Luke 14:25-33
The Cost of Discipleship
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— 12 wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.22 “For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.” 23 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. 25 I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. 26 I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. 27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. 28 Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.
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There is no way to read this passage from Jeremiah and not compare it in some way to all the news that we hear each day from around the globe. It does indeed seem that there is a hot wind blowing fiercely at us, the foolish people, the stupid children. From record-breaking heat, fire, and floods right in our backyards to Saharan dust clouds high in the atmosphere, it is not hard to imagine that our fruitful land will be a desert and that the cities will be laid in ruins. Yet verse 27 of Jeremiah’s lament reminds us that the Lord is not going to end it here; there is something on the other side of this desolation.
Jeremiah’s prophecy is not exactly hopeful, but it also does not allow us to simply give up and pack it in. Things are going to be bad, “the earth shall mourn,” but we remain God’s people, we have no choice but to remain steadfast in our faith as we move through what might be our own dark night of the soul.
- Do you think that God has given up on us, or is there a chance for redemption?
- What in this passage might give you insight into a way through these dark days?
This Bible study, written by The Rev. Amy Feins
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The 14th Sunday after Pentecost