Proper 24, Year C (October 16, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Proper 24, Year C (2022)                                                      

Jeremiah 31:27-34

2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5

In the name of the one, holy, and living God

            in whom we live and move and have our being.  Amen.

Early this past week I joined with other diocesan clergy at Lake Logan for our Fall clergy retreat.

Our speaker was Dr. Mark Jefferson, a preaching professor at Virginia Theological Seminary.

He urged us to title our sermons, even if we don’t use them.

So, this morning my title is: “Hope for the Future”

Hope for the Future.

Last week I preached about finding joy in the midst of exile.

This morning Jeremiah has a new word for those in exile:

“The days are surely coming”

“The days are surely coming, says the LORD….”

That must be great news to Israel as an exiled people.

Last week the word from God to the exiled Israelites in Babylon was to “settle in,”

take root,

hang out,

       and work for the welfare of Babylon.

The Israelites were exiled because judgment had befallen Judah, 

            and exile had drained all sense of hope for the future.

                        The Israelites lived in desolation.

So, when Yahweh sends the word:

“The days are surely coming!”

        the spark of hope is rekindled.

The short version of salvation history is this:

            God establishes a covenant with God’s people,

God’s people break the covenant,

God restores the covenant. 

        Over and over and over….

The good news from Jeremiah is that God will restore, once again, God’s covenant.

            But…

this time things are a little different.

There is a move from commandment to conversation,

            a movement from rules to relationship.

More than knowing the rules of God,

the Israelites were to know God in their being.

Yahweh said,

“I will put my law within them,

and I will write it on their hearts…

             I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.” (Jer 31:33b)

I don’t know about you,

            but I find a freedom in those words…in that promise.

Trying to keep up with following rules and laws feels like a burden.

But, knowing that God lives within us…

            that we will know in our hearts the will of God

       means that we have a living and loving relationship not only with God

                        but also with our neighbors and even ourselves!

This new covenant alters the old pattern of failure to adhere to written laws

and transforms it into a relationship of forgiveness and new life.

Forgiveness and new life…

            Hope for the future!

This past week at Lake Logan I would take the long way to morning worship

            and walk along the Pigeon River.

As I walked along and saw the beautiful colors of the Fall leaves,

            and heard the murmuring of the river,

                        and saw the majestic mountains rising on every side,

      I knew that God was all around

                  and deep within me.

One afternoon on our break I walked from rock to rock out a little ways into the river

            and sat on a large rock.

I watched the little rivulets of water around me

            as brightly colored leaves floated by.

I picked up and moved a few slimy rocks to let chunks of leaves continue their journey.

As I sat there,

I remembered that all the stones used to build this building came from this river.

A century ago, people carried rocks of all sizes up this hill to build this worship space.

As I sat there in the river on my rock,

            I looked at the bank of the river

      where rocks were packed in the mud to hold up the banks of the river

                        just like the rocks here are embedded in concrete to hold up our rafters!

As I sat there, I felt compelled to bring one of those rocks home.

            I have it here….

This rock is solid,

            and it has beautiful little sparkles in it.

     After the service, I’ll put it out in the foyer on the table by the stewardship puzzle.

If you take some time to notice,

every rock in this building is unique.

Each one of us is unique.

            We each have our our own gifts and talents and challenges.

Each of us is here because God has called us to be here,

            and God feeds us through the life of this place.

In the midst of good times and dark times over the past century,

            God has fed people here:

                        physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

And we live with hope for the future.

During this time that we particularly consider the stewardship of our many gifts,

            let us consider how God is calling us to share God’s love and hope

     with each other and with our community.

Paul commends persistence in faith to Timothy:

            “As for you,

                        continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,

                                    knowing from whom you learned it,

     and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings

            that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus….

“All scripture is inspired by God….

            so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient,

                        equipped for every good work.”

My friends,

            we are each equipped for good work to share the Good News of God in Christ!

Let us prayerfully consider how we are to use our gifts to bring hope to the world.

The world is in exile,

            yet the love of God is written in our hearts…

     in the depths of our very being.

Up on this hill shines the Light of Christ,

            and we carry that Light to all whom we meet in our daily lives.

With that Light we bear hope for the future.

            We bear hope for the world.

Amen.