Wednesday in the Second Week

Jeremiah 18:1-11, 18-20; Psalm 31:9-16; Matthew 20:17-28

It was ever thus: we do not like people telling us hard truth.  Jeremiah’s words to his people not only go unheeded; they will endanger his life.  Jesus will be crucified for his message of repentance.  John the Baptist will lose his head for speaking truth to power.  Martyrs throughout history, of every tradition, lose their lives (whether physical or social) for speaking truth.

Lately I’ve been thinking about Jimmy Carter.  He came to the presidency during the first energy crisis, when we first ran into limits and vulnerability around oil.  He told us we needed to conserve, and that this was consistent with Christian traditions of stewardship and humility.  And we didn’t want to hear it.  We ridiculed him as unmanly, as a wimp.  In 1980 we elected someone who told us we could have it all, on our terms, with no consequences.

Now, 37 years later, we again have a president who tells us what we would like to believe.  Those who call to us are treated like Jeremiah, as government websites delete data that would let us see the truth.  We are on the verge of environmental collapse, as well as social collapse in many areas of our common life.  And we don’t want to know.

It takes real commitment, real love, to keep showing up and speaking the truth in times like these.  And, truth be told, all times are times like these.

I have just awakened from a month in which I told myself, and others, that we could have it all right now.  I thought I was acting on faith, but now I see I was acting on self-will.  I was acting “for God,” but I was not listening to God’s voice speaking through others.  I didn’t want to hear their message.  Today, I’m grateful for them.  I plan to tell them so.

Have you found yourself refusing hard truth?  If you have, now is the time to turn.  We shall know the truth, if we choose, and the truth shall set us free.  Even Jesus’ truth, the truth that he will be crucified, sets him and us free to await rising again.  The truth that we are not here to be serve but to serve sets us free to be co-creators of this world.  The truth always, always, sets us free.