Jeremiah 31:7-14, “They shall be like a well-watered garden!”
Because of the snow, today is the first Sunday of the New Year for us, and the scripture lesson comes from Jeremiah 31:7-14. It is about hope, redemption, and restoration, a new beginning. The new beginning is possible for us because of God’s incarnation. In other words, only in Christ can the new beginning happen. In this sense, although today’s text is not about Christmas, it is a continuation of the Christmas miracle, what God is doing for those devastated without hope.
The first audience of today’s text, Jeremiah 31, and the present audience, us, are affected by destabilization and terror. The first audience knew that, and we know that death and loss are inescapable and that the future is gloomy and uncertain. We experience chaos due to the weather, natural disasters, and political uproar domestically and internationally. The current warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the threat of reclaiming the Panama Canal, annexing Greenland, and even Canada create anxiety in people, on top of the snowstorm that hit strongly the East Coast and the wildfire in California which claimed 16 lives so far, costing more than 135 billion dollars. All these point to one thing in my mind: the end time. The situation will get worse and worse as we are entering into the heart of the end time. The bigger, larger, and more terrifying scale of natural disasters is ahead of us as they are prophesied in the Bible.
Life is not easy. We all have life problems with our own families and with ourselves. Our hearts are heavy with burdens in life caused by broken and dysfunctional family circumstances, addiction, and illnesses of our loved ones. No wonder depression and anxiety are not the vocabulary for certain people. It is prevalent around us. We want a new beginning full of hope, reconciliation, peace, and God’s love, right?
Today’s text was prophetic words for the Israelites in Exile. Babylon had taken all away from them, including their land, even their God, who had clearly been defeated in their view. Those exiles could not have any hope that their life would be any good again, even if they got back to the Land. Everything was gone. Everything that meant something to them, all they worked for, was gone. Like the wildfire that has consumed hundreds of thousands of acres and burned hundreds of homes, after the fire has reduced their beloved buildings to ashes, the residents return to… nothingness. Many of those victims of the wildfire in LA, especially those who have lost their loved ones, might not see how they can ever put their lives together again.
With that, I would also like to add that our spiritual states away from God are like that. The eternal life God has meant for us was taken away because we have chosen Satan’s path, forsaking God. After humans sinned by eating the fruit of knowing good and evil, the Tree of Life was taken away; God set the sword of fire guarding the Tree of Life, and humans were expelled from paradise. They were lost, hopeless, and bound for eternal death, falling into pitch-black darkness, chaos, and hatred. The entire humanity was facing the same fate.
To those who are lost and devasted without hope, God speaks restoration to us who desperately want a new beginning through our text. Verse. 8, “I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth.” God, our Creator, Almighty, and Omnipotent, promises us that God will bring us from the north country and gather us from the ends of the earth. “North country” symbolizes the power that got hold of us. Gathering us from the “ends of the earth” means that no matter how far gone we are, God can bring us back to God. Through God incarnated, who ransomed for His people, God can bring His people back into the light, order, and God’s infinite love and life.
God’s mighty power of gathering us back to Him knows no limit. When God promised to gather estranged people from the end of the earth, that includes all those blind, lame, and pregnant women or women in labor. Vs. 8b, “Among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labors with child…” God can bring everyone to God because he is not like us, who are limited. God can bring all those seemingly impossible to return to God, those spiritually blind to the truth, those spiritually lame who cannot walk on the right path, and those who are pregnant with sin to the core, producing sin after sin. God can bring them all. When God said God can do it, then God can do it. We should not limit God; we should not bring Him to our level by saying that so and so is incorrigible or no one can help them. Our job is to let God be God in anyone’s life by introducing God to those who need God.
However, redemption and restoration cannot happen automatically. It requires our actions for that to happen. We are to pray for that with our heartfelt desire. Vs. 7, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’” God’s promise of redemption is given; our responsibility is to proclaim, give praise, and say, Lord, save your people! That should be the heart of our prayer. We must proclaim what God promised, praise His goodness, and pray, “Lord, save your people!” Lord, save me from the pitfall I am in. I cannot help myself; save me with your power. You said you would bring me from the north country that holds me in shackles of depression and anxiety, from addiction, from illnesses. You said you can reach me no matter how far I am from you, from the ends of the earth. We must pray for our healing and restoration. Without prayer, we cannot reach God’s healing throne. We must pray wholeheartedly.
The second thing we must do is to repent. Repentance is always necessary for God’s abundant grace to be effectual. Vs. 9, “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications, I will lead them.” That is what God wants from those who are lost: broken-hearted with repentance, ripping one’s sinful heart out so that a new heart can spring up for God in its place.
Repentance is more than saying sorry. Repentance is a determination not ever to do it again. Repentance is following God, turning the complete turn from the evil path. Those who know what they are doing is wrong but cannot help themselves, so they cry out to God for help; they can be saved instead of being thrown out. The key is repentance. Only those who are repentant can be helped. Those who refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoing even when it is spelled out in the Bible as a sin might be in danger of losing their souls. In this sense, repentance is a recognition of wrongdoing without challenging God’s authority written in the Bible.
The challenge for us is to move forward faithfully, acknowledging and leaving behind our sinful deeds and trusting and claiming God’s forgiving grace promised to us. Then, we can become “like a watered garden,” producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. This is the only way for us to have a new beginning. The New Year has dawned on us, and whether we want to live in it as a new creation in Christ is up to us. God has promised redemption and restoration through Jesus Christ. Amen!
