The prophet Jeremiah lived in a time of extreme difficulty and he had personally been given a difficult calling by God.  At the age of 18, young Jeremiah brought messages from God to his people, Israel, to repent from their destructive behavior and unfaithful ways that included the worship of other gods and building of idol shrines all over the land.  Jeremiah also repeatedly called out their corrupt leaders, who had abandoned the Torah, their sacred scripture, and their covenant with God, leading to rampant social injustice. The most vulnerable in their communities, the widows, orphans, and immigrants, were being taken advantage of in clear violation of their scripture and beliefs, and no one was trying to stop it.

Jeremiah’s impossible task was to get the people and the leaders to open their eyes, to see how far they had strayed from the path of their faith, and to turn back, to literally repent, while they still had time to find their way back to the path God had for them. His words in verse 11 describe that path. ¹¹ For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

But returning to God, living by the values of their faith, were essential to that path. ¹² Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³ When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,

Jeremiah tries with all his heart to be faith to God’s calling to help the people he loves get back to their path with God, even though there is no evidence that they are listening to him or can see how far they have strayed.

Even so, Jeremiah remains faithful to them and to God even as things start to turn even worse and the invasion begins.  We can see all of it unfold in this book, which was written before, during, and after the Babylonian invasion which, as Jeremiah predicted, laid waste to his people and their lands, and drove them into a long period of exile.

What’s amazing to me is the faith Jeremiah shows throughout. Faith in God, and most incredibly faith in God’s future.  A future that is filled with hope, a future that Jeremiah’s community either can’t see or doesn’t believe. But Jeremiah believes and, in this case, he believes on their behalf – he will not let go of the hope God has for their future. In one of the most striking moments in Jeremiah’s story, found in chapter 32, the prophet does something completely unexpected.

I just finished watching season 2 of The Rings of Power – I won’t give any spoilers but will say I think it’s a great complement to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.  The way the Babylonian invasion of Judah is described brings to mind the great battle scene in the second movie the Two Towers,  where the soldiers of Gondor, the last kingdom of the human race, are bracing for battle with the non-human armies of King Sauron.

All men and boys have been called to fight, they are wearing heavy suits of chain link armor; they are equipped with swords and shields and large catapults for hurling heavy stones. They have taken their places along the walls and in the towers of the great stone fortress and seem at least somewhat prepared for the battle ahead, until we see the 10’s of 1000’s of Ork soldiers marching across the fields.  The Orks are twice the size of the humans; they are stronger and have better weapons.  And the sheer volume of their numbers makes your heart sink in realization that this is not a battle that can realistically be won.

This is the size of the invasion that happened to the tribe of Judah. By the time we get to chapter 32 of Jeremiah, their cities are all but overtaken with only two left to defend. The situation is grim and most of the people of Judah are doing one of two things: going off to fight or bracing for the worst by packing up their possessions to flee.  Even though this is what Jeremiah had predicted the people and leaders still would not listen to him, in fact the King of Judah had arrested him and was keeping him prisoner.

What Jeremiah does next is directly related to the words in today’s reading from chapter 29 and so I will read just a little of chapter 32, when the invasion is underway and Jeremiah is being kept prisoner by his King, the King of Judah.  Reading verses 8 and 9. ⁸ Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

Think about it, in the middle of a brutal invasion, while imprisoned by his own government, Jeremiah buys his cousin’s field – a field in a land that is about to be completely overtaken, in a country whose king is about to be overthrown, where all legal rights to property will soon be stripped of meaning because the new government will take over everything and disperse land and property to its own people.

Some years ago, I had an opportunity to buy a home at a time when I thought I would be in one place for a while.  This was a big deal for me and I took a home-buying seminar offered by my credit union.  It was very helpful and it is where heard about the Real Estate motto – location, location, location – meaning that the most important part of buying property was it’s location.  If I came away with anything from that course, it was a commitment to be sure that before I agreed to anything, I would be sure that I had chosen something in a good location.

If Jeremiah had been able to take such a class, it would not have changed what he did. His world was coming to an end, his people were bracing for their final battle, for the violence of a great storm – defeat and devastation were guaranteed. They needed a way to believe what Jeremiah had told them earlier that God had plans for them, plans to give them hope and a future.  By this time, more words would not have broken through, so God called Jeremiah to a bold action of hope.

The unconventional wisdom of his purchase was not based on the location of the land but on the location of his hope and his faith. Hope and faith in a future that could not yet be seen, hope in a God who had always been with them, continued to walk beside them, and who was leading them into the future God wanted for them.

We here at First Pres Arlington Heights are not facing the kind of invasion and exile that Jeremiah’s people endured, but we too are navigating uncertain times.  The Interim season continues, the world around us is experiencing its own great storms and upheaval, many things about our lives is unsure.

Like Jeremiah, we are called to invest in the future, not because we can see it clearly, but because we have faith in the God who is leading us toward it. As we reflect on all the ways God has been with us and is working among us today, let us take bold actions that demonstrate our **Faith in the Future**.

This stewardship season, may we commit ourselves to the path God is calling us to, trusting that the same God who formed us and knows us deeply will also lead us into a future filled with hope.

In the name of our Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen.