Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focussed Explorations of Hebrew Bible Readings from the
Australian Prayer Book.
Jeremiah 14:7-10 & 19-22... 22nd S. after Pentecost C ....(For LK
18:15-30,
scroll)
NOTES: 1]Read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God revealed in Jesus.2] Born
about 646BC, JER was
called to be a Prophet in 626-7, &
lived through the siege of
Jerusalem & the captivity of its people by Babylon in the mid
580's. 3] There is a severe
drought. Read vv.1-6 & the omitted vv. for a fuller picture. JER
uses the drought as a kind of parable of themoral state of the people.4] The text is a conversation
between JER, YHWH, & the people. .
WARMING UP: Which is
worse: flood or drought?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
7-9 Are we more likely to go to
God - seriously go to God - when times are bad? If that's so, where are
we the rest of the time? Do we have what W.B.Yeats called a
'pilgrim soul' (from 'When you are Old')? Do we ever turn God
into a 'traveller' through our
land when we're the
travellers through
God's land? Is there a difference between a traveller & a
pilgrim?
Do we ever think of God as 'confused', 'unable to give help' - or
unwilling? In this conversation that's going on here (N.4) do we
identify with any one of the participants more than another? How
conscious are we of God 'in our midst'? How is God in our midst? Does being
'called by God's name', in our case at our Baptism, have any effect on
the way we live towards God & each other?
10
In the light of Jesus, are we sometimes tempted to overlook the
possibility of God playing 'hard ball' as JER portrays him doing here? Do we tend to make
God too soft, & ourselves too hard?
19 Do we
ever feel God: a) 'rejects'
us? b) 'loathes' us? c) has 'struck us down' with something? Is
it time we started 'talking turkey' with God instead of pussy- footing
round Him? Does longing for:
a) peace, b) healing, or c) terror, play any part in our lives?
To what extent? With what outcome(s)?
20-22 Are we as honest as
we need to be in admitting our sins before God, or has that become
either a matter of routine, or a non-event? Does acknowledging 'the
iniquity of our ancestors' play any part in the way we approach God
about our own failings? How far back do we take that kind of thing - if
we take it at all? In vv. 20-21 can we almost feel the Hebrews
'writhing' before God? Do we ever go that far? Might a bit of healthy'writhng'
before God be good for our soul? Or isn't that the way it works since
Jesus?
How
conscious are we of God having made a Covenant with us, & our
responsibility for keeping that Covenant 'from our end'? To where do we
trace that Covenant? Do we maybe need to do more work on understanding
'Covenant' & keeping it rather than letting it drop out of sight,
out of mind, out of soul? Are we any better at understanding &
keeping our end of the New Covenant sealed by Jesus? Would God ever break his Covenant with us from his end?
How can we
take God & drought, God & rain, God & weather in general
seriously without turning God into some heavenly reticulation
Controller?
