Jeremiah 21, 22 (parts), 32, 33 (parts), 34

Jeremiah 21, 22  (parts), 32, 33 (parts), 34

 

When I was 15 I was invited to a friend's birthday party and I was super excited.  My friends from school and teammates from the basketball team where going to be there.  I had just started my freshman year and was about to figure it all out.  The night turned bad really fast.  We were in the back yard and one of my friends brought a pack of cigarettes.  Peer pressure at its finest!  I decided to be cool and smoked part of one.  This was the first time I had smoked and besides the coughing, the unmemorable taste, and the awkwardness, I thought I was pretty cool!  Then…busted!!!!  My friend's mom (also basketball coach) found out about our little shanagins and as "punishment" I had to call my parents and tell her what I did.  The flood gated opened.  I was so embarrassed, shamed, and felt terrible.  I thought it was the worst thing in the world and that I would be grounded for-ev-er.  Well, my mom came to get me and I couldn't even look at her.  I left the party early totally mortified, and I knew consequences were coming.  The following weekend the youth group was going on a fall retreat and bam!  I wasn't allowed to go.  I'm sure I put up a pretty decent argument to go, but it didn't happen.  While my friends were have the best time, singing by the campfire, and creating memories, I was stuck at home.  That weekend my parents and I went to the mall, and I'm sure I was dragging my feet.  We walked by Claire's and my mom asked me if I still wanted my ears pierced again (the second hole) and I was confused.  I felt I didn't deserve anything since I betrayed their trust and disobeyed the weekend before, and it didn't make sense to give me something I wanted (real bad) but didn't deserve. 

 

            When ever I put earrings in my ear I think about that weekend and how my parents taught me about grace, in their own way.  Later I found out that my parents were disappointed, yes, but laughed about the situation and the dramatic performance I displayed J  I really thought it was the end of my existence.  Sigh.  I was thinking of grace today while reading these chapters in Jeremiah.  We have been through some rough times the last few days filled with true tragedy and sadness.  Jerusalem: Zion, the city of David about to be destroyed and the people in it.  God describes himself as a destroyer, with wrath, and anger.  The king himself asks Jeremiah for good news, but is answered with his own death that awaits in Babylon.  In the midst of hopelessness, defeat, and doom,  God reminds us all that He is Merciful and full of Grace, even in ugly times, the times he sends and allows. 

 

            After reading Jeremiah 32-33 I am can't help but fall in love with God more, even though there are bloody verses surrounding them.  God allows destruction to fall of the Jews and Jerusalem for His name's sake.  So He can be glorified in the end and to show the Jews (and us) His might and to give hope that in His sovereign power, the Jews will be able to come home.  Instead of destroying them completely, He shows Grace by showing the world that they are still His people and He is still their God.  Jeremiah has the courage and faith to still sing praises to God, and remembers that he brought his fathers from Egypt, just like he will deliver them from Babylon.   At the end of today's reading, Jerusalem is promised not only a great return, but a joyful, powerful, prosperous nation that all the nations will see.  It will get better, but there is (as Ruth Goulart reminded me tonight) DISCIPLINE that needs to happen first, not necessarily punishment.  There are consequences for our sins and disobedience against God.

 

            The destruction of Jerusalem is a scar in Jewish history.  Even in my liberal college history classes, we studied Babylon sacking this great city.  I saw it's a scar because as we all have scars on our body, we know that it was painful.  A scar happened after flesh, our body, our very being is cut, opened, or wounded.  It's incredibly painful, messy, and hard to endure sometimes.  But the good news is, that eventually the wound heals.  A scar is formed and is a visible reminder of the pain we had to endure.  Just like destruction, captivity, and leaving the one you love (Jerusalem.) 

 

Last story:  Many of you don't know that my mom had open-heart surgery last Monday.  It was serious, but by God's GRACE she is doing well.  One thing she told me the night before as we were sitting in her room, was how she was going to have to get rid of some of her shirts because they would show her "ugly scar."  I teased her that she was being vain and so you know, my mom is pretty much gorgeous.  (crazy girl)  Tonight I was talking to her and I shared today's reading and what I was thinking about writing and it came to me.  I told her how she should not be ashamed of her scar.  She has a visible reminder, a memorial if you will, of this hard, painful time she is living through and how bad things could have been.  She has a scar, a war wound, that everyone can now see, but it's a memorial celebrating God's grace in her life.  She is a miracle and God has spared her all these years with a condition she didn't know she had.  What a blessing!  It makes me ask you, what are the scars you have?  The ones that were caused by destruction?  Disobedience?  Worldly love?  Like the Jews?  We have hope in Christ and trust in the God Almighty that His grace is sufficient.