28 August 2016
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 17C (RCL)
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
This passage from Jeremiah lays out the sin of the people in vivid terms; they have exchanged the spring of living water for cisterns they have made themselves, and cracked cisterns at that. God has led them into a plentiful land, not a land of deserts and pits. The juxtaposition of life, and water, and abundance over against dryness, drought and famine runs throughout the passage. Alongside this juxtaposition is a second one: of dependence on the goodness of God over against a mistaken self-reliance. The prophet equates worshiping the Baals with an attempt to manipulate nature for one’s own ends. Throughout the prophets, this is connected with the corruption of the monarchy. Continue reading “Community currency”