Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 33:14–16, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
So, it begins… Another church year. 2024 we all have hopes it will be a better year than last. Christmas shopping is in full swing. The dark long slog through cold winter nights, snow and late sunrises and early sunsets. We push through it all looking forward to spring. We wait for brighter days and warmer weather.
Jeremiah knew something about waiting. The days are coming… in those days, he says. The text oozes with a sense of waiting. For Jeremiah, the good days were yet to come. The promises were unfulfilled. He can only cling to the promises and wait… But at least he had the promises.
By contrast, we have the promise fulfilled. There are very strong parallels; Jeremiah looks forward to the Christ coming to reconcile the world to God. We look forward to his coming again to restore the world to its full potential. In his time Jeremiah, suffered along with all the faithful of Israel. Our days are also filled with less than pleasant times. We may not see the suffering that Jeremiah endured, but we do know what it is to wait tirelessly for a promise given long ago. For us, amid our daily suffering, today is just like so many before, a slog through suffering, pain, weakness, illness and death.
So, we can relate to Jeremiah. At lest we think we can. And yet, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to do so. We are, after all, living in the days that Jeremiah longed to see. We are living in those days that he was talking about. The days that were the center point of his hope.
Our time, dreary as it can be, where we live now, is the fulfillment of his hope. God’s master plan for salvation has been accomplished. The promises Jeremiah held in faith are fulfilled. The Righteous Branch has come, in Jesus the Messiah. He sprang fourth with justice and righteousness. And beyond anyone’s expectations, God walked on the earth among the suffering of his people. Those days that so encouraged Jeremiah and inspired him to faith and hope, are now. Today is one of those days. It is not a day of slogging through dreary routines, waiting with painful endurance. It is a day of living in the very reality of the promise fulfilled. We are not waiting for God to do something about our sin. He has already done it in Jesus. What was in Jeremiah’s future is in our past and its effects carry through and set right here in our laps.
Jesus Christ has come. All he did has its fulfillment right for us, now. Day by day we suffer from the death of loved ones, and yet we have the assurance they are with Christ, not suffering pain, or worry, or sin, and most importantly the knowledge that they are looking forward to the resurrection when we will be with them again, forever. We slog through broken relationships spurred on by our own sin, and yet Christ promises that forgiveness can heal those relationships.
As Luther says in his explanation Fifth Petition of Lord’s Prayer:
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins nor deny such petitions on account of them. We are not worthy of any of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them. But we pray that He would grant them all to us by grace. For we daily sin much and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we truly, on our part, also heartily forgive and readily do good to those who sin against us.We are affected by our daily sin, heeding to the temptations of the Satan, the world and our sinful flesh, that crush our spirit and bring doubt, but we have the cross before us as God’s promise of forgiveness. The Hymn Abide with Me states it clearly.
I need Thy presence ev’ry passing hour;The cross and resurrection of Jesus are that assurance of his presence. We take our sin to the cross Jesus there disposes of it and promises forgiveness that foils the tempters power.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
Today, right here, right now, God is active, through the Holy Spirit, bringing the grace we need. He is active in our lives, bringing forgiveness, peace and hope. He is active in our life bringing all we need to support this body and life (as Luther says). We have what Jeremiah was waiting for, and yet we wait for something more. It is the coming again of Jesus, the resurrection of our loved ones, and our own, the setting of everything right, and the life eternal on this recreated perfect planet.
As we anticipate Advent, the coming of Jesus, in our past and in our future. As we wait for that glorious day, we live in the reality of the promises accomplished by Jesus. But, if we are only waiting for something that is to come, waiting for God to do something else, only waiting for better days, then we are failing to live faithfully and joyfully in the reality of what God is doing now. The days that Jeremiah longed to see.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
