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Rachael and Wally first saw each other at church camp when they attended a January orientation meeting for new counselors. Just one look into one another's eyes was all it took for these high school seniors to realize that this might be the start of something wonderful. It was. Over the next four summers at camp, Rachael and Wally's infatuation blossomed into romance. They became engaged with plans to marry during the Christmas season following college graduation. Everyone was thrilled. Here was the perfect couple. Their pastors, families, and friends on the camp staff gave them the ideal (for Rachael and Wally, anyway) honeymoon -- a free week in a secluded cabin on the grounds of the camp where they met and fell in love. The newlyweds were ecstatic and joyfully set off to begin their lifelong adventure.

Late one night, after they had fallen asleep, Rachael awakened to see Wally opening the cabin door. "Where are you going, sweetheart?" she inquired.

"I'm just going for a short walk outside," Wally replied. "Go back to sleep."

Rachael did fall asleep, but was startled by Wally's loud cries for help.

Fearing that Wally had been injured, Rachael grabbed a flashlight and rushed out of the cabin in search of her husband. When she finally found Wally, Rachael saw that he was moaning, but uninjured, and gazing into the darkness of the old farm well that was abandoned when the camp was constructed.

"What's the matter with you, Wally?" Rachael asked, with just a tiny bit of aggravation in her voice. "You're going to wake up the whole camp! I thought you were badly hurt. Now be quiet and come back to the cabin!"

"But I am hurt, sweetheart," Wally whimpered. "I can't go back yet. You see, I was here by the old farm well, remembering how this is the most romantic spot in the whole camp. Here is where I proposed to you. Here is the very spot where you agreed to be my Christmas bride. Here is where we pledged our eternal love!"

With her heart softening, but just a little, Rachael remained firm. "Come on, Wally. Let's go back to our cabin and go to sleep."

"But you don't understand, honey. When I was gazing into the well, my lucky fifty-cent coin fell down there," whined Wally. "This was the coin I held in my hand on the night we became engaged. This was the coin I held in my hand at our wedding when the pastor asked me, 'Will you, Wally, take this woman, Rachael, as your wife?' "

"That's nice, Wally," said Rachael, now shivering in the frosty night air. "The well was filled with dirt years ago. It's only a few feet to the bottom. Go down and get it. I'll hold the light for you."

Becoming more desperate now, Wally began to cry, "I can't go down there, my darling. I have claustrophobia. Besides, with all the weight lifting I do, my shoulders are too wide. I will get stuck. But you, oh, my beautiful svelte, sweetheart, can fit easily. Please would you do this for me?"

By now Rachael was not just aggravated, she was downright angry. "Wally, there's fifty years of muck and slime in that well. Who knows what sort of ugly things live down there? It's just fifty-cents. It's not worth it," replied Rachael. And she stomped back to the cabin and crawled into bed. Wally remained, sadly gazing helplessly down into the dark depths of a lost dream.

We will return to the honeymoon couple later. Now let's look at today's text in Jeremiah. More than a century before, Assyrian armies had conquered northern Israel and dispersed its inhabitants to the far reaches of the empire. Just a generation before, the Babylonian army had invaded Judah, the southern part of the nation. Jerusalem was laid waste. The temple of Solomon was in ruins. City walls were only piles of rubble. Thousands of political and religious leaders were deported and living as exiles more than 500 miles from home.

Just like Wally at the old farm well, their situation appeared helpless and hopeless. Any possibility of returning to the way things were -- and the way they ought to be -- seemed beyond the realm of possibility. For the displaced and dispersed children of God, the way back was through a dangerous, dry, barren wilderness brimming with wild beasts and bandits just waiting to pounce on the vulnerable traveler. Just like Wally at the well, retrieving their dream seemed like a lost cause.

Or was it?

"For thus says the Lord," proclaims Jeremiah in the first verse of today's text. Please pay attention here. When Jeremiah uses this language, he means: "Listen up folks! The word of the Lord is coming next." Indeed, in the remaining verses, God declares that the despair of the lost is about to be turned upside down and inside out! Now they are scattered and shattered. Now they experience sorrow. Now they are weak and vulnerable. Now their wilderness is dry, barren, and dangerous. Then God promises that something new and wonderful will take place.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
-- Jeremiah 33:13

Then, God will gather those dispersed by the Assyrians. Then God will bring forth the captives from Babylon (Jeremiah 31:8). Then God will return them all to their true home. Then God will fill the dry wilderness with brooks of water and make their journey swift and secure (Jeremiah 31:9 cf). Then God's scattered and scared people "shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:12).

This was God's promise to a shattered people 500 years before Christ was born. This is God's promise to us more than 2,000 years after that first Christmas.

Friends, for us, Jeremiah's "then" is "now." Now we are living in God's promise, fulfilled in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God's Word made flesh.

Note well here that God's promised restoration was not simply for the brave, courageous, and bold among God's people. God's promised renewal was not just for their leaders. Among those to be gathered were the weak and vulnerable, the lonely and forgotten, "the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor" (Jeremiah 31:8). God will give them the joy, the power, and the legitimacy that they did not have on their own. Those whom the world has "devalued" God has valued. Those who are last to be loved will be first. God has, is, and will always turn upside down what the world considers to be worthy and important.

So, here we are, at the beginning of a new year, the second Sunday after the birth of our Savior; the second Sunday after celebrating God's promised miracle. Which of our dreams have been shattered? What New Year's resolutions have already been broken? What grief brings you to tears of loneliness? What painful situations leave you feeling helpless and vulnerable in our midst? Where are those dry spaces in your souls?

Remember Jeremiah's words, "Thus says the Lord!" In Christ, that means now! In Christ, God enters our dry and barren lives, promising that "their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again" (Jeremiah 31:12).

Now, let's return to Rachael and Wally. Remember that we left them with Rachael having returned to sleep in the warmth of their honeymoon cabin. Wally sadly remained at the old, dry, farm well, mourning the loss of his lucky fifty-cent coin.

Once again, Wally's mournful moaning grew louder and louder. Once again, Rachael arose from sleep and came to Wally's side. Eagerly, Wally exclaimed, "You changed your mind. What a relief. I had given up hope. Are you going to go down there and get my/our lucky coin?"

"I told you before, Wally, it's just not worth it. Look at that dark, slimy mess down there," said Rachael, as she pointed her flashlight toward the bottom of the well.

Wally was crestfallen and started crying again.

With a heavy sigh, Rachael reached into the pocket of her housecoat and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. Dropping it into the well, Rachael proclaimed, "Now it's well worth it!" And she climbed down into the old farm well.

Friends, this is precisely what God has done in Jesus Christ. In Christ, God entered the dark, murky, slimy mess of the world of our lives and made us worth it. In Christ, the Word, God's own self became flesh and dwelt among us. In Christ, God's "then" in Jeremiah has become our "now" and forever.

Now our life in Christ is and will always be "worth it." The bread we taste is Christ for us. The wine we drink is Christ for us. The water splashed in baptism is God's splash of new life. The proclaimed word at the pulpit and lectern become God's Word enfleshed and dwelling in our midst.

With Jeremiah, "Sing aloud with gladness" (Jeremiah 31:7) for God has indeed gathered us into God's very heart, forever. "Then" is "now" and forever. Amen.