Many centuries ago, there lived a reluctant prophet of God in the ancient land of Judah. It was a very troubled time for this prophet we call Jeremiah, and for his people. His tiny country was surrounded by large and menacing empires on every side.
To the north lay Assyria, to the south Egypt, and to the east Babylonia. Of course Judah wanted to retain its independence, so we can imagine the diplomatic envoys, the treaties, and the political wranglings that were undertaken in hopes that Judah would not be swallowed up. And while Judah would also have wanted to retain its unique identity as a people who worshipped one God in the temple in Jerusalem, the temptation to please powerful neighbors by adopting their worship practices was naturally great.
In fact, the people of Judah concocted one solution after another in an attempt to withstand their adversaries, focusing their attention this way and that; it must have felt like emotional and spiritual whiplash. Hopes for retaining autonomy and traditional patterns of life would have sprung up, only to be doused, again and again. Still, the people thought, perhaps they could figure some way out of this dilemma and still maintain the status quo.
That’s where Jeremiah comes in. He’s given the unenviable task of telling his people that resistance to forces that threaten them will be fruitless. Change is coming, to sweep away old certainties and alter every expectation. Naturally, no one was going to receive that part of the message with any enthusiasm. But there was more. Jeremiah was also commissioned to tell the people that even if everything they hold dear is overthrown, plucked up and pulled down, a new start is coming. They have an ultimate security greater than they can presently imagine. They have the love of God and will forever.
Now, you may not have initially thought we had much in common with the people of Judah of the sixth century BCE. But maybe we do. Don’t we regularly hear people lamenting the fearsome realities of our world? Aren’t we surrounded on every side by forces that threaten to topple our equilibrium, our status quo? Our world is surely as tumultuous, as hostile, as violent, and as power hungry as it has ever been.
And so, the bold words of the reluctant prophet Jeremiah ring out more meaningfully than ever. If we are expending energies here and there, turning our attention this way and that, squandering our devotion in too many places, we just might get spiritual whiplash. But focusing upon the One who remains unchanged and ever faithful to us can be steadying and reassuring. God’s compassion is stronger than our fears and disappointments. God’s constancy is truer than any of our anticipated losses.
Jeremiah never promised a perfect world to God’s people. Apparently we can’t expect one either. But we can expect, even count on, being carried through whatever lies ahead by God’s love.