Life-Giving Hope

”The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours." And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” Jeremiah 32:1-2a, 6-7, 9-10, 13-15

The text above is part of the Old Testament reading for Sunday, September 26, when Emanuel Church will celebrate its 149th anniversary. It describes an act of great faith on the part of Jeremiah, in a time of great crisis. Judah is under siege from Babylon, and Judah’s people will soon be marched in exile to Babylon. Jeremiah himself is in prison, for having prophesied the downfall of Judah. All hope seems to be lost. And yet, in the midst of siege and desolation, knowing full well that Judah was about to be destroyed, Jeremiah does a seemingly irrational, even ridiculous thing: he buys a field from Hanamel, his cousin. He charges Baruch, who acts as his secretary, to seal the deed in a secure place, where it will be preserved for a long time. “For thus says the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” Jeremiah had the vision to see that, even though the present looked utterly hopeless, he and his people, and the land in which they lived, had a future.

We live in very difficult times, in which many are unemployed and struggle to get by from day to day. It’s understandable that in the struggle, many become desperate. Bridesburg has high rates of alcoholism and addiction, along with resulting economic and social distress. I was surprised to learn recently, from a neighboring pastor, that Bridesburg also has a very high rate of suicide, among the highest suicide rates in the city of Philadelphia, higher than suicide rates in neighborhoods which are much worse off economically. All this speaks of a sense of hopelessness. We can get through desperate circumstances if we have hope for better times to come. But if we lose hope, our situation is grim indeed. I see this hopelessness as a sign that we in the church have failed to communicate to our neighbors the hope that comes from faith in Jesus Christ – a hope that is not just about “pie in the sky, by and by,” but hope in God who is present with us in every situation, hope in God who will never leave us nor forsake us. Said another way, our neighbors are dying – some quite literally killing themselves - for want of the Good News we offer. So what we do at Emanuel Church is literally a matter of life and death, not only for ourselves, but for our beloved neighborhood of Bridesburg where God has planted us.

I’m reminded of a story told about Martin Luther, the great German reformer. Luther was once asked, “What would you do, sir, if you learned the world would end tomorrow? ” Luther replied, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Though the soil in Bridesburg can be a bit rocky, may we at Emanuel Church continue to plant seeds of hope.

See you in church!
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Please come join the hopeful folks at Emanuel United Church of Christ on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. We're on Fillmore Street (off Thompson). www.emanuelphila.org