Jeremiah 31:15-17
15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.
When we write these, we use the scriptures appointed through the Daily Bible Reading on the ELCA's website. They're part of the daily lectionary. Occasionally (but rarely) we change them. Sometimes it's just hard to find inspiration in a long list of "begats" or the narrative is difficult to summarize succinctly. And sometimes I want to change the text because it's hard to read. That's how I feel about today's text. In the days after the shootings in Newtown, I saw several colleagues referencing these verses. In the ways that we have all been impacted by those events, we all became Rachel weeping for her children -- the children of the ancient scripture, and the children of this day no longer.
I obviously didn't change the text for this devotion. But, trust me, I thought about it. Just like the story of Stephen's stoning on the day after Christmas, who wants to have to hold the joyous birth of Jesus against the lamentation and bitter weeping of a bereft mother? No one. No one at all. In these days, in this world just as in all of the days past and future, the contrast is present and painful. But the scripture continues to say, "there is hope for your future." And it is to that hope that we all cling, mourning and tearful.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
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