Promise

In four days, we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor and our entry into WWII. It was a hard fought war that internally suspended the rights of anyone Japanese in our country, rounding them up, taking their homes and businesses, and costing us hundreds of thousands of young peoples' lives as they fought against such blatant aggression. Japan believed, along with Germany and Italy, that they could conquer the world and recreate it in their image. It ended with us dropping two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that created such utter devastation that the only thing left of some people were their shadows etched in stone. All life, plant, animal, and human were destroyed. From the atrocity of war and violence, the United States helped rebuild those defeated countries and forged such strong ties that we are now the strongest of allies, friends in hearts and minds and deeds. 

Besides in the reigns of Kings David and Solomon, Israel was never a major power in the Middle East back in biblical times. Egypt on one side, and Assyria and Babylon on the other, until the Greeks under Alexander the Great conquered them all and then the Roman Empire took over. King Josiah barely held on to his throne during the Assyrian expansion when they conquered the rest of the 10 tribes of Israel in the 8th century BCE, leaving Judah by itself. Babylon overtakes the Assyrian Empire and marches to expand its territory the 6th centuryBCE. Jeremiah is very young when called to be prophet for God. He is called in a time when Judah is doing pretty well but war is on the horizon. The people of Judah, once again, have forsaken God and the covenant and there is worshipping of other gods and idols and there is no justice for the poor. Jeremiah does his best to call the people back into covenant with God, but he is largely ignored, imprisoned, and mocked.

When the Babylonian Empire does conquer the small kingdom of Judah, Jeremiah here gives words of hope and comfort as the people are taken to become slaves or flee to Egypt. It is interesting that not just humans are gone from the land, but the animals as well. Jeremiah proclaims two different times that God will restore the land and bring integrity and justice to the land. The people of Israel will return and so will the animals. Life will flourish once again. About 50 years later, the Persians overtake the Babylonians and the Israelites are allowed to return to their homes and communities.

There is a quote from a movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." "Everything will be all right in the end; so if it is not all right, it is not yet the end." Things aren't all right in this world. The invasion of Ukraine still marches on, as does the apartheid of Palestine, as does the slavery for mining cobalt in the Congo, as does the migration of people due to political violence and climate change, and so on and so forth. However, history has shown that enemies can become friends and even the strongest of allies. 

Our denomination started a new proclamation about 20 years ago, "God is Still Speaking!" God can speak to us through ancient texts reminding us that we are all related, even with the land. God also speaks to us in the cries of the oppressed, in the devastation of the land, and in the song of the bird. Jesus repeated when telling stories, "Those who have ears, let them listen." Do we hear and not ignore the bad news? Do we also hear and listen to the deep covenant that God has with humans and with the world? The promise of a time when justice and peace are the rule of the land and of the people. Can we acknowledge all the bad stuff in our world, and still have hope? Let us hope in the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of our planet and universe, and follow in Christ's footsteps to proclaim the gospel and due justice and with the Spirit love kindness and let go of our wants to talk humbly with our God.