Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
1The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. This was also the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. 2Jerusalem was then under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. 3King Zedekiah had put him there, asking why he kept giving this prophecy: “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’”
6At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, 7“Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’”
8Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.
9So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it. 10I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him. 11Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase, 12and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were there in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
13Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, 14“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’ 15For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about two idiots who were building a house. They just finished the framing and were starting to nail siding on to the house. While one held the siding, the other drove the nails into it. The guy holding the siding watched as his buddy with the hammer picked up a nail out if the box, hammered it in, picked up another nail out if the box, threw it over his shoulder, picked up a nail from the box, nailed it in, picked up another nail, and threw it over his shoulder, and repeated the process. “What are you doing? You’re throwing away half the nails we bought.” asked the guy holding up the siding. “I can’t use them,” answered his buddy with the hammer. “They’re pointed on the wrong end.” “You idiot!” exclaimed his partner, “those are for the other side of the house!”
At first reading, we’d think that Jeremiah’s actions in today’s reading were just as idiotic as throwing away half the nails because they weren’t pointed outward when grabbed out of the box. I mean, who buys land in a city being besieged by foreign invaders?! Even if you managed to somehow escape with your life, the odds of you being able to keep your land after the siege are slim to none. But God told Jeremiah to buy the land and he obeyed and ultimately his obedience served two purposes. It yet again illustrated Jeremiah’s unwavering faith in God while at the same time gave hope to the exiled people of God. Last week we heard Jeremiah tell the exiled people to build homes, plant gardens, and raise families in their exiled land all while Jeremiah himself was imprisoned back in Jerusalem. I don’t imagine his words were well received by the exiled people…”Oh sure, he tells us to plant roots in this foreign land from the comfort of our homeland! Easy for him to say!” Well, it wasn’t all that easy for Jeremiah to say God’s words. After all, he was imprisoned back in the homeland, not necessarily living it up. But there is some justification for their frustration. They’re the ones in exile, not Jeremiah. They’re the ones struggling in a foreign land with no resources and dwindling hope. It was only a matter of time before Nebuchadnezzar and his armies descended on Jerusalem though. Jeremiah experienced firsthand what the exiled people had already gone through.
But even so, God used Jeremiah and his experience to encourage hope in the exiled people. God had Jeremiah buy land in the besieged city. It was as if God had asked Jeremiah to plant a flag right in the middle of battling forces. A bold act of defiance indeed! And when people looked on that flag, it meant something because it was backed by God. Everyone knew that God was on Jeremiah’s side. The city might fall to Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, the land seized by the Babylonians, but only for a time. God gave the land to Jeremiah and God’s exiled people, and it would be reclaimed over time.
Be assured that God is constantly at work in this world building his kingdom. And God has building plans. This isn’t all random chaos. There is an order to everything in this world. God uses people like Jeremiah to reveal God’s order, God’s plan. We heard last week that God has a plan for us, a plan for good and not destruction…a future, a hope. We can take comfort in this. The exiled people could take comfort in this. God uses people like Jeremiah to serve as a beacon of hope in hopeless times. The exile will come to an end, you will be able to return home, and when you do there will be land waiting for you. Our God is a God of hope and love. I said it in Bible study this week, but I firmly believe God expects only two things from us: trust and growth. He wants us to always trust him and always grow in this world. Some situations may appear as nothing but death, but God uses such situations to encourage further growth. Our God is a God of hope and love and life! Let us rejoice and give thanks for this! Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
