Why
Listen to that One?
Spin
was big back in the days of Jeremiah, as it continue to be today. In 1967, Canadian sociologist, Marshall
McLuhan, said, The Medium is the Message”. Some would change that these days,
to “The Medium is the Massage”. Then, and now, there are those who say, “Be
careful on the spin.”
While the media was not so powerful then, the royal family
of Jerusalem used spin to maintain its hegemony. They were, indeed, the House of David (who,
himself, was no blushing rose). King
David was the king after whom they broke the mold. Biblical history indicates
that there was a venality and ruthlessness about David’s progeny. First, they
claimed that they were, indeed, descendants of the “Shepherd-King”. Would YHWH
abandon us? Second, the Temple of Solomon guaranteed the Presence of YHWH in
the Holy of Holies. Would YHWH let anything happen to us?
The prophet Jeremiah begged to differ. Recall that the
prophet “nabi” sees things from God’s viewpoint, not the same as we
do. God (and Jeremiah) saw very clearly
the decline of Jerusalem in a variety of related ways. The biggest point was that there was a
growing, gaping division between the very rich (the fortunate few) and the very
poor. How could the God of the Covenant tolerate that? For his efforts, they
described Jeremiah as a kook, an eccentric, a joke, when he predicted that YHWH
would not tolerate the growing social, economic, cultural division in YHWH’s
society. In one poignant scene, Jeremiah stood in the temple and chided the spinmeisters
when he said “Stop saying ‘this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the
Lord, the temple of the Lord’”. That didn’t matter because God knew what is
going on outside the temple walls and sent Jeremiah to protest the status quo,
to which people paid little attention. There was a smug assurance then that
YHWH would not abandon them. YHWH didn’t
but had to do so to straighten the people out.
In today’s first reading, Jeremiah criticizes King Zedekiah
(whose name means “God is faithful”.) By
a play on words, Jeremiah points out that YHWH will raise up another
shepherd-king in the line of David who would guide the people in the ways of
righteousness. This shepherd-king would make clear that God is faithful. Guess
whom?
The
best way to understand what righteousness (an off putting, mystifying word)
means in colloquial English might be “ordered relationships”, “integrity”,
“having one’s act together” “having one’s ducks in a row”. Words remain the
same, but sometimes, their meaning evolves. Such with “righteousness”.
As
quantum physicists, and now quantum theologians, teach us, everything is
related to everything else. The universe is a relational matrix, a cosmic web,
and all inclusive force field. You cannot understand anyone without understanding
the relationships in which anything is involved. That includes one’s
relationship with GOD, with one’s family, one’s neighbors. (Remember Pope John
Paul’s “eclipse of GOD”, where God is eclipsed, the person is eclipsed, when
the person is eclipsed, then GOD is eclipsed?)
When the Jesus Movement began to take off, the right
relationships included non-Jews (Gentiles) with whom St Paul said that “from
the two people GOD has formed a third entity”. All people are included
now. Sadly, we have not always minded
that point in the way the Church treated those they felt were others.
Now,
prophets like Pope Francis speak to us about our relationship with our
environment as part of the package. For
example, in Laudato Si, Pope Francis links up the abuse of the
environment with world poverty. If one takes advantage of one part of reality,
the chances are that one will take advantage of the other as well. (One
concrete example he gave concerns potable water. If water continues to be
wasted, then possibly only bottled water would be available. The affluent could
afford it; the indigent can’t.)
Jesus
is our Shepherd-King, who incarnates Zechariah, viz., God is always faithful.
In response, we try to hear what Pope Francis, the Successor of St Peter, tells
us, as we plan for an integrated future. Get a copy of Laudato Si from USCCB.
Get two copies and give the other to someone who will read it and take it
seriously. God is always faithful, but we have to try to do the same, with
God’s Help. Laudato SI is a great place to join in the effort. Pope Francis
reminds us that the web of relationship includes the environment. Spinmeisters (frequently with Catholic
surnames, who should know better) might beg to differ. With Pope Francis, we learn that the
environment is something with which we have a deep relationship. If we don’t
live honoring that relationship, there will be problems (problems exist
already). Jeremiah and Jesus both heartily agree. They
catch his drift! Do we?
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