In case you missed the scintillating sermon last week, I will try to bring you up to date on preachy things here at Hyattsville Mennonite. For the month of September, Michelle and I will be looking at texts from Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a grumpy, long winded prophet who uses unusual object lessons and strange metaphors to communicate the messages he hears from God. The book of Jeremiah covers a period of about 50 years though it is not chronological and scholars believe it is written by several different writers. Jeremiah lives under numerous Jewish kings, and then under the rule of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Despite his extreme circumstances, Jeremiah continues calling the people to faithfulness again and again. This month we want to explore what Jeremiah might say to us, who live in another empire, thousands of years later.

When I first read this text from Jeremiah 4 it seemed a cruel lectionary joke, to read this on the fifteenth anniversary of that infamous day. The description we have from Jeremiah is not exactly like what we saw on September 11, 2001 but it brings up the same feelings in me: horror, fear, despair. Jeremiah describes the silence, the lack of birds. One of my vivid memories of the days following September 11 is how silent the skies were since all the planes were grounded (except for the military jets that seemed louder than ever.)

For Jeremiah, the destruction of war that he describes comes at the hands of the empire, and it is also attributed to God. It is a warning from God that the people have not followed the way of YHWH; they have ignored the covenant God made with them.

Here in this empire, some people are still trying to figure out who to blame for the devastation in NY, PA and the Pentagon. Yes, it was the hijackers; yes, it was Osama bin Laden but who else? The Saudi government? Was it a US government conspiracy? Not knowing exactly who was behind the attacks has not stopped the empire from striking back, from creating more crumbled homes, schools and houses of worship, more parents weeping for their children, more poisoned land and air. Did striking back hard relieve the pain and fear? Did the empire believe that if it responded with “shock and awe ” it could prove itself innocent? The retaliation certainly seemed to distract us from the calculated symbolism of the intended targets: military and financial centers, seats of government in this country.

What Jeremiah describes is not only the devastation of war, it also sounds like what we hear from scientists (modern prophets of doom) about climate change: the fruitful land becomes a desert. The earth quakes from the intense fracking for oil and natural gas. Witness the recent earthquake in Oklahoma, that was also felt in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas.

As Christian hearers of this word, it is not hard to draw parallels with what is happening in our own context and be afraid, very afraid. But let us remind ourselves that Jeremiah is not writing to predict wars and climate change in the 21st century. He writes to call his people to faithfulness; to warn them what might happen if they don’t change their ways. In this way, he still writes for us.

It is likely that Jeremiah’s Jewish audience would hear an additional layer in this text. They would notice that Jeremiah writes, “I looked on the earth and lo, it was waste and void, and to the heavens and they had no light.”  Hmm. Do you hear it? (It’s ok if you don’t, I had to be prompted too.) Hear the echoes of Genesis 1 – “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep”  ?

(In the old days, this would the time that I would tell you to open your bibles and flip between Genesis 1 and Jeremiah 4 to see how these two passages are related. If we were a powerpoint church this would be the perfect opportunity to show you, on the big screen, the parallel texts. Instead you will have to pull out your phones, with your bible apps, and see what I am talking about.)

In Genesis 1, the earth starts out as a dark, formless void and then a wind from God “sweeps over the earth,” creating light and life. I have always imagined this as a pleasant cool breeze that energizes and invigorates. In contrast, Jeremiah 4:12 describes a hot wind from the desert that is so unwelcome it is not even cleansing. It blows in judgment and destruction.

In Genesis 1, God sees creation as it is developing and progressing and declares it good: There was light and God saw that the light was good; The earth brought forth vegetation, and God saw that it was good. God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God created humankind in the image of God. God saw everything that had been made, and indeed, it was very good.

Jeremiah 4: 23-26 works with some of these same images, in a slightly different order. Instead of things being created, they are being uncreated or “de-created” as scholar Anathea Portier-Young says. (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2973) In the reverse of what we read in Genesis where God sees and pronounces it good, Jeremiah says the people do not know goodness and then Jeremiah looks. I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking. I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert.

This graphic condemnation and judgment from Jeremiah’s uncreation story is painful. It is hopeless. Should we be surprised? This is what war does, it destroys, it uncreates. It takes away land, creatures on the land, food, dignity, family. Everything is undone. Jeremiah recognizes that this devastation brings sorrow to the earth; and even the light is gone. Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black. Elsewhere Jeremiah speaks hope to the people but here, in this short passage, the only hope we get is that YHWH says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not completely destroy it.”

This hopeless picture might tempt us to discount Jeremiah. It is an old, old text from an ancient culture we do not know or understand. What can we learn from Jeremiah, who hears voices and thinks he speaks for God? How, why should we take any of this seriously? If Jeremiah would have adjusted to the political and cultural changes as they were happening to him and his people, he could have been happier. Yes, he was living through war but why hang onto the old ways, why cause such a ruckus? Just blend in with the Assyrians, then the Babylonians and be done with it.

This is the ultimate de-creation, not only being driven off one’s land but also being forced to give up one’s culture, identity, God. This is what war does, what empire hopes will happen: people forget who they are, their story is erased and they become just like everyone else around them. It is an ancient tactic of war; it is recurring and current.

Think of Anabaptists, so committed to our identity as God’s people of peace that we have been willing to go to prison, or die, to preserve our understanding of Jesus’ way. Think of how immigrants in this country are criticized for not learning English, for not being Christian. Think of indigenous peoples in this country who are still being told they should give up their language, their culture, their religious traditions, their land.

Jeremiah is hard on his people because they are not committed enough to who they are as YHWH’s covenanted people. They are too quickly swayed by whoever is in power, Jewish king or Assyrian or Babylonian empire. Rather than hold tight to their identity and history, they let go and blend in. Their commitment to their own story, their own God, is weak, and they become part of de-creation. Jeremiah’s call is to remember who we are as people of God, created in God’s image. And though it looks as if it is all being uncreated, God does not give up on the people.

I thought of this call to identity when I saw a video out of North Dakota this week. Indigenous peoples from many tribes are gathered on a large grassy area in Bismark, to pray and process the court ruling about the Dakota Access Pipeline that is scheduled to be built through sacred sites on the Standing Rock Reservation. As the people gather peacefully, riot police show up and begin lining up in formation.

It looks like the beginning of another grim de-creation story. The police all in brown khaki uniforms, with shields on their helmets, raised but ready. They are calm but they are in formation to hold a line, to show power, establish control, create uncertainty and fear. The people, from many tribes and languages, though not obviously in native dress, contrast with the uniform sameness of the police. The indigenous peoples also form a line.

For 500 years, since the arrival of white people, indigenous peoples have been fighting for their very existence on this land. They have struggled to keep their culture, identity and people alive as agreement after agreement have been broken. With such a history of violence, dishonesty, disrespect and dehumanization, the indigenous peoples form a line.

As the two lines meet, women, men and children, reach out to shake hands with every police officer.  And the police officers reach back. The people who remember who they are, also remember that the police are human, are creatures of the earth, creations of God. The indigenous people know uncreation all too well. This time, they do not allow it. They claim their own humanity and identity and the humanity of the police officers. In this one small instance, things are not completely destroyed. (YHWH says, “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not completely destroy it.”) (https://www.facebook.com/wearethemedia2016/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf on Sept 9 at 5:55pm)

When people in power privilege their own culture, language, food, religion over those with less power, we need to pay attention. Something is being uncreated. I think part of Jeremiah’s message is that where people struggle to hold onto their identity, their very selves, God is there. It is among those struggling to hold onto their identity, as people created in the image of God, that we may come face to face with the Holy One. We may see the beginning of new creation, all over again.

May we be given eyes to see those places where de-creation is happening; may we be given courage to walk along side those who struggle to find, or hold onto, their identity as creations of God. May we be given eyes to see the goodness of creation and embrace our own identity, as people of Christ’s peace.