Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, July 13, 2025
by Rev. Dr. Miles Hopgood, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Jeremiah’s foolishness is the sort of wisdom that God’s promises bring to the crises of our lives. It is not a way of living that makes sense to the world, but it is one that brings much needed hope.
One of the habits my wife and I picked up during the pandemic was scrolling Zillow for the most absurd houses that could (theoretically) be within our price range. The best deal we found by far was a house in Nantucket, which though valued at $2,000,000 was being offered for a mere $200,000—what a steal! The reason, of course, was that the house and the property it sat on were on a path to erosion. Knowing all that, we were still tempted to take a visit. Foolish though it would have been to purchase such a property, the bargain was still hard to pass up.
Jeremiah’s own real estate dealings run counter to reason. The city of Jerusalem is under siege by an army. No wonder Hanamel was looking to liquidate his assets into something more transferrable! It is a foolish time to invest in land or anything permanent, in the face of such an imminent threat. And yet, Jeremiah has the deed drawn up and asks simply for a good jar that will last a long time. He may not be the one to unseal it, but it is there for those who return as a pledge and seal not only upon the purchased land, but on the people—that their exile will not be forever.
We can take a lesson from Jeremiah here as we face down the harsh reality of a world on fire both literally and metaphorically. Authoritarianism and the climate crisis seem to be in a race to see which can make the world more unlivable for the vast majority of us sooner. As preachers, we must confront this reality head-on for the sake of our people and out of faithfulness to the gospel. And yet, we cannot fall victim to despondence. Nor, for what it’s worth, can we accept uncritically the “responses” of our world to these crises as a sufficient substitute for what the response of God’s people ought to be. Our call as people of faith is to act from the position of a hope grounded not in human capabilities but in divine promise. Like Jeremiah, the defining characteristic of the path we are called to walk is how absurd it will look to those around us who, like King Zedekiah, have rationally given in to despair, and like Hanamel, will make us seem like rubes.
Sometimes the promises of God are a thing that is buried in the heart of the faithful as in the ground. Like a seed germinating through a long winter, they rest there filled with the potential of new life that they will show out when the season has come. The power of such a buried promise is not reducible to the mere potential, however. Promises by their very nature provide an anchor, opening the way to strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, as the old hymn goes. The key is that the one who promises is both trustworthy and capable of delivering. And here we find the reason for Jeremiah’s foolishness—the promise that guides his actions comes from God, who will not disappoint. His trust is what enables him to simultaneously prophecy the fall of the city and live like they have already returned from exile. We too can live this way, grounded in the promise of God who has already written the end of our story in Christ and pledges us and all things a new creation.
