The reading
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14
1 These are the words of the letter that the prophet
Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to
the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken
into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the
exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses
and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and
have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in
marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not
decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile,
and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your
welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the
prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to
the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you
in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. 10 For thus says the Lord: Only
when Babylon's seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill
to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans
I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give
you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me,
I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me
with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will
restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places
where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place
from which I sent you into exile.
The message
The prophet
Jeremiah tells people what they do not want to hear, he shares God’s word and
promises with God’s people in exile. During the 8th to 6th
century BC, the people of Israel suffer a series of defeats by the Babylonians
and Assyrians. The consequences of losing was often exile, the forced movement
of people to another place. This displacement served to weaken enemies, obtain
skilled workers and help occupy newly conquered lands. The promised land was central to the story of
Israel, the land of milk and honey that God promised, lead them to and gave
them for a home. To be forced away from this place was traumatic, socially,
culturally and spiritually devastating (to leave could easily be understood as
no longer being the people of God).
Jeremiah prophesies or shares God’s message with those people forced out
of Jerusalem and living in a home that
is not theirs, being in a city that they were just passing through, that they
had no interest or stake in.
False
prophets and people claiming to know the future through various divination
practices (all prohibited by the Jewish Law) were everywhere. They were eager to take advantage of those in
exile, sharing fake news for status and profit. Each time there was an exile, a defeat and
moving of people from their own homes to someplace else, false prophets would
follow and share the promise that things were going to be restored very soon,
telling them don’t bother unpacking, you won’t be here long, it’s not your
place. These false prophets had no real
word from God so they told people what they wanted to hear, shared their own
best ideas or repeated old news.
To this community and against the false
prophets, Jeremiah shares a word from the Lord.. We can summarize today’s
reading in 3 parts: 1 he tells them stop listening to false prophets who avoid
hard truths and tell you want you want to hear.
2 They are told to really and fully live in the place where they are, to
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take
wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters in marriage, to seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you
into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will
find your welfare. 3 God is not limited to one place or one people. God will be present with people, wherever
they are, whoever they marry and where they live. For surely I know the plans I
have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give
you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I
will hear you.
Today’s
reading in its ancient historical context is very specific, it tells of a 70
year period without a word from God, it offers specific advice for a group of
people and promises, despite what is seen and heard and happening God has a
plan that will be fulfilled. There is a global, big picture way to look at this
reading. Today, there are exiles all
over the world, refugees fleeing war, minorities fleeing state sponsored
genocide, people escaping the aftermath of storms in places that cannot care
for them. Each one has to face this question, to leave and not look back, to
determine how much of their culture they will try to keep, to figure out if
they are just visiting their temporary home or at the start of something
new. Hosts have their own set of
questions, how much can we do, should we do, what demands are fair.
There is
also a much more local way for us to look at this reading. It is an invitation for us to widen our idea
of church, of who is in our community and who is included in God’s saving grace.
Here in our buildings, we have about 500 – 600 people a week who come for
church. They are tenants without leases and, other than you, no one has an ownership
interest in this property. They could leave or be tossed out at any moment, but
they treat this place like their own. One
church raises its own rent, others have replaced toilets, helped up paint,
helped with decorating, assisted us with signs for the food pantry, patiently
work around issues, deal with it when the heat does not work, pray for us,
figure it out when 2 churches are in the same space. Over the years here, I
have been careful to respect our promises to them, honoring time and space
commitments even when it interferes with my work. We are worshipping in a place where people do
not say “its not my job or not my responsibility” even when it really is not
their problem.
At our food
pantry program, I find myself often saying “its not my building” The church we
work out of is a remnant, a small group, there a long time and faithfully
struggling to keep it together. Most of the time I find myself thinking, this
is terrible, but it’s not my building,
not my job, not my place.
The other
morning, as I was waiting for the food pantry delivery, a group of 7 or 8
students at the High School sat on the church steps to get high and not go to
the local high school. Instead of the natural “how should I get rid of them,
should I call the police, etc” I decided to do something different, I gave them
something useful to do. I asked them if
they were going to be sitting there a while.
They seemed a little surprised since they were expecting to be told to
move on and leave. They were taken off guard, and asked “why”. I said I had to run and drop off some food to
a person down the street (which I did have to do) and if they could watch out
for the delivery truck, if it showed up to let the driver know ill be right
back and he can unload. They asked a few
intelligent and important questions (what kind of truck, what company, who was
I). After that I left. I came back 15 minutes later and no truck
arrived. I thanked them and answered a few questions about the food program
(they had no idea anything at all went on in the building, I think most people
in the community believe it’s abandoned).
I went back inside and about an hour later I went outside again. The students had left and I noticed they did
not leave any trash behind, I honestly think they picked up some trash that was
already there before they arrived. I
wanted to share a small reminder for them that it is your community, your
neighborhood, your church. It might be the first time they thought about that
building like that, being in a relationship with that place, like it was part
of their lives.
We are
invited to remember the world is bigger than our spheres of responsibility, God
has placed us where we are, God has placed our neighbors where they are, in
places where we can share love , welcome and a helping hand, where everyone has
something to contribute and everyone is loved by God.
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