To Hope Again
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 31: 1-6)
This poetry uttered by the prophet, sent by God, pushes in against the despair of Israel in exile. This poetic-prophetic word sharply contradicts the circumstance in which the people of God find themselves. The “wilderness” of exile and despair was a place without resources and without reason to hope. It is a time when the old reliabilities of faith had failed in light of imperial destruction and displacement.
And then, “Thus says the Lord.” This utterance of God—via the prophet—refuses to accept the circumstance of despair. It insists, to the contrary, that God is underway with restorative, rehabilitative grace. Indeed, God’s love for God’s people is “everlasting,” not for an instant interrupted by hard circumstance. This love is marked by dogged determination and unfailing resolve.
And from that deep fidelity, there is concrete hope voiced in the three-times repeated “again” (‘od). What seems to have been lost will be restored. What has been taken away will, by the faithful power of God, be given again. The restoration is practical, concrete, and material:
Again, the restoration of civic community and its rituals of joy and wellbeing;
Again, the infrastructure of the community will function effectively.
Again, the long-standing habits of agriculture will resume.
God is not limited by or imprisoned in present circumstance. God acts in faithful freedom. As a consequence, there will be a homecoming, a restored life centered in the worship of the God who keeps promises. Israel awaits the coming of God through whom all things are made new.
When we hear these wondrous poetic cadences, we are invited to reconsider our own historical circumstance. Not unlike ancient Israel, we also have sufficient reason for despair, given violence, health risks, and our environmental crisis. This poetry insists otherwise. It may yield among us resolve, energy, courage, and imagination to do the hard work of hope amid by our present deficits.
Walter Brueggemann
June 1, 2022
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