Hope, seek God

Prior to the readings, there is a short section showing where Jeremiah is on a timeline, and giving a little background. 

after the Bible reading, a reflection From Spill the Beans: I Never Wanted to Live Here

this sermon is followed by a hymn, then my reflection on 2 years of ministry

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Sometimes life is confusing, the things that happen to us do not make sense.

In this passage, Jeremiah is telling the people in exile, that they will be there for a while, so get used to it.
build your house
raise your family

Plant gardens
let your children marry, even locals

The welfare of the exiles is linked with the welfare of the community.

I wonder if that is true for us today?

In what ways is our welfare linked with that of the poorest in our area?

In our day there are so many voices competing for our attention. Advertisements tell us we need to buy particular clothes or shoes or furniture or car that will make us happy.

If only we lived in a different suburb or region, we would be satisfied.

And when election time rolls around, we will be offered a variety of reasons to vote for each candidate, often to do with how we will personally benefit.

Jeremiah, as with the other prophets, has told the people they are not following God’s commands, they are worshipping idols and sacrificing children.[i] This is not the way that God’s people live.

What we consider commandments, are more like signs.

Because the Lord is your God, this is how you will live, you won’t have idols, you won’t curse God, you won’t kill or steal or cheat others from what is theirs.

Sure, they are good rules to live by, but when we live by rules, we look for loopholes.

When we live in relationship with God, our lives are changed.

Because God is God, we don’t need idols

Because God is our God we don’t need to cheat each other

Because God is our God we don’t need to steal or murder

Etc.

The people of Israel and Judah had forgotten what it meant to live as God’s people,
they had abandoned the ways of God,
    of helping the poor, the orphan and the widow

    of worshipping only the Lord
    of valuing all life

and the consequence was destruction of the city and temple

exile of the leaders, and later others.

The prophet Jeremiah was still in Jerusalem, when the section from Chapter 29 was sent to the exiles in Babylon.

Even with the pain and anguish of exile, and Jeremiah’s words to settle in for the long haul – there is also hope in this reading.

“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. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

[Jeremiah 29: 11-14 NRSVA]

God said: I will bless you with a future filled with hope

Seek me and I will let you find me

Sounds like hide and seek to me, except God is in clear view

Next week we begin Advent and the theme for the first week is traditionally hope.

What will you hope for this year?

Where do you find God in that hope?

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[i] https://thebibleproject.com/explore/jeremiah/

Genesis

This week we begin on our journey through the Old Testament, in leaps and bounds.

Timeline on screen

If wall is the time of Abraham, and the pulpit the time of Jesus, then the David story is about half way, and the exile about here [between 2/3 and ¾ 580 BCE]

Every culture has a creation story, and this is one of 2 creation stories in Genesis. The other is in chapter 2, starting at verse 5, and is different to the one we heard this morning.

Many other ancient cultures had creation stories that were polytheistic, that is having many gods, often with a different god responsible for a different area of life.  Some of these stories had battles between the gods, and the creation was made from the losing god.

The people of Israel had been called out of slavery in Egypt, and while they had often let God down, they knew they were different, they knew there was only one god, and that creation was not because of a battle between the gods, but out of the desire of God.

This creation story from Genesis 1, was written down during the time the people of Israel were in exile. This creation account was not written by people living happily in their own land, but people in exile.[i]  It was written, along with much of the Old Testament, at a time when people were in a strange land.

The exile was time for the people to Israel to think about God. It was thought that the fall of Jerusalem, meant that the other Gods were stronger than their God. During the 50 years or so the people were in exile, there would have been some wondering: is God really able to protect us? to save us from our enemies?

This creation story is a way for the people to hold onto their faith, to grow in faith, when things were not looking too good for them. [ii]

Here in Genesis 1, God creates order out of chaos.[iii] An affirmation by, and for, people who were not in control of what was happening to them.

….

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. There was darkness over the surface of the waves. At that time, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day one.

….. Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us.” …. So God created human beings in his own likeness.

    He created them to be like himself.

    He created them as male and female.

God blessed them. ……

God saw everything he had made. And it was very good.

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

In the beginning …. and God saw that it was good. I wonder how often do we think of creation as good, or ourselves as good?

What might it mean to be created in the image of God?

I mean, we don’t all look the same, or like the same things, so what does it mean that we are created in the image of God?
I have a few suggestions:

We are each unique, just as there is only one God, there is only on you or me.

We are creative

We are spiritual

You may be able to think of others.

But “If nothing else, the creation story insists that God's mark is imprinted on my very being. I might ignore or distort it, but the mark is always there. Whether I acknowledge it or not, I reflect something of God's joy, God's intentions, God's love, and God's beauty just by virtue of existing on the earth.”[iv]

Beginning our overview of the Old Testament, with this passage from Genesis reminds me of a few things:

1.   Creation is good, and is to be valued

2.   I am made in the image of God – whatever that means; so, I need to treat myself and others with respect.

3.    This story tells us about God, who is able to create, protect and save, who is active in creation.

I am now going to read another version of the creation story, and this one has pictures. It is Let there be light by Desmond Tutu.

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[i] Spill the Beans

[ii] Spill the Beans

[iii] http://johndobbs.com/introduction-to-god/

[iv] https://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20140609JJ.shtml