HiddenThings: Week 4: Jeremiah 20:14, Galatians 3:1

If you found us you are welcome to join us! We are a motley crew of Christians seeking to understand Scripture better. For ten weeks we will be exploring readings not traditionally found in Episcopal worship. This is a practice and open to anyone be it pagan, lay person, seminarian, priest, and Bishop! We hope your curiosity draws you in and your encounter with God keeps you. There are very few rules in this practice. See link RulesforHiddenThings below.

HiddenThings

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Week 4: Jeremiah 20:14, Galatians 3:1
NRS Jeremiah 20:14 Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed! 15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A child is born to you, a son," making him very glad. 16 Let that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon, 17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.

NRS Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? 4 Did you experience so much for nothing?-- if it really was for nothing. 5 Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
- posted by The Rev. Scott Petersen @ 5:25 PM

Comments:

These two readings have a lot of exclamation points for early in the morning. So I guess that's how God is encountering me: "Wake UP! Pay attention!"

Jeremiah's reading is horrific in that it inflicts a curse on an innocent man, but when looking past Jer's rage one can see the agony he undergoes for God. I love that about Jeremiah...he follows his call, but he does it kicking and screaming.

As for the Galatians reading...it must have been difficult to listen to someone who just called them "foolish!"

# posted by

Eliz F : 6:36 AM, April 25, 2005

I believe the Jeremiah reading could benefit the wider church if read more often because it shows that even the most faithful at times get unreasonably angry when following God's call. This can benefit those who feel angry at God following a tragedy, for example, and then feel alienated from church because they are anrgy at God. Angry is an understandable emotion, and people who are angry at God need to feel welcome in church.

As for Galatians, sometimes we need to be yelled at a bit, especially in mainline Protestant churches where we try to just be polite all the time and not offend anyone.

# posted by

Eliz F : 5:48 AM, April 26, 2005

I would probably choose to preach on Jeremiah, focusing on how following God's call is really difficult and that even faithful prophets express to God feelings of frustration and anger. I also think it is relevant to note that while he yells about it, he goes ahead with his mission; and that he does not curse God directly. (Although cursing an innocent man...ouch!! Hard to address that one...)

# posted by

Eliz F : 5:53 AM, April 28, 2005

I have troubled over writings. I had let things build and had spent much of the week trying to listen to the spirit. Some of my works went away.

I've been having trouble keeping the spirit with this practice. I wonder if it is more powerful to allow the encounter happen without trying to limit it to some particular topic.

This is what the spirit seems to be saying to me. I have not merrited any of this. It is not by my works but only through what I have heard!

# posted by

The Rev. Scott Petersen : 8:35 PM, May 01, 2005

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