Roots and Wings, Feb. 11, 2007
Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalm 1, and Luke 6:17-26
Jeremiah speaks again of impending doom and then rescue and return for the people of Judah. This time we get the contrast between shrubs and trees, preceded and followed by a reflection on the untrustworthiness of people and our hearts.
Shrubs: low to the ground, surviving, barely, on what water is nearby, whether or not it is of good quality, not bearing any fruit.
Trees: planted near water, sending roots down deep into the earth, always seeking and finding good, nurturing, pure water, looking up, bearing fruit. Trees are not afraid of hard times because of their deep roots.
Shrubs pop up quickly, like human beings, but in this metaphor (let's leave aside a long discussion of biblical flora), they cannot be relied upon because they do not last when they are tested by drought (difficulty). They may be beautiful, and our hearts may respond to them, but our emotions and our thinking (in the Bible, heart was not just the seat of emotions, but of intellect and will) are not trustworthy as guides without the guidance of God. So, Jeremiah's ultimate counsel here is to trust God to guide decisions, thought, emotion, will and you will, as the Psalmist says, be like a tree, planted by the water, and therefore, "you shall not be moved" by every wind and whim and defeated by difficulty.
Jesus also presents us with contrasts in Luke's telling of the Beatitudes, in this case, not on the Mount, but on the Plain. Notice some differences here from the version in Matthew 5, including the identity of the listeners. Within his religious tradition, divisions were often presented between Jews and Gentiles, but notice both Jews and Gentiles are present when he teaches the disciples. So this time, the division is between Blessed and Cursed (Matthew does not include this part), regardless of religious affiliation.
Blessed: poor, hungry, weeping, persecuted for what you believe.
Cursed: rich, full, laughing, spoken "well" of.
Notice he doesn't talk about what should be, but what is. Jesus doesn't say we should become poor or hungry or weepy or persecuted, nor does he say we should avoid being rich or full or laughing or praised. He is saying that things may not be as they seem; what you see may not be what you get. Perhaps even more clearly, in the words of William Willimon, Jesus is saying that God takes sides.
Blessings will go to those who need them most: poor, hungry, sad, persecuted, while those who already have what they need and are well-esteemed by all are so filled up that they have no need of, nor could they receive God's blessings. More than "cursed," the literal translation of the word the NRSV calls "woe" would be "there's trouble ahead." Perhaps like those bushes, when the difficult times come, those who do not know their need of God will fall apart; they are without roots.
This, of course, begs the question for all of us who are rich (a relative term which defines many North Americans), full, happy and respected in our communities: can a bush become a tree?
Jeremiah speaks again of impending doom and then rescue and return for the people of Judah. This time we get the contrast between shrubs and trees, preceded and followed by a reflection on the untrustworthiness of people and our hearts.
Shrubs: low to the ground, surviving, barely, on what water is nearby, whether or not it is of good quality, not bearing any fruit.
Trees: planted near water, sending roots down deep into the earth, always seeking and finding good, nurturing, pure water, looking up, bearing fruit. Trees are not afraid of hard times because of their deep roots.
Shrubs pop up quickly, like human beings, but in this metaphor (let's leave aside a long discussion of biblical flora), they cannot be relied upon because they do not last when they are tested by drought (difficulty). They may be beautiful, and our hearts may respond to them, but our emotions and our thinking (in the Bible, heart was not just the seat of emotions, but of intellect and will) are not trustworthy as guides without the guidance of God. So, Jeremiah's ultimate counsel here is to trust God to guide decisions, thought, emotion, will and you will, as the Psalmist says, be like a tree, planted by the water, and therefore, "you shall not be moved" by every wind and whim and defeated by difficulty.
Jesus also presents us with contrasts in Luke's telling of the Beatitudes, in this case, not on the Mount, but on the Plain. Notice some differences here from the version in Matthew 5, including the identity of the listeners. Within his religious tradition, divisions were often presented between Jews and Gentiles, but notice both Jews and Gentiles are present when he teaches the disciples. So this time, the division is between Blessed and Cursed (Matthew does not include this part), regardless of religious affiliation.
Blessed: poor, hungry, weeping, persecuted for what you believe.
Cursed: rich, full, laughing, spoken "well" of.
Notice he doesn't talk about what should be, but what is. Jesus doesn't say we should become poor or hungry or weepy or persecuted, nor does he say we should avoid being rich or full or laughing or praised. He is saying that things may not be as they seem; what you see may not be what you get. Perhaps even more clearly, in the words of William Willimon, Jesus is saying that God takes sides.
Blessings will go to those who need them most: poor, hungry, sad, persecuted, while those who already have what they need and are well-esteemed by all are so filled up that they have no need of, nor could they receive God's blessings. More than "cursed," the literal translation of the word the NRSV calls "woe" would be "there's trouble ahead." Perhaps like those bushes, when the difficult times come, those who do not know their need of God will fall apart; they are without roots.
This, of course, begs the question for all of us who are rich (a relative term which defines many North Americans), full, happy and respected in our communities: can a bush become a tree?
Labels: Jeremiah and Luke/Contrasts
posted by shelly @ 3:14 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home