Dec 13, 2009 - Can Anything Grow in December?

Jeremiah 33: 14-16

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made

… I will cause a righteous branch to spring up…” From ancient days, people have been counting on God’s promises to bring them through problem times.  God's promises of better days eventually found their fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ.  Jeremiah was a prophet who held onto hope in God’s promise for better days to come. Yet his community, the nation, is in a crisis. The year is 587 B.C. and the king of Babylon and his troops have surrounded the capital city of Jerusalem, setting up a deadly siege, putting the people inside Jerusalem on the brink of starvation (see 2 Kings 25:2-3). Zedekiah, the King of Israel, still thinks he can beat the Babylonian king so he keeps fighting back.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah tells the king, "It's over, Zedekiah.  The king of Babylon will come into the city and you will surrender, trust God and have faith.  But other prophets were assuring the king that Jeremiah was a fraud. They kept telling the king exactly what he wanted to hear: "You da man, King Zedekiah. Nobody can mess with our nation. We always win, because God is always on our side."

On the other hand, Jeremiah kept warning the king that these false prophets were merely offering cheap and false hope.

Basically his message was: Look deeper, King, because this isn't a military thing; it's a spiritual thing. In other words, the people of God have rejected the covenant relationship with God. They've been committing spiritual adultery for far too long (see Jeremiah 2:12-13 and 3:21). King Zedekiah didn't like this message, so he branded Jeremiah an unpatriotic menace to national security, arrested him, and threw him into jail.  

In the midst of these grim historical circumstances, as Jeremiah sits in a squalid prison cell, misunderstood, persecuted, hunted down, labeled, and derided, he will proclaim some of the most powerful words of hope found in the Hebrew Bible. Chapters 30-33 are often called the Book of Consolation or just the Book of Hope.

Notice that hope, according to the Bible, is a vision for better days: "The days are coming," declares the Lord (30:14). All throughout the Old Testament there are hints and pictures and clues that say the same thing: Hope can grow even in cold hard times.

Theologian Emil Brunner says “What oxygen is to the lungs, hope is to the meaning of life.”  (Emil Brunner, Swiss theologian (1889–1966)

"Hope does not just motivate people to positive action. It actually has healing power."

So says John Ortberg in his book If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat.  Ortberg sites a medical study in which 122 men who had suffered their first heart attack were evaluated on their degree of hopefulness and pessimism: "Eight years later, of the 25 most pessimistic men, 21 had died. Of the 25 most optimistic, only 6 had died! Lack of hope seems to have increased the odds of death more than 300 percent..."

Hmmm, maybe it’s better to enjoy great deserts in hope than to eat green beans in despair.

(Source: John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (Zondervan, 2001), p. 159. )

For the follower of Jesus, hope always depends on the reliability of the one who makes the promises.  Hope is based on a God who is really there, a God who has left good and sufficient reasons for us to know and trust Him.  The Lord has been with the people for centuries in all kinds of tremendous tragedies and super celebrations.  And then God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved Son!

Throughout the Bible, hope in God is not pulled out of thin air. It's based on a particular history with God, a history that gives us glimpses of God's character and provides reasons why we can trust God and place our hope in the Lord. Hope is based on reason, faith, and tangible evidence as seen through history.

Look again at Jeremiah. In the darkest days of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 b.c.e. ,Jeremiah knew that the army would break through the wall, conquer the city, and haul most of the people into exile. The situation looked utterly hopeless.  Then Jeremiah was asked by God to go out and buy a piece of real estate—complete with witnesses, a deed, and money exchanged (Jer. 32:6–15). This was a tangible act and one that seemed to make no sense. But God reminds Jeremiah, a captive people would be set free and returned to the land, rebuilding homes and reconstituting vineyards. Shelter and food–there is nothing more tangible, and Jeremiah's purchase of land was designed to provide a beacon of hope during the long years of captivity. Hope is always made more real when we see tangible action today that points to the possibility of a better tomorrow.

Bob Seiple, tells about his father, at the age of 75, who planted a number of very small fruit trees. "What an optimist," Bob said to him, somewhat mockingly.  After his dad passed away a few years ago, Bob returned to the old homestead.  He knew he had a choice to make.  He could go to the grassy cemetery on top of the hill and brood over his dad’s grave, OR he could eat the fruit of his dad’s trees and reflect on a man who knew a great deal about hope.  Brood over problems or reflect on God’s promises of hope – there’s a choice to make.

Bob Seiple, Princeton Seminary Bulletin (Vol. xxvii, number 2, 2006), p. 119-120; submitted by David Neff, Wheaton, Illinois

Jeremiah said that a righteous branch would spring up for David; King David’s heritage. That branch would be the long-term hope for generations to come, and God’s abiding presence in the meanwhile.

The branches of a certain tree are the most sacred symbol in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: a sprawling, shade-bearing, 80-year-old American Elm. Tourists drive from miles around to see her. People pose for pictures beneath her. She adorns posters and letterhead. Other trees grow larger, fuller—even greener. But not one is equally cherished. The city treasures the tree not because of her appearance, but her endurance. 

She endured the Oklahoma City bombing; An act of terrorism killed 168 people, wounded 850, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, and buried the tree in rubble. No one expected it to survive. No one, in fact, gave any thought to the dusty, branch-stripped tree.

But then she began to bud. Sprouts pressed through damaged bark; green leaves pushed away gray soot. Life resurrected from an acre of death. People noticed. The tree modeled the resilience the victims desired. So they gave the elm a name: the Survivor Tree; Hope based on reason, faith, and tangible evidence as seen through history.

(Max Lucado, Facing Your Giants (W Publishing Group, 2006), p. 43-4)

God gives a vision of better days. And for the follower of Jesus, those better days have already come—at least in part. The better days promised in the bible are available to us right now!  The power of God is available today, not just for some distant future. But I have to warn you: once you start to do that, it’s hard to go back.  Jeremiah couldn't just live a comfortable life anymore. Life as he knew it was over. He couldn't just go along with the crowd that was cheering Zedekiah and offering cheap and shallow hope. God had given him a picture of a new future and a new hope. So even if it meant going to jail, Jeremiah would endure the present because he had faith in God and hope in the future. I hope we do to.

(Recognition and thanks to Rev. Matt Woodley of Three Village Church in East Setauket, New York for his concepts on this subject).

(BONUS STORY)

Hope is knowing where we’re going in life, even if we don’t quite know how we’re going to get there – it happened for God’s people then, and it happens even now.  Once when Dr. Albert Einstein was riding a train, he was quite preoccupied with his work. When the conductor stopped to punch his ticket, the great scientist began rummaging through his pockets, checking his briefcase and looking all around him somewhat bewildered. He could not find his ticket. “That’s okay,” the conductor said. “We all know who you are Dr. Einstein. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.” The conductor went on his way punching other tickets. Then, he turned to see Dr. Einstein down on his hands and knees looking under his seat and around the floor, obviously still looking for the lost ticket. The conductor felt pity and walked back and gently said, “Dr. Einstein, please … don’t worry about it. I know who you are.” Einstein looked up and said, “I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going!”

Hope is a vision for better days that changes us in the present. There's something up ahead, around the corner, in sight, and it boosts our faith in God now so we can keep going.