Lamentations 2 – “The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel . . . he has destroyed his tabernacle . . . and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest” (2:5-6).

“The Law is no longer taught, and the prophets have no visions from the Lord” (2:9). ” All the favors and blessings God’s people have enjoyed, all the marks of redemption, are destroyed or rejected.

“My eyes are worn out with weeping; my soul is in anguish. I am exhausted with grief at the destruction of my people. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city” (2:11).

“Your prophets had nothing to tell you [people] but lies; their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you thing you did not need to repent” (2:14).  

This is the Israel I love, this self-searching, self-critical people of faith. Most people just blame others for the bad things that happen. But there is a deep internal contradiction in the logic or rationality of scripture when it comes to dealing with this punishing God. They do “blame” God in the sense that they see Him as the source of our suffering and loss, but at the same time, they see God as NECESSARILY just; that is just His identity – the Just One. It occurred to me today in struggling with this for the millionth time that perhaps we are dealing here with a contradiction that is similar to the koans that Zen Buddhist masters use to get human minds dislodged from the ordinary, habitual way of perceiving truth. The God of the Jews - this cosmic, omniscient Lord of all - is reduced in the narrative we ponder to something we can identify with; but inherent in that reduction is a loss of a proper sense of our own limits in being able to understand something so beyond our powers. The contradictions, the koans, help us to see that we cannot ever grasp it fully.  

“Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger. . .” (2:19). WHY? WHY? Because God IS WHO IS, there MUST be an answer to this question that lifts ALL blame away from Him. 

Romans 14 – The church is to welcome all people, even the weak in faith.  Those who are stronger must not look down on the weak or lord it over them.  Arguments over “days” or over things like foods, etc. should not divide us as long as the things we do are done out of love and dedication to the Lord. We are not to judge each other over these things (14:10).  In the end we will all be accountable to God. “Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another” (14:13). “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (14:17).