Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Today God commands Jeremiah to obtain a brand new linen loincloth to wear. Now, this is odd enough. The “bottom-line” (no pun intended) it was an intimate undergarment, worn close to the skin and out of view — as personal a piece of clothing one could own. Then, Jeremiah was instructed to “go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock” (Jeremiah 13:4).
Some time later, after the loincloth had had time to succumb to the elements, Jeremiah was instructed to go retrieve it. When he did, he discovered that the delicate linen fabric had rotted and decayed. The garment was useless. And that was the whole point.
“This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth — good for nothing! For as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I have made the whole house of Judah cling to me” (Jeremiah 13:11).
Talk about an object lesson. This one spoke volumes. This intimate, highly personal garment, which Jeremiah wore next to his own body, was now ruined, unrecognizable and completely worthless. It would no longer serve the original purpose for which it was created and bought.
Talk about tough love!
God allowed Judah to be captive in Babylon for a generation so as to heal them of their idolatry. In a way, the Almighty did as some grandparents of old once did when they caught their children smoking. They locked them in the outhouse with a pack of cigarettes and wouldn’t let them out until they had smoked the entire pack. And then, after the vomiting and the headaches had subsided, all agreed that smoking was not a lifestyle to be pursued any further.
Talk about tough love!
For years we baby-boomers laughed at Mom’s advice, “Heaven forbid if you got into an accident and had on dirty ‘drawers.'” But with the passing years, maybe Mom was right after all. The goal is to have a little foresight — retain your dignity. Jeremiah would concur. He hoped that
Judah would, too.
The rotting underwear of Jeremiah was devoid of dignity, but this prophetic action had as its goal to actually restore dignity to YHWH’s people. Just as the original linen undies were to preserve the dignity of Judah, even more so did the Holy One yearn for the clinging of the chosen people to preserve an incomparable and forever dignity and honor.
Always wear clean underwear? Absolutely. Always intimately cling close to our good and gracious God? Even more so. Then, like a fresh and clean pair of fruit-of-the-looms, we retain the original purpose for which we were created.
—Timothy J. Cronin