Where Will We Live?

“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”
Jeremiah 32:15 NRSV

The prophet Jeremiah was in jail in a city under siege. The enemy army was invading Jerusalem. The end was in sight. Most of the people would be carried off into exile in Babylon. The nation had no future. The land had no value. There was no hope.

At that moment Jeremiah’s cousin, Hanamel, came to Jeremiah in jail. He wanted Jeremiah to buy his field. The field was in Anathoth, a few miles outside of Jerusalem, where it had most likely already been overtaken. No wonder he wanted to sell it! What a bad investment. In the face of invasion buying land was foolish. But the Lord directed Jeremiah to buy his cousin’s field. It was an act that showed great hope in God for the future. That future hope, though, was made tangible in the present moment. Jeremiah bought land.

I have been thinking about this story. Our home in Des Moines still has not sold. It has been on the market for 15 months now. We tried selling it during the two years previous to that as well. In the meantime, the home we have been renting in Ely has sold and we need to move out by June 14. We have not found anything appropriate to rent. Besides, rent would cost about the same as a monthly mortgage payment. We would qualify for another mortgage. Beyond coming up with a down payment, however, buying two homes would take about 45% of my gross income. Like Jeremiah’s real estate deal, that seems very foolish.

Where will we live? That has caused a lot of stress. I’ve been trying to figure out how it works financially. But what if our housing situation isn’t a financial issue? What if it’s a faith issue? In the midst of a city that was devastated, serving a homeless congregation, what does it say if my family buys a home? It may look like an unwise investment. But we believe in God’s future. We believe God can restore this city. We believe God will renew this congregation. Like Jeremiah, we’re going to buy land and invest in this community.

An Irish worship band, Bluetree, wrote a song titled God of This City. It is a powerful anthem for us here in Cedar Rapids. The chorus says,

Greater things have yet to come,
and greater things are still to be done in this city.



God is not done with us. Homes and vineyards will again be bought in this land. The Lord is God of this city, Cedar Rapids.

Comments

  1. Linda CursonMay 29, 2009 at 8:52 PM

    And I pray that Salem is a part of what God has for the city of Cedar Rapids. Thank you, John for this message!

    ReplyDelete

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