Jeremiah 18.1-11
Last week I heard about plans to launch a spaceship to probe a far distant asteroid. If it was launched in 2012, the spaceship would not reach its destination until 2019. But although the asteroid is far away now there is a very real chance that it will hit the earth in 2036, causing such a devastating explosion that all life will immediately be wiped out. Should we be worrying about this? The chances that we really are on a collision course with the asteroid are not very great - it may pass close by, but without actually hitting us. However, the impact of a collision would be so terrible that even a tiny risk is worth taking seriously. And it's not too late to change the cause of history, even if a collision seems inevitable . The scientists behind the plan have explained that if we take action soon enough, just bumping a one tonne spaceship into the asteroid would be enough to change its course and save our planet. The mission being planned at the moment isn't designed to do that, however. It would just be a fact-finding visit to take measurements and calculate how close to us the asteroid is really going to come.
Jeremiah has something similar in mind when he prophecies about the consequences of evil. Just as surely as an asteroid plunging towards earth, or a snowballing rolling down a mountainside and gathering yet more snow as it goes, the growing impact of evil can have devastating consequences for the life of a nation - and even for the life of an entire planet. But all is not lost. Jeremiah advises that if the nation turns from its evil ways, disaster can still be averted. And the sooner the nation amends its ways, the easier it will be to put things right with God.
The way Jeremiah talks about God, as if he were constantly planning to pluck up, break down and destroy nations, could make him sound vindictive and cruel. But this is not Jeremiah's meaning at all. Jeremiah means us to understand that, because God is holy, he simply cannot work with the wrong kind of material. If nations persist in doing evil God has no alternative but to abandon the project to help them, and start all over again with new material instead.
These thoughts come to Jeremiah after watching a potter at work. The potter skillfully works the clay but sometimes, despite the potter's skill and persistence, some small imperfection in the clay, or a slight change in the way the pot is shaping up on the wheel, mean that it becomes impossible to go on working on that particular piece and the potter has to give up, roll the clay back into a ball or lump, and start over again. And he wonders, could it be that God will have to do the same with wicked and disobedient nations?
Are we on a collision course with God's judgement in our country today and, if we are, what steps could we take to begin to avert disaster?
Philemon 1-21
Paul begins his short letter to Philemon with some sincere flattery. He has received much joy and encouragement through Philemon's love and support and he wants to appeal to this friendship in order to ask a favour from Philemon on behalf of a man called Onesimus , one of Philemon's slaves who seems to have done something that has left Philemon seriously out of pocket. Paul offers to pay back all of Onesimus ' debts, although there are strong hints that Philemon already owes Paul such a great debt himself that he ought not to take up the offer. Paul also hints that Philemon ought really to release Onesimus from slavery. And even if that seems like a step too far, he must - from now on - treat Onesimus as his brother in Christ, because Onesimus has become a Christian during his time with Paul.
In the middle of the letter there is a play on words. Onesimus sounds like the Greek word for someone "useful", but Onesimus has a reputation for being useless. Now that he has discovered faith in Jesus Christ, Paul says he is no longer useless and in fact has been extremely useful to Paul. There is a suggestion, too, that he could be more useful to Philemon as a friend and brother in Christ than he ever was as a slave.
The letter reveals how difficult it was for the early Church to deal with the issue of slavery. Paul says openly that - as the founder of Philemon's church and his spiritual counsellor - he could have ordered him to forgive Onesimus and set him free. But that would be politically unacceptable, so he asks for a favour instead. However, he doesn't hesitate to make clear - as he also does elsewhere - that in the Church all people have to be treated as equals, regardless of their status, their age, their race, their gender, or the way that the rest of the world treats them.
Although we have long ago got rid of institutional slavery, this letter still challenges us. A new film is about to be released, about a gang-master who employs Polish immigrants to work in the UK. It reminds us that people are still being exploited and that money is still getting in the way of the kind of relationships which God wants us to have with one another. What can we do today to change this?
Luke 14.25-33
This is a very challenging and difficult passage. Jesus urges his listeners to think carefully about the demands of being one of his followers. There is no point in embarking on the journey if we are not prepared for a radical rethink of our values and the way we live.
Jesus doesn't usually explain his stories, preferring to leave it to the listeners to draw their own conclusions, so it may be Luke who has added the concluding words of explanation, 'Therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.' If anything, Jesus has suggested an even stronger level of commitment. His followers must be prepared to give up not only their possessions but also their lives for his sake.
It's the sort of sentiment which is normally considered to be extremist rather than mainstream, and by the time that Paul was writing to Philemon it was already being ignored or reinterpreted. Philemon seems happy to be a Christian who owns slaves, let alone other possessions, and Paul scarcely dares to rebuke him - though he does hint that owning slaves and caring about possessions both fall short of the ideal way for Christians to live.
Does this mean that we can treat today's passage from Luke's Gospel as exaggeration, designed to make the saying more memorable? Elsewhere Jesus often seems to use exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, but in this case I think we have to take the saying at face value. He himself turned his back on his mother, brothers and sisters in order to pursue God's mission. He gave up all of his possessions and, finally, he carried a cross and turned his back on life itself. To be his followers, we have to be prepared to do the same.
In what circumstances might we be called upon to turn our backs on family commitments in order to do God's will? Are there any times when this wouldn't be appropriate? What about the commandment to honour our fathers and mothers?
How would we manage to live without any possessions at all? And if it wouldn't be practical for all Christians to give up their possessions, when might we be called upon to do it?
What would it mean for us to carry a cross and turn our backs on life itself? What things do we need to give up - as individuals and as a church - in order to pursue God's mission where we live and work?
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