WARNING Haftarah #1: The God of Love Doesn't Hold Crazy Positions

The journey, once again, has begun. Believe it or not, this week's Haftarah is the first of three warning shots, followed by the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, Tisha b'Av. We commemorate the destructions of BOTH ancient Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other calamities that befell generations of our ancestors.

We then begin a series of seven Haftarot of comfort, and right after that... is Rosh Hashanah and the High Holiday season. So yeah, even though it's hot out and it's the middle of summer, the Season of Repentance is now in view at the edge of the horizon. This also means it's the time to start to focus. What will we want to change in the year ahead? What's currently not functioning at 100%, or possibly even broken entirely, that REALLY needs our attention. We need that focus, because it's easy to get distracted and miss the Big Issues. Our Haftarah, for example, looks like it's talking about one thing, but it's really another. Oh, and some people today read this text looking at a third issue. But I don't like that third one... so I want to add a fourth!

I told you it's a sad season on our calendar, right? We hear the warnings issued to the People of Israel to hopefully avert disaster, but they ignore the admonition, and TWICE their Temples are destroyed. So what

better prophet to speak to us about our national tragedy than Jeremiah, the proverbial Eeyore of prophets. Our Haftarah comes from the very first chapter of Jeremiah, and right away, we are told that "from the north disaster will break loose on all the inhabitants of the land!" (1:14). Destruction is coming, and Jeremiah is the bearer of some REALLY bad news. And while Jeremiah focuses on the idolatrous practices of the people, as well as the greed and cruelty of the wealthy who take advantage of those less fortunate, people miss his point entirely. Jeremiah declares that the Temple will be destroyed, but it's meant to be as a SYMBOL of punishment for their sins. Yet the people obsess over the physical structure itself; pompously and self-righteously insisting that annihilation would NEVER come, because God loves this beautiful building too much.

Throughout his writings, Jeremiah and the people talk past one another. He pleads with them to be kinder to others and be loyal to God; they talk only of their gorgeous temple that will never be destroyed. As a result, they totally miss the

point, and the prophecies all come true. Fast forward to today: We are STILL missing the point!! At the heart of all true religious practice - regardless of faith - is love, compassion, and kindness. I say "true," because if someone espouses a religious principle (or worse, claims it's "God's principle") that is cruel, angry, or hateful, I firmly believe it is untrue. And here's a prime example, right in our Haftarah: When Jeremiah is first called to be a prophet, God explains why it has always been Jeremiah's destiny to do this (tough) work: "Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; before you were born, I consecrated you" (1:5). This verse is intended exclusively for Jeremiah, to impress upon him that God chose him eons before he was born. Somehow, this verse - utterly taken out of context - became the clarion call for a movement falsely based on Biblical teachings.

If you are familiar with the abortion debate, you may know that the pro-life movement claims to get its call from God, because of various biblical proof texts. One of the primary verses that is cited on multiple pro-life websites is this verse, Jeremiah 1:5. But again, this is taken TOTALLY

out of context! I believe God knew us millenia before we were born; how then is God's relationship with us transferable to this debate? Even though it's framed as a position of love, it often results in guilting, shaming, attacking, and abusing people who disagree. So how can this be "true" religion? I recently heard an inspiring interview with Rev. William Barber, where he refers to the "false moral narrative of the so-called Christian nationalists." He lists five main topics of this group, among them abortion, and then Rev. Barber declares: "That's not God's position, that's a crazy position! Ain't got nothing to do with God! God is the God of Love." I couldn't agree more. So I'll end by acknowledging that it's easy to get distracted, and easy to let others dictate the conversations. But our ancient prophets remind us that these issues are SERIOUS, and they have major ramifications. God is watching, our descendants are watching, and we cannot abdicate our moral responsibility. We do so at our own peril. The journey has begun, and we need to be really, really clear about what's at stake along this odyssey. Because if we forget, the prophets will surely be there to remind us.


Images in this blogpost:
1. CC image courtesy of Crisco 1492 on Wikimedia Commons
2. CC image courtesy of nikoretro on Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of west ga obgyn on Wikimedia Commons
4. CC image courtesy of twbuckner on Wikimedia Commons