Nov. 29 "Behold, I am bringing you good news of great joy"

Tuesday, November 29 | Jeremiah 33:14-16

The armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, are advancing on Jerusalem. The streets of Jerusalem will soon be filled with the blood of her people (33:4-5) and the prophet imprisoned by King Zedekiah (33:1). Yet now, amid catastrophe, the prophet speaks words of promise! “I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land” (33:15). In the previous chapter, he has purchased a piece of land, a foolish thing to do in a country soon to be conquered by invading armies. Nevertheless, he has purchased the land as a pledge, as earnest of God’s redemption. In chapter 33, the prophet speaks of the coming restoration. In the midst of impending doom, a sign of hope is enacted. There will come a time in Judah when “there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride” (33:10-11).

In a recent art installation featuring works from women of color, Letitia Huckaby portrays a ten-year-old black girl holding an enormous sign above her small frame that simply reads, “Enough!” A closer look reveals that the scene is painted onto a cotton sack which immediately evokes painful memories of slavery, racism, and oppression. The painting expresses sadness and anger too deep for words. And yet, a close observer will also notice that the girl is wearing a pink ballet tutu. Suddenly, the art becomes more ambiguously pointed toward hope. We yearn to see the girl break out in dance, a pirouetting celebration of her young life and its blessed goodness. The work is ambiguously titled “Sugar and Spice.”

This moment in our history is shadowed by wars, poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, and division. Like the doom forecasted by Jeremiah and the exasperation expressed by Letitia Huckaby, we, too, live amid very real suffering unto despair. And yet, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, there is dancing afoot that promises to take up all of creation into its gracious rhythm. A green branch has sprouted from a dead tree; a conquered prophet has bought land; a little girl wears a tutu as the music swells to a crescendo.

– Rev. Dr. David F. White The C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Professor of Christian Education