Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 (NRSV) as the CONTEXT for reading the Psalms
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Perhaps you have recognized by now that our Jeremiah lectionary readings are not necessarily in chronological order. Or perhaps the lectionary readings are in chronological order but the book of Jeremiah isn’t!
A couple of weeks ago we looked at Jeremiah’s “Book of Consolations,” chapters 30-33. We looked at folly versus faith when Jeremiah bought a field after telling the exiles (people deported to Babylon) to build a life for themselves in the land of their captors. In today’s reading we go back in the chapter and read that letter Jeremiah wrote. In this letter, we find a very life-giving directive from God to the exiles through Jeremiah to “pray to the Lord on its behalf,” referring to Babylon! Just last week, we read the very disturbing Psalm 137, written by an exile in Babylon, in the context of Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Prayer seemed to be the last thing on the mind of the psalmist!
Into the chaos of the exilic experience … Jeremiah instructs the suffering exiles to pray for Babylon because they will be there for awhile. For this reason, the “welfare” of Babylon is the “welfare” of the Israelite community of exiles. The word translated welfare is shalom {shaw-lome'} which means peace, but in the context of the original Hebrew, peace has a richer meaning than it does today. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace (shalom). This blessing is found in Numbers 6:24-26. I think we tend to think of peace today as simply the absence of chaos. However, when we bless others and pray for peace for them in the sense of shalom, we invoke the deeper meaning of the Hebrew word … completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, and the absence of agitation or discord.
Why does Jeremiah speak of shalom to the exiles in Babylon … now? He struggled inside a prophetic maelstrom since the beginning of his career. He was not a prominent or particularly well-respected career prophet. Speaking the word of God as he heard and understood it did not win Jeremiah any friends. Jeremiah might agree with Jesus when he said to unbelievers. “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” (Matthew 13:57 NLT)
And Jesus might find a kindred spiritual friend in Jeremiah the Prophet. Jeremiah has been arguing with some of the other “prophets” of Jerusalem for several chapters leading up to this letter. These are the words of the “prophet” Hananiah who declared a word of God to the people, “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.’” (Jeremiah 28:3-4) I understand why the people, the priests, and the prophets wanted to listen to Hananiah rather than Jeremiah. When we’re struggling, don’t we want to listen to those who tell us what we want to hear? When we pray, don’t we hope that things or people will miraculously change rather than that we might have to work toward change with them? Or is that just me??
Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44) Jesus speaks a new and revolutionary idea, right? Actually, no! Jeremiah the Prophet told the exiles to seek and pray for shalom, communal peace … long ago!
GOING DEEPER through the reading of Psalm 66:1-12 To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.
Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.’ Selah
Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him, who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs;
you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.
give to him glorious praise.
Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.’ Selah
Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him, who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs;
you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.
Psalm 66 is a psalm that extends God’s reign far beyond Israel and encounters the world … “Come and See.” Our God is an awesome God, a deliverer, a mighty ruler, a watchful eye, a God who blesses and a God who tests, a God who brings or allows consequences all the way to “hell and back” (The Message) before finally bringing the people to a well-watered place (The Message). Other versions call this a spacious place (NRSV), a wealthy place (KJV), rich fulfillment (NKJV), a land of plenty (CEV), a place of great abundance (NLT), a, a place with good things (NCV), and a place where we have everything we need (NIrV) … The word in the original Hebrew is revayah {rev-aw-yaw'} which means saturation.
PONDERING Life in the Connections between Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66
Imagine sitting in a foreign land, carried away by captors who had destroyed your city, your community, your place of worship, your home. Imagine getting a letter from someone who had remained behind, someone who you weren’t sure had mental capacity. Imagine that letter basically said, “Make yourself at home … bloom where you’ve been planted!”
Perhaps you’ll never be captured and carried away … all the way to hell and back, but have you ever “felt” exiled, banished, sent away from “home?” What were the circumstances? How did you feel toward the one or ones you sent you away, froze you out, or abused you? Have the circumstances of life simply tossed you into a place you didn’t want to be? What was that like for you? How have you been able to make yourself at home in less than ideal circumstances? Where was God in the midst of those circumstances? How did God finally bring you into a “spacious place?” If you haven’t reached that spacious place yet, describe your trust in God? As we wait, we can pray for … shalom!
PRAYING …
The Peace Prayer of St Francis of Assisi 1181-1226 CE …
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Many attribute this prayer to St Francis. It appeared anonymously in various places beginning in 1912 and soon became a popular prayer for peace. For more information on the history of this prayer, see http://www.franciscan-archive.org/franciscana/peace.html
See these videos for a musical way to experience shalom through this beautiful prayer
Sarah McLachlan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VSyuar6oF8&feature=related
Sinead O'Connor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmsjP9BSRKg
No comments:
Post a Comment