(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
I have had it! I have had enough of this! I resign and I quit! I have never had a worse employer than you! I have done everything you asked of me. I took great delight in your words. All I have received from it, however, is pain, trouble and evil!
Sentiments such as these reflect something of what Jeremiah the prophet experienced in his work. In the reading today, Jeremiah was ready to walk off the job. He had no kind words to say to the Lord. He voiced his anger, disappointment and rage earnestly to the Lord. He told the Lord that the Lord had to change and live up to the Lord’s agreement with Jeremiah.
This is Sacred Scripture. This is sacred and inspired writing. This shows that we have permission to express anger, disappointment and rage at the Lord in no uncertain terms, using all the language we can muster for the occasion. This is prayer in its most earnest form.
Yet, we seem afraid to think negative and angry thoughts at the Lord. We consider God so kind and loving that we usually dare not speak to God in anger and angry words. We do not approve of ourselves using bitter, angry, hurtful words, even “cuss words” at the Lord. Yet this often is what we must do with the Lord. This is prayer, prayer from the heart, and it is approved.
Any time, however, that we want to, we can tell the Lord off, in no uncertain terms. There is only one requirement, at most, and that is that we have to listen to the Lord’s response to us.
“Thus the Lord answered me,” the reading from today continues. God answered Jeremiah. In a sense, God admitted to sharing in the problem, but God also insisted that Jeremiah had to change and repent.
God was ready to give Jeremiah back his job as a prophet, but God also promised to give Jeremiah more support so that Jeremiah could have a wall of bronze to protect him from harm. God would deliver Jeremiah and rescue him.
If you have had it and have called God on the carpet, I hope God has given you the same message that Jeremiah received. If you have not, then you can continue to speak out your anger, disappointment and rage at God. This is strong prayer and respectful prayer. God blesses it. Your relationship with God will get better.