Jeremiah – A Community of “Not Listening”

The chapters towards the end of the book of Jeremiah have a feeling of futility to them. The people and the leaders have not listened, and they will not listen. 
Their “not listening” is marked by a refusal to consider what God has for them. They choose instead of exile to Babylon, a supposed and hoped for refuge in Egypt.  
We make this error over and over again in faith. We think that God must want for us what we want for ourselves. I can picture (and there were such voices) people who called themselves faithful saying, “Don’t listen to Jeremiah. If you just believe that God will bless you, you will be blessed in Egypt.” The people could not consider that God might want for them what they did not want for themselves. 
I remember reading once that true faith does not pray, “if it be Your will.” Of course, this is crap. The ignorant statement was made by a prosperity gospel leader (by many such leaders) saying that if you say “if it be your will” then you don’t truly believe. 
It’s the giveaway. Such ignorance is not faith at all, but a kind of transaction. It is not walking humbly with God, it is demanding, childish and utterly self-centred.  

I may well pray, “How could you want exile for me, dear God?” I may well pray, “I hate what is happening even as I trust in you.” Jesus prays in the garden, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not my will, but thy will be done.” Jesus would be a terrible follower of prosperity gospel. He never would have gone to the cross if he listened to any of these hucksters. They’d congratulate him for avoiding the cross and tell him that he could be blessed with riches if only he would believe.  

Thank God that he didn’t.  And we ought not to either. 

Amen.