July 18, 2024 - Jeremiah 21-25

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, ‘Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us’” (21: 1-2).  God’s answer to this request?  Nope!  Tidak!  Nyet!  Non!  (“Nope” in various languages.)  The situation reminds one of that in which the parent has told the child, over and over again, “No!”  Furthermore, the parent reminds the child, “I told.  Actions have consequences.  I warned you, if you did A, this would happen.  I warned you, if you did B, you would be punished.”  The petulant child refuses to listen and to act rightly, believing or ignoring the fact that there are consequences to our actions.  And when the consequences arrive, there is great shock:  “And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us?  What is our iniquity?  What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’” (16:10-11).  Who, us?

May the God of hope go with us ev’ry day,

Filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.

May the God of justice speed us on our way,

Bringing light and hope to ev’ry land and race.   –Traditional (1990)