Faith for the Future (Jeremiah 32)

Well, the news is not good. Things are looking bad. Real bad. The end is near.

Events in the book of Jeremiah do not appear in order, and the background situation of chapter 32 is actually described in chapter 37. As Eugene Peterson’s Message Bible puts it, King Zedekiah, son of Josiah, a puppet king set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon in the land of Judah, was now king in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakiim. but neither he nor his officials nor the people themselves paid a bit of attention to the message God gave by Jeremiah the prophet…

The Chaldean army from Babylon had been attacking Jerusalem when Pharaoh’s army began marching up from Egypt. This was a hopeful thing, because the people believed that the Egyptian army would save them from the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans even pulled back when they heard that the Egyptians were coming.

But then Jeremiah received a message from God, which Jeremiah passed on to the king of Judah. The message was this: Pharaoh’s army isn’t going to stick it out. No sooner will they get here than they’ll leave and go back home to Egypt. And then the Babylonians will come back, resume their attack, capture the city, and burn it to the ground.

Shortly after sharing this dismal news, Jeremiah was on his way out of Jerusalem to take care of some personal business when he was arrested and charged with deserting to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah denied the charges, but was nevertheless thrown into an underground dungeon, where he was kept for many days.

Eventually Jeremiah convinced King Zedekiah to move him from that underground prison. So King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be confined to the courtyard instead. And there he remained, still under watch, confined, captive, while the Chaldean army from Babylon prepared its massive attack against which Jerusalem didn’t stand a chance.

Yeah, things are definitely not good. In times like this, people tend to lose hope. In times like this, people start singing the blues. Jeremiah himself may have been singing the blues, or at least the ancient equivalent: the songs of lament. Because for him and for all of Jerusalem, things were definitely looking bad.

A lot of people are singing the blues today, aren’t they? The economy is down. Unemployment is up. Children no longer expect to live a better, more prosperous life than their parents did.

The environment continues to suffer from the effects of human greed and carelessness. Natural disasters continue to wreak havoc. And after all these years, after all these centuries, we still are not free from the threat of war and terrorism.

The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, something that the ancient prophets clearly and unanimously condemned as an atrocity to God, leading to all sorts of instability and turmoil. There is no sharing of the earth’s resources; some have more than enough food, while others literally starve to death.

A lot of people today are singing the blues. It seems harder than ever to keep families together. Many families with children haven’t even sat down together for a meal in weeks; some haven’t sat down together in months. It’s become easier than ever for our children to access drugs and sexually explicit material. Children need more guidance than ever, and yet parents are working harder and longer hours while education budgets and social programs are being slashed left and right. Rates of suicide for youth and adults remain high, a sure sign that there is plenty of stress and anxiety but not nearly enough hope.

The influence of the church appears to be in a decline. The only time religion appears in the media these days is when misguided believers like Fred Phelps or Terry Jones proclaim a perverted form of Christianity, one that feeds the fears and insecurities of the time rather than providing hope and understanding.

As for us, we are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world, but when it seems that the world is becoming more and more fragmented while the movement seems to shrink and lose influence, we find it all too easy to sing the blues.

Things may not be as bad for us as they were for Jeremiah and the people of Jerusalem, but we can understand the emotion of the laments. We can understand why they sang the blues.

But Jeremiah did more than sing the blues. He did something very unusual, given the situation he was in.

He bought a field.

The description of Jeremiah buying his field – our scripture reading this morning – is the most detailed description of a business transaction in the entire Bible. In explaining his transaction in such detail, Jeremiah shows that this is the real deal, and a big deal, too.

So naturally, the question arises: why is it such a big deal?

It’s a big deal, because it shows that Jeremiah – despite his current situation – had hope for the future. It’s a big deal, because it shows that Jeremiah – despite his current situation – had confidence in the future. It’s a big deal, because it shows that Jeremiah – despite his current situation – trusted in God’s promises for the future.

And what God said is this: Yes, the Babylonians are coming; yes, they will invade Jerusalem, capture its people, and destroy the city. Yes, it will seem like the end of the world, but it won’t be. Life will return to normal. Homes and fields and vineyards will again be bought and sold in this country.

Yes, there will be catastrophe, but the days of prosperity will return. Fields will be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate, gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses; and right here in Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country. God’s word is true: everything that was lost will be restored.

It’s a big deal, because even though buying a field doesn’t make sense in the present and might not even have any legal standing, given the imminent invasion, it does make sense in the future that is promised. Jeremiah lives with a future hope, and his present actions are consistent with that future hope. What an amazing thing that is, to live in such a way that one’s present actions are consistent with a future hope that is not yet realized, but which is coming. Jeremiah does that. Jeremiah is already living into the promises of God.

And that is the awesome beauty of what appears to be a normal, everyday business transaction. It shows that Jeremiah’s present actions are consistent with his hope for the future.

Like Jeremiah, we may be singing the blues, but we also have hope for the future. It is a hope based on the promises of God. It is a hope based on a God who can turn a field of dry, dusty bones into a living, breathing army. It is a hope based on a God who can bring back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a hope based on a God who says to us: Do not fear; for surely I know the plans I have for you; plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

Do you have that hope for the future? Yes? (Yes!) Of course you do! You’re standing on the promises of God! You’re living in the present assurance of a new kingdom, one where peace and security and love and equality reign!

A person who plans to move to a new country will likely start learning bits and pieces of the language of that country before they actually move. Their present actions correspond with their plans and hopes for the future. A young couple expecting their first child will not wait until the child arrives before they start buying things the child will need.

As followers of Jesus, we know that we are promised life in God’s eternal kingdom, but we don’t wait until that kingdom is fully realized before we start living in it; we live in that kingdom now. As members of a church that has future plans of growth, with a vision of welcoming people into our community of faith (including growing numbers of young people), we don’t wait until those folks are already here; we don’t wait until we have started to grow to start acting like a growing church. With faith in the future, we act now, contributing our time and our money to the church, knowing that God is going to expand our ministry.

That’s the commitment that we are called to make. We believe that God has plans for us, plans for a future filled with hope, and so we act now in ways that are consistent with God’s plans.

That is the strength of the faith we have. Because we know that God’s promises are sure; we know that God’s promises are true. We know that God always has a plan for restoration, a plan for transformation, a plan for revitalization. God always wants the best for God’s people.

That hopeful future is coming, but we don’t need to wait for it. We can start living in it right now. We can be the church that God is calling us to be right now. We can do the work of that future church right now. We can give our time, our energy, our resources, our money, our lives to God, right now…

…Because we have seen the future. We have faith in the future. We have confidence in the future, because we are standing on the promises of God.