Bad news hurts. Our ears deafen; our minds close; our eyes lose their sight. Some people give up to despair upon hearing of doom, destruction or change. But, others rise to the occasion and display skills, qualities and talents heretofore hidden. However, we generally live through the bad news.

Jeremiah lived through the bad news of the capture, and enslavement, of the Kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II and his imperial forces in 598 BC. He lived through the next eleven years of oppression during which time the Babylonians installed a puppet king, Zedekiah as in today’s first reading. Jeremiah, however, had not capitulated to the conquerors. He was still faithful to the God of Israel. King Zedekiah, however, was a cowardly, easily manipulated, and shallow individual. In 598 BC, the Babylonians merely conquered the kingdom. In 587 or 586, the situation intensified and the Babylonians destroyed the City of Jerusalem (including the Temple), and marched the remaining captive Jews to slavery in Babylon. In the period just before the destruction of the city, however, Jeremiah had been trying to persuade the puppet government to trust in Israel’s God and rise up in revolt against the pagan oppressors. Zedekiah, easily frightened by his most unworthy princes, found a scape-goat for all their troubles in the person of Jeremiah the prophet. We hear how Zedekiah acted out his fears and incompetence in today’s first lesson. Jeremiah was saved by the willingness of one individual to tell the truth in spite of personal danger. Society is often this way. Angry, thoughtless, detached and incompetent people wrongly critique those who are thoughtful in all sorts of leadership. Good science is challenged by myth and superstition. Professionalism is doubted and ridiculed by superficial people who claim to know better by their own irresponsible intuition and false certitude. Dedicated career politicians and leaders are subverted by career opportunists for whom winning is more important than leading or representing or effectively legislating. We have not yet figured out just why God allows such destructive people to flourish in our world, but such is the reality. (Can you point out such destructive individuals today?) Jeremiah’s was a voice against greed, against the lust for power, and against the fear of reality which motivated most of Judah’s leaders. Politicians who promise to “bring back” a wrongly imagined fairy land to the electorate or, after losing, choose to “not cooperate with” the rightly elected leaders or who persuade by fanning flames of imaginary fears – all these are the shallowest and slimiest of all possible leaders. They usually are terribly ignorant themselves and are completely undeserving of the public trust. If they have their ways, these modern Zedekiahs would ultimately lead to the destruction of real hope and the cheapening of life as we know it.

The Gospel text today points to the reality of differences of opinions, and the necessity of argument and dispute among families and friends. According to the ancient ideal of family, community and society, everyone got along peacefully. Wisdom was expected to guide and direct every member. In reality, however, such a society never really existed. It was imaginary. Perhaps you do not ever disagree with your spouse, friends, children, parents or siblings, but I assure you that such disagreement is a reality present in all other families, communities and societies the world over. That’s reality; get used to it! So, why would Jesus take credit for such a reality? Because Jesus is not merely about being nice or kind or loving or friendly. He is also very, very much about being truthful. In fact, he claimed of himself in John’s Gospel, “I am the way, the truth and the life...” The truth always challenges the status quo, provokes thought, and encourages the debate of discernment. Truth can be seen and appreciated from so many various perspectives that in life’s attempts to describe it, disputes erupt as to how to do so fully and effectively. The “earth on fire” to which Jesus referred is that dynamic engagement of life which makes all thoughtful, intelligent and believing humans “fully alive.” The “division” which Jesus brings is the division which encourages believers to question, examine, debate, discern, decide, reflect upon, wrestle with, and otherwise engage all aspects of life. Nothing is ever fully resolved if it demands a considered embrace by people. Even the official and formal truths of our faith would profit by on-going reconsideration, reflection and re-statement. How one generation of believers articulates the faith in its own language very much assumes a renewed consideration and re-articulation in a more evolved language for succeeding generations, in succeeding cultures, in later times and other places. For example, if the Nicene Creed is not quite exciting, then perhaps it needs to be studied and re-stated for people for whom 4^th Century Greek Neo-Platonic terms are not the normal terms of expression. It is still “true.” But, it has lost much of it’s effectiveness. New terms might be more effective, and thus, more desirable.

Why can we be secure in spite of the need to change? Because, as is written in Hebrews, “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” a reference to all the saints and holy people who’ve gone before us. From their perspective in God’s presence outside of this world, all the details and minutiae over which we might argue are insignificant. We who sometimes fear the “bad news” of change, whether small scale or total destruction, will someday discover as have they, that change is the hallmark of the Good News. Engaging life fully, embracing life in the Cross, even if painful, and the ever-present element of discipleship – all these make this present life worth living, and lead to the next life in the full presence of Christ, God and the Spirit.

Any Christians who imagine that there is possible a final, perfect peace on Earth are delusional. Life is messy and will ever be so. The Gospel enables us to embrace life fully and seek after genuine peace, even though un-achievable. The Cross reminds us that we may love life but we must frequently die to ourselves and our own desires, and that we will eventually rise to a new appreciation of life. The Spirit of God working through us in the here-and-now is our glorification and our life in God’s own Holy Wisdom. Be not delusional! Do not fear change! Rather, be brave and love, believe and seek Divine Wisdom in this life of ours . . . right now . . . today!!