True and False Words from the Lord (7-2-2023)

July 2, 2023

Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (A)

Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42

 I want to say something about our very short gospel reading today. First, though, I’d like to talk a little bit about our first reading from Jeremiah, which I think sheds some light on the gospel, and is in itself an important and timely story for us. Unfortunately, we both started and ended the reading in the middle of the story. So it’s a little hard to follow from the little bit that we read what’s going on.

 You probably remember the prophet Jeremiah. He’s the prophet who lived in the last days of the First Temple in Jerusalem, up to and including its destruction by the Babylonians and the beginning of the Exile. And Jeremiah saw the impending disaster very clearly. He saw that the people lacked concern for the poor and vulnerable, that they took their calling as God’s people for granted. They were not using the gifts of the Promised Land and God’s presence in the Temple the way God had intended, and God’s patience was not unlimited.

 The events that we read about today took place after the Babylonians had attacked Jerusalem the first time. They captured the king and took the king into exile, along with many of the leading citizens of Jerusalem. They ransacked the Temple, took many of the holy things back to Babylon for display in a museum of their conquests. And ten years later, the Babylonians would return and finish the job, and completely destroy the Temple and the city. But this story takes place during that ten years between the first and the second attacks from Babylon.

 Jeremiah had seen the first attack as a confirmation of his message. The Lord’s patience really is running out. We’ve got maybe one last chance. And Jeremiah, to proclaim his message not just with words but with deeds, makes a wooden yoke, like what you would put on an ox to pull a plow. And he goes around town wearing his wooden yoke. It’s his way of Saying: Look, the Lord set us free from slavery in Egypt, but we’re blowing it. So now he’s putting the yoke of Babylon on us. So unless you’re ready to change your ways, get used to wearing a yoke, people. Thus says the Lord, according to Jeremiah.

 But another guy comes into the Temple by the name of Hananiah, to confront Jeremiah. And Hananiah says: Hey, I’m also a prophet. I also listen to the word of the Lord. And here is what the word of the Lord said to me: God is coming to the rescue, Hananiah says. In just two years, the king and all the other exiles will come back. The sacred vessels will be returned to the Temple and all will be well. Thus says the Lord.

And so in Jerusalem there were two prophets – Jeremiah, the prophet of doom and Hananiah, the prophet of deliverance. They both claimed to speak for the Lord. And how was anybody supposed to know which of the two was right?

Sometimes we imagine that in biblical times it was just obvious when the Lord was speaking to you. There are all these passages that say, “The Word of the Lord came to me and said, Thus says the Lord.” We assume that it was as clear and unambiguous to them as the words on the page seem to be for us. I mean, I may have a hard time knowing what God wants. But it must have been easier for the prophets in biblical times, right? They all seem so certain. But actually, I don’t think that’s right. I think back then would have had the same difficulties, the same uncertainties, the same need for faith, the same demand for careful listening and discernment that we have.

And it’s even more difficult when there are two people who each say they have the word of the Lord. And we have to figure out which – if any – of them to believe. That was a problem in biblical times just as it is now. Is Hananiah telling the truth when he says everything’s going to get better, or is Jeremiah right when he says that the worst is yet to come? And do we tell?

We have exactly this same problem in our own day. Some people will say – Just look around, we’re killing the planet, we’re failing to welcome migrants as the Law says we should, we’re treating gay and trans people and people of color as second class citizens or worse, we’re allowing deliberate lies to erode our ability to trust one another, and so destroying the bases of democracy. And as Paul says in Romans, these are things that lead to death. If we don’t turn around soon, death is what we’ll get. Thus says the Lord.

And there are people who will say, hey, it’s the Fourth of July. This is a country blessed by God, we’ve made it through tough times before, we’ve made more progress than ever on so many fronts, you just have to have faith. Just trust that God is in charge and wants good things for us, everything is going to be OK. Thus says the Lord.

Who is right? How can you tell?

Jeremiah’s answer to this question comes in his response to Hananiah’s prophecy of good times ahead, which is the only part of the story actually included in the text of our first reading today. When Hananiah says everything is going to be great, the first thing Jeremiah says is: Amen, I hope you’re right. If indeed it is God’s will that the exiles come home and the Temple is restored, praise and thanks be to God! But, Jeremiah says, you know, the prophets of former times mostly predicted doom and disaster. Because usually people were being unfaithful, and God was rarely happy with them.

It is true, Jeremiah says, that some of the prophets in former times were bearers of good news. Jeremiah doesn’t give an example, but we could think of Moses, who said the people would be delivered from Egypt and they were. What Jeremiah does say is that these prophets of deliverance in fact were never believed at the time – not until the good things happened, and (as in the case of Moses) sometimes not even then. So, Jeremiah concludes, be careful. If you’re hearing something good, and it’s actually coming to pass, wonderful, rejoice and be glad. But if you’re hearing something that’s too good to be true, maybe it is. If you’re hearing a promise of cheap grace, maybe it’s a cheap promise, not worth very much faith at all. You’ll have to tell the tree by its fruits.

The story goes on after the part we read today. Hananiah says to Jeremiah, I’ll show you what God’s gonna do. Hananiah takes Jeremiah’s yoke off his neck and smashes it into little pieces. Jeremiah silently walks away. But a few months later, Hananiah drops dead. Which Jeremiah, at least, is willing to interpret as a bit of a sign.

In the end, we know Jeremiah was right, and Hananiah was wrong, but that’s because we know how the story turned out. The exiles didn’t come home, the Temple was indeed destroyed. But at the time Hananiah and Jeremiah confronted one another in Jerusalem, it wasn’t so clear.

In the gospel, Jesus is sending the Twelve out to announce good news: the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He’s not sending them out to announce doom and destruction, he’s sending them out to say: God’s presence is right here, it’s just around the corner. And that’s why Jesus tells the Twelve to watch out for signs of God’s presence – for the sick being healed, for demons being driven out. And also in today’s reading, watch out also for the small kindnesses, the cups of cold water given and received. Then you will know that the nearness of the kingdom of heaven is not Hananiah-style wishful thinking. When actually you see how faith in the kingdom of heaven is actually changing people’s lives for the better.

In our day there are competing prophets, competing voices claiming to speak for the Lord, competing visions of how God calls God’s people to live. Who’s right? I think that Jeremiah and Jesus would advise us: Look and see, where are the outcast being welcomed? Where are the little ones finding cups of cold water, or their modern equivalent? Where are the ways that lead to death being fearlessly named and squarely confronted, and where are people willing to pay the price of being faithful to their convictions? Where are people being set free to be who God made them to be? This is how we are to tell who, if anyone, is actually speaking for God.

That’s how they did it in biblical times too – they had no special insight, no magic trick, no inside information. And for us, too, it is how we can tell if we are being faithful to the good news that has been given us. If we are giving, and receiving, cups of cold water – if people are being drawn together, if needs are being met, if walls of division are coming down, if people are feeling refreshed and heard and seen, then we have confirmation that the good news we have been given is really true.

Jeremiah told us long ago that no one has ever believed a true prophet of good news until they see the good news of God’s promise coming to pass in the mundane and the ordinary circumstances of their lives. We don’t do random acts of kindness, or hospitality, or care, or respect to our neighbors to earn God’s favor. We do these things so we can believe the good news that has been given to us – that the kingdom of heaven really is close at hand, that the hope of resurrection and new beginnings is well-founded, that God is indeed still present and at work, here and now. So it is a privilege and a joy to give, and to receive, cups of cold water to even one of the littlest ones. Because this is how we know that the kingdom of heaven is near.