Brief synopsis of the readings: The first reading is from the prophet Jeremiah. He has prophesied that unless King Zedekiah repents from his wickedness, his kingdom will be destroyed. Because of this he is thrown into a pit where he will die. Another man asks that Jeremiah be rescued; the king reconsiders and Jeremiah is saved. In the gospel Jesus warns that his message will divide people, even within families

I don’t know about you but I really don’t like conflict. OK, maybe I do know something about you. I think most of us don’t like conflict all that much: that feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we see something we know is wrong. That troubling recognition that we need to decide what to do about it, that balance of trepidation and irritation that can soon turn into fear and anger. Do we intervene when we see a parent berating a child in a public place, or do we move on? What do we do when we see a coworker making clearly unwanted advances on another? Do we say something when we see our spouse or child acting in a way that we know isn’t their best selves?

At the same time we give great admiration to people who we see step into conflict, even when (or especially when) it comes at a price. Our first reading today is from Jeremiah and he is my favorite among Old Testament prophets. He is the most reluctant of that pantheon. He lives in a time when he sees that the rulers of Israel aren’t ruling in the best interest of the people. They are ruling for themselves and enriching their lives at the expense of everyone else. At the same time there is a part of him that doesn’t want to get involved. Speaking truth to power is never safe and he reaches his apex with the cry to God: “You have seduced me and I let myself be seduced!”

When God first called him, Jeremiah insisted that he wasn’t old enough or articulate enough; I have to suspect also that Jeremiah knew that his prophecies would not make for an easy life. I once heard that the role of the prophet is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and Jeremiah needed to afflict some very comfortable people. As a matter of fact he afflicted them enough that they tried to kill him, and only at the last minute was his life spared.

We revere Jeremiah because he spoke up when he was supposed to. He spoke truth to power even when it cost him. We are unlikely to be called to something this dramatic, but as followers of Jesus we know that Jesus was. And if our call isn’t as dramatic, there is still a call for us.

I like the juxtaposition of the 1st reading and the Gospel, Jeremiah and Jesus because I fear that we can water down the dramatic message Jesus demands of us. While we may admire Jeremiah, we are clearly called to emulate and follow Jesus. And when Jesus delivers the same harsh message to the leaders of his day that Jeremiah did to his leaders, it brings us a different message, and calls us to greater courage.

At the heart of this gospel I think Jesus is warning his disciples that his message is harsh, difficult, and will require greater things of them. So often we hear Jesus spoken of as a “good teacher” or a “moral leader.” He was, but he was so much more. He spoke truth to power, and if we call ourselves disciples, so must we.

Looking at our media we seem to enjoy watching conflict (just look at my favorite oxymoron, “Reality Television”) but we try to “live and let live” because all of us, myself included, don’t like conflict. Troubling as I find this gospel, I see the message as clear: we are also called to speak up when we see injustice. I’m reminded of a quotation I first heard from Dr. King, but apparently goes back further: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.”

There are many ways we can speak up, and perhaps the easiest is our vote on election day. But I also think it means that we do speak our truth when we see a child being abused (even if the abuser is the parent), or a coworker is being demeaned, or even when we see someone we love acting badly. I’ll leave you with a quotation from the philospher Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the end of book 1 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) Albus was speaking of Neville Longbottom: Neville had tried to prevent Harry from breaking a rule. Of Neville, Albus said this: “There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”