Heartsick

Here are some thoughts about Sunday's reading from the Hebrew Scriptures that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Any thoughts?

First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10

⁵Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
 ⁶They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

 ⁷Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
 ⁸They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.

 ⁹The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
 ¹⁰I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings.

There’s a real connection between this reading, the psalm and the gospel reading. We see in Psalm 1 virtually the same language about God’s people being “…like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3). Just like our first reading from Jeremiah, Psalm 1 compares the good and the evil and what they experience in life. 

Jeremiah, the psalm and gospel all have beatitudes, the “blessed”s and “happy”s. In the gospel, we have the sermon on the plain as opposed to Matthew’s mount. There are lots of “blessed”s there.

So…what is the gist of what God is saying to us through these readings, particularly through Jeremiah? It’s all about the heart and whether or not it is turned toward the Lord. But then we have a problem according to Jeremiah. The heart is so deceitful and perverse. It is no good. It is diseased. What can we do for a sick heart—replace it! We need a heart transplant! This is something God does for us if we’re willing.

Further on in Jeremiah, God says, “ I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). God does not desire to write people off but welcomes fellowship and communion with God’s people. 

I’m curious—what do you see in this passage from Jeremiah? On the basis of this text, what would you like to hear? Please email me or text me on my cell. 

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