Jeremiah 4.1 Stay Calm, Ignore the Prophet

They had preached "peace, peace" when there was no peace. They had said "it could never happen here," and when it did happen, the kings, the priests and even the prophets were stunned.

Jeremiah wasn't.

Jeremiah may have been taken aback, horrified, and even saddened by the sight of destruction, but it was no surprise. He had seen it coming, and he had warned everybody that would listen, and he warned those who wouldn't listen. That very fact had made him an outcast, an exile within his own land.

He sounded crazy, no doubt. The people had been told by everyone else that there was no danger, no threat. The kings had said it. The priests had said it. Even other prophets were celebrating peace and safety.

Usually, if you're the only person who sees something, you're crazy.

Have you ever felt like the crazy person? Nobody else sees the problem. Nobody else sees the issue. You stand up and tell the people to open their eyes. "Shhh! Sit down, be quiet." You go to the leadership and warn them of the dangers, you show them where they had taken the wrong path. They smile and nod and thank you and surreptitiously roll their eyes.

The irony is, of course, that Jeremiah was an island of sanity in an ocean of madness. Leadership was exactly what those in charge should not have been given. They had no idea where they had been, where they were, or what lay on the path ahead.

Have you ever been, Jeremiah? The lone mope at a party? Have you ever sat in worship or fellowship and thought, "What the hell are we doing here?"

One of the lessons in Jeremiah is that your concerns, feelings, paranoias, shames, fears, frustrations, visions, and prophecies are exactly what are needed. The reason that everyone else seems delusional is because they have in fact deluded themselves.

One of the feelings you may have received  from your tradition is "Stay calm, ignore the muttering prophet." Then, everybody turns and looks at you, the supposed lunatic rabble-rouser. Then, is your chance. Now is your chance! Barring a psychotic break, you have a chance to lend voice to the voiceless, to speak the essential dissent. That is the very moment that you should climb Golgotha and give your community a beautiful gift: your voice - your beautiful (probably crazy) unique voice.

Those who do, be blessed and blessed.