Faith in the Future Jeremiah 32:6-15. Loss can have such a profound impact upon us. And it doesn t seem to
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1 1 Faith in the Future Jeremiah 32:6-15 Loss can have such a profound impact upon us. And it doesn t seem to matter whether the loss is sudden or gradual. In whatever way loss comes to us, it has a way of sinking very deeply into our souls. Author Isabel Allende had lived a life of passion. She was always in a hurry, always keeping busy. Then one day her twenty-eight year old daughter became ill and eventually slipped into a coma. 1 For one year Isabel Allende took care of her daughter at home. The world seemed to stop for Isabel. All she seemed to be able to do was cry and re-call memories during the year her daughter lay in bed with a coma. While caring for her daughter, Isabel Allende began to reflect on her own life, her journey and the core principles that held her life together. She also began to reflect upon her daughter s life and core beliefs. She writes, Paralyzed and silent in her bed, my daughter Paula taught me a lesson that is now my mantra: You only have what you give. It s by spending yourself that you become rich. 2 1 Isabel Allende, In Giving I Connect with Others, in This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006) pp Ibid. p. 14.
2 2 That s because Isabel s daughter Paula had lived a life of constant service. Isabel reported that her daughter worked as a volunteer, constantly helping women and children. She writes of Paula, She never had any money, but she needed very little. When she died she had nothing and she needed nothing. During her illness I had to let go of everything: her laughter, her voice, her grace, her beauty, her company, and, finally, her spirit. When she died I thought I had lost everything. But then I realized I still had the love I had given her. 3 It was the lesson Paula had taught her mother, You only have what you give, that became a healing presence for Isabel. One of the deep truths I take from Isabel is that loss is a very real thing and it affects us deeply. But according to Isabel there is one thing loss cannot take from us, and that is our ability to love, give and invest even in the face of loss. Nothing could ever take away the love Isabel has for Paula. 3 Ibid.
3 3 Isabel will not stop loving, not stop giving; not stop investing in others. She writes, It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world, and with the divine. 4 The reality of loss not only comes to us when we lose a loved one, but it comes to us in such a variety of ways. Companies and organizations suffer losses when they have to downsize and people s jobs are affected. American cities, especially in the Northeast and Midwest, have suffered losses; in some cases significant losses, when industries leave and populations dwindle. For example, More than half of the nation s 20 largest cities in 1950 have lost at least one third of their populations. 5 It has created a significant challenge for cities that now have scores of vacant houses. Last week The New York Times reported that A recent Brookings Institution study found that from 2000 to 2010 the number of vacant housing units nationally had increased by 44 percent, or by 4.5 million. 6 4 Ibid. p.15 5 Timothy Williams. Many Cities Opt to Clear Faded Areas, The New York Times, Tuesday, November 12, 2013, p. A15. 6 Ibid.
4 4 Cities such as Baltimore, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Detroit have now instituted programs in which empty houses are demolished by bulldozers. In some instances whole city blocks are demolished. You could view this kind of loss as the bitter end of a story that has no redemptive aspect to it whatsoever. In fact, you might think putting any energy or effort into a rustbelt city might be a total waste of time. Why make any investment? Why give? Yet some of these urban areas are experiencing types of renewal and possibilities that would have been unheard of even ten years ago. By virtue of bulldozing lot sizes are expanding for those who want to buy or lease land. Cities are realizing that in order to attract new industry and stimulate economic growth they will have to make what may seem to be a counter-intuitive move to demolish whole areas so that something new can be born.
5 5 These cities also want to attract new people as well as keep the people who already live there. Cleveland, for instance, now has more than 200 community gardens and farms on what were once vacant properties. 7 They even have zones for small urban farms where people raise pigs, sheep and goats; and one neighborhood even has a vineyard. 8 A forest now inhabits the land two miles from the St. Louis Gateway Arch where once a 74-acre housing development stood. 9 Just because there has been significant change and loss doesn t mean that is the end of the story. Instead it may be the beginning of a new chapter in that story. When the inhabitants of the Southern region of Israel, including the City of Jerusalem, were in the midst of being conquered and eventually displaced by the Babylonians, there was plenty of reason to say this was the end of the story. It was an inconceivable loss. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid.
6 6 The Jewish inhabitants in Southern Israel and Jerusalem could not imagine that God would allow a foreign enemy to come in and take their land and eventually destroy the Temple that provided their sense of identity and stability. Some thought it was the end of the story. The prophet Jeremiah, however, viewed it differently. Through his relationship with God; through his attentive listening to the Divine presence in his life, Jeremiah believed that God was saying that the story was not ending, but indeed a new chapter was unfolding. Instead of staying fixated on the loss, the way things used to be, Jeremiah found himself believing in the future. It s not that Jeremiah didn t recognize the loss of his homeland and didn t grieve for it. He did. But he also found something beyond the reality of loss, and that was the reality of God s future. Like Isabel Allende, who learned that giving was the key to life, even with the realities of loss surrounding her, so Jeremiah saw that to invest and give toward the future was the key to life with God even when his homeland was being overrun.
7 7 While Jeremiah was in prison, accused of deserting to the Babylonians, he purchased a field near the town of Anathoth where his family was from, about three miles from Jerusalem. The land now in Babylonian hands, he believed that this land he purchased would one day thrive with Jews who would return from Babylon. It was a bold declaration of Jeremiah s trust in God, and in God s future. Jeremiah proved to be correct. Some sixty years later, the Jews who were in Babylon were given freedom to go back to Jerusalem and begin life there again. You might be tempted to think that perspectives on the future such as Jeremiah s don t exist. There are people who trust in the future, even in the midst of deep loss. Ask Tawanda Jones of Camden, New Jersey. Forty-two percent of Camden s population lives below the poverty line. 10 It is one of the poorest cities in the country. The New Jersey Department of Education reports that nearly 90% of Camden s schools are in the bottom 5% performance wise in the state. 11 You may view Camden as city with absolutely no hope and no future. 10 Erika Clarke, CNN Drill Team Keeps Kids off Deadly Streets, Wednesday, November 6, Ibid.
8 8 You may view Camden as a city that is at the bitter end of its life with no chance of a better tomorrow. Tawanda Jones sees something else, however. She sees a place where she can give in the midst of so much loss. In 1986 Tawanda s late grandfather purchased 80 uniforms and 3 drums for his granddaughter to start a dance and percussion team, called the Camden Sophisticated Sisters Drill Team. It has evolved to include a drum line program for boys. It was created to keep young girls off the streets of Camden and give them a place where they could develop discipline, dedication, education and self-respect. The program has impacted over 4000 kids since it began in Currently the team includes 150 members. Those who join have to commit to practicing four evenings a week and have to hold a C average or above in school. Everyone does homework at the beginning of practice. Each young person must also contribute 200 hours of community service time as well. {Show video clip}
9 9 When interviewed Tawanda Jones said that People perceive Camden and its kids as garbage. 12 However, each of the 4,000 kids who have completed her program graduated and 80% go on to college, technical or trade schools. It s not the end of the story for those kids in Camden, but it is a new chapter. Our giving, in however we do it, is a gift toward a new chapter in life. Our giving, in whatever ways we do it, represents our trust not so much in the future we ourselves create, but more so in the future God makes possible through our faith. The future God creates is more than we could ever imagine, and our giving makes it all possible! And that is Good News! Amen. Dale Davis November 17, Ibid.
10 1 Faith in the Future Jeremiah 32:6-15 Loss can have such a profound impact upon us. And it doesn t seem to matter whether the loss is sudden or gradual. In whatever way loss comes to us, it has a way of sinking very deeply into our souls. Author Isabel Allende had lived a life of passion. She was always in a hurry, always keeping busy. Then one day her twenty-eight year old daughter became ill and eventually slipped into a coma. 1 For one year Isabel Allende took care of her daughter at home. The world seemed to stop for Isabel. All she seemed to be able to do was cry and re-call memories during the year her daughter lay in bed with a coma. While caring for her daughter, Isabel Allende began to reflect on her own life, her journey and the core principles that held her life together. She also began to reflect upon her daughter s life and core beliefs. She writes, Paralyzed and silent in her bed, my daughter Paula taught me a lesson that is now my mantra: You only have what you give. It s by spending yourself that you become rich. 2 1 Isabel Allende, In Giving I Connect with Others, in This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006) pp Ibid. p. 14.
11 2 That s because Isabel s daughter Paula had lived a life of constant service. Isabel reported that her daughter worked as a volunteer, constantly helping women and children. She writes of Paula, She never had any money, but she needed very little. When she died she had nothing and she needed nothing. During her illness I had to let go of everything: her laughter, her voice, her grace, her beauty, her company, and, finally, her spirit. When she died I thought I had lost everything. But then I realized I still had the love I had given her. 3 It was the lesson Paula had taught her mother, You only have what you give, that became a healing presence for Isabel. One of the deep truths I take from Isabel is that loss is a very real thing and it affects us deeply. But according to Isabel there is one thing loss cannot take from us, and that is our ability to love, give and invest even in the face of loss. Nothing could ever take away the love Isabel has for Paula. 3 Ibid.
12 3 Isabel will not stop loving, not stop giving; not stop investing in others. She writes, It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world, and with the divine. 4 The reality of loss not only comes to us when we lose a loved one, but it comes to us in such a variety of ways. Companies and organizations suffer losses when they have to downsize and people s jobs are affected. American cities, especially in the Northeast and Midwest, have suffered losses; in some cases significant losses, when industries leave and populations dwindle. For example, More than half of the nation s 20 largest cities in 1950 have lost at least one third of their populations. 5 It has created a significant challenge for cities that now have scores of vacant houses. Last week The New York Times reported that A recent Brookings Institution study found that from 2000 to 2010 the number of vacant housing units nationally had increased by 44 percent, or by 4.5 million. 6 4 Ibid. p.15 5 Timothy Williams. Many Cities Opt to Clear Faded Areas, The New York Times, Tuesday, November 12, 2013, p. A15. 6 Ibid.
13 4 Cities such as Baltimore, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Detroit have now instituted programs in which empty houses are demolished by bulldozers. In some instances whole city blocks are demolished. You could view this kind of loss as the bitter end of a story that has no redemptive aspect to it whatsoever. In fact, you might think putting any energy or effort into a rustbelt city might be a total waste of time. Why make any investment? Why give? Yet some of these urban areas are experiencing types of renewal and possibilities that would have been unheard of even ten years ago. By virtue of bulldozing lot sizes are expanding for those who want to buy or lease land. Cities are realizing that in order to attract new industry and stimulate economic growth they will have to make what may seem to be a counter-intuitive move to demolish whole areas so that something new can be born.
14 5 These cities also want to attract new people as well as keep the people who already live there. Cleveland, for instance, now has more than 200 community gardens and farms on what were once vacant properties. 7 They even have zones for small urban farms where people raise pigs, sheep and goats; and one neighborhood even has a vineyard. 8 A forest now inhabits the land two miles from the St. Louis Gateway Arch where once a 74-acre housing development stood. 9 Just because there has been significant change and loss doesn t mean that is the end of the story. Instead it may be the beginning of a new chapter in that story. When the inhabitants of the Southern region of Israel, including the City of Jerusalem, were in the midst of being conquered and eventually displaced by the Babylonians, there was plenty of reason to say this was the end of the story. It was an inconceivable loss. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid.
15 6 The Jewish inhabitants in Southern Israel and Jerusalem could not imagine that God would allow a foreign enemy to come in and take their land and eventually destroy the Temple that provided their sense of identity and stability. Some thought it was the end of the story. The prophet Jeremiah, however, viewed it differently. Through his relationship with God; through his attentive listening to the Divine presence in his life, Jeremiah believed that God was saying that the story was not ending, but indeed a new chapter was unfolding. Instead of staying fixated on the loss, the way things used to be, Jeremiah found himself believing in the future. It s not that Jeremiah didn t recognize the loss of his homeland and didn t grieve for it. He did. But he also found something beyond the reality of loss, and that was the reality of God s future. Like Isabel Allende, who learned that giving was the key to life, even with the realities of loss surrounding her, so Jeremiah saw that to invest and give toward the future was the key to life with God even when his homeland was being overrun.
16 7 While Jeremiah was in prison, accused of deserting to the Babylonians, he purchased a field near the town of Anathoth where his family was from, about three miles from Jerusalem. The land now in Babylonian hands, he believed that this land he purchased would one day thrive with Jews who would return from Babylon. It was a bold declaration of Jeremiah s trust in God, and in God s future. Jeremiah proved to be correct. Some sixty years later, the Jews who were in Babylon were given freedom to go back to Jerusalem and begin life there again. You might be tempted to think that perspectives on the future such as Jeremiah s don t exist. There are people who trust in the future, even in the midst of deep loss. Ask Tawanda Jones of Camden, New Jersey. Forty-two percent of Camden s population lives below the poverty line. 10 It is one of the poorest cities in the country. The New Jersey Department of Education reports that nearly 90% of Camden s schools are in the bottom 5% performance wise in the state. 11 You may view Camden as city with absolutely no hope and no future. 10 Erika Clarke, CNN Drill Team Keeps Kids off Deadly Streets, Wednesday, November 6, Ibid.
17 8 You may view Camden as a city that is at the bitter end of its life with no chance of a better tomorrow. Tawanda Jones sees something else, however. She sees a place where she can give in the midst of so much loss. In 1986 Tawanda s late grandfather purchased 80 uniforms and 3 drums for his granddaughter to start a dance and percussion team, called the Camden Sophisticated Sisters Drill Team. It has evolved to include a drum line program for boys. It was created to keep young girls off the streets of Camden and give them a place where they could develop discipline, dedication, education and self-respect. The program has impacted over 4000 kids since it began in Currently the team includes 150 members. Those who join have to commit to practicing four evenings a week and have to hold a C average or above in school. Everyone does homework at the beginning of practice. Each young person must also contribute 200 hours of community service time as well. {Show video clip}
18 9 When interviewed Tawanda Jones said that People perceive Camden and its kids as garbage. 12 However, each of the 4,000 kids who have completed her program graduated and 80% go on to college, technical or trade schools. It s not the end of the story for those kids in Camden, but it is a new chapter. Our giving, in however we do it, is a gift toward a new chapter in life. Our giving, in whatever ways we do it, represents our trust not so much in the future we ourselves create, but more so in the future God makes possible through our faith. The future God creates is more than we could ever imagine, and our giving makes it all possible! And that is Good News! Amen. Dale Davis November 17, Ibid.
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