The Day will Come

Pentecost 1982 Marshfield Jeremiah 31:7-9

Doubtfully, the young mother examined a toy in the children’s department of a large store. “Isn’t this toy rather complicated for a small child,” she asked. “Oh no,” replied the clerk. “you see, it is an educational toy. It is designed to adjust the child for living in the world today. No matter how the child puts the toy together, it always comes out wrong.”

For the people of Israel and the prophet Jeremiah nothing seemed to come out right. Jeremiah had been rejected by many of his own people. His own people despite their best efforts at defending themselves and negotiating alliances still succumbed to Babylon and were carried into exile.

After years of prophesying doom, Jeremiah issues a “little book of hope.” “For behold the days are coming,” says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people…I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers.” 700 years after the exodus from Egypt which lay to the south God promises his people a new exodus from out of the north back to their homeland. This word of hope was for a people out of touch with their homeland and out of touch with God, they thought.

God had declared war on his own chosen people. “Behold the storm of the Lord!…the fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back.” They had sidled up to other gods. They had gained their wealth on the back of the poor. They had disregarded justice and mercy seeking profit and ever greater gain. Indeed they had lost touch with God; but God had not lost touch with them. God sent them into exile that the promised land might enjoy a 70 year Sabbath rest from the polluting sins of the people who refused to honor God on the Sabbath or any other day.

Nevertheless, hope was not lost after all. Hope would persevere. Hope would hang on tenaciously. While still in exile God calls the people to sing aloud with gladness. They were the chief of nations by God’s mercy and grace. They would again be rescued. “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from farthest parts of the earth.” Among the people to be gathered were those considered least likely to survive the long trek back to the homeland. Though they might hinder the rest of people on their way back home God would not abandon them. Such is the mercy of God that the blind and the lame, the mother with a small child and the woman in the pains of childbirth would not be left behind. God would lead his firstborn, the tattered, bruised, and poverty stricken people of Israel, back home as he had led their ancestors out of Egypt to the promised land.

Likely we have a difficult time seeing ourselves in Jeremiah’s text. We are living in our homeland. Where else would we really want to live? We live in a community with a strong Christian tradition. Ours is one of four congregations over 100 years old. Therein, I believe, lies our problem in dealing with this text. We are at home. We are comfortable. We have difficulty seeing our lostness, our blindness, our lameness, our hindrance to the work of Christ, and our adherence to other gods of our own making.

Henri Nouwen writes in this vein: “It is difficult for us to believe that salvation came from the remnant of Israel. It is difficult for us to believe that something very good came from an unknown place. It is difficult for us to believe that our God is a God whom came in the unspectacular form of a servant, who entered Jerusalem on an ass, and who was killed as a common criminal. And it is even more difficult to believe that a few unsophisticated fishermen brought God’s good news to the world.”

We can see the evidence of our own being out of touch with God in ourselves. When a misunderstanding arises between ourselves and another how easy is it to make the first move toward reconciliation? How difficult this business of repentance and forgiveness is for us. How easily we confuse the blessings God has given us out of his goodness and mercy with a reward for our hard work and industriousness. How easy it is for us to go about our work within the congregation regarding things we are doing as beneficial to the kingdom of Christ when in fact they may be detrimental. How difficult it is for us to examine our motives and actions in the light of God’s mercy and grace; instead, of in the light of how much we think we are doing for God. And shouldn’t God and the rest of the congregation be more appreciative of my efforts on their behalf?

We are also uncomfortable in the presence of those we consider losers. Remember blind Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And he wouldn’t shut up. The people following Jesus thought, “How irritating that a person be?” But Jesus stopped and asked the man, “What do you want of me?” It is not always that way with us and the poor, the sick, the blind and the lame. Colman McCarthy wrote a story about a “John Doe” who died in Washington D.C. “if evil was at work in the death of ’John doe’ he was known to be a diseased drunker, about 55 or 60 years old, a danger to no one-it was the evil of looking away.” Although an invitation to the funeral had been issued by a group of people who cars for the poor, only about 30-mostly destitute-gathered to bury John Doe. The community group had hoped for a public outpouring on behalf of the outcasts of society and McCarthy said, “if only half those invited actually had come-from public officials to religious leaders-tens of thousands would have been Marching and mourning, crying out in anger that this waste of life be stopped.” This we know: Christ would have been there. Christ was there when they buried John Doe.

In our birth we are all John and Jane Does separated from the community of God living in the exile of the darkness of death’s realm. We are all handicapped in knowing and finding the way to god. This is wonderfully symbolized in the bringing of an infant for baptism. They are carried to the found for they are able to come on their own either physically or spiritually.

But the Lord calls us to “Sing aloud with gladness”…”and raise shouts…

proclaim, give praise, and say ‘The Lord has saved his people, the remnant.’” For we are the remnant saved. Furthermore, we are saved by a remnant of Israel. That remnants name is Jesus. Through Jesus exile into death on the cross and his exodus from the prison of death to the freedom of new life we are promised a return to our homeland, even the kingdom of God and eternal life. In him hope perseveres. In him hope hangs on tenaciously.

Sigurd Olson died at age 82 after devoting his whole life to protecting the wilderness and the serenity of nature. Died while snowshoeing in northern Minnesota. After the funeral, friends went to his wilderness cabin where he had written many of his books. In the typewriter was a sheet of paper that read: “A new adventure is coming up, and I’m sure it will be a great one.”

We are already well on our way in our great adventure as God leads us home from our exile from him. In the fullness of time he will gather us from the farthest parts of the earth to be with himself forever and ever. On that day and forever after we shall sing aloud with gladness and raise shouts of joy to the Lord who has saved us.