Jeremiah 20:7-13 Lectionary Reading Year A Proper 7
7Lord, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded;
You have overcome me and prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I proclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the word of the Lord has [a]resulted
In taunting and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him
Nor speak anymore in His name,”
Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am tired of holding it in,
And I cannot endure it.
10 For I have heard the whispering of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him; let’s denounce him!”
[b]All my trusted friends,
Watching for my fall, say:
“Perhaps he will be persuaded, so that we may prevail against him
And take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a powerful champion;
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be put to great shame because they have [c]failed,
An everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, Lord of armies, who tests the righteous,
Who sees the [d]mind and the heart;
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have disclosed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord!
For He has saved the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.
This passage has the ends chopped off which are really interesting and flavor this middle part of the chapter. the chapter starts off with Jeremiah being jailed and beaten for prophesying negatively against the ruler of the city and when the ruler of the city comes to let him out of jail, Jeremiah tells him the dark bitter end that his pitiful life is about to come to. Boy talk about having no filter! So in verse 9 when he says that he realizes that if he could just shut up, it would be better for him but he tries and he just can’t do it very long, he may be referring to verses 1-6. And after the final verse of this passage where he tells the reader to praise God, he goes on to complain to God that he wishes he was never even born!
This passage of scripture shows us Jeremiah wrestling with trusting God. Things are not working out too well for him externally and yet internally, he knows that he will continue obeying God. So he goes back and forth in his dialogue with the Lord. He is trying to get to a place of peace. He can’t help but speak the truth that God calls him to speak and yet rather than his hearers accept it and repent, they mock him and beat him. He calls for vengeance on them not because he is violent and desires pain and suffering in the lives of others. It is rather because of the pain and suffering that those who reject God are causing others, the poor and needy. v13(the last verse)
One of the themes of this weeks lectionary readings is the pinnacle of this passage found in verse 9. It is the theme of “I can’t help but speak the truth”. Not a very popular thing to do right now but then again, is it ever popular? If speaking the truth were the popular thing to do, then I would question whether it is the truth that we are really speaking about.
In the gospel reading, Jesus reveals this idea to his followers when he says,
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus shows us that when we get the truth of what he is saying, teaching and living, it changes everything and we can never go back to what is not the truth. As hard as it is for us to accept, the people that you love the most, may fight you the hardest as you live into this truth. They are fighting to hold on to a life that they are afraid to lose and the truth will scourge away all the lies we cling to. The truth, while it sets us free, it scares most of us and we would rather live in the promised safety of a lie than the uncertainty of the truth. But as we grow into the truth, we become more and more aware of what is not the truth and we cannot help but reject what is false. Even when it seemingly costs us greatly, we grow in our understanding of the cost of rejecting the truth. Living in a way that we know is not congruent with following our Lord is to drink that which poisons our soul and emaciates our spirit.
Jesus is reassuring His followers that if you are following me and things are not going so well for you, don’t be alarmed, its not supposed to. I’m not here for that. Its going to get rough but if you love me, you will make it. In fact, if it feels like nothing is going your way and you are losing everything, that’s how its supposed to feel. You will discover a new life, in me, that is nothing like your old life! And that is the path to eternal life.