Jeremiah 23.23-29

23 Am I a God near by, says the Lord , and not a God far off? 24 Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord . Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord . 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27 They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord . 29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord , and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

 

 

REFLECTION

God speaks to Isaiah to tell the prophets that they cannot hide who they are or what they do. He knows their prophecies and I think it  is important that the false prophecies they share are not misinterpretations, but acts, either deliberate or unknown, to miss lead God's people. God does not call for them to stop, but that they be balanced against the one who proclaims God's word. I believe that is not about living a good life, or being an evangelist, but who reads God's word and holds all else against the word God has given. This is still an important way of measuring the things that are proclaimed in the name of God. 

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Psalm 82

1 God has stood up in the council of heaven:

in the midst of the gods he gives judgement.

2 ‘How long will you judge unjustly:

and favour the cause of the wicked?

3 ‘Judge for the poor and fatherless:

vindicate the afflicted and oppressed.

4 ‘Rescue the poor and needy:

and save them from the hands of the wicked.

5 ‘They do not know, they do not understand,

they walk about in darkness:

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 ‘Therefore I say, “Though you are gods:

and all of you children of the Most High,

7 ‘“Nevertheless you shall die like a mortal:

and fall like one of the princes.”’

8 Arise, O God, and judge the earth:

for you shall take all nations as your possession.

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Hebrews 11.29-12.2

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect. 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

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REFLECTION 

The writer to the Hebrews continues to proclaim those who lived by faith. Now when we use the word faith, we mean faith in God's salvation through Jesus the Christ. They lived by faith in the faith of God's salvation but did not know how that salvation would come. They believed the promises expressed into them by Moses, and as God revealed God's plans, and the writings grew, they believed their scriptures and gave their lives for the promise held in them. 

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Luke 12.49-59

49 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!
51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
52 From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;
53 they will be divided:
father against son
    and son against father,
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
54 He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens.
55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens.
56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
57 ‘And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
58 Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison.
59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.’

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REFLECTION

Jesus tells the people he has come with a purpose and the image of this purpose is fire. It consumes and destroys, but it can also be used to bring light, remove impurities, to prepare food. His purpose is not easy, the choice to live for God and all that comes with it, over Jesus choosing his own way.

The truth he brings will challenge the way the Jewish people have done with God's laws and the words of God's prophets. It will bring division as those who accept Jesus words wrestle with those who stand for the old way. Jesus does give warnings. The people can read signs of nature and foretell the future. Yet they do not see the signs of society and see the direction it is going. If they did they would try to avoid the problem. We have what we need to guide us into life and the reason to live it. What will our justification be for not doing it.

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