God's Plans for Us (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

 This scripture is one that a lot of people like. The first verse, especially. 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. 

It is a verse many find comforting. Inspiring. It is often written in calligraphy and framed and hung on walls.

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Originally, this was written from Jeremiah to the people of Israel. People who were not where they wanted to be. People who were forced into exile, far from their homeland. People who felt that they had been abandoned by God. 

People who were so distraught that they couldn’t even bring themselves to sing the songs of Zion, the songs that once brought them comfort.

Have you ever felt yourself in a place where you did not expect to be? A place where you did not want to be?

This can be a literal, physical place, or a more metaphorical or mental place. In whatever way, have you ever found yourself far away from where you wanted to be?

Have you ever felt lost? Alone? Stranded?

I think many of us have felt that way, at least at some point in our lives. Maybe that’s why this verse from Jeremiah is so popular.

Because this verse and this passage assure the people of Israel that, despite everything, God still had plans for their future and for their welfare.

God even says to them: “I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you… and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

In other words, God is going to bring them back home, to the place where they belong, and restore to them all that had been taken from them.

It’s what we want to hear, right?

But here’s the thing: in these verses, we don’t hear exactly when their fortunes will be restored. We don’t hear when they will be brought back home. We don’t hear when their time in exile will come to an end.

I think this is an important thing to know. Should the people start packing their bags? Should they start filling out their change of address forms? Should they start selling off their livestock, and anything else they don’t want to move?

We started our scripture in verse eleven. 

Often, all we ever hear is verse eleven. 

But right before it, in verse ten, God says: “Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I bring you back home.”

Seventy years is a long time. I guess we don’t need to start packing quite yet. Dang.

God’s timeline is often not the timeline we want. Seventy years! Entire generations will pass away before these promises of God will come to pass! 

And God seems pretty set on this. If we back up a little more in this chapter, to verses six and seven, God instructs the people to get married, have children, then have their children get married, so that they may have their own children, all in the land where they now find themselves.

Meanwhile, God says: seek the welfare of the city where you are in exile, and pray on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

In other words: get comfortable. Make a life for yourself and for your children here, because even though God will bring you back to your homeland, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

So why was God not in a hurry to bring the people out of exile? Why did God tell them there was a plan, that their fortunes would be restored, and they would be brought home, if that wasn’t going to happen for a very long time?

Why couldn’t it happen now?!?

Do you ever get impatient with God? 

I know I do. It’s frustrating… and disheartening. 

But in this case, there was a reason. 

The people needed that time, to learn something. 

See, back home, they had not followed God’s ways. They had not done what was needed to maintain a society that benefitted everyone. 

They had neglected to show justice to the needy. They had allowed economic injustice to flourish. Their rulers had set up an economy which allowed the rich to get richer, and which took what little the poor had away from them.

People were hungry. Without work. They were losing their homes and their land. 

And let me tell you: nothing upsets God and God’s prophets more than seeing the poor suffer like this because their labor and their lives are being exploited in an effort to satisfy the endless greed of the wealthy.

That is what upsets God the most.

If you want proof of this, consider that God only called prophets to pronounce their words of condemnation during periods of great economic inequality.

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Let’s go through this real quickly…

The years 786-701 BCE were times of great economic inequality. In those years, the rich grew richer, and the poor grew poorer. And those are the years when God called Isaiah, Hosea, Jonah, Micah, and Amos to do their prophesying.

The years that followed—700-640 BCE—were years in which the poor were taken care of; years when the nation’s wealth was more evenly distributed. And in those years, God didn’t see the need to call any prophets. There are no prophetic writings from those years.

But then, from 640 to 560 BCE, economic inequality again took over, and the poor suffered. And these were the years when Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk did their prophesying.

Then there was another time of relative equality, when economic justice returned… and again, the prophets were silent.

And then, after that, another time of economic inequality, and this time, it was Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, and Malachi, who God called to speak out against injustice.

You can see the pattern: when the nation treats its poor well, and takes care of them, God is pleased, and doesn’t send any prophets to pronounce doom and judgment.

But when the nation treats its poor with contempt, the prophets arise…

And in this case, the case of Jeremiah, the prophet speaks of the exile as a way that God is forcing the people to think about all these things. 

It’s kind of like a “time-out” given by a parent to their child. A “time-out” to think about one’s actions. A “time-out” that, in this case, lasted seventy years.

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So there was a purpose. The people needed time to learn. They needed time to grow. They needed time to figure out who they were, and who God was calling them to be, as a nation. They needed time to learn how to practice the justice that God demanded.

Maybe that’s why their time of exile lasted so long. And maybe that’s why they were told to build houses, and raise families, and live in those foreign cities long enough that they would learn to care for and pray for the cities they now lived in; to pray for the welfare of people besides themselves. 

In other words, they needed to learn to love their neighbor, even when that neighbor included people not like them.

The exile was necessary. But God didn’t want the people to lose hope. So to give the people hope, God assured them that God still had a plan for their restoration; and that, when their time of exile was over, that God would then bring them back home.

And maybe God also wanted them to stop sitting around, doing nothing, while they waited for God to act. A lot of people, when life throws them a curve, or when things don’t go the way they planned, they throw their hands up and quit trying. They quit trying to live. They quit trying to be happy. They quit caring, about themselves, or those around them.

God’s saying: “You’re not going to do that. You’re going to become a part of the community where you’re at. You’re going to get involved. You’re going to have a life…

…”Because simply going back home isn’t going to make you happy. Going back home isn’t going to solve all your problems. 

A lot of the problems and challenges you face aren’t out there; a lot of the challenges you face are in here. In your heart. 

I brought you here, into exile, in an attempt to fix your heart. Once you do that, then you’ll be ready to go back home.”

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Today, being part of a church that seeks to truly follow Jesus feels like being in exile.

It feels, in many ways, like we’ve been cut off.

We’ve been cut off from the society at large. So many see no value in religion or the church these days. We are among the dwindling few. A remnant.

And we’ve been cut off from many within the church. Many within the church say that religion is about power and influence. They try to control others and exert their dominance over society. And they use Christianity as a tool, a weapon, to beat their opponents into submission.

But that’s not what we see when we read the gospels. That’s not what we see when we look at Jesus.

We see humility. Compassion. And a love that is higher, deeper, and wider than we can imagine. A love that embraces all, affirms all; a love that is limitless.

And sometimes, it seems that the number of Christians who see this same love in Jesus is not many.

But I believe that though it may feel that we are in exile, God has plans for us. And these are plans of restoration. Plans for our welfare. Plans for a hope-filled future.

And signs of this hope-filled future are already present, in so many ways. 

I see hope in New Beginnings. I know that some of us are struggling to be patient with the process, just as the people Jeremiah spoke to were impatient with what they were going through. But God’s promises are sure, and God’s promises will not fail.

I see hope in the conversations I have with others in our community. Relationships with about a dozen other faith communities who see in Jesus what we see, and who are finding new ways to work together, as together we share with our community and our world the radical, limitless, unconditional love of Christ………………………..

And I do sense the Spirit stirring things up here at First Christian Church. God’s gentle, restless Spirit is putting ideas into people, and something big and new and good is in our future, I just know it. 

As we wait for that to happen— I don’t think we’re going to have to wait 70 years, I think that things are going to happen much sooner than that— but as we wait, we should be open to what God is trying to teach us now, right where we’re at. 

There is a reason for us to be in the place where we are, at this present moment. It may very well be that God has brought us to where we are for just such a time as this… just as God brought the people of Israel to Babylon… to learn all that God needed for them to learn, to grow in knowledge and wisdom, and to rediscover what it means to truly follow God.

Sermon: "The Welfare of the City" (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7)

By the rivers of Babylon, where he sat down

And there he wept, when he remembered Zion.

Who knows that song? It was written in 1970, one year before I was born. It was written and performed by a group called the Melodians, and appeared in the 1972 movie The Harder They Come. It was later covered by Boney M., the Neville Brothers, Sinead O’Conner, Linda Rondstandt, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sublime, and others.

The lyrics, you may know, are from Psalm 137, which was written at one of the saddest moments in biblical history. I’m gonna come back to the song in a moment, but first, let’s set the scene.

The people of Jerusalem were not where they wanted to be. Have you ever found yourself in a place where you did not want to be?

They were not in Jerusalem. They had been captured and taken to Babylon, where their captors asked them to sing. But they couldn’t sing. They could only weep, as they remembered their home in Zion.

Babylonians had taken over Jerusalem, and had sent the residents of Jerusalem packing, starting with the elders, the priests, the prophets, and other members of the upper class.

But before you start to feel too sorry for them, know that the prophet Jeremiah believed that it was their own fault, and that their captivity in Babylon was the result of their own sinful ways.

Does that make you feel any less sad for them?

In chapter five, Jeremiah said that these members of the upper class had become great and rich, fat and sleek, and that they had gotten that way through treachery [5.27].

They had worked to deny justice. They did not defend the rights of the needy. When the true prophets said “Hey, stop ignoring the poor; their lives matter!,” the upper classes just said, “No, all lives matter,” and they refused to change their ways.

And behind that defiance, they did not see the injustice, the oppression, the inequality that they themselves were contributing to. And they “did not judge with justice the cause of the orphan, and they did not defend the rights of the needy” [5.28].

They worshiped their wealth. They bragged about how successful they were. Chapter 1, verse 16 says: “they have made offerings to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.” Instead of humbling themselves and seeking justice, they lied about how things were. “This is our wealth, our reward for hard work,” they said. “We earned this.”

No, they didn’t. They stole it from the poor. They stole it by denying the poor fair wages. They stole it by taking advantage of their privileged status in society.

The leaders among them said “What’s the problem? We have peace [6.14],” but the poor did not have peace. The oppressed did not have peace. As Jeremiah says in chapter 23, their leaders “led them astray by lies” [23.32].

Not much has changed. Even today, we have leaders, wanna-be leaders, potential leaders who work hard to create and maintain a society that benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. Their tax incentives go to the rich, while the poor are thrown in jail. People with power and wealth who break the law rarely end up in jail, but the poor do, even when their crimes are less minor. Then the wealthy and powerful have the nerve to say to the poor, “Just do what we say. We have the solution to your problem.”

And the people believe their lies.

The lies eventually caught up to the leaders in Jerusalem. According to Jeremiah, their exile to Babylon wasn’t really caused by the Babylonians; it was caused by God.

Chapter 29, verse 4: God says, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…”

It was because they denied justice to the poor, that God sent them into exile.

It was because they passed laws that favored the rich and penalized the poor that they were sent into exile.

It was because they did not judge with justice the cause of the orphan or defend the rights of the needy that they were sent into exile.

And it was because they lied about all this, saying “we are for the poor! We care for the needy! We are making Jerusalem great again!” … For these lies, they were sent into exile.

If you don’t believe me, read it for yourself. It’s all right there in the book of Jeremiah.

Now, about that song, and about Psalm 137 …

It’s such a sad, mournful tune. All the people want is to return to their home in Jerusalem. “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, O Jerusalem.”

But that’s not the whole prayer. Psalm 137 is only 9 verses long, but we never hear verses 8 and 9. Because in the last two verses, we hear the people’s prayer for Babylon. And it’s not a nice prayer.

“O daughter Babylon,” they prayed; “Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back for what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your babies and smash them against the rock!”

No one includes those verses when they sing that song. Not the Melodians, not Boney M., not the Neville Brothers, not Sinead O’Conner, not Linda Rondstandt, not Sweet Honey in the Rock, and not Sublime.

But the Hebrews prayed it. And God heard their prayer. All 9 verses of it. And God answered their prayer by saying to them:

 “Get comfortable. You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to be here, in Babylon, a long time. So build houses, plant gardens. You’re not just here for a few days or even a few months. Only when your 70 years are up, will I visit you and bring you back [29.10].

“And while you are here, you are going to learn what you did not learn in Jerusalem. You are going to learn that the lives of the poor and needy, whom you neglected, matter.

“So I want you to seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Don’t just seek your own welfare. Seek the welfare of the city. The whole city. Seek the welfare of all who live there.”

“I have heard your prayers for Jerusalem. I have heard your prayers to return home. I have heard your prayers to return to life as it was, your prayers to make things great again. And frankly, I’m a little tired of those prayers.

“Those are selfish prayers. You want things to be great again for you, but you don’t care about the cause of the orphan or the rights of the needy. You don’t care about the foreigner and immigrant. You don’t care about your neighbor.

“You just want things to go back to the way they were. When you were in charge. When you could happily ignore the poor and the needy and those who were oppressed.

“You pray for a return to Jerusalem, a return to the way things were, back when you could ignore such unpleasant realities, and be content in your own wealth and privilege.

 “But I say no. Instead, pray for the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, for in its welfare will you find your welfare. 

“Pray for the city of Babylon. Pray for those who now rule over you with their power and wealth. Pray for the welfare of those babies who you want to smash against the rock.

“Their lives matter. You hear me? Their lives matter!

“This is what you need to learn in your time of exile.

“You need to learn how, in Jerusalem, your position of privilege gave you advantages over the poor and needy; advantages that you used while ignoring how they oppressed others.

“You need to learn that your welfare is dependent on the welfare of your neighbor whom you ignore.

“You have ignored your neighbor when she cried for help.

“You have ignored your neighbor when he cried for justice.

“You have ignored their quiet, peaceful protests and you have closed your ears to their loud shouts…

But God hears their cry.

God always hears the cry of those who are denied justice.

God always hears the cry of those who are oppressed.

God always hears the cry of those whose rights are denied.

You have not heard the cry, and so now God has taken away your rights.

You have not heard the cry, and so now God has taken away your freedom.

You have not heard the cry, and so now God has denied you justice.

This is so that you will learn that your welfare depends on the welfare of the city in which you live.

Your welfare depends on the welfare of your neighbor.

You’re going to be here a long time. You will raise your children here, and they will raise their children here. So build houses. Plant gardens. And learn to seek the welfare of the whole city, the whole population.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m repeating myself too much. Does it seem like I’m always preaching on the cause of the poor, the needy, and the oppressed? It does to me, so I’m guessing it does to you as well.

Yet ignoring the needs of the poor is the number one sin in the Bible. It appears over and over and over and over again. So I guess it’s a message we need to hear over and over and over and over again.

At least God still hasn’t given up on us. That’s the amazing thing about God. God never gives up on us. We still have a chance to get it right. We still have the opportunity. We still can learn to pray and work for the welfare of ALL who live in our community, our nation, and our world.

Thanks be to God.

And as you know, we have a special ministry that is focused on hearing the cry of those who are oppressed. The Disciples of Christ Reconciliation ministry focuses on the welfare of those who are poor, those who are oppressed… particularly because of factors related to race.

Last week we heard how gifts to the reconciliation offering support programs like the Youth Immersion Ministry, which allowed Tristan and other youth from our region to travel to Puerto Rico last summer. You have the opportunity today to support that reconciliation ministry.

So if you would like to make a gift to reconciliation offering – a gift in addition to your normal tithes and offerings to Bixby Knolls Christian Church – you may use the special reconciliation offering envelope found in your bulletin.

Our reconciliation ministry is one way that God gives us a chance to “get it right,” and to work for the welfare of the whole community of God.