Sunday, May 7, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading
Jeremiah 33:1–13

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard: Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it — the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege-ramps and before the sword: The Chaldeans are coming in to fight and to fill them with the dead bodies of those whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness. I am going to bring it recovery and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, “It is a waste without human beings or animals,” in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal, there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without human beings or animals, and in all its towns there shall again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. (NRSV)

Reflection

All God needs to create God’s masterwork is a good wasteland. Only the most splattered and tattered tapestry will do. Only the brushes most hardened with dried-on paint; only the most cakey paint. God, the creator of all that is, seen and unseen, is still creating, but unlike in the beginning, when God made something out of nothing, God is now making something out of something else — a new creation out of the wreckage of the old one.

Extending this painting metaphor further, think of the “happy accidents” PBS painter Bob Ross is so well known for, those mistaken brushstrokes that become unanticipated features of a finished painting. The word that comes to Jeremiah in today’s scripture makes of the people something much worse than a happy accident. It is a vision of corpses and invading armies, fierce anger, and evil deeds. The people of Judah have been overrun by the Babylonians and carted off to exile, and now the prophet is in a Babylonian jail. There are no happy accidents on this canvas, only ruin and devastation.

And yet that is the canvas God proposes to paint on. The word we hear today is not that God is starting over with a fresh canvas and unused brushes, but that God is true to the people with whom God promised to paint the divine purpose onto the world, going all the way back to Abram and Sarai. “I would no sooner break my covenant with the day and the night,” God says a little later, “than I would reject the descendants of Jacob and my servant David.”

This is as true for us as a church as it is for us as individuals. No matter our sense of diminishment from some earlier time (when we were younger, before COVID, before the accident), God still intends to use us to bless the world. “You have said about this place, ‘It is a wasteland.’” But God says about it, “It’s just what I need.”

Prayer

God of all healing, you promise to make all things whole. Help us to trust your promise, to offer ourselves to you as just the “wasteland” you desire, keeping nothing back, so that you may be glorified in all that we are and will become. Through Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Amen.

Written by Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor for Youth Ministry and Worship

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