For some months now, we have been studying the book of the prophet Jeremiah. And we come this morning to chapter 32, looking at verses 1 to 27, and taking as our theme text words found in verse 9. I bought the field. I bought the field. I want to begin by saying something about a remarkable woman. Her name was Mary Moffat, and she was the wife of Robert Moffat and the mother-in-law of David Livingstone. Robert and Mary Moffat were missionaries in South Africa in in Bethuana land for 45 years, from 1825 to 1870. The early years of their work were extremely difficult. No one seemed to be listening to their preaching. They hadn't a single convert to show. And after some years, a friend wrote from England to Mary Moffat asking what was there useful that this friend could send out to them. The missionary's wife wrote, send us a set of communion vessels. This at the time when there wasn't another believer apart from themselves. is real faith. She was looking forward to the time when there would be believers. And so convinced was she that she asked for the communion vessels to be sent out. That's the sort of faith that Jeremiah was called to show here. In what has been called the worst property deal in the history of the Near East. And yet, he is acting in believing response to God. And what he is doing is full of rich meaning. And as we study it this morning, I believe that we will find ourselves challenged to buy fields. to similar costly obedience. I want to think first, and this will be the major part of our study this morning, of the rashness of faith. The rashness of faith. Jeremiah is approached by his cousin, Hanamel, who lives in the home village a few miles from Jerusalem. And Hanamel comes with a business proposal, verse 8, by my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, since it is your right to redeem it and possess it by it for yourself. We find ourselves at once back in the world of Ruth, which you remember we studied earlier this year, where the kinsman-redeemer has the obligation to buy the land of any member of his family who is in need. Jeremiah's cousin is selling this piece of land. We don't know why. Perhaps he's in debt. Perhaps there are darker reasons that we'll come to in a moment. But he comes to Jeremiah's relation. He says, you're a member of the family. We don't want the land to go out of the family. Why don't you buy this field? And this deal was reinforced by prophecy. Because Jeremiah tells us in verse 6 that the word of the Lord had come to him saying that this was going to happen. Your cousin's going to come. He's going to suggest you buy this piece of ground. And it's further reinforced by a very clear, specific command from God recorded in verse 25. God says to the prophet, buy the field with silver. and have the transaction witnessed. Now, what could be clearer or more simple than that? His cousin comes, asks him to buy the field. Jeremiah is a relation. He has the right to buy this field at a good price. God has told him this is going to happen, and God has said, when he comes, you buy the field with silver. And yet, in commercial terms, this made absolutely no sense at all. For at this time, Jeremiah was in prison. We are told in verse 2 that he was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah. He was accused of treason. He had been preaching that the city of Jerusalem was going to fall to the Babylonian army, that there was no point in fighting with the Babylonians, that the best thing that the people could do would be to give up and make peace with the Babylonians. And for this treasonable activity, he was imprisoned. So if he bought this field, there is no way he would be able to visit it, or work it, or have anything to do with it. He would be paying money out for a property that he couldn't even see. Far worse than that, we're told in verse 2 again, that the army of the King of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem. They were at the city gates. The year was 587 B.C. The city was about to fall. And the rest of the country, the whole of the country, including this field, was already in the hands of the enemy. The people had been defeated. The war was over to all intents and purposes, and they had lost. They lost the land. Jeremiah knew this better than anyone. He had said in verse 5, if you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed. It's interesting to look at the significance of the dating at the beginning of the chapter. Because there's a subtle phrase there which shows us where the real power now lay. We're told that it happened in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah. And then the phrase is added, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Because it's Nebuchadnezzar who counts. So here's this man in prison. and he's asked to pay out good money for a field which he can never visit and which the enemy have already captured and own. I quote now from a textbook which is given to estate agents and architects. The title of the book is The Fundamentals of Real Estate Appraisal. I quote, According to the principle of anticipation, property value may be affected by the expectation of a future event. Property value may be affected by the expectation of a future event. So if you were going to buy a piece of land and you suddenly found out that they were going to build a sewage plant on one side of it and a pig farm on the other, you might suddenly decide that you didn't want to pay as much money for that land. In fact, you might not want it at all. Property value may be affected by the expectation of a future event. Now, in light of the principle of anticipation, and you didn't need to be a genius to work it out, this piece of land was worthless. It wasn't worth one shekel, never mind seventeen shekels. It wasn't worth anything. The enemy had captured it. Calvin says, the prophet must have appeared to have been beside himself when he bought a field in the possession of his enemies. And Hanamel, must have been laughing all the way to the bank with his seventeen shekels. I didn't think Jeremiah would have been such a mug as to pay me good money for a useless piece of property like this. Yet Jeremiah says, I bought the field. I bought the field. And moreover, he had the transaction guaranteed in law with a double set of documents. Verse 14. Take these documents, both sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so that they will last a long time. I bought the field. Why did he buy it? Is it a case of a fool and his money being soon parted? Not at all. This is an acted prophecy. This is a magnificent affirmation of faith. Not just on his own behalf, but on behalf of the whole nation. He gives us the answer in verse 15. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says. Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land. By buying the field, Jeremiah was saying, I believe the Babylonian captivity will end. I believe a better day is coming. I believe that the people of God will come back to this land and take possession of this land I believe that life as normal will begin again. I don't see it. I don't understand how it will happen. It doesn't look as if it will happen. It looks as if God's promises have failed. But I know they haven't failed, and I'm prepared to put out good money in the faith that in God's time, My grand-nephews and grand-nieces will come back and take possession of this land." He's obeying at cost, in faith. He's going against what he can see in the present, what he knows in the present. He's taking the long view. He's living in light of the future. He's staking his money on the truth of the promises and purposes of God. This is a magnificent act of faith. Amid the laughter of the world, Jeremiah buys the field. A crazy man. No, he says, I believe God's promises. God says, we're coming back and I'm prepared to put my money where my mouth is. This was Mary Moffat's communion vessels. And friends, this is precisely what we are called to do in our own day. As Christians, to act in a way that seems to the world foolish. To lay down deposits for the future. to live now in the light of eternity, when we have nothing but the Word of God to show that they will ever come about. It's our calling to claim for God what is now held by the soldiers of Babylon. I am moved often by the event which takes place every time we meet for worship. I don't know if you believe it is a part of worship. I say it is, and I mean it. Let us worship God with our tithes and offerings. And as I sit and watch our deacons and elders, I'm seeing you buying the field. Here are people who are giving away their money. Nobody makes you give it away. Why would you do it? Why would you hand over, some of you, a considerable sacrifice, your hard-earned money that you could spend on many other things? Because you have a different perspective. You have a different viewpoint. You are living in the light of spiritual values, of kingdom values. of eternity. You're investing in the future. The world doesn't understand that. What are you getting for your money? You're getting a sermon. Well, I hope you're getting an awful lot more than that. And you are getting an awful lot more than that. Christian people who do without so that they can give more to the cause of Christ. The time we spend in worship. Setting aside one day in the week exclusively for the worship of God. A seventh of our time. Setting aside time every day. Meeting in homes during the week. Meeting in a Lord's Day evening here to pray. Why do we do that? Why do we spend our time in that way? Because we're living in the light of God's promises. Raising and training our children. The world wants to have them. The world wants to influence them and make them like itself, but we buy the field. We spend hours and hours teaching them the Scriptures. talking to them, praying for them, loving them, spending time with them. Why? Because we're looking to the future. And we're saying we believe that we're looking at future believers. Servants of God who will be giants in the earth, who will be pillars of the church after we're dead and gone. And we're willing, we're willing to make any sacrifice to bring that about. Nothing is too much time, too much trouble, too much expense for the due training of our children. Those of us who are parents, that's the great task of our lives. When we resist temptation, when we serve Christ, when we witness in a hostile world, when a young man offers himself as a minister of the gospel, when a young woman offers herself as a missionary, when someone takes a lower paid job than they could otherwise get for the sake of Christian service. Callum Webster, in his work for the Christian Institute, is spending his whole life buying fields. He's going out into areas of society that the Babylonians now hold. Their armies are encamped there. Columns saying, we want this for Christ and we're claiming it for Christ. And I'm putting my life and my effort and all of us who are praying and working for the betterment of society. I bought the field. My friends, are you giving yourself for this? Or are you living for this world and its values? and its rewards? Do you live with a light of heavenly values, of eternal realities? Are you looking, as Jeremiah did, to the long term? Are you sure, as he was, amid the laughter of the world, that houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land? The rashness of faith. But let's come, secondly, to the reaction of fear. The reaction of fear. I really love the realism of Scripture and the humanity of this man, Jeremiah. Think about this. He acts here obediently. Believingly, in costly faith. He takes a counter-cultural stance. And that's what we are to be. This is a great moment in his life. I bought the field. What happens next? Is Jeremiah exhilarated? Is he happy? Is he flooded with a sense of God's love? What happens to him immediately after he takes this great step of faith? He says, oh, what have I done? What have I done? He's depressed. He's worried. He's asking himself, have I made a stupid mistake? Have I done a silly thing? After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, I prayed to the Lord, Ah, Sovereign Lord. Then look how in verses 24 and 25 he lays his problem before God. 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. I think this is a humorous phrase. As you now see. As you now see. There was a wee man my father used to know in East Belfast who preached in a mission hall. A very godly little man, but a strange way of putting things. And often he would say in his prayer, Lord, you've read in last night's telly that so and so happened. He seemed to have a vision of God Almighty getting the telegraph delivered to him every Saturday evening. So Jeremiah says here, Lord, 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. Does that not ring true to your experience? How many times in your life have you done something that was right, that was brave, that was hard, and instead of feeling wonderful afterwards, you felt miserable? You've said, should I have done that? I'm committed now. You take a step of faith, and as soon as the step has taken fears and doubts and uncertainties come rushing in. After the excitement of obedience, often we say, what have I done? At least Jeremiah does the right thing with his doubts and his anxieties. He says, I prayed to the Lord. Calvin comments, by this we are taught that whenever thoughts creep into our minds, which toss us here and there, we ought to flee to prayer. And in this prayer of Jeremiah's, verses 17 to 25, we have a very fine example of how to pray in desperate circumstances. Let me note very briefly four aspects of this prayer It begins with an honest acknowledgement of where He is. It begins with a cry of distress, with a groan of anguish. Ah, Sovereign Lord! Don't pass over those words. Jeremiah is telling God that he's upset. He's worried. He's bewildered. Why, God, have you asked me to do something which seems so stupid? Why have you asked me, why have I had to make a fool of myself? Have you ever wondered that? Perhaps you've come out at work strongly for Christ. You've taken hits for it. In some other way, you've done something, and then you think, Lord, did I have to make a fool of myself? Jeremiah says this often. Chapter 1, verse 6. Chapter 4, verse 10. Chapter 14, verse 13. Ah, the sovereign Lord. Whenever He's bewildered and fearful and troubled, God wants you to be real when you come to Him. You don't have to be a phony. You don't have to pretend. You don't have to put on a front. It doesn't work anyway. You've got to come to God in your real humanity. If you're angry, tell Him you're angry. If you're angry with Him, tell Him you're angry with Him. If you're angry with somebody else, tell Him you're angry with somebody else. If you don't believe His Word, tell Him you don't believe it. Be absolutely honest and transparent with God. Say, Lord, I'm coming to You as I am in my messy, awkward life situation where I don't see blacks and whites anymore. I just see greys. That is very, very eloquent praying. That may be what Paul's talking about in Romans 8.26. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us, how? With groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit. He begins with a groan. He begins with honesty, with realism. He then praises God. He praises Him for two things. for His creation. Verse 17, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched hand. And He praises Him for redemption. Verse 21, You brought Your people out of Egypt. We are to praise God as our Creator and our Redeemer. And we have a greater redemption to thank Him for than the exodus. Then thirdly, he worships God. He describes Him as all-powerful, verse 17. Nothing is too hard for you. He describes Him as loving, verse 18. You show love to thousands. He describes Him as all-knowing, verse 19. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men. He describes him as just, also in verse 19. You reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve. So he begins with an honest acknowledgement of where he is and who he is. He praises God. He worships God. And it's only at the end that he comes to his problem. Note the proportion of the prayer. One commentator says, in Jeremiah's prayer there are seven parts of praise to one part of puzzlement. We tend to bring our problem, to begin with our problem and focus on our problem. But before Jeremiah does that, he begins certainly with honesty, but then he moves into worship and praise and adoration and thanksgiving. Friends, that's a pattern for us. When our faith wavers, when our doubts arise about the value of our obedience, about the call of God, Derek Kidner says, in such a crisis, approach God with a proper sense of His power, love, justice, and knowledge. And you will find faith to trust Him, even if He tells you to fork over 17 shekels to cousin Hanomel. So Jeremiah, in his doubts and fear and need for reassurance, comes into the presence of God. He's honest with God. And then he praises God and he worships God and he reflects on who God is, and he stays himself on God. And only then does he lay before God. And he doesn't even then ask God for anything. He just says, God, I don't understand this. I don't understand what you're asking of me. It doesn't make sense. Why have I to buy a field that's owned by the Babylonians? the rashness of faith, the reaction of fear which is believing prayer, and lastly and briefly, the reassurance for the future. The reassurance for the future. Jeremiah had begun his prayer superbly. Nothing, he says to God, is too hard for you. He believed that. He believed it in general. And he believed it for other people. But when it came to himself, he wasn't sure if he did believe it. Does that ring any bells? In 38 years as a minister, I've lost count of the number of Christian people who cannot believe that God has forgiven their sins. And when you say to them, do you believe that God forgives sins? Oh, yes. Yes. Do you believe that God is kind and generous and compassionate? Yes. Do you believe that if you ask for forgiveness from Christ, God will give it to you? Yes. But then when you get to their sins, somehow, well, no, I'm the exception. Tremendous struggle. We believe that God is all-powerful until I'm confronted with a difficulty. Then suddenly God isn't all-powerful. But we do this all the time. We believe that God is patient. But then I'm not sure that he's patient with me. And this is what's happening here with Jeremiah. And so at the end, the Lord very graciously and gently and compassionately reminds Jeremiah of what Jeremiah himself said. Verse 26, I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? What did you say, Jeremiah? Did I hear you saying, nothing is too hard for you, Lord? Are you forgetting that? Jeremiah, you have the right God. You have the right beliefs. What you need to do is to hold on for yourself what you believe for others. And then later on in the chapter, we hadn't time to read it, but he reassures Jeremiah. Look at verse 42 following. As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem. God reassures Jeremiah, the promise will come true. I will keep it. Your faith will be rewarded. You will see the sense of what you have done. You will see the fruit. Mary Moffat's communion vessels took one year to come to South Africa from England. They arrived the day before the first communion service for a group of new converts. were bought and sold again in the villages around Jerusalem. This was the best deal Jeremiah ever made. He got a bargain. Friends, the day is coming when you and I will be able to say, as Joshua said, you know that not one Not one of the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. And on that day, when all God's promises are seen to be fulfilled, You and I will be glad for all the fields we bought on this earth. Amen.