28th June 2026
Reflection with readings below
Today’s reading comes towards the end of the Book of Jeremiah. At the time that Jeremiah lived, there were two competing world powers – Babylon to the east and Egypt to the southwest with Judah in between. For small nations like Judah, but also such as Edom and Moab, the easiest option was to become a vassal state, paying tribute, to which ever world power they felt was strongest. Nowadays we might see this with small nations establishing trade agreements with one or other of the powerful nations of the world. Judah was -maybe temporarily and subject to review – paying tribute to Babylon.
Jeremiah was of the opinion that Judah should knuckle down under the power of Babylon – in fact he symbolically fastens a yoke of straps and bars around his neck – as he senses that this is God’s will, and that by submitting to God’s will they will ultimately be restored to full nationhood by God. Jeremiah sees Judah’s subjugation by Babylon as the deserved consequences for failing to adhere to God’s laws.
Judah has already suffered one defeat at the hands of the Babylonians which had led to both vessel from the Temple and senior figures being taken away to Babylon. Now an uneasy settlement existed between Judah and Babylon in which some favoured the status quo whilst others favoured rebellion and the option of siding in favour with Egypt. This latter was a popular view in the Judean ruling circles, with many prophesying that anytime soon the tables would be turned on Babylon and all Judah’s wealth including the Temple vessels would be restored to Jerusalem.
One of these prophets was Hananiah, who in the verses preceding today’s readings says “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon”. To make his point, Hananiah breaks the wooden yoke from around Jeremiah’s neck.
Jeremiah’s response to Hananiah as we heard in today’s reading, is somewhat in the vein of ‘the proof of the pudding will be in the eating!’ Jeremiah persists with his less favourable viewpoint and later, in verse 13, we hear the Lord tell Jeremiah to replace the wooden yoke with one of iron bars, for such it will be to serve the king of Babylon. Being a truthful prophet can be very uncomfortable.
Today the greatest crisis the world faces is that of unrestrained climate change – the discomforts of which we have been feeling this last week. I do not for a moment think that God has created climate change to punish us. But I do think climate change is a natural consequence of human action in burning excessive amounts of carbon fuels. As in the days of Jeremiah there are strong voices on either side of the divide between those who say climate change is not caused by human activities (only this week the so-called Alliance of Responsible Citizens held their annual meeting in London with speakers expounding this view) and those who say the reverse; and between those who say we should address the issue by urgently and at scale cutting emissions to zero, and those who contend that we should worry more about ensuring the economic growth that fossil fuels have so far generated.
Today’s psalm – in line with the message of the entire Bible – reminds us that we only thrive and flourish as God intends when we adhere to God’s wisdom. To ignore or obstruct the ways of God’s wisdom is to sin. And as Paul reminds us, to sin is to be as one who is dead. To seek forgiveness is to be raised to new life and to be bound – enslaved – to the ways of righteousness.
Our gospel reading brings us back to the role of the prophet in speaking of God’s truth. It is a worthy calling. As disciples of Christ we are called to speak the truth, to advocate for God’s wisdom and to embrace fully the ways of righteousness.
For our current generation I believe that our prophetic role is to call for the rapid curb in the production and use of fossil fuels, as well as a call for a just and fair sharing of the Earth’s resources that reflects the needs of everyone – humans and creaturely beings alike.
Jeremiah 28:5-9
The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfil the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”
Psalm 89:1-4,15-18
1 Your love, O Lord, for ever will I sing; *
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
2 For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever; *
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; *
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your line for ever, *
and preserve your throne for all generations.'”
15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout! *
they walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.
16 They rejoice daily in your Name; *
they are jubilant in your righteousness.
17 For you are the glory of their strength, *
and by your favour our might is exalted.
18 Truly, the Lord is our ruler; *
the Holy One of Israel is our King.
Romans 6:12-23
Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple– truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
The Green Tau 