Jeremiah 20:1-6. Jeremiah has been prophesying as God told him to and, as usual for Jeremiah, he is angering all the wrong/right people. In this passage, Pashhur, the chief priest, has Jeremiah beaten and locked in the stocks overnight. Upon his release the next morning, Jeremiah tells Pashhur that God calls him "Terror on every side," because he shall be made a terror to himself and his friends. All of Judah will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and many of Pashhur's friends will fall by the sword while he looks on. The rest of the people will go into exile. All of Jerusalem's wealth and treasure will also be delivered into the hands of Babylon. Pashhur himself will go into captivity in Babylon and will die and be buried there, along with his surviving friends to whom he prophesied falsely.

Jeremiah is prophesying because he has to, not because he wants to, nor because he is a judgmental rabble-rouser. He is being compelled by God to say the things he says, all while shaking his fist at God at times for the way he is being treated. In fact, this verse is immediately followed by Jeremiah telling God that God has deceived him and made him a laughingstock; all his friends have turned on him for saying the things he is saying, yet God keeps compelling him to say them. The powerful who hear Jeremiah, like Pashhur, of course reject him - he is directly threatening their power. Not only do they reject him, they turn the people against him, often with false prophecies of their own, and they physically punish him, as here.

The people of Judah, expecially the powerful, have to convince themselves that Jeremiah is crazy, because if he is speaking the truth their entire world order will have to be changed. This is too much for most people to handle, especially people in power. But when we are confronted with anyone as driven as Jeremiah, who has nothing to gain, and everything to lose, from the things that he is doing and saying, we should at least hear them out, not shut them down. Pashhur, as a priest, should know this better than anyone else. He knows God's ways and God's laws. Pashhur, though, has been corrupted. He had has a special duty to the people, and he has turned from that duty to keep his personal power and comfort. Not only that, he has prophesied falsely to the people, presumably to convince them Jeremiah is lying. (I wonder if Pashhur truly believed Jeremiah was crazy and a liar, and therefore his own lies were justified? I see a lot of that going on today!) Pashhur will suffer greatly for his misdeeds, as will the people he has led astray.

We are all priests, prophets, and kings, we are called to fulfill these roles as God puts situations in our lives. Jeremiah rises to his role as prophet, even though it costs him much. Pashhur does not rise to his role as priest. He has become too attached to the power and things of this world and cannot allow them to be threatened. Because he is a priest, and has a greater duty, Pashhur will pay not only for his own sins, but for his failure in his duty to the people.

Over the last few years, I have been getting "prophetic-like" messages and feelings. When I started getting them, I was unsure whether they were coming from God, or from my own brain, or, worst of all, from the devil (he's very good at fooling us!) I sought out, learned, and began practicing Ignatian discernment, and have, over time, become pretty adept at distinguishing these messages (not perfect, yet, but pretty good!). However, the next step, once I distinguish the message as coming from God, is for me to ask myself whether it is just for me (it often is), or if it is something that I am supposed to tell others. Discernment helps here, too, and sometimes I feel the same compulsion that Jeremiah felt - I know that it is something I'm supposed to say to people. This is very hard, because I have experienced rejection, as well. But, I have learned that if the people I say these things to treat me badly, or will not listen, I am to shake the dust from my sandals. When I move on and tell other people, I eventually find the people who will listen to me and hear what I'm trying to say. Those are the people I'm supposed to be reaching! God will send someone else to the people who won't listen to me - someone not as close to them ("No prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:24).

I understand Jeremiah's frustration at being treated as a laughingstock, or worse. The age we live in now is full of people who are too complacent and not willing to listen, because if they did, their entire worldview would have to be questioned. It is the same as it was in Jeremiah's time, and I think we are nearing, or are already at, a place just as bad as Judah was in his time. We, though, have the benefit of having Jesus (Jeremiah did not - he was "flying solo."). Jesus has already come into the world and is the Priest, Prophet, and King. We merely have to emulate him. Jesus is the Word, he put the Truth out into the world. Unlike Jeremiah, all we have to do is point people toward him, and he will lead them in the right direction. Our job is easier becasue of him.