Proper 17
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Sometimes the
message of a Scripture reading is simple and straightforward. Not a lot of explanation or
interpretation needed.
In saying that I
could be talking about any of today’s three readings… Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are straightforward. Be humble. Don’t put yourself forward. The instructions in Hebrews are clear (and I’ll come back to
those), but again this Sunday my primary focus is on the Old Testament reading. The prophetic voice of Jeremiah and it’s
straightforward message.
Speaking to all
of God’s people Jeremiah says:
Here’s what your ancestors did wrong. They did not say,
“Where is the Lord?” They did not ask, “Where is God?” Their God had brought them out of
slavery and given them a plentiful land, but they did not seek God.
They did not ask: Where is God? Instead of asking after God, instead of seeking God, they went
after worthless things.
So Jeremiah asks
us: What are you seeking? What are you seeking in your life? We are all seeking something. What are you looking for? What are you really seeking to find?
Jeremiah says
that if you go after worthless things, you become worthless. Or you can seek God.
It’s that
simple.
Hebrews says
pretty much the same thing, although a bit more positively than Jeremiah. Don’t seek after selfish goals, Hebrews
says. Show hospitality to
strangers. Jesus says the same
thing in today’s Gospel. Don’t
invite your friends or relatives or the people you’re trying to impress to your
banquet. Invite poor, marginalized
strangers. And, Hebrews, points
out, you may discover an unexpected benefit. Entertaining God’s holy angels!
And put yourself
out to help people in prison or people who are being tortured.
Hebrews doesn’t
say this explicitly, but it’s implicit in Hebrews that those acts of selfless
compassion are ways of seeking God.
Helping others in need is where we will find God. I’m reminded of the ancient, beautiful
Christian hymn, in Latin, Ubi caritas. Usually translated in English: Where charity and love prevail, God himself
is there.
Keep your lives
free from love of money, Hebrews says.
I can just hear Jeremiah cheering.
Talk about chasing after worthless goals!
And the author
of Hebrews reminds us of God’s promise: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I will never leave you.
God is with us
always. If we don’t see him right
off it may be because we are focused on seeking worthless things. Rather than seeking God. Where is God in this place, in this
time? Asking is seeking, and
seeking is finding.
I’m reminded of
words in Eucharistic Prayer D (again)
“When our disobedience took us far from you,” [seeking after worthless
things] “you did not abandon us to the power of death. In your mercy you came to our help, so
that in seeking you we might find you.”
You came to our help. So
that in seeking you, we might find you.
There is a very
important sidebar to this discussion.
Periods of God’s apparent absence are real. Even the most faithful people, the most spiritual
individuals have written about the “dark night of the soul,” times when God
seems absent. The psalms of lament
give voice to this piece of human existence. The psalms are also models for what to do when God seems
absent: Persevere in trust. Continue yearning and seeking even in
the midst of despair.
Jesus quotes one
of the psalms of lament from the cross, Psalm 22. Words that are very familiar.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
Less familiar, unfortunately, are the rest of the words of Psalm 22. But Jesus would have known them. Words of perseverance, trust and praise.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
You who fear the Lord,
praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me;
but heard when I cried to him.
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me;
but heard when I cried to him.
Seeking God
doesn’t always mean we find him instantly. Sometimes it’s a journey. A journey undertaken in trust that God’s promise to be with
us always is true. Persevering in
the conviction that the witness of the psalmist and the saints to God’s
presence is trustworthy.
Ultimately Jeremiah’s
challenge to us is simple: Are we
seeking worthless things? If so,
we will become worthless, and we will most certainly not find God.
If, on the other
hand, we ask: Where is God? we will find him.
