Skip to main content

Prophecy, Lies and Truthtelling


Jeremiah 26:1-16

In the Jewish religious tradition, prophets call the people back into right relationship with God. 
Through cajoling, prophetic sayings and pronouncements, prophets face the wrath of the 
people – for they speak the truth and it’s not always well-received. Especially if the message 
is ‘God is not pleased with you!’. Jeremiah was rejected, abused, attacked and threatened 
with death.

 In this passage (26:1-16) Jeremiah is let off lightly and the people concede that they should 
listen to him, rather than kill him as, ‘he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God’. 
But, if could have been so different….

What role do prophets, can prophets play in the life of the Christian faith today?

Prophets are there to remind us of the essential nature of our Christian faith. 
They are to recall us to our right mind. They are to encourage us to follow the laws of God 
and not the human laws that we have created.

The law of God is the radical law of grace in which each of us is loved and welcomed home 
not because we deserve it, but because its God’s nature to love us and forgive us.

Because we are treated like this by God – so we must treat one another with grace and 
compassion. All of us have fallen short, and so all of us should seek to humbly see ourselves
as worse than our neighbour. Pride is the feeding ground of the devil- but humility is the 
feeding ground of God.

‘Obeying the voice of God’ as Jeremiah puts it, is the best option for us as humans, yet it is 
the hardest thing for us to. How often do we lie, listen to lies, fail to speak the truth, avoid 
honesty? The danger is real for Jeremiah – he really could have been put to death for 
challenging the people and prophesying against them: truth speakers are not generally 
welcomed but rejected. To be saved, is to heed the word of the prophets -to turn back, to turn 
around, to humble ourselves and put aside our pride. To listen to truth and reject all that is 
false.

Is there a part of your life in which you need to listen to some truth-telling? 
To turn back, to turn around, to humble yourself........
Do you need to be honest with someone that you have been avoiding?
Where have you been listening to the voice of humans rather than the voice of God?

In church, listening to scripture, we are recalled to our right mind. 

May we all re-orient ourselves, turn towards the truth and away from the lies that destroy.
Amen





Comments

Post a Comment

Please be respectful when posting comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rugby

It has been just over three weeks now since we have arrived in Rugby and it feels like a world away from South London. If I was used to being in what is generally thought of and written about as a post-Christian secular world then Rugby looks and feels very different. There are a proliferation of churches across Rugby which are very active in working together for the good of the town. There seems to be a genuine Spirit of God's love working across Rugby in impressive ways that I'm not sure what century I am in! It is surprising to find a town that works so hard in regenerating and reinvigorating all that it is and it feels like an enormous privilege to be here.  Not that South London was any kind of spiritual desert! It was also a great privilege to work there and see how God can still be so central to people's lives in the 21st century. If the image we get from the newspapers and national media is that God is redundant in the modern age it seems that the reality is very ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Identity, belonging and holiness

Sermon for 2nd July Doubting Thomas - Ephesians 2:19-end, John 20:24-29 In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we see classic Pauline theology in action – Paul is explaining to the Ephesians (Gentiles) that they are fully accepted into the household of God and full members of it. The implication is that they are unsure about their place. Paul is clear that their tradition and history is rooted now not only in the Patriarchs, but also in the Apostles and with Jesus Christ as the corner stone. It is the Apostles in Jesus who invite them to full membership. No longer is holiness and worship centred on the Temple in Jerusalem but, rather, the individual believers are spiritual temples and the group of believers an ‘habitation of God’. Paul, as we know, had been fully committed to his identity as a God-fearing Jew; his life and ritual practice confirmed his sense of superior identity before God. He was saved because of his birth right and due to his strict adherence to the Law. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Women as Priests - Why the Big Deal??

Vocation as Participation Women priests at Coventry Cathedral celebrating each year of ordinations since 1994.  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-end The church of England has been celebrating and marking 20 years of women’s priestly ministry. Today I went to a service of celebration at Coventry Cathedral.  When I was in the cathedral I thought again about why women’s priesth...
Post a Comment
Read more