Jeremiah 1-3a-6-15
“Hope for the Future”
By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
This is indeed a very troubling time in which to live.
Our country is at war…
…engaged in a different kind of war than we have ever faced.
The events of 9-11 have forever changed our feelings of security and hope for a certain future.
Jeanne and I were watching some movie a couple weeks ago, and at the beginning of the movie, which was set in the late nineteen nineties, the narrator said something like:
“This story takes place during the brief period of time after the cold war had ended when our biggest worries were what President Clinton was doing with an intern in the Oval Office.”
Things have certainly changed dramatically in the past three years or so!
We open the paper and read about the death toll of young American soldiers growing more and more quickly with each passing day.
While, still, the threat of terrorism looms stronger and larger, as the terror alert colors move from yellow to orange and back to yellow again.
Amidst this chaos in which we live…amidst the anguish that millions of families are dealing with—both Iraqi families and American families…
…amidst the fear, the depression, the darkness, the despair, and the sense of hopelessness…
…God’s Word continues to ring out with the ultimate message of hope for the future—no matter what may occur in New York, Pennsylvania, Baghdad, or Hampton Roads.
But what is this hope for the future?
And how do we go about claiming it for ourselves?
A few chapters back before our Old Testament Lesson for this morning…
…in Jeremiah chapter 29 we are told: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
A hope and a future…
…isn’t this exactly what we need right here and right now on September 26, 2004???
Because there is no doubt that life that is not related to hope for a better future leads to tragic consequences.
A young man who was involved in a struggle on the corner of a busy intersection said, “I ain’t got nothing to live for. Kill me, I don’t care.”
Our world desperately needs a sense of hope—a vision.
On the night before his assassination in Memphis in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. articulated his vision:
“I’ve been to the mountain top; I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but one day, my people will be free.”
The strange actions of the prophet Jeremiah, in our Old Testament Lesson for this morning, help illustrate the importance of learning about and participating in God’s hope and vision.
The army of Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Jerusalem.
And at the very time that it was clear that Jerusalem would be destroyed and the Israelites would be taken as captives to Babylon, Jeremiah purchased land in nearby Anathoth.
What kind of place and time was this to make an investment in the future?…
…but after-all, the Lord had instructed him to do so, and he followed the Lord’s instructions.
Are we willing to make an investment in the future even in a time when our accustomed ways of life are coming apart?
Probably not, if God is left out of the equation.
And how often do we leave God out of the equation?
But this is no way to live, this is no way to have hope, this is no way to have a future!!!
As Paul wrote to the Philippian Church, “But our citizenship is in heaven.”
And Christ told us that although we are in the world, we are not of the world.
Jesus tells us in Luke Chapter 17, “The kingdom of God is within you.”
And this is how Christians throughout the ages have been able to stand up for their faith in the face of persecution, war, hatred, and even martyrdom.
Because the kingly rule of God was taking place within their souls.
Is the kingly rule of God taking place within our souls?
Or have we left God out of the equation?
Because of the kingly rule of God people like Martin Luther King, Jr. have been enabled to have the courage and vision to lead a peaceful struggle for civil rights in the face of all kinds of opposition.
And Mother Teresa was able to dedicate her life to serving the poorest of the poor in Jesus’ name.
And this is what enables those of us who continually trust in God to face the trials of life with hope for the future no matter what is going on outside of us.
Psalm 24 tells us that: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it…”
Yes, God is the Owner…and He is Love!
…and with this knowledge, what better reason is there to have hope for the future?
In the parable from Luke chapter 7 that Virginia read earlier, Jesus compares the “people of this generation” to children arguing in the marketplace about which game they want to play.
One group wanted to play weddings, while the others wanted to play funerals.
They taunted each other, each group wanting to get its own way.
Maybe, neither group really knew what it wanted.
Are there times when we behave like the children in the parable?—
--arguing, with no clear sense of purpose?
In the verse right before this parable we see the key to the interpretation of the parable…
… “but the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves…”
The story of the children at play is Jesus’ characterization of those people who reject the purpose of God.
Because the purpose of God never makes sense unless we have the underlying assumption and understanding that God is the Creator and Owner of the universe…and that He is ultimately in control!
And with this mindset, we can have a hope for the future!!!
And this prospect gives us hope as Christians in our present actions.
We are living in a difficult world at a very difficult time.
Many of us feel the stress of financial burdens, and bills not yet paid.
Many of us are lonely due to the passing of a loved one.
Many of us live in fear and uncertainty as our world is at war.
In the movie, “As Good As It Gets” Jack Nicholson is walking through the waiting room of a psychiatrist’s office.
The people sitting in the room are looking miserable, feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders, suffering from all kinds of mental problems that are often a part of our existence on this earth, and Nicholson with his glaring look asks the question, “What if this is as good as it gets?”
Thankfully, the Good News is that as Christians, we have the hope and are given the assurance that this is not as good as it gets.
Jesus made this ultimately clear when He took our sins on the Cross, died the death we deserve, and rose to eternal life…
…so that whosoever shall believe in Him will have eternal life as well!…
…Having obeyed God…
…having been born from above or born again.
It was during a time of terrible fear and despair that Jeremiah listened to the voice of God and followed His instructions—even when those instructions would seem outlandish to any conventional human wisdom!
Jeremiah purchased the land, he made the investment and then he sealed the deeds of purchase in a “clay jar” so that they would “last a long time.”
“For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
No matter what might be happening in our lives right this moment are we willing to believe—along with Jeremiah—this promise from God—and claim this promise for ourselves?
Are we willing to invest in the future despite the absence of human hope?
Jeremiah was a person who trusted in God against all the odds.
He refused to give in to despair.
Instead, he trusted God’s goodness, and he allowed God to be in control of his actions.
He adopted a lifestyle of hope.
Are we willing to trust God when He tells us the plans which He has for us in the future? …
… “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…”?
