This odd account of Jeremiah buying a plot of family land just before the children of Israel are taken away into Babylonian slavery seems a rather odd focus for our thoughts this morning. But it's really, of the three lessons listed, the most applicable to our present situation in Phoenix.
Jeremiah is putting into skin on the words of what he is trying to get the people of Jerusalem to understand – God is going to restore the fortunes of Zion.
We are the inheritors, by virtue of our being grafted onto the olive tree of Israel, of the promises that Jeremiah is proclaiming. God will restore our fortunes as well. And for the people of this Cathedral, we can see this with our very own eyes if we will just remember our history.
So you who hear these words, have a a duty to go and proclaim this promise to everyone in this city. God is with us, God loves us, God will bring a restoration. It may not happen soon, but it will happen. But we can count on the promises God has made. And we have seen them coming true again and again in our own history…
