Daily Readings for Tuesday, March 22, 2011
- Morning Psalms 84
- First Reading Jeremiah 2:1-13, 29-32
- Second Reading Romans 1:16-25
- Gospel John 4:43-54
- Evening Psalms 25; 91
I don't really want to make that big of a deal out of the fact that I haven't blogged since Friday afternoon. I fell short before the second Sunday in Lent. For me, this addition to my daily exercize was to provide a big enough disruption in my day-to-day work and routine that I draw closer to God and experience a deep sense of renewal at Easter time - a God is alive kind of resorative proclimation for my own personal spirituality. And so, I acknowlege that I have fallen short and did not blog for three days in a row...but I continue to reflect on how much of the work that I do does (and does not) draw me closer to God.
I'm a sucker for a good biblical metaphor. It must be the preacher in me, but when I read the great metaphors in scripture something within in me thinks - That'll preach!
And thanks to Walter Brueggemann, I have a deep love for the book of Jeremiah. In many ways, Jeremiah is a metaphorical description of the church today. Jeremiah was written to the people of Israel who were in exile - strangers in a strange land. Much has been written about the fact that the church today (and especially the mainline, Western, Protestant church, like the PC(USA)) is in exile. The culture around us has shifted, the values of the "world" are foreign to the gospel message. To me, the prophet Jeremiah speaks a powerful message to our exilic church today because it calls us to hold those in power accountable and gives permission for a vibrant faith that is counter-cultural and subversive and somewhat underground.
The first part of the book of Jeremiah is pre-exile. It's easy to read this part of the text as Jeremiah's big "I told you so" to the people of Israle. For in the first part of Jeremiah, there are many warnings to change...or else. Our reading from the daily lectionary has this verse from the second chapter. Jeremiah 2:13:
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
that can hold no water.
It's part of the warning from the prophet to a people who have turned away from God. And for me, it's the metaphor that draws me to this text. God is the fountain of living water. Of course, God isn't a literal fountain. But God is the creator of all life and holds all of life in God's hands. The warning is that the people have turned away from the life giving power of God and have dug out water holes for themselves. Maybe God's water is to hard to get to; maybe the people think they can do the water business better. It smacks of all of the times that the people Israel, or the disciples of Jesus, or the church (filled with people like you and me) have tried to do things for themselves rather than trust in God. It hints of the idolatry of works and of trying to find a better way to God and salvation than through God alone.
Notice that the cisterns the people fashion for themself are cracked, flawed vessels that will hold no water. It's what happens when we try to do for ourself what only God can do. Our best attempts to be a god in our own life will always be deeply flawed. I think this is why when Jesus talks about discipleship he talks about the emtpying of ourselves. We need to get out of the way so that God and God alone is the one source of strength, life, and redemption.
Dear God, take the cracked cistern that is my own desire to do good works and transform it. Empty is and help me to let go of it so that I can return to you, the source of living water and the fountain of all goodness. May my life always reflect your glory, today and always. Amen.
John C.
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