The situation was unimaginable.
The parallels to our time are not perfect, but they are striking.
Just a generation before, God miraculously delivered the Israelites from the Assyrians, and now Jeremiah is predicting that Israel will not be delivered- that captivity is coming. Yet even in the stark, harsh prophecy of defeat God delivers a message of hope. Soon, God says, you (Jeremiah) will have the opportunity to buy land. Make the purchase and publicize it, then bury the deed where it can be found in the future. This matters because God is telling Jeremiah to spread the message; the Israelites’ land will be taken from them, the people will be taken into exile, and all will be destroyed. What is the point of buying land?
The point is, God is the giver of hope. Yes, there will be suffering and defeat for Israel. But on the other side is restoration and victory.
Today, we are not looking at defeat, but we are looking at a time of massive upheaval. No one needs me to rehash all the ways our situation would have found unimaginable three weeks ago.
The question for today is, what are the signs of hope that God is sending? Can we acknowledge the losses and discomforts, the emotional upheaval all the uncertainties cause, while also acknowledging the hope we see?
I think we can, because we are people of faith. One of my favorite descriptions of faith states “when circumstances dictate fear, we choose faith.” (The whole quote from Walter Brueggemann is below).
Hope does not ignore the dark- it looks past the dark to the light. It joins Jeremiah, who just purchased land that is he will never possess, in saying,
“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Jeremiah 32:17
And through the difficult, uncertain days hope also hangs onto the promise of God, allowing his work to be complete in our hearts.
“They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.” Jeremiah 32:38-41 #prayersformychildren #Lent202 #JeremahforLent #prayersinpandemic
“Faith is not a matter of intellectual content or cognitive belief. It is rather a matter of quite practical reliance upon the assurance of God in a context of risk where one’s own resources are not adequate.” Walter Bruggeman, Isaiah
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