[Dialogue] Walter Bruggemann lecture #3

[Priscilla H. Wilson]

Walter Bruggemann – 4/5/05 evening

Images of Hope

Poets are ones who pierce the denial – they know that loss is not the 
last word. 587, the destruction of Jerusalem. Good Friday – great 
silence. 9/11 – the world shut down, no plays, ball games, etc. The 
Silence of Loss. The place from which comes newness. Easter Sunday 
caused new life out of Friday. The great promise of Isaiah, Jeremiah 
and Ezekiel comes to light.
Poets break the silence…the utterance of god, “thus saith the Lord.” 
Imagine the silence – imagine the silence being broken. Thanksgiving, 
Psalm 30 – for unexpected miracles. Imagine our society in a stupor 
after 9/11. Look at Jeremiah 1:10. theme of the book of Jeremiah: pluck 
up, destroy, pull down, over throw…and build up and plant. The newness 
comes. Hopes and expectations of things God will yet do. “I have a 
dream” of MLK…poetry for the future. Stone Mountain now has an African 
American mayor. It was a dream…we commit ourselves now to dream and God 
is working God’s purposes out.
The capacity to hope that God is working out a future is the vocation 
of the Church. Jeremiah 29-33: dream of the future. (when reading, 
always distinquish between poetry and prose.) Jeremiah 29: 4 – 9 – live 
in the situation you have and seek its welfare. Even in season of 
despair, God is at work.  29: 14 – I will reverse your situation. 30: 2 
– write a book, keep a journal. 30 & 31 are book of comfort. You pray 
the promises back to God. 30: 10-11 – do not fear (guts of Evangelical 
faith). Bush administration says to be very afraid (so we can 
manipulate you.)
Isaiah 41: 10-14 –; 30: 112-15 – your guilt is great …. Verse 16, 17 – 
therefore…God will not tolerate other people making fun of God’s 
people. In the poetry…God discovered a depth of love for Israel that 
God didn’t know about. God is making a new decision about how to act 
out love of God’s people. Jeremiah 31: 2, 3 – found grace in exile…I 
have loved you with an everlasting love. 10 – God’s scattering and 
gathering of people…God’s capacity to gather all people home to 
well-being. 20 – in 70’s a lot of young men went to Canada to avoid the 
war. Dad who had been in WWII denounced him…never come home again. Then 
shows concern and love. I’m the God who caused 587 and I’m the God who 
loves these people and I will show mercy. Poets of OT show God with 
love, hope, disappointment, pain, etc.
When you come to a moment of distress you have to get down in the 
poetry. And talk about disappointment, pain, suffering, hope, new life. 
What happens about the future is about God who is down in the wound 
with us. This is where comes newness.
Jeremiah 31: 31 – There will be a new covenant. God has said, “enough,” 
then circles back and says…in Hebrews 8:?8 – Jeremiah is quoted.  God 
broke the covenant with the Jews and made a new covenant with the 
Church. Understanding now…God has 2 covenants with Jews and Christians. 
Perhaps one day we will be able to say 3 covenants…with Islam. New 
covenant is about forgiveness. The future all depends on Gods’ 
readiness to forgive. Jeremiah 31:34.
Jesus Christ re-enacted the whole history of Israel with God in 
crucifixion and resurrection. Jeremiah 32: 1-15 – investment in the 
future. A prophetic act that bets on the future…starts Israel up all 
over again. 33: 8.
Book of Jeremiah finally about hope in the future, not a vague optimism 
– but exact promises uttered by the poets. Post 9/11 society…we 
acknowledge deep loss and sadness. We acknowledge we’re never going to 
return to the way it was. Business of People of God is to proclaim – 
after the loss, do not despair… present circumstances of life under 
God. God in due season will make the world right…not blueprints or 
predictions as many conservatives say. Remember it is poetry…imagery.
Isaiah 55 – God is nourishing God’s people. Why don’t you remember who 
you are. Stand up and be God’s people. Come back to your identity under 
God’s promises.
Recover your nerve and live the kind of faith we are authorized to live.
Isaiah 55: 12-13 – live in joy. We have to keep showing up for the 
poetry to remember who we are. Freedom, peace, justice…these are our 
destiny.





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Priscilla Wilson
TeamTech Press
Mission Hills, KS 66208
913-432-2107
pwilson at teamtechinc.com