Notes from the Wayside: Sermon: Why Bother?

Delivered at Brandon United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on October 1, 2014.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

Why Bother?

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, "Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the LORD: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the LORD; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?"

Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours." 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.

And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

Jeremiah 32:1-15 (NRSV)

Whenever you run away

Whenever you lose your faith

It's just another stroke

Of the pen on the page

A lonely ray of hope is all that you'll need

To see a beautiful history

From "Beautiful History" by Plumb

The year is 589 BC. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian Empire around 130 years earlier, and now King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem, the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The prophet Jeremiah is imprisoned in the king's palace for announcing the inevitable, that Judah will fall to the Babylonians and that King Zedekiah will be captured. There are just some things a person is not supposed to say, even if he or she happens to be a prophet of God. The people of Judah are facing the consequences of their choices, and Jeremiah is facing the consequences of telling it like it is.

Jeremiah is probably one of my favorite characters in the biblical narrative. He was a reluctant prophet, called by God to speak out against the evils of Judah and to warn the people of the calamity that awaited them if they did not change their ways. The people of Judah had turned away from God and had begun serving false gods of prosperity, even sacrificing their own children to them.¹ The people had forfeited some of their humanity, as we all do when we serve a god who is not, by nature, love itself. Jeremiah lived a hard life. He had to compete with false prophets who proclaimed a contrary message, and he endured persecution at the hands of the powers that be. Though people would occasionally ask him to appeal to God on their behalf, they would never do anything God told them to do. Jeremiah was a tragic hero: despite his best efforts, he could do nothing to convince the people to repent of their evil. Ultimately all he could do was to watch in despair as Judah went to hell in a proverbial handbasket.

While detained at the king's palace, Jeremiah receives a word from the Lord. God tells him that his cousin Hanamel will soon visit him at the palace to ask him to buy a piece of land from him. Sure enough, just as God predicts, Hanamel arrives at the palace and says to Jeremiah, "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."

To truly understand what is going on in this story, we need to know something about Jeremiah's religious and cultural context. The Jewish Law lays out certain rules regarding the sale of land. According to the Book of Leviticus, the Israelites were technically not allowed to sell their land. They could, at most, sell the use of their land for a limited amount of time: in other words, they could rent their land out to someone. Every fiftieth year was designated a Year of Jubilee in which all Israelites were required to return to their own land. If an Israelite fell into financial difficulty he could sell the use of his land up until the Year of Jubilee. At any time, the landowner or his next of kin could buy back or redeem the land if the funds became available.² It seems that God wanted land ownership to remain within families; otherwise, all real estate in Israel might end up in the hands of a few rich people.³

Apparently, Jeremiah's cousin has fallen on hard times, forcing him to part with his land. As a relative with means, Jeremiah has both the right and the responsibility to redeem the land. Since God has instructed him to go ahead and purchase the field, he finds some witnesses, signs and seals the deed, and pays his cousin.

A keen onlooker might be tempted to say, "Hey, Jerry! While you still have your checkbook out, I've got some prime swampland in Florida I'd like to sell you!" I am not what you would call an expert in the real estate business, but I would wager a guess that the value of your property is not very high if your country is on the verge of being conquered by a foreign power. Furthermore, I would suspect that any deed in your possession would not be recognized by the conquering power.

What I particularly like about Jeremiah is that he has no trouble letting God know exactly how he feels - in explicit detail. For this reason, he is remembered by many as the "Weeping Prophet." Perhaps you've noticed his collection of Lamentations while flipping through your Bible. Some time earlier, Jeremiah had even accused God of luring him into an excessively difficult life. "O LORD, Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived," he said, according to the King James Version. He then cursed the day he was born and cursed the person who announced his birth for not killing him instead.⁴ I'm just a little bit surprised that the Book of Jeremiah doesn't end with the prophet being struck by a lightning bolt.

Jeremiah is no dummy. He has spent years speaking to the people of Judah on God's behalf, warning them that they need to repent of their ways or else face the consequences of their actions. He has been met with deaf ears time and time again, and now Jerusalem is surrounded by the Babylonian army. He knows that the city of Jerusalem will soon fall and that the Kingdom of Judah will be conquered. He knows that the field he just purchased will soon be occupied by the Babylonians and that the deed in his hands is basically worthless. Jeremiah goes to God in prayer once again, wondering why in the world God would tell him to purchase an utterly worthless piece of property. He says,
See, the siege ramps have been cast up against the city to take it, and the city, faced with sword, famine, and pestilence, has been given into the hands of the [Babylonians] who are fighting against it. What You spoke has happened, as You Yourself can see. Yet You, O LORD God, have said to me, "Buy the field for money and get witnesses" - though the city has been given into the hands of the [Babylonians].⁵

The question at the heart of Jeremiah's prayer is, "Why bother?" Jeremiah is essentially saying, "Judah is just going to be conquered by the Babylonians, so why bother redeeming this land?" I imagine that, like Jeremiah, most of us have, at some point in our lives, considered some opportunity or some course of action and asked ourselves, "Why bother?"

I'm just going to fail, so why bother?

My circumstances will never get any better, so why bother?

I tried that before, and I didn't get the results I wanted, so why bother?

I will never overcome my addiction, so why bother?

It's a lost cause, so why bother?

She'll just break my heart, so why bother?

I've screwed up my life beyond repair, so why bother?

People won't respond like I hope they will, so why bother?

My life will never turn out like I want, so why bother?

The prophets are typically remembered for their use of words - their scathing social critiques, their dreadful oracles, and their occasional words of hope - but, every once in a while, the prophets would use performance art to get their point across. The prophet Isaiah was instructed by God to walk around in public stark naked for three years to symbolize the shame that Israel's political allies would experience when defeated by the Assyrians.⁶ The prophet Ezekiel was instructed by God to eat food cooked over human feces to symbolize the unclean food the people of Judah will have to eat when they are taken into exile.⁷ Jeremiah's redemption of his cousin's land is, likewise, a piece of performance art.

Deep down, Jeremiah already understands why God instructed him to buy the field, but circumstances have become so dire that, at some level, he wonders if there is anything God could possibly do to redeem the situation. God responds to Jeremiah and asks, "Is anything too hard for Me?" God does not sugarcoat the situation: the people of both Israel and Judah had hardened their hearts so much that the only way God could get through to them is to let them get what's coming to them. There is no question regarding what is about to happen: Jerusalem will be leveled to the ground, and the people of Judah will be carried off to exile in Babylon.⁸ God is looking beyond the immediate future, for, in God's eyes, the calamity that the people of Judah will soon face is just a part of their redemption.

Jeremiah will never enjoy the land he has just purchased, nor will he even be able to see it. He will later attempt to escape Jerusalem to go to his land, but he will be detained by palace officials once again.⁹ When Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians, Jeremiah will be taken against his will to Egypt by others fleeing Judah, and he will presumably spend his remaining days there.¹⁰ Even so, Jeremiah's purchase of his cousin's property is no empty gesture. God says to Jeremiah,
Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good fortune that I now promise them. Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, It is a desolation, without human beings or animals; it has been given into the hands of the [Babylonians]. Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, says the LORD.¹¹
Jeremiah's purchase of his cousin's land is symbolic of God's promise to bring the Jewish exiles back home again.¹² There will come a time - a Year of Jubilee - when the people of Judah will return to their homeland.

One attitude that I think has become prevalent in our society is an attitude of cynicism. Cynicism originated as a school of thought within ancient Greek philosophy. Ancient cynics would eschew all things worldly in order to pursue inner virtues. By contrast, our modern understanding of the concept can be described as "an attitude of distrust toward claimed ethical and social values and a rejection of the need to be socially involved." At it's very best, it can be a prudent skepticism, but, at it's worst, it is a form of pessimism toward humanity.¹³ Pessimism in general is a hardness of heart that blinds us and numbs us to any goodness and hope to be experienced in the world. It could be described as a defeated spirit - a spirit of "Why bother?"

In early 2009, philosopher Peter Rollins spoke at Calvin College where he apparently raised some eyebrows with his unconventional views on the Christian faith. Someone in attendance saw it fit to ask him if he denied the resurrection of Christ. Rollins confessed that he did, indeed, deny the the resurrection, and then he went on to make a very provocative statement:
I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.¹⁴
Rollins was basically saying that, regardless of whatever we claim to believe, we deny the resurrection of Christ when the presence of the living Christ is not evident in our lives, when Christ does not come alive within us. We deny the resurrection when resurrection does not happen in us.

As Christians, our defining story is the Gospel story. The Gospel story contains disappointment, desolation, despair, and death, but it does not end with these things. Our defining story does not end with a would-be messiah languishing on a cross, crying out, "My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?" Our defining story ends with an empty grave. As Christians, we are Resurrection people. Frederick Buechner once wrote,
The worst isn't the last thing about the world. It's the next to the last thing. The last thing is the best. It's the power from on high that comes down into the world, that wells up from the rock-bottom worst of the world like a hidden spring. Can you believe it? The last, best thing is the laughing deep in the hearts of the saints, sometimes our hearts even. Yes. You are terribly loved and forgiven. Yes. You are healed. All is well.¹⁵
The resurrection is a source of hope for all who put their trust in Jesus Christ and choose to follow in His footsteps. That said, maybe we also deny the resurrection when we give up hope and fall into pessimism.

In this life, all kinds of bad things will happen. We will all have crosses to bear: we will all certainly face suffering and failure. The Gospel teaches us that these things do not have to be the end of the story, for, in the same way that Good Friday precedes Easter Sunday, the pain of destruction precedes the joy of new life. So often in the Church we focus on life after death, but sometimes we just need to be reminded that there's life after life.

We do not know what the future holds for us, but we do know that God loves us and actively seeks the best for us. St. Paul writes, "We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose."¹⁶ Paul is not necessarily saying that God makes bad things happen to us in order to bring about some greater good but instead that God can take up anything bad we do or anything bad that happens to us and bring some good out of it. In the words of Adam Hamilton, "God forces evil and suffering to serve God. God brings good from evil. God takes our sorrow, suffering, and sin and bends it, redeems it, and sanctifies us through it."¹⁷ I would add that, though God actively seeks the good for us, we will not see the good if we harden our hearts to it through pessimism. By God's grace, what was and what is do not need to determine what will be, so we would do well not to say, "Why bother?"

After Jeremiah signs and seals the deed to the field, he instructs his scribe Baruch to place the deed in a jar so that it will be preserved for posterity. He then announces to everyone present, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."

In 587 BC, the walls of Jerusalem were finally breached by the Babylonians. King Zedekiah was captured; the Temple of the Lord was burned down; the city was razed to the ground; and many of the people were carried off to exile in Babylon.¹⁸ Eventually, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persian Empire, and, in 538 BC, the people of Judah were allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild their city, their homes, their temple, and their lives.¹⁹ Maybe - just maybe - someone from Jeremiah's family found the deed that Jeremiah signed and returned to the field he purchased from his cousin.

The next time we are presented some opportunity and find ourselves thinking, "Why bother?" perhaps we should reconsider. We do not know what the future will hold, but we do know that God desires the absolute best for us even though there might be pain on the road ahead of us. "I know the plans I have for you," God says through Jeremiah, "plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."²⁰ The future does not need to be frightening for us if we put our trust in God. Let's resist the temptation to say "Why bother?" We might succeed, or we might fail, but we will never know for certain what will happen unless we try. Even if our actions do not yield the results we desire, it is quite possible that someone in our midst could draw strength from a piece of performance art.

Why bother?

Because we have a reason to hope.

Amen.

Notes: