For those who want a change from the Gospel

Trinity 13 – Jeremiah 15:15-21 (Related)

‘Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them’

This phrase, from v.19 of today’s OT, seems to me to sum up a really important current issue for the C of E, so let’s look at the background at see if we might understand and apply it.

Jeremiah is worn out. He might have been known and called by God whilst still in the womb (1:5), but that calling has turned out to be a mixed blessing. It was always going to be: to tell your nation that their sins are so offensive to God that punishment and destruction are the only option left open to him is never going to win friends and influence people. But this has been going on for so long that poor Jeremiah is at the end of his tether. Our passage comes in the context of a section of the book which begins in chapter 12, and is known as ‘Jeremiah’s complaint’. His constant need to oppose the important people of the nation has taken its toll, and now he wants to hand in his notice. Although his ministry started as a privilege, and the sacrifices he had to make for it, such as never marrying, or joining in with celebrations, were a gladly-borne part of his calling, it has all worn thin by now. No doubt the God-given pain he felt for the sins of the nation had become mixed up with the personal pain of constant persecution, loneliness, and also, I would imagine, really big questions about whether this is actually making any difference. We can all make great sacrifices if we feel it’s worth the effort, but to continue to do so with no visible effects can really make us feel like going for the softer option and just being nice to people. This is exactly the temptation which God is challenging him over in this text. To utter worthless words is a complete betrayal of his God and his calling.

Maybe it’s because I’m old and retired, but I can’t help but see in today’s church the same temptation. I’ve mentioned before my hero David Pawson’s comment that for the past 100 years the Church has been preaching the love of God instead of the righteousness of God, ‘and it is killing us’. There has been a spate recently of stories on social media about whether cathedrals should be used for fun things like helter-skelters, silent discos or crazy golf, or even nasty things like The Wicker Man, and whether churches should change their service times to accommodate those who would rather watch football. And all this against the background of the debate about prayers for blessing gay marriages. Underneath all this is a growing awareness of the marginalisation of the Church in our society, the narrative of our decline and ineffectiveness (much exaggerated IMHO), and the perceived need to ‘move with the times’ in order somehow to become ‘relevant’ again. Add to that the mood of our culture where tolerance and general niceness are our highest values, and ‘doing our own thing’ and ‘being who we want to be’ our greatest aspirations, and it all begins to feel uncannily close to Jeremiah’s world. The Church, it might seem to some, is worn out with trying to speak with the prophetic voice of God into a culture which hates it and, worse, ignores it. We’re just sick of it, we’re aching because of it, and we long for some bland niceness which will help people respect us again.

In today’s Gospel (Mt 16:21-28) we can see Peter succumbing to the same temptation, simply to be nice. We can totally understand his sentiments. His best friend is telling them that he will soon be tortured and killed, and no-one wants that for their friends. ‘There must be another way, Lord!’ he protests, and we would probably have said the same in his shoes. But Jesus, in one of the sternest rebukes he ever makes, calls Peter ‘Satan’. Behind the well-meaning concerns of his friend lies the evil plot of the Tempter Supreme to scupper the Father’s plans for redemption by getting him to avoid the pain of the cross.

God promises Jeremiah that if he speaks words worthy of his calling he will know protection, rescue and salvation. I can’t help but wonder whether the Church in our time might be in a better place if we started calling people to repent (as the first preachers in the Book of Acts consistently did). Maybe we should try it. We might even see people turning to us if we stopped turning to them so much. Just saying.