JEREMIAH 6

 TEXT FOR REFLECTION:

“From the least to the greatest,

    all are greedy for gain;

prophets and priests alike,

    all practice deceit.

They dress the wound of my people

    as though it were not serious.

‘Peace, peace,’ they say,

    when there is no peace."

JEREMIAH 6:13-14

REFLECT

Greed had permeated the city of Jerusalem; in fact, greed had become somewhat of a national culture, a community ethos. "From the least to the greatest" - across every stratum of society, the people had become greedy for gain. And the moral leaders, the priests and prophets, practised deceit as well. Priests and prophets were supposed to be the moral compass of society; they were meant to set the tone for what God had meant society to be. In this case, greed had become a "normal" part of the national ethos. By their practices, the religious leaders had declared that greed was an acceptable part of life.

Whenever wealth and prosperity become the barometer of the well-being of a people, society will inevitably be blinded to the true condition of that community. As long as a community is prosperous, we assume that all is well with that community. We are unable to see that beneath that wealth, lurks deep brokenness, loneliness, lovelessness, a loss of compassion, and despair. Hence to such an observer, the panacea to all ailments will be to gather more wealth. Insidiously, that community will fall apart even as it appears to be healthy and wealthy.

With their focus on gain, the priests and prophets who were called to heal the brokenness in society, were unable to see beyond the superficial. They could not see how broken and damaged society had become. In their view, as long as there was prosperity, even if it was through deceit, there was 'peace' in the land. To them, everything was going well.

What the entire nation was unable to see, was that there were deep, festering wounds beneath the surface, which would erupt at any time. Greed had blinded the leaders to the true condition of the people.

RELATE

The church is called to be a beacon of godliness and goodness within a community or country. We are meant to state and demonstrate what God's good and compassionate ways are. It is of utmost importance that we be vigilant in upkeeping God's standards. But the lure of wealth is a powerful and deadly weapon of the evil one. And so often we join the world in the pursuit of money.

Once while serving in Prison Fellowship Singapore, I was moved by the plight of inmates suffering from HIV, and their inability to afford medicines to treat their illness. I turned to the Christian community for help. We received barely any help. Some of the richest churches in Singapore gave token amounts. Eventually, a Buddhist temple underwrote the cost of HIV medicines for all inmates, regardless of religion. That was one of my saddest moments in ministry. 

Prosperity is a blessing from God. God gives us wealth to remind us that He owns all things and that He generously provides for us. But when we set the accumulation of wealth as a goal, we soon lose sight of the purpose for which wealth was given to us - that we trust God to provide, and in turn give generously to others in need.

Wealth is a wonderful thing when we use it to care for each other's needs and for the needs of those outside our community. But when we become greedy for gain and lose compassion, we will fail to see the depth of our woundedness. May we always be vigilant so that we may remain a beacon of God's ways.

REST

Why should I feel discouraged?

And why should the shadows come?

And why should my heart be lonely

And long for heaven and home?

When Jesus is my portion

My constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

And I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I am free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

Let not your heart be troubled

His tender word I hear

And resting on His goodness

I lose my doubts and fears

Though by the path He leads us

But one step I may see

His eye is on the sparrows

And I know He watches me

From the Hymn "His Eye Is On The Sparrow", by Civila D. Martin

Chiu Ming Li