What to do when it is too late!!!

I've been wanting to do this entry for two weeks, but I only found my notes for this in the last few days. Let me set this up...

In addition to what I do at my home church, I maintain a foot in the door at the previous church I went to since I still know a lot of people there. How I do this is attending one of the church's small groups that meet, usually, every other week. The current focus of the group is studying and disecting the pastor's sermon from that morning. I'm usually at a disadvantage since I never hear the sermons unless I'm given a copy of the sermon in advance.

That week's sermon was from a story in the book of Jeremiah that I don't recall ever reading. All points that follow are not mine but belong to the pastor that gave the message. The commentary is mine though...

1. Real hope begins when other options have been taken away. In chapter 32 verse 2, the Babylonian army is at Jerusalem's front door and Jeremiah is watching events unfold from his jail cell at Jerusalem Gitmo. It's the end of the world and Jeremiah is watching his options fly out the window faster than a fender rusting on a Chevy Vega. What options does he have left, wait and see?
2. Real hope is not always popular. The next set of verses (3-5) tell us the reason Jeremiah is in jail is because of his delivery of an unpopular message to the king - your kingfullness, Jerusalem is about to be destroyed. It's a common fact that doing the right thing is not always popular, so I sense that doing the right thing is where real hope begins and is the option left to us in such circumstances? Next, God tells Jeremiah what to do next.
3. Real hope must be acted upon. Jeremiah is in jail and the city of Jerusalem is about to fall. What does God tell Jeremiah to do next? Buy a thousand shares of GM stock? Starting in verse 6, God tells Jeremiah to buy land. The text goes into detail as to the steps that go into buying land, but the message is clear - look past the Babylonian army and find hope for the future in your own country and land.
4. Real hope must be explained by anyone who has it. In verses 37 to 40, God promises a future for his people in the land even though it looks like the end of the world to them now. One day, Jeremiah's family will occupy the land that he had just bought.

The sermon closed with a couple of questions. 1) Is there some property (not necessarily land) that you need to buy? Is there something God needs us to have done looking past the sour economy and falling stock prices in the process? 2) Is there someone in your life who only sees the Babylonian army outside the walls? Face it, all of us know at least 1 pesimist amongst us.