By Jeremiah, Eugene and Me

‘For twenty-three years–from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day–the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 25.3-5

Persistence is at the heart of Jeremiah’s struggle, says Eugene Petersen..

While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you persistently, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 7.13

From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, persistently sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.’ 7.25-26

From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them persistently, saying, “Obey me.” 8But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’ ” 11.7-8

For twenty-three years–from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day–the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened. 25.3

And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you persistently, you have not listened or paid any attention. 25.4

if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you persistently (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’ ” 26.5

For they have not listened to my words,” declares the LORD, “words that I sent to them persistently by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the LORD. 29.19

They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them persist-ently, they would not listen or respond to discipline. 32.33

But I have spoken to you persistently, yet you have not obeyed me. 35.14

Persistently I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; 35.15

Persistently I sent my servants the prophets, who said, `Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ 44.4

For twenty-three years Jeremiah sought to listen to the word of God. For twenty-three years Jeremiah sought to speak God’s word to the people. And for twenty-three years the people heard refused to hear what he had to say to them. 279.

‘The mark of a certain kind of genius (required for prophetic ministry) is the ability to keep returning to the same task relentlessly, imaginatively, for a lifetime.’286

‘The word hashkem (persistently) has a sunrise in it. Jeremiah is up before the sun to do his work. There is an early morning lightness in him.’281

‘The five poem-prayers in Lamentations (written in the tradition of Jeremiah) express the suffering God’s people experienced during and after the fall of Jerusalem, the most devastating disaster in their history. At the very centre of this dark time, and placed at almost the exact centre of these five poems that lament the suffering, there is the verse: ”The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”(Lam.3.22-23)’284 ‘That is the source of Jeremiah’s persistence’.285

‘Jeremiah did not resolve to stick it out for twenty-three years, no matter what. He got every morning with the sun’. He didn’t get up to face the people, he got up to face God. ‘He didn’t rise to put up with another round of mockery’, he rose to be embraced by the grace of God that was so great it enabled him to cope with the mockery that came his way. 281 ‘Every day was a new adventure of living the prophetic life. (And) the days added up to a life of incredible tenacity’.282

Garry Wills says ‘A very original man (sic) must shape his life, make a schedule that allows him to reflect, and study and create.’ 285

1. We need to make sure we get enough sleep each night, so that we can wake up every morning, not groggy, not grumpy, but glad to be alive. And as we wake we can be more aware of the love of God in us and around us and give ourselves over to the joy of living more freely and more faithfully.

2. In order to prepare ourselves for the day we can take a bit of time just to sense the tensions in our bodies that signal things we are uptight about. Often these are grievances, real or perceived, of ways that people thwart our plans. We can note the issues they raise that we need to address. Then let them go.

3. Once we let our grievances go we can begin to let the love flow. We can try to do this by bringing to mind all the people that we are connected to in our community, then one by one, picture their face, speak their name, and pronounce a blessing upon each and every one them, friend and foe alike.

4.We can often be in a hurry. On the move from morning to night. But at regular intervals throughout the day we can always take the time to stop, to look, and to listen. And to deliberate on the activities, conversations, and undercurrents in our community.

5. Every now and again we can try to get a bit of distance from our community and put it into a bit of perspective. We can meditate on our community. As it is. And as it might be. Imagining all the things we could do to bring people in the locality together more.

6. Because there’s so many things we could do, it’s very difficult to figure out exactly what we should do. We are often confused. So we can seek clarity by listening to the still small voice inside us. We can listen until we hear a word that is right for us. Then we can take that word to heart.

7. We can take it to heart. But not go for it on our own. We can run it by a group of people whose opinions we trust. And together decide on what we are going to do. Discern the direction we ought to take, on the basis of consensus and consent.

8. Even if we get the direction right, doesn’t mean we get the action right.  We may get it wrong far more often than we’d like to admit. So it’s important to be a part of a group that can help us monitor our progress by reflecting on our actions.

9. When we reflect on our actions, we are brought face to face with our failures, as well as our successes. And if we’re not careful we can let our failures discount our successes. So it’s important to be a part of a group that can help us not only evaluate our progress but validate our progress.

10. Last, but not least, we need to keep coming back to the examples of people like Jeremiah and let the radical spirit of compassion embodied in their lives engage us, challenge us and change us.

‘There is only one thing needful. And there is only today in which to do it. Do it. Then do it again. And again. Persistently. With all the exuberance of an encore’. 286

Dave Andrews

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