Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Steve Sveom.
At the time of Jeremiah, the people of Judah had watched their world fall apart. The traditions they understood as the assurance of God’s presence crumbled.
- The line of David dissolved before the power of Babylon.
- The temple, the center of their worship life, was destroyed.
- The belief in an invincible city of Jerusalem was shattered.
Jeremiah 33 acknowledges the despair of those whose land became a waste. But Jeremiah brought a word of hope to those in despair.
There is a little part of me that hears a bit of a “Make Judah Great Again” message. On the surface, the word of restoration can have a sense of recovering what was – without a true acknowledgement of past sins and failures. The current MAGA movement in the U.S. has this kind of blinders, glorifying a past that never fully existed and which excludes many from its vision.
But Jeremiah is fully aware of the past blunders and weakness and still offers a word of hope and promise. Jeremiah celebrates a restoration of the symbols and graciousness of God in the past but with the hope for a future that truly embraces God’s purpose. The vision of Jeremiah raises 1. the restoration of a Davidic ruler; 2. the presence of God in their midst; and, 3. safety in Jerusalem. This vision offers the best hopes of the past, but moves them into a future of justice and righteousness. It is not a retreat to an unreal past, but a true vision of the best hopes of the past to be established in purity in the future.
I think it does us well to consider this as we enter the Advent/Christmas season. We love the story of Christ’s birth but dare not sanitize it out of the broken world into which he came. The season is also the call into a future graced by God. We are to marvel at the grace of God that has blessed us in our broken past and pursue the fullness of God’s compassion, justice and righteousness in our world now and into the future. Hear the call and embrace the vision to live out Christ’s presence among us.
Prayer: God, into a broken world, Christ was born. In our broken world, may he be born again into us and among us with a hunger for justice and love. Amen.