Repent or Think Again – Jeremiah 15:15-21

A text – Jeremiah 15:15-21 

¹⁵ O Lord, you know; remember me and visit me, and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away; know that on your account I suffer insult.
¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.
¹⁷ I did not sit in the company of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone, for you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.
²⁰ And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, says the Lord.
²¹ I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.

A reflection:

Jeremiah is worn out and in despair. He has done all that the Lord has asked – remained unmarried, lived apart from sinners, unfailingly preached the Lord’s words to the kingdom of Judah. He is despised and insulted by the people, and Jeremiah has lost his will for the work. He brings his weariness and disappointment to God, hoping something good will come out of his earnest complaint.

God’s response is to tell Jeremiah that if he “turns back,” God will take him back, use him again as a prophet, and people will pay attention and not mock him. Turn back is a way of saying repent or turn around. We could take umbrage at that, as though God thinks Jeremiah had turned away from God, and not done his bidding at every turn. But Old Testament scholars say that it can also mean look at this another way, or see it again anew. And if Jeremiah was despairing, feeling that his work was futile, maybe God’s reply to his lament is encouragement to stay in the fight no matter what.

After all, it takes a fight, a real fight, to get the establishment to change, to get the rich to give up some of their riches for the poor, to get the powerful to consider the needy. That work never ends, even today, and we might all have moments of lament, being downcast, and turning away from hope. Jeremiah’s passage here says that if we keep the faith and do the work, no matter how long it takes, God can work through our persistence. What’s more, our persistence becomes a model life for others needing encouragement. And in the end, God wins. The needy will be ministered to, just as the Beatitudes teach us. Those who mourn will be comforted. Those who are hungry will be fed.

This is God’s call to remain faithful to our calling, no matter what, just as God is faithful to his children, no matter what.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for being good to those who are forgotten. Help us to recognize that good work takes time and energy that we don’t always feel we have, but which you will provide because you are faithful to us. Help us to remember that. Amen.