By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jere-miah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple. 20.1-2

Eugene Peterson says ‘In Jeremiah’s lifetime there was a terrific revival of religion. Jeremiah was one of the preachers of reform. The most popular preacher in Jerusalem during those years, though, was probably Pashur. Pashur was the overseer in the temple, a man of prominence, the head of the flourishing religious establishment.  Every-one loved to hear him; he was positive, affirmative, confident. He had the ability to draw out the best from everything. He was able to search the scriptures and find texts that made the darkest days bright.’256 ‘Pashur was a national asset.’ He was as Flannery O’Connor said ‘a combination of a minister and masseur.’ 257 ‘The people loved him. They crowded to the temple to be reassured by his sonorous baritone, to be cheered by his dazzling smile: ‘Peace, peace’. 258

‘There was (only) one man in Jerusalem not impressed by Pashur. Jeremiah couldn’t stomach him. In angry exasperation, Jeremiah cried out, “From prophet to priest everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘peace, peace’, where there is no peace.” (8.10-11).258  As far as Jeremiah was concerned there was still ‘an inordinate amount of crime, scand-alous reports of injustice, a widening gap between rich and poor. And though the religious life of the people had been cleaned up in public, it was an open secret that all the old fertility rites were being practiced in out-of-the-way places in the country.’ (17.2) 257 And Jeremiah could not help but speak out about it. ‘There (were) persons all around who (were) being trampled and violated. Any preach-ing of peace that turns its back on these is a cruel farce.’258

‘What is wrong is to evaluate the worth of words and deeds by their popularity. What is scandalous is to approve only what is applauded. What is disastrous is to assume that only the celebrated is genuine.’259

‘There are times when the truth will receive a wide hearing and times when it will not. Jesus had a congregation of five thousand one day and four women and two bored soldiers another. His message was the same both days.’259

‘We must learn to live by the truth, not by the world’s opinion, not by what the lat-est statistical survey tells us. In the biblical faith we are trained to take lightly what the experts say, the politicians say, the pastors say. We are trained to test everything against what God reveals to us in Christ.’259

‘The task of the prophet is not to smooth things over – but to make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good, but to make them good.’ 258

‘Jeremiah arranged a conference with some of the leaders of the city. He took them three or four hundred yards south of the temple to the Valley of Hinnom at the site of Topeth. It was the garbage dump of the city. The place stank.  Child sacrifice had been carried out there and still was being done in secret.’260

‘Jeremiah had a pottery water jug under his arm. He spoke his concern to the leaders. He told them reform is useless if it does not change people’s lives. Its no good obeying the letter of the commands written in Deuteronomy if the spirit of love that permeates Deuteronomy is ignored. Its no good being enthusiastic about religious traditions if we treat the people we don’t like as scum.’260

‘Jeremiah accused these leaders of going along with a religion that assured them of success in whatever they undertook at the same time that they were abandon-ing the God who called then to live in love. He accused them of taking their relig-ion from the world around them, making a religious ritual out of gratification of lust, handing out formulas for financial prosperity.’261

‘When he finished his short speech, Jeremiah broke the pottery decanter by throwing it on the ground: ”Thus says the Lord of host: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended” (19.11)

‘Word traveled fast. The temple area in the city was buzzing. Pashur arrested Jeremiah (beat him) and put him in the stocks. Jeremiah was humiliated, but not intimidated. He yelled at Pashur. “Judgment is coming because of willful, entrenched sin, and all you do is sprinkle holy water on it”.’ But it was futile. It was Jeremiah, not Pashur, who was ‘in the stocks – a laughingstock’ 262

‘Jeremiah didn’t like it. He yelled at Pashur, and after he yelled at Pashur he yelled a God.(20.7-10) He didn’t like any of it, but he wasn’t afraid of it because the most important thing in his life was God – not comfort, not applause, not security, but the living God’. And he was fortified by his faith in the living God. ‘Unafraid of the stocks. Unintimidated by taunts. Undeterred by humiliation, or embarrassment, or failure, or pain, or doubt. “A fortified city, and bronze walls” indeed!’ 262

I need to come to terms with fact that from a biblical perspective true spirituality is not serenity, but sensibility that feels the pain of the world, empathizes with it and passionately engages it. It is anything but serene and peaceful. In fact, it cannot cope with a superficial serenity, which refuses to face the reality of pain and feel the pain at any real depth. Instead, it willingly sets aside (a)pathetic ‘peace’ for compassion in which there is ‘no peace’ and ‘never will be peace until all are at peace’.  Thus, true spirituality in scripture is accurately personified in Jeremiah – tormented, grief-stricken, angst-ridden, anxious, anguished, agonized and angry.

Like Jesus.

‘What a waste it would be to take these precious years that we are given and squander them in cocktail chatter when we can be like Jeremiah’ passionately committed to advocating God’s love and justice – whether we win or lose’. 263

Dave Andrews

Numbers refer to pages in The Quest by Eugene Peterson Zondervan Grand Rapids 2000