Deleting the Message Does Not Change the Facts

Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah.

Jeremiah 36:32

Read Jeremiah 36. Focus on verses 1 through 8 and 20 through 32. You read the message, dislike what it says, and close it. Later you delete it. For a moment, the request, concern, or uncomfortable fact feels farther away. But the unresolved matter has not changed simply because it is no longer visible in your inbox. Jeremiah 36 describes a king attempting a far more dramatic removal. Jeremiah dictates God's message to Baruch, who writes it on a scroll and reads it publicly. Officials recognize its seriousness and arrange for the king to hear it. As portions are read, Jehoiakim cuts the scroll and throws them into the fire. He does not respond with fear or repentance. He destroys the physical object and seeks the men responsible for delivering it. The action reveals an attitude toward truth. The king can control the scroll in his room, but he cannot control the God whose word it carries. Burning the message does not cancel the judgment it announces. God instructs Jeremiah to dictate another scroll, including the former words. The chapter ends with additional words as well. What the king tried to erase returns beyond the reach of his first act of destruction. The contrast with Baruch is striking. His work has been burned, yet the faithful response is to write again. The labor was not meaningless because someone powerful rejected it. His part is to preserve and communicate what he has been given. We may recognize something of either response in ourselves. When criticism arrives, do we examine its truth or look first for a way to discredit the person who brought it? When a responsibility is uncomfortable, do we remove the reminder and call that relief? Not every complaint is accurate, and not every message deserves agreement. Careful evaluation may lead us to reject a claim. But evaluation is different from refusing to look because we fear what looking will require. Consider the concern you have closed without addressing. It may need a reply, a correction, or an investigation. If it contains an error, explain the error. If it contains a truth, respond to the truth. The page can disappear while the matter remains. A more lasting kind of peace begins when we stop arranging the room around the absence of a message and take responsibility for what the message has revealed. Put It into Practice Reopen one unanswered concern, notice, or conversation. Identify the next action required and complete it, or give a clear account of when you will.

What have you removed from view that still needs a responsible response?

Lord whose word endures, make me willing to hear what I would rather remove. Help me examine unwelcome messages fairly. Give me the honesty to address the truth and the steadiness to reject error without avoiding responsibility. Amen.