Pure Desire
A God Who Weeps - Part 7
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Jeremiah 31:27-34
They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
Jeremiah 31:34 (CEB)
Listen to this week’s sermon here:
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“Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined in the chase, and they were barking and running as well. They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs. Soon the desert was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night.
After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt. “Do you understand,” the old man said, “what I have told you?”
“No,” replied the young monk, “please tell me father.”
“It is simple,” said the desert father, “my dog saw the rabbit.”
—-Sayings of the desert
I can’t help but wonder if this little tale from the Desert Father’s reflects something not only of our own spiritual lives, but also of Israel’s history with God. Just like the dog continued on because he had seen the rabbit, so Moses pressed on through the wilderness because he had “seen” God. His face literally radiated the glory of God. The people followed for awhile, having seen God’s miracles that set them free from Egypt and following the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. But eventually their sight began to fade.
By the time we get to Jeremiah and the exile, God sightings were practically relegated to the realm of myth and legend. They knew the stories of their ancestors, but in their lifetime, watching their beloved Jerusalem burn and the temple crumble in the rearview mirror as they are dragged off into Babylon, it might have been hard for many to keep pursuing God with the same fervency they once had. Did God abandon them? Was God angry with them? Was God even really there to begin with, or was it all just a bunch of folk stories from long ago?
In this place of despair and exile, God speaks once again through the prophet, promising a day when the covenant and the law will no longer be written on stone tablets, but etched into the very hearts of the people. Loving God and loving others would become second nature to them, as natural as a heartbeat or the breath in their lungs. The day would come when they would truly “know God.”
Has such a day come for us?
Is God’s covenant written on our hearts?
Is following the prompting of the Holy Spirit as natural as breathing?
Are we clinging to ancient stories of God’s work to sustain our spiritual lives, or do we have the passion of one who has “seen the rabbit?”