He’s No Yes-Man

There is a tendency in human social interaction to present things in the best light possible. At times this even drifts into falsifying the news to appease. Offering what one perceives the hearer wants to hear is no favor ultimately. The temptation to present a story just to avoid the discomfort of offering bad news is too common.

That is not what we find with the prophet Jeremiah, however. Jeremiah is delivering the harsh things to come, given the disobedience that has become a deep pattern. His words can be beautifully poetic, but very hard to stomach. Receiving such a warning takes courage:  

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse-- a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.

"For my people are foolish,
they do not know me;

they are stupid children,
they have no understanding.

They are skilled in doing evil,
but do not know how to do good."

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.

I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro. …

For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.

Because of this, the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above grow black;

for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back. (Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-24, 27-28)

You can see how the prophet does not hold back. He does not paint with rosy hues what is coming to Jerusalem (or to us.)  Here in late summer, we get a whole basket of scripture lessons that are as foreboding and penitential as we expect in the season of Lent. Still, we learn in taking the message seriously that the prophet’s warning is not to scare the audience but to prod us to prepare for the mercy of God. To recognize how lost we are is to welcome the Savior who seeks the lost. Luke records in his Gospel these words of Jesus in the parable of the lost sheep: “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Shall we be honest with our deep need for God, and thus deeply realize God’s kindness in rescuing us? Every day, such a process is in order.