Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:34-36
November 29, 2009
Patrick Preheim
New Year’s Resolutions
Today is the first Sunday of the new church year and our scripture texts all
point to the wonderful opportunity we have to behold the coming of God. God
comes to bring us grace, peace and joy this new year, this day, every day. Do
not be troubled by the past, Psalm 25 tells us. Call upon the steadfast mercy
and love of God to loosen the grip of past sins and transgressions (25:6-7) so
that we may see right paths (25:4,10). Sometimes the transgressions committed
against us keep us from seeing the coming of God. Sometimes the transgressions
we have committed make our head so droop that we missing the glory of the stars
above and around us. It is not just the past that eclipses our view of God’s
coming, sometimes it is also concerns of the present and future. Jesus
encourages us in Luke 21:34 to let go of dissipation (consumerism I would
translate), drunkenness, and anxieties-- all things which impair our mindfulness
to this moment. We self medicate with shopping, food, drugs, alcohol or work
because the present and future are so hard on us. In these new hours of the
church year we are invited to release the anesthetics and anxieties that cloud
our ability to witness the coming of God right now.
I have a couple of examples how we can pay attention to the coming of God this
new year, and they both come from the biblical Christmas story: dreams and
angels. Five times in the birth narrative of Matthew’s gospel dreams direct the
movement of characters in the story. There are more than a few people who still
believe that God speaks through dreams. As part of our bi-monthly bible study
this past Thursday a dozen young adults and I gathered to talk about dream
interpretation. A month ago we agreed to record our dreams and bring a sampling
for discussion. A first observation to make about dreams is that they are not
always easy to remember. A person almost needs to keep pen and paper near the
bed to get some of the details before they fade, and even then there is no
guarantee that a dream will come. A second observation is that there is a lot of
rubbish in any collection of dreams—at least that is the state of my dream
journal from this past month. Having said that, however, there are also some
important messages that do come through dreams: through repetition of a theme,
through appearances of people who need attention, through presentation of a
future destination. In some future sermon I will go into nuances of dream
interpretation. Suffice it to say without dreams Joseph would not have taken
Mary as his wife. Without dreams the Holy Family might have stayed in Egypt.
Without dreams Jesus would not have gotten his start in Galilee. God continues
to encourage us, to warn us, and to prepare us through dreams. Attending to our
dreams is one way we rest in God at the beginning of the year and throughout the
year.
Dreams are not a part of Luke’s birth account, but angels are. An angel
speaks to Zechariah, speaks to Mary, speaks to Shepherds, and even gives Joseph
and Mary the idea to name their baby Jesus. Who are these angels?, and are they
still around assuring us of God’s presence? The answer to this question might
hang on what a person expects an angel to look like. I much prefer the Old
Testament understanding of angels to the white robed winged wonders we see
depicted everywhere this time of year. Biblical Hebrew has but one word for
angel, messenger, ambassador, or envoy. And it is like that isn’t it? Sometimes
the coffee mate, or the guest, or the public speaker addresses your condition
with a familiarity that is more divine than human. Without further broaching the
topic of angelogy I am convinced that God directs us, absolves us, comforts us,
and sometimes chastens us through messengers—otherwise known as angels. When we
receive these angelic messengers we are better able to rest in God.
To this point Psalm 25 and Luke 21 have been my primary scriptures that clear
our vision so that we can see the coming of God. Jeremiah 33 also has something
to say on this topic. Both the Psalm and Luke 21 focus on the internal
conditions necessary to rest in God. Jeremiah 33:14-16 focuses on external
actions. We will find rest in God, a right path, as we do good deeds. In poetic
fashion Jeremiah insists we can make economic choices that help us rest in God.
Jeremiah makes this point through beautiful word play that we miss in the
English. The title “The Lord our righteousness” highlights a word play between
Zedekiah (tsidqiyahu)-- king of Judah-- and Yahweh our righteousness (“Yahweh-tsidqenu”)—both
roots have tsidqe (righteousness), both end in a “u” vowel, and both contain the
letters that make the “ya” sound. The words are very similar and not something
lost to those hearing this in Hebrew. 2nd Kings 24:19 calls Zedekiah evil, but
what does he do that is so bad? Why would Jeremiah so poetically set the way of
Zedekiah against the way of Yahweh? We find out in chapter 34 of Jeremiah.
In chapter 33-34 the Babylonians are besieging Jerusalem. Zedekiah seemingly has
a pious moment in which he proclaims freedom for the slaves. “The release was to
have been a regular part of Israelite life, but the text indicates that it had
been neglected”. So, firstly, Zedekiah is late getting on this wagon. A further
complication is that it was a “royal proclamation, which was the way in which
such release of debts and slaves occurred elsewhere in the ancient Near East,
but not in Israel”. Israel didn’t need to rely on the whims of a king to
proclaim jubilee. They had the Torah in which God, the true King of Israel,
stipulated jubilee according to the calendar. So Zedekiah has usurped the role
of Yahweh in choosing when to grant release to the slaves and how to grant
release. If this were not bad enough, Zedekiah re-enslaves the previously bonded
individuals shortly after their liberation. It appears that Zedekiah chose to
release the slaves for political or economic reasons: because he wanted their
loyalty in the midst of the siege, or maybe because it was getting too costly to
maintain them. When the Babylonians temporarily break off their siege to manage
a different conflict and the economic pressure eases, Zedekiah quickly
re-enslaves the people. Simply put, this is not kingdom economics. (Patrick
Miller, “The Book of Jeremiah” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary (vol
6), p. 831). Through a small play on words Jeremiah invites us to behold the
coming of God, to meet God, as we practice just and right economics.
There are economic choices we can make this holiday season and new church year
that may reduce the bondage of others. I know Brent and Paul Tiessen heard
stories at the MEDA convention in San Jose from business men and women who have
met God in right and just economic practices. I was also taken with a story in
this past Monday in the Star Phoenix there was a short article about a
conference held at the University of Saskatchewan on locally grown food (section
B1). Only ten percent of the food consumed in Saskatchewan comes from here, and
if you ask me that is a shame. At a time when the smaller communities and
farmsteads are vanishing I think we need to support those willing to diversify
and market directly to the consumer. The Innovative Prairie Farm Families comes
to our church the third Thursday evening of the month to sell noodles,
vegetables, honey, flax and wonderful cuts of meat. The farmers market is also a
venue where local farm products can be found. Even asking your grocer if they
have local produce goes a ways toward encouraging a localized economy at a
systemic level. Does it cost more to shop local? Yes. And if a person’s budget
is tight I fully support expanding the grocery dollar wherever possible. The
truth of the matter is, however, that most of us are wealthy. We take exotic
trips; we buy pricy clothes; we eat out a lot. For those of us with resources,
kings and queens if you would, Yahweh our righteousness asks us to use our
shopping power to build communities and the land, not exploit them. The SP
article rightly points out that most people will not want to do without their
Central American banana or Mandarin orange. Not a one of us will attain pure
righteousness in this matter; I am just hopeful that this year will see the
advent of more shoppers meeting God as they practice justice and righteousness
with their dollars.
It was at this point in my notes that I moved into a conversation about
increasing donations to charitable organizations rather than purchasing more
Christmas presents for the already saturated. (MCC doe have a fine “Give Green”
program and Wendy has outlined some great ideas in her crosswalk editorial). It
was also at this point that I realized that time would be running short, so I
tie things off now. It is a new church year. The start of a new day or a new
church year affords us an opportunity to think about our way of seeing God come.
God has been among us, is among us, and will be among us. We are invited to lay
aside those things which keep us from claiming the power of God among us this
year, this day, and every day. Let us lay aside the burdens of the past. Let us
not lay aside the concerns of the present and future. Let us meet God in the
practice of Amen.