How different can we imagine?
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:
What did I like about today’s passage?
As this book wraps up with a reminder of the main event, the historic fall of Jerusalem and the unspeakably shameful removal of God’s people from their promised land, I’m struck by Jeremiah’s incredible closing vision of a future no-one in their right mind would have predicted.
The other prophets, the false ones who were not guided by God, were either saying nothing or little would change. They found it hard to imagine God turning out his own people, and impossible to believe that an exile would be more than a short breath they could hold before going back to normal.
The remnant of Jerusalem who refused to believe God’s word through Jeremiah to stay and thrive could only imagine Babylon to be what they had seen, an apparently unstoppable destructive force they must run away from.
But Jeremiah brought God’s promise of a very different future, where his word and will would be final and no power, especially Babylon, would overcome it. Imagining the ruin of Babylon would be like believing the United States (or China, not picking sides) would be invaded and dissolved when, at the time of prediction, they were running the world. It’s one thing to believe in God generally, but when God says unbelievable things, what can we do?
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
God wants people to know him and that his will prevails, his story continues, and his power is greater than anything we can imagine. One way he does this is through prophecy in advance of incredible turning points in life or history. This isn’t the only point of prophecy – far from it, as God’s people would have been much better off listening to God and obeying before things turned nasty – but when we seek him, God can show us more than we can work out for ourselves, for our comfort, strengthening and encouragement.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I’m struck by how hard it is, in the face of numerous global crises, to imagine a future which is extremely different from our present, even though we may want it very much. I’m already looking for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth, and wanting our “new normal” to be more socially just, sustainable and honouring to God. But I’m pretty sure that whatever I can imagine God will do to bring this about, I’m imagining too little.
I want to get past my unspoken acceptance that our future will be just a few good tweaks from our present. I want to embrace God’s radical re-working of everything, including me, and get better at listening to him. Maybe if we all do, he will show us things to hope for, believe for the future and do right now which we could never have dreamt on our own.
Who am I going to share this with?
As I’ve shared before, I know quite a few people who want to change the world, with or without faith in God right now. I think God might want to speak into some of our conversations, so I’ll look for opportunities to invite people to listen to Jesus and pray.