4th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 8A

4th Sunday after Pentecost-Proper 8A June 28, 2020 How on earth do we know who to listen to? We find ourselves in the midst of a world of competing claims which we as a society are now confronted with — everything from how to be safe in the midst of a global pandemic to the issues of race and how police function in our society. How on earth do we know who to listen to? This is not a new question for the people of God, and this Sunday’s Old Testament reading has been a helpful one for me to ponder and reflect upon during this unsettled season. We find ourselves reading a later portion in the book of Jeremiah. You will recall last week that we read Jeremiah’s lament about how God continues to call him to preach an unpopular message to the people of Jerusalem, calling them to repent or to face the coming destruction of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. Jeremiah feels that God’s call to preach this has made him a laughingstock, and he protests this treatment from God even as he proclaims God’s faithfulness and how God will vindicate him. This week, we have a tale of two prophets who are proclaiming conflicting messages to the people of Jerusalem. Since our reading from last week, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has conquered Jerusalem, deposed and deport the rightful king and replaced him with a puppet king for Babylon. God has told Jeremiah to start wearing a yoke around town as a symbol of the yoke that Babylon has put on the people of Jerusalem, so we have dour, old Jeremiah, wearing his yoke, and preaching about how Jerusalem needs to repent and prepare to bear the punishment of God as represented in the yoke of the Babylonian oppression. But then a group of their neighbors comes to Jerusalem with a plot to overthrow the Babylonians, and our reading from today picks up. The prophet Hananiah speaks to Jeremiah in the temple in the presence of the priests and the people, and he tells Jeremiah, “‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” This sounds like good news for the people who have been oppressed and longing to throw off the yoke of their oppressor. God’s going to take care of it. But then, as our reading for today picks up, Jeremiah replies, ““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. But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 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.” We’ll know that you are a true prophet, Jeremiah tells Hananiah, when the words of your prophecy come true. “The proof of a prophet is in the pudding.” I bet you can’t guess what happens next! At that point in the story, the prophet Hananiah seizes the yoke around Jeremiah’s neck (in front of all the priests and people), and he breaks it. And not long after that, God sends Jeremiah with a prophecy to Hananiah, that Hananiah has broken the wooden yoke, but he will find it replaced with a yoke of iron. Jeremiah tells Hananiah that Hananiah is not a true prophet of Yahweh, and that Hananiah has made the people believe a lie. And then, the book of Jeremiah tells us, Hananiah dies. Eventually King Zedekiah joins with his neighbors to try to overthrow the Babylonians which ends with a siege and destruction of Jerusalem, including the temple, all of Zedekiah’s sons being slain by Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah being blinded and led away in chains to Babylon. We see in these two prophets two competing calls. The siren song of the call of Hananiah is a call to comfort, that God will take care of them and will remove the yoke of their oppressors. The call of Jeremiah is one that is much more difficult to follow. It is the call to peace and justice; it is the call of atonement; the call of living in a difficult place as a result of the faithlessness of the people. Jeremiah’s call is the call to the people of God to adapt to a changing world. How on earth do we know who to listen to right now? If this story is any indication, then we, the people of God, need to remember that the one we need to listen to is probably the one we don’t want to hear. One of the writers of the commentary that I read weekly shared this: “Several years ago, in a national urban ministry conference, one of the keynote speakers made this unforgettable statement, which seemed almost like a sidebar: ‘There are two great pathologies in our culture today. One of them is denial. The only antidote for denial is radical truth-telling. The other great pathology is despair. The only antidote for despair is radical hope, grounded in community.”i We need to be people of radical hope, grounded in radical truth-telling and rooted in community. We need each other more than ever to help us discern who we listen to and how we move forward. But the good news is that we have gifts and our gifts are adaptable. So this week, I invite you to ponder on a few things. 1. What truth might be found in the voice that you don’t want to listen to right now? 2. What are the gifts of this community? And how is God calling us to adapt to a changing world? 3. How might you, as an individual, be inspired to help us adapt the gifts of St. Thomas for use in the world in which we find ourselves? And as a part of your invitation this week, I invite you to consider joining Rev. Aimee and me in watching two videos that we have carefully selected and then joining us in a conversation on Zoom on Wednesday night at 6 about the videos, about race, and about what we are learning about ourselves while listening for truth in voices we are not always so comfortable listening to. We’ve both wrestled with this together and individually. We think it is an important conversation to have as a community of faith, even as we recognize the trust and the vulnerability that this conversation may require of us as leaders and of you as participants. All are invited to join us, and none are required. But know that the conversations will be conducted with respect, candor, no judgement and great care for every one. i. Bailey, Douglass M. Homiletical Perspective Proper 8. Feasting on the Word. Year A Vol. 3. Ed. Bartlett and Brown Taylor. Westminster John Knox: 2011, p 175.