Jeremiah’s beating and imprisonment did not deter him from
speaking the truth, whether it was popular or not. It is easy to see why the
officials would be upset with him for telling that the best course of action
was to surrender, to go out and give yourselves over to the Chaldeans in order
that you live, that there was no hope in holding out against the enemy. We would definitely call that an act of
treason wouldn’t we? The problem was
that his words were true and he was only attempting to save people from the
coming judgment of the Lord who was using the Babylonians as the instrument of
judgment. King Zedekiah was too weak to
stop the officials and gave permission to do what they wanted to the prophet,
which was to put him into the cistern, sinking in the mud. He was also too weak to oppose the Ethiopian
eunuch’s effort to save Jeremiah and so gave permission to do that as
well. The life of a prophet isn’t easy.
It is a palatable idea to think of risking the opinion of “the
world” to align with Jesus but it is more difficult when the opposition is
close to home. Jesus promises that
division, opposition and even persecution will come from those who are family
and friends. In Nazi Germany such things
were the norm. Such was the devotion
demanded by the state that no loyalty was to be greater and, therefore, family
members would be encouraged to tell the state of any subversive activity by
those close to them and, indeed, it was a regular occurrence for someone to be
betrayed by their nearest and dearest. Jesus
says that if you are unwilling to bet everything on Him, even to the point of
losing your life for Him, you are unworthy.
Where do we compromise and fail this simple test? Are you afraid of sharing your faith for fear
someone will think you simple or a fanatic?
If we can’t pass the small tests, how will we ever pass the larger ones?
I love the last statement in the reading, “all things should
be done decently and in order,” as much as the next person but the context is
important. Paul is talking about a worship service where some people prophesy,
some give words in tongues, some interpret, some bring songs, all bring something
to the worship. We have professionalized
worship and would rarely think of allowing anyone else to participate except
the ordained and the worship leaders. We
allow the laity to speak when we give them the words they should speak in the
liturgy but no other time. Perhaps that
has contributed to the laity’s sense of feeling unprepared to speak in private
as well. We don’t encourage enough
theological reflection and we expect little of the Spirit working in people’s
hearts and minds. Knowing the truth can
embolden people, we need to own our beliefs more than reading alone allows us
to do. If we are to be able to suffer,
we need to fully understand the truth.
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