"it was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of disbelief; it was a season of light, it was a season of darkness; it was a spring of hope, it was a winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we all were going direct to heaven, we all were going direct the other way..."
The opening lines of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, are captivating, seducing. They draw us in and convince us to keep reading.
These opening lines of the novel are also the best description of the life and times of the Prophet Jeremiah.
He experienced the brightest period of Israel. When he was young there was a time of great renewal, revitalization, a time of religious reformation. Things were looking up and Jeremiah was leading the charge.
There was a moment where it looked as if the heart of the Israelite nation might finally give itself completely to God. Jeremiah was witnessing the tipping point; he thought that perhaps finally the human heart would give itself completely to the Heart of God, heeding his commands and directions for life.
Then everything changed. He quickly discovers how tortuous the human heart really was. One moment the Israelite people were headed on the right path, then they wavered. The pagan world became to much and quickly the enticements offered overcame the work of the reformation. the word of the world had more pull than the word of God.
The people gave themselves to idols and false religion. They betrayed the God who had rescued them and brought them into the promise land.
Jeremiah looked out and he could not believe his eyes. All that was promising was taken away.
Judah was no longer a nation. Jerusalem was now in ruins. The temple had been burned to the ground. The Israelites were now overcome by the Babylonians and were being deported to a foreign land, uprooted, and families were being torn apart.
Not only was the country affected by this shift of allegiance. Jeremiah himself was affected.
His own family tried to plot his death, they sought to take him out. The king had him arrested and scourged and thrown into the stocks. He was put on trial only to barley escape. He had to go into hiding for 12 years because his life was threatened daily. He was arrested again and thrown into prison. Then he was dragged to a cistern, a hole in the ground, thrown in and left to starve to death. When the Babylonians found him, he was at the point of death. They pulled him form the hole and led him to exile into Egypt, where he would be stoned to death by his own people, the people he was sent to serve by speaking God's word.
"It was the best of time, it was the worst of time; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of disbelief; it was a season of light, it was a season of darkness; it was a spring of hope, it was a winter of despair; everything was before them, nothing was before them..."
How quickly the human heart can change allegiance!
Jeremiah grew despondent toward the human heart. He grew pessimistic toward the ability of the human heart to remain faithful.
Yet, he remained optimistic in the heart of God. In God's heart he found, hope, promise, and power. He never gave up on God no matter how bad the circumstances got.
In fact, considering what Jeremiah went through, his words today in the first reading are more powerful, more uplifting, more meaningful, "Blessed the man who trust in the lord, whose hope is in the lord..."
JEremiah did not let the circumstances dictate his faith. Jeremiah did not blame God for the fickle nature of the human heart. He remained firm and steadfast. God was his anchor, and he became the tree planted next to streams, where his leaves were green no matter the climate change around him.
What held him to God?
At the beginning of Jeremiah's call, God spoke these words to him, "I am with you to deliver you.."
This was the stable force in Jeremiah's life. He trusted God in his words that no matter what, God would see him through and give him the internal peace and joy in life.
"I am with you to deliver you."
what is our stable force? What do we hold on to? Where is our anchor?
For Christians, the cross is the force that stabilizes us through all of life's currents and changes.
On the Cross we see the heart of God exposed. On the cross we see the heart of God that is one of hope, promise, and power. On the cross we recognize that God is in it for the long haul. On the cross, we begin to understand that God is not going anywhere. He is with us to deliver us no matter the circumstances. Even death cannot separate Him from us.
Here is our anchor, here is the center of gravity for our trust. Here at the cross we discover the tree that is planted by running streams that stays green all year round, whose roots have run deep in its devotion to the human family.
"I am with you to deliver you." At the cross the words of God and his actions are one and the same. He says what he means and he means what he says.
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