November 29, 2020
To join the online worship service, please visit: stmarkknox.org/sermons
11 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. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” – Jeremiah 29:11-14
If you are participating in the advent wreath at home, light the first candle
Sometimes, we find it hard to accept our present situation. We believe that there should have been something better in store for us than the current set of events, or where we find ourselves in them. We might even want to believe, that we don’t deserve this situation, and it needs to be over with as soon as possible.
We all fall into this line of thinking, sometimes, especially when we are in time of hardship or trouble. It would be nice to believe that times of difficulty are fleeting, but even if they are, it seems as though it just makes way for new hardships to come our way. The only way we truly overcome the situation of life is to keep hope.
In the 100 years, give or take, that we get in this life, In the scheme of eternity, they really are fleeting, and our hope, the hope that we focus on especially in preparing for Christmas, is the hope that Christ brings to give us a future that is now and everlasting.
During the lifetime of the prophet, Jeremiah, the people of God lost their homes, their possessions, many loved one, and essentially every part of their way of life because of the conquest of the Babylonians over Jerusalem. They were a people in exile, and having lost everything, even a very day can feel as though it is eternity. More than anything, they wanted to have your homes restored, to have back their possessions, to have back loved one, and to go back to the life that they enjoyed. When someone lives in exile, they want it to be over. In this case, the people, wanted their God, who never fails, to come and to rescue them, to overturn the Babylonians and to restore them as the people of God.
They wanted to believe the false prophets who say: “this is only temporary, don’t worry about settling or rebuilding, life is going to get better for you. You can count on it.”
However, this is not what Jeremiah, the true weeping prophet, says to the people.
Jeremiah has heard from God, and it’s going to be a while. Seventy years to be exact. Of those who were currently living, only the children would have a chance at seeing Jerusalem be restored in their life time. This seems like even more terrible news than having been banished or exiled in the first place, to now know that God has said you’re not going back either. Yet, God has a plan for his people even in Exile.
The hope Jeremiah brings to the people in this time is that God has a plan for us even when we can’t see it, even in the midst of exile, and for us even in the midst of a pandemic. We can be reminded to place our hope in the One who is coming and has overcome the world. Even in the midst of trails, or exile, or in our current situation, the people of God can have hope because God is with them through Christ who connects us to a community through faith. We will see each other through to the other side, and on that, we have hope.
Grace & Peace,
Sam