Jeremiah 3:6-18. Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not
look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry
forever.
There are some parts of
Scripture I wish we didn’t have to deal with – they make me uncomfortable. This
passage from Jeremiah is one of them. In vivid allegory, the relationship
between God and God’s people is described as that of a husband and wife. And
God is angry with God’s unfaithful wife. On the surface, I am uncomfortable with
outbursts of anger from God. It seems to contradict a God who, as the book of
Numbers puts it, is “slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and
rebellion” (Num. 14:18). But the longer I reflect on this passage, the more I
realize that I am most uncomfortable because it points out my own
unfaithfulness. What lover doesn’t experience immense sadness and anger when
their beloved betrays them? In the harshness of this passage and the difficult
language of verses 6-11, it is easy to miss the language of love and redemption
that stands at the center. It is easy to miss the point.
When we recognize our
unfaithfulness and failure to return God’s love, all God wants is for us to
“return.” Come home. Stop wandering. Live in God’s mercy. Embrace your calling
as God’s beloved. God’s anger when we turn away is evidence of how deeply we
are truly loved. And God will take us back again, and again, and again. Lent is
an invitation to examine the deepest parts ourselves. It is an invitation to
acknowledge the places in our lives and in our communities where we have not
lived as God’s beloved. It is an opportunity to return, to come home, and to
embrace the relationship with God that we were created for. Let us listen to
the voice of God as it calls us into redemption and healing.
— Brian Gregory
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