by Jeremiah, Eugene and Me.

“I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deed of purchase –the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy– and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions:`This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

“See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, `Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’ ”

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

“This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, `It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.’ Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”                                                                                                                                                                                  32.9-10;24-27;42-44

Eugene Peterson says Jeremiah bought the field at Anathoth when the vast invading Babylonian army threatening the total destruction of Israel were actually camping on the land.336

Why did he do it? As a sign of hope. ‘All acts of hope expose themselves to ridicule because they seem impractical, failing to conform to visible reality. But in fact they are the reality being constructed (which) is not yet visible.’340 For the  prophet buying the field at Anathoth was an investment in the future of Israel.336

What we call hoping is often only wishing – wanting things that are impossible for us to have. But for Jeremiah, hoping was not wishing – it was holding onto the promise of God, that he would do what he said, even though it looked impossible. 340 As Stringfellow says ‘Hope is reliance upon grace in the face of death; hope is living constantly, patiently, expectantly, resiliently, joyously, in the efficacy of the word of God.’ 340 ‘It is of course much easier to languish in despair than to live in hope, for when we live in despair we don’t have to do anything or risk anything.’ If we live in hope we have to risk everything to fight against the way things are for the sake of an alternative future which we cannot bring about. 341

Hopeful actions participate in the future that only God can bring into being. 341

To live in hope is seldom spectacular. It is embodied in the little decisions that we make everyday about what we should invest our time, and energy and money in.

The way I have sought to embody my hope in my everyday life has been to invest in my time and my energy and my money in community – when all the indicators suggest that community in our society is headed towards oblivion.

I seek to participate in the future that God wants to bring about by doing whatever I can do to create the possibility of community in my locality here and now.

Sure ‘community development’ is a contradiction in terms. I know that I cannot ‘develop’ community. But I act in hope – risking everything I am and everything I have – to ‘work towards a community future that only God can bring into being’.

I did it in India; and been doing it in Australia – through the Waiters Union. The Waiters Union is my Anathoth -the field of dreams I have bought into in Brisbane.

‘I dream of a world

in which all the resources of the earth

will be shared equally between all the people of the earth

so that even the most disadvantaged among us

will be able to meet their basic needs with dignity and joy.

I dream of a great society of small communities

co-operating to practise

political, socio-economic and

personal righteousness and peace.

I dream of vibrant neighbourhoods

where people relate to each other as neighbours.

I dream of people developing networks of friendship

in which the private pain they carry deep down is allowed to surface

and shared openly in an atmosphere of mutual acceptance and respect.

I dream of people understanding the difficulties they have in common,

discerning the problems, discovering solutions,

and working together for personal growth and social change

according to the visionary agenda of Jesus of Nazareth.

I dream of every church in every locality

acting as a catalyst to make this vision of a renewed world a reality.’

And it is in the Waiters Union that –against all the odds – I seek to live that out.

Dave Andrews

Numbers refer to pages in The Quest by Eugene Peterson Zondervan Grand Rapids 2000