April 10, 2025
In about 597 BC, the Babylonians invaded the Kingdom of Judah, laid siege to Jerusalem, and eventually take it. The artists, craftsmen and officials, what we might call the middle-class, are all marched into exile in Babylon. The rightful king, Jehoiakim, is deposed and marched into exile as well. A distant relative, Zedekiah, is placed on the throne to serve as a puppet ruler for the Babylonians.
In the Ancient Near East, exiles like these would usually have been forgotten. They would have been gradually absorbed into their captor’s culture, losing their sense of a separate identity. Over time they would have ceased to exist as a separate people. The Israelites would have received Babylonian names and worshipped Babylonian gods. They would no longer be Israelites but Babylonians.
The prophet tells us that in this instance that is not going to be the case. God, he says, will bring these people back from Babylon. God will restore them to their land.
More importantly, God will also change their souls. “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord.” I will help them change their attitudes to realize how much I love them and how meaningful their lives can be if they will only follow my instructions. “They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” It will be like the old days, when I first delivered them from slavery in Egypt and they willingly followed me.
God is promising the gift of pure, divine grace. Grace is a gift we know from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is God’s overflowing, abundant love.
Although the gift is free, an expectation comes with it. God expects that those who receive that grace will in fact return to God. Those who are freed from captivity and experience the blessing of returning to their native land will be drawn to serve God more intently, to follow God more closely.
Grace, then, has two parts: the gift and the response. The gift is given freely, but it is not fully received until we respond with love and obedience.
Imagine someone gives us a new coat or a new pair of shoes. They are very nice, and we thank the giver profusely. But what if we never wear them? What if we simply put them in the back of a drawer or a closet and forget all about them? Have we actually received them? The giver gave them with the expectation that we would wear them. And the gift is not fully received until we do. Gift and expectation – neither is complete without the other.
Our Christian life is built on the structure of gift and response. God gives us the gift of eternal life. We respond by sharing God’s good news and living a life worthy of the gift. Until we respond, God’s gift has not really been received.
The good news is, receiving the gift is not hard. In fact, those who have known the power of that grace find themselves wanting to turn and give themselves in devotion and service to the Lord.
May we respond to God’s grace as freely and abundantly as God gives it. Amen.