God’s Impossible Yes
Text: Jer. 32:1-3a; 6-15
Our story begins in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, (king of Babylon). In 587 BCE the holy city of Jerusalem found itself surrounded by the Babylonian Empire. All the surrounding cities of Judah had already fallen, only Jerusalem remained. Babylon was breathing down their necks, poised for attack, but not before they first stifled Judah of their livelihood, and of course, their hope. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet we introduced last week (8:18-9:1), is under house arrest inside Jerusalem. King Zedekiah had grown weary of his constant doomsday prophecies and cries for repentance. Jeremiah could see the writing on the wall and called for the king to surrender. But the king held his ground, convinced that this great city on a hill would never fall to the pagan people of Babylon. Jeremiah had gone public with his critique of King Zedekiah and now found himself locked away in a room; out of sight, out of mind. He was, after all, a drag on the morale of the people.
Jeremiah’s cousin, Hanamel, pays him a visit. It’s a visit Jeremiah appears to be expecting. A piece of land in Anathoth, a city 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem and one already under control of the Babylonians, is for sale, and Jeremiah has the right of redemption. This is in keeping with Jewish law as prescribed in Leviticus 25:25-31 which states that should anyone “fall into difficulty” (how much more difficult is the hostile takeover by a foreign invader?) their land will be made first available to the next of kin. Jeremiah must be the next in line for this property, thus his cousin’s visit.
We don’t know whether or not Jeremiah knows his hometown of Anathoth has already been sacked by Babylon. No doubt he knew it was coming. Whatever the case, he buys the field, and the ensuing narrative describes the most detailed business transaction we have in the Bible. The whole affair is laid out for us - the amount of money exchanged and the great many witnesses who saw him sign both deeds – one left open for the public and one to be sealed and put away for safe-keeping. No one could doubt that this transaction had taken place. And in the midst of what I am sure was many snickers, jokes, and charges of insanity, Jeremiah punctuated his purchase of a worthless field declaring, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” But if you mapped out the land in 587 BCE this would seem like an impossibility to an Israelite.
Maps tell us where to go. They show us what belongs to whom, where roads lead, where mountains and valleys are located, parks and plains, deserts and detours. Maps give us a layout of the land.
Our bodies are like maps.
I have scars on my body that tell stories about where my body has been. The 2 on my left knee tell a story of 2 different surgeries to remove bone spurs. The first time I was a youth, lying on the couch watching TV, minding my own business; and when I got up I let out a scream of agonizing pain. My knee, actually, my inner leg by my knee, had swollen to the size of a softball and I could not extend my leg. I hopped on one foot into the ER with my parents on either side, only to bewilder doctors and nurses for 2 days as they tried to figure out what was wrong. The second time happened while I was in the Navy serving as a medic in Bahrain. Being cared for and operated on by Arab and Indian Muslims, people who treated my white, American body with dignity and respect, certainly colors some of my thoughts and feelings today toward people with bodies different from my own. Also, when I move my mouth a certain way you can glimpse a small scar on my upper lip. Attached to that is a story of an angry guy in my 10th grade class who knocked me out with one punch over a basketball game. The better story is he and I became great friends by our senior years. And in the right light you can spot some white strands seeking to colonize my head of dark hair, reminding me that I am growing wiser, or, more likely, I am just getting older.
Visible signs aren’t the only maps on our bodies. Some are not seen by others, either because we intentionally cover them up or because they are internal. Both on and in our bodies are mapped the ridges and crevices, thorny valleys and dead-ends of life. On and in our bodies are maps of those hidden places – rooms we do not let others into and try to avoid ourselves. You know the rooms I speak of. The cluttered ones we don’t want company to see. The room where illness and disease plague us, sapping us of the joy our minds remember but our bodies can no longer imagine. The room where insecurity suffocates us from chasing after our dreams or just looking someone in the eye. The room where addiction feeds like a cancer on the rest of who we are, heaping on us shame and guilt and destroying our integrity. The room of financial or career struggle and the feelings of inadequacy or loss that accompany all of that. The room of betrayal, where the people we love most have snuck in and raped us of our dignity. Or the room of religion, where we think we’ve either shut God up good and tight or where we spin our wheels, going through the motions, convinced God wouldn’t and couldn’t care much for this messy landscape called ME. These and other panic rooms seem to have us trapped and for the love of God we can’t map ourselves the hell out.
We are not so different from the land we often take for granted. Our bodies, minds and souls are frontiers, perhaps the last frontier, which we seek to conquer and domesticate before someone else does it for or to us. Our bodies are like plots of land, some parts fertile and lush, others fallow and desolate. Some parts have become unrecognizable to us as they take on the characteristics of a foreign invader.
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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah…
The story told to us in the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah is far more than first meets the eye. It’s far more than a detailed business transaction. This is not a piece of history but a play; a picture – a dramatic work of art where the principle character is none other than God himself.
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. This. Is. Who. God. Is.
God jolts us out of our house arrest and shouts: Jeremiah! Buy a plot of land in the most depreciated spot on the face of the earth! Buy it and have plenty of witnesses to see this crazy, radical, reckless, seemingly senseless act! Purchase this plot of land that has hostile, menacing footprints all over it. Buy it even as the enemy is breathing down your back rendering all the land worthless, fallow, desolate. This. Is. The. Land. I. Desire, says God.
And that is what Jeremiah does. In the face of non-hope Jeremiah responds in-hope. Not in the hope of his people or his own ingenuity or the hope of some military victory. This hope was not founded upon some short-lived possibility of averting or postponing disaster but rather a discovery that there was no disaster that could take away a hope founded on God. There will come a day, God declares, despite all the evidence to the contrary, when houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. In the face of impossibility, God says YES.
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But glory be to God we must not end the story here. For the word did not come only to Jeremiah. This comes alive for us this morning, church, when we realize The Word also became flesh.
The word to Jeremiah opens up to us the Word made Flesh. Picture it with me…
The Father calls out, “Son! Go and take for yourself a plot of land, but not just any plot of land. A human body. Yes, yes, I know. I know the enemy’s fingerprints are all over it. I know just how depreciated they appear to be – I know how worthless they seem to most. But things are not as they seem.”
The Father continues, “Son, even though the enemy may be breathing down their neck…even if the present reality looks as though all is lost, I want you to go buy those panic rooms of doubt and insecurity, of addiction and betrayal, of illness, disease, death and decay. Buy the lush and the fallow, the fertile and the desolate – BUY THE WHOLE RANCH – For I am their God, And. I. Desire. Every. Last. Inch.
And that is what the Son does. Listen…And in that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord stood before them and said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” And wise men from the East followed a star, and when it stopped they were overwhelmed with joy. Entering the house they knelt down and worshipped, offering this child wrapped in cloths treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. People gathered from far and wide to witness this crazy, radical, reckless, seemingly senseless act. In the midst of Roman occupation a Jewish virgin birthed a son whose name shall be Emmanuel, God is with us. In the face of impossibility, God says YES.
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But Hallelujah church, we can’t end the story here! Like Jeremiah, God mapped God’s-self upon us, and bought the whole ranch. And the story unfolded for Jesus as it did for Jeremiah – the land was plundered. He was taken captive. He was, in the words of another prophet, “despised and rejected by others…bearing our infirmities and carrying our diseases. He was struck down and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.” He filled every dark room we won’t enter or feel trapped within. He took up residence in our panic rooms. He bought the land no one would. And died.
For a time it looked like the enemy had won. Jeremiah and his people were in exile, the land he bought destroyed. Jesus was hung up on a tree, his body battered, broken, dead. What of the promise? What of the hope? What about houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land?
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to another plot of land, a tomb, only to find the stone had been rolled away. “Woman, why are you weeping?” came the voice. “They’ve taken him away! What are we to do now??” Can you hear Mary’s cry? Can you hear her desperation? What if God had entered our darkest rooms and found them too much to bear? What if he is no longer Emmanuel – What if God looked upon my body and saw the scars and panic rooms and said, NO! Has God deserted me!??
MARY!!! Oh that we would all hear today the the Son of God calling our name. Mary. Allen. Chad. Amy. Ruby. Melissa. Suzy. George. Yesssss….yes. YES!
I have defeated even death, my child. All authority in heaven and earth belong to me. I am going to be with my Father and your Father, my God and your God. Go and announce this good news to those who haven’t heard. And the witnesses to this transaction, the resurrection, pronounce to a disbelieving, incredulous, anxious world, “I have seen the Lord.” We buy plots of land where it appears all hope is lost because we have seen the Lord. In the face of the impossible, we say YES!
The story we have to tell is a story of God who descended into the very pits of hell, the darkest panic rooms of our lives, and cried out, “I WANT IT ALL!” The landscape they call ME will become a WE, God declares, and we shall be wed together for all eternity. For we are convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth – no panic room or broken body or dead-end map – nor anything else in ALL creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Yes, yes, YES!, says God: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land! This will not have the final word. For I am the beginning and the end – I am the last word on the matter, and the last Word is YES! Praise be to God!