God's Forgiveness for Preachers: Reflections on Jeremiah 31:31-34

Now, if we assume that Jeremiah is talking about some pie-in-the-sky time, some never-never land where every last boy and girl will not be lost but found to be rich in the knowledge that makes for a child of God, that is one thing. But if he still hopes that only God can make us right, and that today or very soon, well, that is something else. What is a preacher and teacher to do then? The answer to that question comes in the final line of the passage. "Surely, I will pardon their iniquities and no longer remember their sins" (31:34b). And just whose sins and iniquities might Jeremiah have in mind? Obviously, those of the people of Israel, those he has railed against all those weary years. But he has not forgotten in God's promised forgiveness those of us who teach and preach, those of us who have tried again and again and failed to deliver the goods, those of us who have not stayed firm in our announcement of the full gospel of God, a gospel that both comforts and challenges, a gospel that demands more than we have been willing and anxious to proclaim. Even we frail vessels can find God's welcome forgiveness.

And a good thing that is, too. Earlier in his prophecy Jeremiah had warned us about our struggling efforts to teach and preach, efforts that too often did far more harm then good. Listen to those words: "A monstrous thing has happened in the land: prophets prophecy lies, while priests ape those prophets' deeds" (5:30-31). We priests and teachers have failed, and as a result the people have lost their way; they need a new covenant because the old one, entrusted especially to us teachers and preachers, has not been heard clearly because of our unwillingness to bring it to them.

We, like they, must rely on the forgiveness of YHWH, for our iniquities and sins, like theirs are in need of forgiveness, too. This grand and desperate passage warns us that we must hear the full word of God and proclaim it with boldness and assurance. It may be that YHWH will drag us all to the table for open-heart Torah surgery, but until that time, we all have much work to do.