Trials and Conflicts

Thursday, March 29, 2007 -- Week of 5 Lent
(John Keble)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 956)
Psalms 131, 132, [133] (morning) 140, 142 (evening)
Jeremiah 26:1-16
Romans 11:1-12
John 10:19-42

There are a lot of ways good people get into trouble. It seems when we read scripture that it is inevitable that faithful people will find themselves in conflict.

The trial of Jeremiah is fascinating. The date is sometime around 609 BCE when Jehoiakim began his reign. During this period the leading groups within Judah were split, some urging loyalty toward Egypt, some supporting alliance with Babylon. Jeremiah and his followers were strongly pro-Babylonian. (It is anachronistic, but not entirely unlike the party splits between Democrats and Republicans.) Today's reading references the Temple Sermon of Jeremiah which we read beginning in chapter 7, prophesying within the Temple that God would destroy the holy city of Jerusalem and the Temple. Jeremiah is charged with a capital offense of treason and blasphemy. Jeremiah pleads in his defense that he has spoken truth in obedience to God's call.

Although it is not included in our lectionary readings, the rest of the chapter tells of the trial. Those who favor Jeremiah argue that there is a precedence. The eighth century prophet Micah prophesied that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, and King Hezekiah listened to the prophet. God changed his mind and did not bring about that disaster.

We learn that Ahikam rescues Jeremiah from death, though we do not learn how. The rest of this second "book" of Jeremiah will blame King Jehoiakim for the coming disaster because he did not heed the prophetic word. (We also read of Jehoiakim's execution of another prophet who spoke similar words to Jeremiah's.) Jeremiah is in the middle political conflict and and intrigue.

Jesus also finds himself in a continuing conflict with the religious authorities. (In John's Gospel, he generally uses the reference "the Jews" to mean the religious authorities. "The Jews" does not refer to all the Jewish people.) Jesus says something daring: "The Father and I are one." The authorities take up stones to execute Jesus on a charge of blasphemy, claiming equality with God.

In a scene that is something like an oral trial, Jesus quote scripture in his defense. Throughout John's Gospel the authorities have rejected Jesus and misinterpreted his mission while quoting scripture to defend their judgments. Jesus reverses the tables and throws the Book at them. He quotes from Psalm 82:6 which reads as an oracle from God's voice: "Now I say to you, 'You are gods, and all of you children of the Most High...'" If God has spoken to all people saying that they are gods, how much more appropriate is is for Jesus, the one sent by God to do God's work, to be called "God's Son"? This is his scriptural defense.

Then Jesus challenges them one step further. Even if they don't believe Jesus is God's Son, look at the works and evaluate them. Is he doing good works in the Spirit of God? If they take issue with him, for what good work do they challenge him?

It is an argument that can be offered today in defense of some people who are charged with being outside the family of God's salvation. Some Christians allege that all non-Christians are under condemnation. Yet the word from Psalm 82 "You are gods" is a universal word. It is spoken to all people, or at the very least to all Jews. And we see people from other religious traditions who do good works, works in the Spirit of God. For what good works might a Christian condemn Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, or Abraham Heschel?

The religious authorities who brought Jesus to trial and condemned him to death believed that they were following the will of God and obeying Scripture. Everyone involved in the trial of Jeremiah claimed that God was on their side. It seems inevitable that religious people will find themselves in conflicts.

Lowell
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, AR

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate
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