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September 5, 2016

The Many Faces of God

Linda Douty Mischke   |   Read Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-26

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Lectionary Week
September 5–11, 2016
Scripture Overview

The apparent message of Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 is total despair, but verse 27 offers a soft note of grace. God’s redemptive purposes for the people will not ultimately be thwarted. Psalm 14 suggests that foolishness and perversity characterize all humanity, but God can gather from among sinful humankind a community of people who will nd their refuge in God. In First Timothy, the writer points to his own life as an example of God’s ability to reclaim and redeem persons. Luke 15 suggests how far God is willing to go to reclaim the lost. The par- ables of the lost sheep and the lost coin portray God as remark- ably and even recklessly active in pursuit of wayward persons.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28. When have you made a mess of things and suffered the consequences? What invitation surfaced from that situation?
• Read Psalm 14. How do you feel when you are out of touch with God’s call? What practices or disciplines do you employ to recognize God’s faithfulness?
• Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17. What can you do today that will show mercy and compassion to another?
• Read Luke 15:1-10. When have you felt God pursuing you? How did this feel like a gracious invitation rather than con- demnation?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-26

11 At that time, this people and Jerusalem will be told: A blistering wind from the bare heights; it rages in the desert toward my people, not merely to winnow or cleanse. 12 This wind is too devastating for that. Now I, even I, will pronounce my sentence against them. 22 My people are foolish. They don’t even know me! They are thoughtless children without understanding; they are skilled at doing wrong, inept at doing right. 23 I looked at the earth, and it was without shape or form; at the heavens and there was no light. 24 I looked at the mountains and they were quaking; all the hills were rocking back and forth. 25 I looked and there was no one left; every bird in the sky had taken flight. 26 I looked and the fertile land was a desert; all its towns were in ruins before the LORD, before his fury.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

An armed invasion from the north constitutes a “hot wind” that will breathe down the Israelites’ necks. The people of Jerusalem and Judah exist in an atmosphere of constant threat, violence, and revenge. In their honest struggle to relate to Yahweh, they understandably wonder how God fits into this dismal...

When have you made a mess of things and suffered the consequences? Imagine it not as God’s punishment but as an invitation to move into harmony with God’s purposes.


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