Divine Blessing - March 26

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalm 81, 82; Jer. 8:18-9:6; Rom. 5:1-11; John 8:12-20

One of the more powerful prophetic writings in the Hebrew Scriptures comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Likely written in the final years of the seventh century BCE—just before the fall of Judah and the exile of the Israelites—Jeremiah's message is both sobering and hopeful.

A central theme in Jeremiah is judgment. According to the prophet, it is the people's idolatry, social injustice, and moral decay that lead to the collapse of the kingdom, the destruction of the temple, and ultimately, the Babylonian exile. And yet, despite repeated warnings, Jeremiah also proclaims a message of hope—a future restoration of the people and the land, and a renewed covenant with God. God remains faithful, even when the people are not.

In many ways, modern theology emphasizes what we believe about God. That is certainly important. But the prophets of our tradition shift the focus toward right relationship with God as demonstrated through how we care for one another.

Our passage for today begins:

“My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
my heart is sick.
Hark, the cry of my poor people
from far and wide in the land:
‘Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?’
(‘Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
with their foreign idols?’)
‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.’
For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
not been restored?”
—Jeremiah 8:18–22

Jeremiah connects his joy and grief with the wellbeing of his people. The prophets believed that the people bear a collective responsibility for how society treats its most vulnerable. God's blessing on the nation is tied not just to belief or worship, but to how the people care for one another.

One of my observations about modern religion is the idea that if God blesses our nation, then people’s lives will improve. But the prophets of Hebrew Scripture suggest the inverse: if we care for those who are suffering, then God will bless the nation.

It’s a subtle but important difference.

If we seek to be faithful—if we hope to be people who live under God’s blessing—then we must begin with how we care for each other. And perhaps we will even come to recognize God’s blessing in that renewed commitment to one another’s wellbeing.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What does “God’s Blessing” mean to you?  What is your responsibility for the care of others?