Jeremiah 28:5-9 (NRSV)
Read Jeremiah 28:5-9 on biblegateway.com
Verse 5Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; Verse 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. Verse 7But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. Verse 8The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. Verse 9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet."
Devotion
Someone once told me that the preacher's primary task is to "comfort the afflicted and
afflict the comfortable."
In this story from the book of Jeremiah, the prophet Hananiah has come before the priests and the people speaking words of comfort and hope. Unfortunately, the message he brings is not inspired by God. The words of Hannaniah are words of his own choosing and contain only false hope. The true message from God has come in the form of the words of warning Jeremiah has been speaking, words the people and the priests have been unwilling to hear or to take to heart.
Sometimes the words we most need to hear are the ones we least want to hear. They remind us we are not living according to the ways God has called us to live. They convict us of our own sinfulness and shortcomings. They are words that call us away from self-centeredness and into the life of the beloved community.
Prayer
Dear God, tune our hearts to hear your Word of Life. Turn us away from our sin and self-centeredness toward our neighbor in need. We pray this in the name of the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.