This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah. Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do?” ... Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.' Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, 'Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.' I knew that this was the word of the Lord; so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deed of purchase - the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy - and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard. In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' ” (Jeremiah 32:1-3a & 6-15)

     The prophet Jeremiah, whose writings we've been looking at over the last 3 weeks, is a fascinating figure. In fact, some might argue that he was the quintessential prophet; that the life he led was the example of a prophet's life. As Christians and as a church that's called to speak prophetically to the world, Jeremiah's life and calling teaches us about the rewards, the responsibilities and the costs involved when we speak prophetically to the world today. There were two things that leapt out at me immediately as I read through this passage. First, as the passage opens Jeremiah is in jail; in fact, he's in jail throughout this passage. Imprisonment surely sets the stage somewhat for discussing the nature of a prophet's life! The second thing I noticed was that even though Jeremiah was in jail, he was engaging in the relatively routine activity of buying some land: “... I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel ...” In many respects, those two things put together form the heart of what this passage tells us about a prophet's life, so do keep them in mind.

     What is a prophet? Many people today probably think of a prophet as someone who predicts the future – sort of the National Enquirer definition of the word, but – as much as I find it hard to disbelieve the National Enquirer - that definition doesn't really cut it. A prophet may very well predict the future, but if the prophet does speak of future events it's with the intention of changing the present. A prophet's predictions about the future are about pointing out the consequences of the actions of the present; in that sense a prophet's predictions about the future are calls to repentance and for transformation. The words of a true prophet are intended to create a better and more godly society that the one which presently exists. They're intended to point us to something better, and to challenge us to try to create at least a little bit of that “something better” now. The true prophet also receives this word from God – there should be no question about that. In vv. 6-8, God proved Himself to Jeremiah. God said to Jeremiah that his cousin Hanamel was going to come to him and ask him to buy a piece of land. No one in those circumstances would have predicted that. Jerusalem was under siege. The land would soon be worthless; destroyed and deserted. Why would anyone be speaking about land transactions at that moment? When Hanamel arrived and made the offer, Jeremiah saw this apparently ridiculous proposal as a sign that God was speaking to him. It's very foolishness was the primary sign that this word came directly from the Lord. Maybe that helps us understand what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians when he wrote that “... the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom ...” or what Jesus meant when He quoted Isaiah's words: “they shall be … ever hearing but never understanding.” Such a seemingly foolish suggestion would never come from a mere human, so Jeremiah saw its foolishness as the sign that he had no option but to be obedient to it. Because he now knew that God was speaking to him, he knew also that whatever else God revealed to him in turn had to be revealed to the world simply because it was a word from God, and the word of God needed to be shared in order that society might be transformed by the power of God's word.

     That's the role of the prophet. The prophets of the Old Testament were far more concerned with changing their own society than they were about predicting the future. John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest prophet, issued a call to repentance. His message wasn't simply a prediction of the future, it was a call to change the present. That's the role of the prophet: to create a better society in keeping with God's word and God's will. To speak prophetically is a challenge and can be uncomfortable for individuals and for God's people collectively. Some would say, for example, that the church shouldn't be political, but how can the church try to change society without being political? Others argue that the church has become too consumed with social activism and has forgotten about God in the process. It's true that our social activism has to be balanced with our proclamation of the grace of God which brings us salvation, and to refuse to proclaim that would be to ignore the totality of the gospel message, but to refuse to try to create a better society in the here and now is also to ignore the totality of the gospel message. Jesus certainly proclaimed the grace of God which brings us salvation, but He was also a social activist who sought to create a peaceful and just society. The two go hand in hand. Balance is the key to effectively bearing witness to the gospel. We can't allow ourselves to become so consumed by preaching the gospel that we forget to live the gospel, because bearing witness to the gospel involves both. We are called to speak a prophetic word from God which we must then strive to live out day by day in our own lives. Our words must always lead to action. When we become satisfied with simply talking about the life to come, rather than trying to improve the life that is, we fail the gospel that was proclaimed by Jesus.

     It takes courage to speak prophetically. One of the problems with trying to improve the world around us is that it can bring us into conflict with the world around us. The prophets of the Bible did not generally lead easy lives. Usually, they became very unpopular because by their very calling they challenged the accepted, traditional ways that people were comfortable with. Many prophets over the years suffered for their work. Jeremiah himself was often in danger from the religious and political leaders around him who were angry with him because he criticized them, and he is believed to have been killed for his actions. Isaiah was killed for angering the leaders of his society. John the Baptist was executed by Herod because he criticized Herod. Many people consider Martin Luther King, Jr. to have been the quintessential modern day prophet. “I have a dream” wasn't a hopeful look ahead and it wasn't wishful thinking and it wasn't a prediction. It was a vision given by God that King sought to bring to reality, and for sharing that vision Martin Luther King, Jr. suffered the same fate as Jeremiah and Isaiah and John the Baptist. It takes courage to stand against society, and there are a lot of risks involved in that calling. As I noted, in today's passage, Jeremiah had been imprisoned. Why? Because he had called for massive changes to the society – changes that were perceived as a threat by the elites of that society. He had challenged the people to change their ways, and he had told them that if they didn't there would be serious consequences. That society didn't care for that message and Jeremiah was thrown into prison. But Jeremiah was right! The people and the leaders of Judah should have listened to his criticisms and warnings. It isn't easy to live a prophet's life. Many of the prophets fought against their call. But, if we're to be faithful to God, we have to accept that call to try to create a better society, even if it sometimes brings us into conflict with those around us.

     The church today has a responsibility to act prophetically. One of the primary responsibilities of the church to try to share the vision God gives us and then to try to make that vision reality by fighting such ungodly evils as injustice, poverty, hunger, violence and hatred. But there does have to be a balance between “justice issues” and “spirituality,” because a part of creating God's Kingdom on earth is encouraging people not just to change their ways but to change their hearts by coming closer to God. To do that we have to reflect on ourselves and not just on others; on our religious practices within the church as well as our social practices outside the church. Then, when we do speak to the world around us, our call is not to affirm the world's ways – it is to acknowledge the brokenness of the world, and to call the world to the Way which is Jesus. That may very well bring us into conflict with those who have profited from the world the way it is, and who don't want change. The church – when it fulfils its calling properly – may become unpopular, as all true prophets become unpopular. We fear unpopularity, and we often try to avoid it by ducking our responsibility to speak in truly prophetic ways. In the midst of it all, we must remember that the ultimate prophetic message isn't one of doom – it's one of good news. I noted the dichotomy that seemed to exist in the beginning of today's passage. Jeremiah was sitting in jail, Jerusalem was under siege and about to be conquered, and yet Jeremiah was engaging in what seemed to be an ordinary business transaction in the midst of extraordinary circumstances – and a business transaction that seemed to make no sense! Why buy a piece of land which is soon to be conquered, desolate and destroyed? Because, as God said in the closing words of the passage: “Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” Out of the bad times would come good times. A prophet's calling in life is to point out the brokenness of the world, to call the world to repentance and transformation and, ultimately, to proclaim the good news that somehow and in some way God will set things right again. May we who are the people of God also be the prophets of God offering a better way to a broken and hurting world.