For the exiled people of Judah, these were not easy words. They were wishing for a speedy return home. Their wishes were supported by the words of false prophets and diviners. Jeremiah's letter was designed to bring comfort, but also to address them at a time when it was easy to believe the false prophets of the day.

The Reformed family lives and witnesses in many contexts in which it can be difficult to believe in a future with hope. Examples include:

people in Argentina and many other countries in the global south who have seen their savings lose value, their banking systems collapse and life become unbearable,
people with education and skills in Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the inner cities of Europe and North America who cannot find jobs,
children who have lost parents as a result of war or terror in Columbia, the Congo, Pakistan, the Philippines, or the USA,
victims of communal or religious conflict in India, Indonesia, Nigeria, or Northern Ireland,
people in sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia, and elsewhere affected by HIV/Aids
people on death row and their families in China, the USA, and other countries, as well as the families of victims of barbarous crimes.

What does it mean to wish people in these and similar situations a happy new year?

In 2003 there is no shortage of false prophets. It is much easier for politicians to tell people in Latin America, Africa, Asia or the Caribbean that their salvation lies in structural adjustment programmes than to confront the realities of economic injustice. It is much easier for the leaders of powerful nations to promise their people security by turning their military might on those who are weaker than to engage in the hard work of building peace and creating a world in which there is justice for all.

In contrast to the false prophets of his day, Jeremiah does not make deceptive promises. He offers a future with hope. This hope does not wish away the difficulties of being in exile. It takes them into account. In spite of the difficulties, God's presence means hope.

The church can offer and receive best wishes for a happy new year because we know of the hope offered by an incarnate God. Our hope is not in a show of God's mighty power over all creation, but in a God who comes to us as a child and identifies with us even to death on the cross, and who promises that the forces of death will not have the last word.

This God knows what it means for families in Palestine to suffer decades of illegal occupation, to live under constant curfew, to have their property confiscated or demolished without redress and to see their loved ones shot down with impunity. This God knows what it means for families in Israel to have their loved ones blown to bits by suicide bombers.

This God knows the sorrow of those families who have lost loved ones through war or terror in many parts of the world. This God understands the fears of families in Iraq, as they live under the imminent threat of death raining from the sky.

The church is called to proclaim and live out a message of hope, sometimes in the face of powerful and attractive false prophets. We are called into action as instruments of God's justice and peace, bringing hope to the many who find it difficult to believe.

In this spirit, we wish you and all your loved ones a happy new year.

Setri Nyomi, general secretary