Biblical Words [588]
God
calls prophets to deliver news both bad and good, but even good news can threaten privileged home folks.
The prophetic reading is the report, in the first person, of
Jeremiah’s appointment as a prophet.
The readings of the lectionary for this period are still concerned with
beginnings, beginning assignments for God’s work in both judgment and
salvation.
Jeremiah experienced God’s call as something he was fated to
before he was even a glint in the priest Hilkiah’s eye (see 1:1). The language is impressive:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you (verse 5, NRSV
The mystery of his own personal
being – which Jeremiah will discover God treats as his own property, whatever
Jeremiah may want – is part of a larger plan that is working out the destinies
of peoples and nations.
Thus, Jeremiah has been consecrated,
set aside for a holy use, before he even appeared on the human scene. Which, translated into career terms, means
Jeremiah has been appointed “a prophet to the nations” (verse 5).
His – as it turns out – very long
career of delivering hard messages and living through the consequences has to
do with the nations. That is,
it has to do with world history, the great powers on the horizon as well as the
pesky and competing small-power neighbors all around the kingdom
of Judah
As Jeremiah recalled his
experience by hindsight, he had tried hard to avoid that call. “I’m a mere adolescent,” he pleaded! In his memory, there was also some concrete
act (probably an induction ritual of some kind) by which God transmitted the
power of speech to him (verse 9). This
power would tyrannize over, as well as empower, Jeremiah. (He complains of the tyranny in
20:7-10.) Jeremiah is also repeatedly
assured that he should not fear, because God will be with him – and that will
be enough.
So what is all this for? What is the prophetic office to do?
God provides a prophet and
repeatedly gives oracles because the looming disaster and doom is not
meaningless – it is not random and senseless destruction and disaster. It is the judgment of God, with a will and
even a compassion behind it.
These things, both the judgment and
the compassion, are pointed to by the statement of Jeremiah’s assignment:
Today I appoint you over nations and
over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant (verse 10).
Four out of six verbs refer to
coming destruction; two – the last two – refer to restoration and renewal. The heavy message is up front, but there is
some hope for those who survive the deluge.
Psalm
71:1-6.
This Psalm reading looks to many commentators like something Jeremiah would have composed.
The speaker prays for protection
from adversaries. Part of the appeal for
help is based on the speaker’s attachment to the Lord since before birth –
through pre-natal dedication, as in the case of Hannah’s consecration of Samuel
(I Samuel 1)? Both the language and the
thoughts of this reading recur often in the book of Jeremiah, for example, in Jeremiah
11:18-20 17:14 -18.
This reading, echoing Jeremiah,
shows that God’s call may lead to opposition,
to dangerous adversaries. God’s servant
prays for deliverance, though knowing that suffering and trouble come with the
job – sometimes even unto death.
I
Corinthians 13:1-13.
The Epistle reading continues the discussion of charismatic gifts and
the Body of Christ.
The previous discussion has
included prominently the gift of prophecy, but there is something greater
than prophecy. This passage, which treats this “more excellent way” in the
loftiest and most eloquent language, is devoted to the supreme gift of the
Spirit, agape, translated in older times as “charity,” in more
modern idiom as “love.”
This is the gift of the Spirit that
makes possible the harmony of all the other functions and offices within the
Body of Christ. (See especially verses
4-7.) This amazing poem to love is
nested between long discussions of prophetic powers and speaking in tongues,
but it is itself the simplest and most profound statement of the secret of life
in Christ.
The Gospel reading continues Luke’s story of Jesus inaugurating
his mission in Nazareth
Quickly the reaction sets in. These
folks in the Nazareth
Their considered response is, Who is this? And they think they know the answer: it is Joseph’s son, the familiar young man
about their town who recently went off and got too large a dose of religion
from that wild man on the Jordan River in Judah Israel
Actually most of the people’s
response is learned from what Jesus says about it. “You will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor,
cure yourself!’” (verse 23). He tells
them that they will expect him to do miracles like those rumored in other
towns, and in general he points out to them that “no prophet is accepted in the
prophet’s hometown” (verse 24, NRSV ).
The most far-reaching criticism
contained in Jesus’ sermon, however, has to do with the nations. Jesus cites
from the scriptures cases of God’s mercy shown to foreigners rather than
self-righteous Israelites. “There were
many widows in Israel Sidon Israel Israel
The reaction of the people of Nazareth Israel Israel
This denial of Israelite privilege
and status precipitates a riot. The mob drags Jesus out to a cliff – Nazareth
Since my adolescent Bible reading I have been intrigued with this statement. It has such simplicity and, on consideration, is so appropriate to conclude the scene. The violence has come to the surface, it has brimmed over, but the Anointed One passes through and gets on with his prophetic mission to the poor and the oppressed.
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