Painting: Prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo
It seems that the media scrutinize every move public figures make, imposing privacy costs and reputational costs on them. All eyes are watching, so everything must be perfectly displayed or spoken out.
After two videos showing King Charles III visibly irritated by a leaky pen and a pen holder, the criticism added to negative press for him. He has been under increased scrutiny as he assumed a new role under very demanding schedules, while simultaneously dealing with profound personal sorrow after his mother’s death.
Although many people say that mental and emotional health is important, few leaders will walk into a public engagement and mention their vulnerable emotions because people want to have leaders who exhibit both warmth and strength, not anxiety or weakness, and we want them to be the face of calm in times of crisis. However, nothing establishes trust more effectively than the emotional connection fostered through empathy and shared humanity.
While people have different opinions of others, here are some important questions to ask ourselves: Am I tempted to criticize or judge others rather than affirm them? What help do I need from God to positively affirm the gifts of others?
This week’s lectionary deals with the theme of judgment, which many of us want to avoid.
In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the rich man does nothing while alive to help a poor beggar Lazarus, and when he dies, the rich man goes to Hell while Lazarus goes to Heaven. While in Hell, the rich man asks Abraham for some relief, and he is declined in the same way that he did nothing to help Lazarus. Abraham also responds that the rich man’s request to go and warn his brothers cannot be done because they refuse to heed Moses and the prophets.
When interpreting this parable, it is dangerous to simply judge the wealthy as sinful. This parable is meant to rebuke one’s heartless and selfish life style and to counsel those who do not incline their ears to hear what the prophets have already told them.
Perhaps we can better understand about the biblical notion of judgement and hope from today’s Old Testament lesson (Jer 32).
When Babylon was threatening to complete the destruction of Judah, Prophet Jeremiah made a bold pronouncement about Judah’s dark future. Of course, people didn’t like to hear about their nation being invaded and destroyed. Consequently, Jeremiah was imprisoned. But God told this weeping prophet to purchase property in a war zone while in jail. And, Jeremiah did what God told him to do.
In the middle of city’s impending destruction, Jeremiah made an investment in the future stock of Judah’s eventual restoration, putting actions in motion and in the hope that was nearly impossible to envision given the current state of events.
In the middle of this catastrophic set of events, God initiated a word of hope through the prophet’s actions, which was more than a commercial transaction. Jeremiah put trust in God who had a plan to redeem his people who were in exile. Sadly, this symbolic action of hope did not cancel out the word of judgment that Jeremiah had already proclaimed. The judgment of the Lord was certain, and the fate of the people was sealed, just as with the rich man in Jesus’ Parable.
In any situation with amplified anxiety and in times of uncertainty over the future when our hopes seem out of our grasps, as with the Israelites in exile, we need to be reminded by the promise of God’s true hope as foretold by the Prophets who urged God’s people to turn away from their sinful behaviours and activated the future hope in their dark present time.
Times of uncertainty and hopelessness such as Jeremiah’s time require the faithful to put into an action the hope that God has announced. Such hope may seem distant and intangible, but it is already here.
We are mortals who need the forgiveness of the true Judge, our gracious God. Good news is that we are here on earth, with this precious time given to reflect his message for the remainder of our lives. We cannot judge our fellow human beings. The name of the rich man in the Parable is unknown. It can be any person, actually. Borrowing Tolstoy’s words, “it's not given to people to judge what's right or wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong.”
Judgement, in a biblical sense, is not focused on punishment. Rather, it contains a prophetic sign of future restoration and conveys God’s consolation and eternal hope.
Do you want to make such a high-risk investment by buying property in a hopeless land as Jeremiah did? When God tells us to do something like that, we may get confused, but we must obey as Jeremiah did, as if Noah started building an ark, preparing for the Great Flood when there was no rain, and as if Abraham obeyed when God told him to sacrifice his only son Isaac on Moriah.
As we affirm our faith in the words of Apostles’ Creed, we all stand before God who “will come to judge the living and the dead.” And, by faith and with obedient hearts, we pray for him graciously to fulfill his promises, no matter how bleak the situation. “Though he was rich, yet for our sake, [our] Lord became poor, so that by his poverty [we] might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
God bless!