Flourish in the Meantime

 

                These last few weeks I’ve unintentionally created something of a sermon series.

I preached about Jeremiah’s Sign Sermon
—even as Babylon was besieging Jerusalem,
he went out and redeemed his relative’s field and buried the deed of sale
—and in so doing he planted a sign of hope for his people.

                Then last week, we went from siege in progress, to the horrific aftermath
—the book of Lamentations crying, “How! How lonely sits the city.”
Naming fears, losses, longings—as Laments,
lifting them all up onto God’s grand shoulders,
so that there would still be room for change, hope, a future.

                Now today, Jeremiah writes a letter to those people who have been kidnapped from that now lonely City
—the Royal court, religious officials, scribes, and anyone of import or value
—all dragged off to Babylon (note quickly that Jeremiah was not among such prestigious people)…
he writes a hard letter
—writes what they need to hear,
not what they want to hear
—Jeremiah writes to them and says, in essence,
“Flourish in the meantime!
Flourish where you find yourself!
Flourish faithfully!”

Let us pray

 

                Jeremiah wasn’t the only prophet of his time period…
in fact, he wasn’t even the most popular prophet…
there was another prophet (to be clear a false prophet)
Hananiah, who made all kinds of false prophecies and promises to God’s people
—promises of peace that ended in war,
promises of a rapid return from Babylon that never materialize,
prophecies of victory that end in his own vanquishing.

                To all this, Jeremiah tells hard truths
—hard truths about the length and locale of the exile
and what was expected of the Exiles.
Hard truths about Duration, Location, and Vocation.

 

Duration, Location, and Vocation… duration

                The people wanted to hear that their time of exile would be short
—Hananiah said God promised that it would last less than 2 years.

                It was not to be so
—instead of 2 years—70,
a whole generation,
people be born, live, and die in Babylon.

                And Jeremiah told the people as much,
“Live/Plant/Marry/Multiply/Pray… you’re going to be there a while.”

Oftentimes when we hear that famous phrase, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” we skip over the first part—it’s long…
there will be weeks, months, years, lifetimes
where right is on the losing side,
progress might be inevitable, but is sure isn’t easy!

                And to that painful reality, Jeremiah reminds the people, “God’s with you for the long haul!”

 

Duration, Location, and Vocation… location

                The people want to hear,
“don’t even bother learning the street names,
don’t learn your neighbor’s name,
you’ll return to Jerusalem,
the Kingdom will be restored.
Everything will be like it used to be!”

                To this Jeremiah insists,
“Live/Plant/Marry/Multiply/Pray! This is your home now!”
But you’re not alone…
this is God’s home too…

                In a different prophetic book
—Ezekiel names this reality starkly and strangely
—he sees the glory of God lift up in something like a:
Space Ship/Wheelchair/Chariot/Meteor
—and leave Jerusalem and go with his people on to Babylon…
God is on the move
—God isn’t a bordered God,
isn’t a regional God,
isn’t a God confined to a particular place
—but a God with wheels
—a God that burns rubber to remain with His people.

                God is in it for the long haul,
and God will pack a U-Haul
to come with y’all
and remain with you in exile!

 

Duration, Location, and Vocation… vocation

                The people want to hear that they should
just throw a pity party,
not engage with the reality they are in,
not imagine their faith’s calling in captivity,
how they ought to live as God’s people in the awful place in which they find themselves.

                But Jeremiah writes and prophecies,
“Live/Plant/Marry/Multiply/Pray! You’re called to be God’s people even in Babylon.
Show them how to live even when lost.
Show them how to love even when they hate you!
Pray for them!
Who knows, maybe their hearts will be healed…
or at least yours won’t be hardened by these hellish times!”

                Our vocations are:
the roles, relationships, and responsibilities we’ve been given,
not for glory or greatness,
but to point to God!
(as Christians we see them as flowing out of our baptism and pointing to Christ)

Our life and work,
our family and all relationships,
our citizenship and our sojourning
—all, God willing, tinged with God’s work in the world,
all witnessing to God’s redemptive power,
all pointing to our collective identity as a sign of God’s ongoing love.

                And there is something old, that becomes new again, for these sojourners in Babylon.

Hebrew Scripture is chock full of admonitions and rules that say,
in a wide variety of ways,
that the stranger and sojourner ought to be welcomed
—over 80 verse by my count
—and the reason given is that the Jews themselves were strangers in Egypt.
Their vocational responsibility toward the resident alien and immigrant,
is shaped by their own experience of being one…

                And now, Jeremiah tells ‘em, they are strangers in Babylon,
and they must wrestle with that reality.
Care for the welfare of those with whom you dwell.

                Isn’t that a beautiful mirror image
—these two requirements:
When among your own people, welcome the stranger.
When you are the stranger, care for the welfare of those with whom you dwell.

                Even there in Babylon,
especially there in Babylon,
Live, Plant, Marry, Multiply, Pray for the wellbeing of those who are your neighbors.

                Yes, Jeremiah tells hard truths about
Duration, Location, and Vocation…
And nestled within each hard prophecy is at least the hint of a promise:
God is in it for the long haul,
God travels with you,
no matter what, you are God’s people!

“Flourish in the meantime!
Flourish where you find yourself!
Flourish faithfully!”

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