was harrowing work in those early years and Matthew remembered that Jesus had told them it would not be easy, that people would treat them like they treated him, and life would be difficult. But Jesus had also assured his followers that they would be taken care of, that none of them would be deserted by God. As bad as we might think we have it in this strange year of 2020, most don’t have to worry about the kind of persecutions experienced in the early church. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have concerns. Many struggle with identity issues and wonder about the vastness of the universe. How can individuals possibly have any value in the whole scope of existence? It’s here that Jesus’ words speak to us with comfort and clarity. If God’s eye is on the sparrow, then there is surely hope for us–in fact, even the hairs of our heads are numbered! All this makes sense when we realize the interconnection of God and the creation. The One who breathed life into the universe through the Christ continues to be intimately connected to all that exists through that same Christ. As the old saying goes, “God doesn’t make junk.” We might not seem significant to ourselves, but each of us contains a spark of the divine, and that gives us inestimable value!

Thought for the Day: When do I feel most valuable?

Romans 6:1b-11

“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” vss. 1b-2

At some point it became fashionable for Christians to speak of their personal relationship to Jesus and many have become comfortable with that kind of talk. They’ve learned to recount the story of their conversion and what it is like to have Jesus come into their lives. In some parts of the church such testimony is a favored evangelism tool. Obviously it’s good to be able to speak of faith in personal terms, and some of us have encounters with Jesus that are worth sharing, but to make salvation dependent on personal experience is contrary to the gospel. It is Christ who has died to sin and now leads a new life. That happened a long time ago on the cross, and by grace it is for all people. Now when Paul proclaimed that message, some concluded that they could do whatever they pleased, that their actions were immaterial. Paul disagrees vehemently! Since we are in Christ and he is dead to sin, that ought to be our modus operandi too! But he always speaks in terms of the community, not the individual! And it’s not our salvation that he’s concerned about–that’s been taken care of–it’s our response to salvation that’s on his mind. And that’s what should be on our minds too! How shall we respond to the grace that has saved us, doing what we please, or what pleases God?

Thought for the Day: When did I figure out that salvation is by grace?

Psalm 69:16-18

“Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.” vs. 16

Sometimes life seems to drag on and on with no discernible changes in our circumstances or condition. In those moments our feelings of impatience are often reflected in our prayers. Since we’ve been told and have come to believe that our Lord is full of steadfast love and abundant mercy, it’s hard to understand why our situation continues to be miserable. Why is there no answer from this loving Lord that we’ve served for all of our lives? And as God remains silent, like the psalmist, we can’t help but respond with a “For Pete’s sake, Lord, hurry up! I can’t hold out much longer on my own!” It’s like we’re in a giant waiting room with hundreds of people all holding a number, and the numbers are being called randomly instead of consecutively–and our’s never gets called! It’s even more aggravating when people who showed up after us get their numbers called before us, and we wonder at the injustice of the system. If God really is full of abundant mercy why do we remain so miserable! The big question is, how long should we go on praying? Maybe we should just give up! That sounds good sometimes, except for one thing: if we give up we have no hope at all! And so we keep on praying–and in the praying itself we find the relief we crave! It really is a miracle!

Thought for the Day: What benefits does the process of praying give?

Psalm 69:7-10

“It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” vs. 9

We don’t know that Jeremiah wrote any psalms, but given the prophetic tone of Psalm 69, he could have penned its words. In every age prophets spoke with passion and paid for it with rejection and persecution. Even friends and relatives turned against them. It’s that prophetic part of discipleship that is a huge stumbling block for us. Many followers of Jesus want nothing more than peace and harmony in their lives. We love to be liked and receive the praise of others. We want the approval of those who are close to us and if someone becomes upset with what we’ve said or done we can’t even sleep at night. So when the Christ within starts burning our hearts with unpopular convictions we do our best to keep the words from crossing our lips, or at least water them down to avoid giving offense. Often that works well–many of us can go years without ever being offensive. We even count that as a virtue and may even imagine that if Jesus had been more careful about what he said he wouldn’t have been put to death. Thank God that not everyone feels this way, and that there are Jeremiahs among us who don’t give a fig about being liked, and who speak boldly in the face of injustice. They are the true heroes of the faith and it’s through their provocative words that change happens in this world of darkness.

Thought for the Day: For what am I willing to risk disharmony in my relationships?

Jeremiah 20:11-13

“But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.” vs. 11

Through the centuries prophets have clung to their visions and dreams with a tenacious optimism that could not be extinguished even in the face of intense opposition and persecution. Jeremiah was carried away against his will to the land of Egypt. John the Baptist lost his head; Jesus was crucified and Stephen stoned. Their words have become our scriptures! In our times Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech lives on long after his assassination in Memphis. Even now there is a sense that one day bigotry and injustice will be at an end, that there is in our universe a trajectory that leads toward the peaceable kingdom, that goodness will have the last and the triumphant word. Sometimes, when violence erupts and ugly speech is heard, it’s hard to hang on to that optimistic perspective. We say to one another, “Well, this is how it’s always been, and this is the way it will always be! Life will never change.” But that’s not true! Of course there will be backsliding and reversals, human sin is tenacious and slippery, but we can’t give up on the vision. Christ is present in our world and is using even unwilling vessels to bring justice, love and peace to all. The dream is becoming reality!

Thought for the Day: What changes for good have happened in the last 100 years?

Wrong button pushed…premature publication.

Jeremiah 20:7-10

“For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.” vs. 8

Jeremiah gives us a glimpse of his mindset in today’s passage and he obviously wasn’t enjoying his work as prophet. The message given him by the Lord sparked resentment in all that heard it, and he was regularly mocked on all the social media networks. He was a laughingstock in the streets and even his friends had turned against him. But he couldn’t keep his mouth shut! When he tried to remain quiet, a passion boiled up in his heart, and he gave voice to the words of doom given him by the Lord. That’s how it is with prophets! We see that clearly in these turbulent times. Some people just can’t be still! We hear their provocative words and think to ourselves, “Why can’t they just shut up? All that divisive rhetoric does no one any good–they’re making a bad situation worse.” When their words are offensive to us it’s hard to think of them as prophets–in our minds they’re only self-serving trouble-makers. But that’s exactly what the people of Jerusalem thought about Jeremiah. Could it be that some of the provocateurs who get under our skins are actually bringing a word from the Lord? It’s easy in our complacency to overlook injustice and it’s always easier to ignore problems when they don’t directly affect us. Maybe a jolting word from the Lord is exactly what we need!

Thought for the Day: What keeps me from being a prophet?