February 2017
St. Mark’s News Volume 21/Issue 2
From the Associate Rector: Three Things I Learned from Slowly Reading Jeremiah For several months now, a small but dedicated cadre of St. Mark’s parishioners have been slowly reading the Old Testament book of the prophet Jeremiah. Every week, we take a chapter or two of the book. We pray, read the chapter, and examine the thoughts, historical situation, and themes of the prophet’s words. We ask the text questions, and the text asks us questions back. This slow journey through the book has been a first for me. I admit it is rare for me to read this slowly through one book of the Bible, especially one as long as Jeremiah. By the way, we still have room for more on this journey. Tuesdays at noon, snacks provided. Today we finished chapter 24, and there are several more to go. But, from this vantage point, the following themes have stuck with me in this fantastic journey through an ancient text. 1. No one ever listens. The prophet continues to repeat this theme like an exasperated parent. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, is about to level the city, but no one thinks it will happen. Only Jeremiah thinks it will, so he preaches. He preaches in the streets and in front of the beloved and sacred Temple. His sermons are eloquent, vivid, and full of illustrations and metaphors. They are passionate appeals for his people to turn back to God. But no one ever listens. Really, they don’t.
In this Issue From the Associate Rector......... 1 Vestry Highlights ........................ 2 Parish Life .................................. 4 Outreach .................................... 5 Christian Formation .................... 6 Parishioner Highlights ................ 8 Caffeine Ministry ........................ 9 Celebrations ............................. 10 ROTA ....................................... 11
2. He’s not talking about me. Since I am removed by thousands of years, language, culture, and so much more, it is easy to think the Prophet is addressing only the people living in his own day. However, the more I read it with my community, the more I can hear him talking to me and to us. This is why the ancient community preserved these words. This was a monumental task back in the day since Jeremiah is a huge book. They did this because the Spirit was still speaking to it. John the Baptist and Jesus both echo themes found in Isaiah and I hope I do in my preaching and life.
3. There’s always some hope. In spite of the overwhelming ignorance of the people, in spite of the very real threat by Nebuchadnezzar, in spite of the reality that the entire nation would be exiled to a foreign land—in spite of all this, Jeremiah has hope. Well, at least, he has a shred of hope. Most of the hope is not for the people who will suffer, but for their children who will return from the exile. Most of the hope is fleeting, inserted between major sections of judgment and destruction. Hope is like that, I suppose, always fleeting, always a long shot, always a thin ray of light breaking into the darkness. - David+
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