On Greenland, Real Estate Transactions and Hope

This week the President mentioned that he felt that it would be a great idea if our country purchased Greenland.  Greenland is a semi-autonomous island near the North Pole that is controlled by Denmark. Needless to say the President's remarks set off a swirl of controversy among people, many of whom had never given any thought to Greenland prior to the President's comment.  Those who love the President now have suddenly became wildly excited about Greenland and those who generally oppose the President probably have found the idea absurd.

I certainly will not venture to discuss the pros and cons of purchasing Greenland within the space of the this blog. However, I will offer that such a purchase would probably be one of the largest real estate transactions in the history of the world.  

Toni and I just purchased a new home and we had to jump through the hoops of home inspections, offers, counter-offers, title searches, earnest money, and other such steps that were required before our closing on the property.  

If our country were to be able to purchase Greenland would we have to have Greenland appraised first?  Is Denmark a motivated seller? Perhaps we would need to have Greenland surveyed to make sure all the property lines are correctly identified. To whom do the property taxes on Greenland have to be paid?  I suppose the biggest question would be does owning Greenland mean one is a member of a homeowners association?

On a more spiritual level the news story reminded me of a real estate transaction that is recorded in the Bible.  In the book of Jeremiah we find the prophet purchasing a field in the town of Anathoth.  Anathoth was Jeremiah's ancestral home and this particular field was a part of his family holdings.

The problem with Jeremiah's purchase was the Babylonians were laying waste to Judah and Jeremiah's field was in conquered territory.  Jeremiah's purchase was akin to a native Georgian buying some real estate at Five Points in Atlanta as General Sherman was setting up shop.  This was a decision that no prudent real estate expert would suggest one make.

Jeremiah explains his purchase by saying that God has declared that "Houses and vineyards and fields shall again be bought in this land.  Jeremiah made his purchase as a sign of hope.

Hope. Hope is a word that we use promiscuously at times.  We say, “I hope” when what we really mean is “I wish.”  Someone might say, “I hope it snows this winter,” (which I would not say by the way) when a more apt way to say it would be to say, “I wish we would get some snow this winter.” (which is still something I would not say.)  Wishing is not hope.

Hope, rather than a verb is noun.  Hope is something we possess; it is not something that we do. Hope is a belief that in spite of what we see something better is still to come.  Hope is a belief that in the midst of darkness there is a source of light.  

The question that we are called to answer is simply, "In whom or in what do we place our hope?"  Do we place our hope in the ephemeral things of our world or do we place our hope and trust in God?  When I think of the word I hope I am always drawn to that familiar classic "My Hope Is Built."

*My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand. 

Indeed any other ground on which we stand is indeed sinking sand.  Jeremiah's hope wasn't based on the military prowess of his nation or his business acumen but on the power of God.  So too are we called to ground our hope is God's love for us. The hope God gives was made manifest in the saving grace seen in Jesus Christ. We must never be without hope.  However, any hope that we have that is not grounded on our faith is God is futile.




*(Words by Edward Mote, as found in United Methodist Hymnal #368)








   

  

Comments

  1. JimAugust 22, 2019 at 5:10 PM

    An astute observation of the essence of hope. I live by the hope that God's grace is sufficient for me. That is how Paul puts it, and that is, indeed, the hope that we all have. Whether buying Greenland is a joke, a throw-away line to see what happens, a real suggestion, or a pipe dream ( I cannot smoke a pipe any more since I cannot smoke anything--long story, there), our real hope lies exactly where you put it: on the fact of Jesus's blood and righteousness. Since I can claim none of my own, my hope is in the righteousness of Jesus.

    The question is ultimately asked of us all: "In whom do you put your trust?" There is only one answer.

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