Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
If I had been one of the exiles torn from my beloved Jerusalem and forced to live in Babylon, I am not sure I would have neither welcomed nor appreciated Jeremiah’s letter. I probably would have still been waking up at night with nightmares fed by memories of the Babylonian invasion and the long forced march to a strange and foreign land. Those unforgettable images would haunt me night and day: the city’s walls under siege, the screams of neighbors as soldiers killed them, my eyes filling with tears as I and others were marched out of our devastated, fallen city, with a heavy emptiness expanding in my heart as I hiked on mile after mile toward a place I detested with all my being.
These exiles are no doubt despondent about losing everything they held dear: their temple, their homes, their way of life. They are now aliens in a strange land, with strange customs, laws and traditions. Their hope is gone. They have lost faith. They want to go back to the way things were, the way things used to be. This is the audience Jeremiah is addressing in our text this morning. And what is Jeremiah’s message? The past is past. You are to live in the here and now. You are called to be faithful where God plants you.
Today’s lesson consists of a portion of the first of two letters sent by the prophet Jeremiah from Jerusalem to the Israelite exiles in Babylon in about the year 594 B.C. Jeremiah’s letter is addressed to “the remaining elders ... the priests, the prophets, and all the people” in exile in Babylon (v. 1). Jeremiah’s letter is intended to counter the unrealistic and potentially harmful counsel of the false prophets, and in order to have any kind of impact on the people, Jeremiah will need to influence the people’s recognized leaders. Jeremiah’s advice to the exiles is for them to undertake all those mundane projects and activities — building houses, planting gardens, arranging marriages (among themselves, not with their captors, v. 6) — that constitute a settled existence.
In other words, God tells the Israelites to stay put and get comfy. Do not resist the captivity you find yourself in for it will not end soon. Don’t be afraid to make a new home in a strange, new land.
Jeremiah’s offer is intended to be encouragement for a people who have lost everything they knew; to not just survive where they are but to go and thrive right where they are.
But we all know people who are never quite satisfied with their situation in life. At presbytery meetings I can hear laypeople say that if they just had a different pastor, their church would thrive. It is ironic that in pastor’s groups some pastors imply that if they only had a better church, then their gifts and graces would shine. In both cases overactive imaginations avoid a truthful assessment of reality. All of us play the “if only” game: “If only I had gone to a different school…”, “If only I made more money…”, “If only I had chosen a different career path…” This game allows us to avoid dealing directly with our reality.
What should be our attitude toward our present circumstances? In the 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, Glenn Holland, a musician and composer, takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his 'spare time', he can strive to achieve his true goal - composing one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. Teaching was to be a side bar in his life with his primary focus on writing his symphony. He approaches his teaching job as temporary; as a way to make ends meet and support his family while pursuing his true interest. As Mr. Holland discovers 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans' and the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success through his 30 year teaching career. His students are his symphony; his mark on the world. Mr. Holland learns to live in the here and now and bloom where he was planted. In the same way, God calls us as stewards and as his disciples to bloom where we are planted.
I remember when I first arrived here in Kilgore I was having lunch with Ronnie Spradlin when I noticed a bracelet on his wrist. On the bracelet were the letters K.I.I.K. I asked him what the letters represented. The letters stand for Keep it in Kilgore. Ronnie explained that it is a push to encourage the citizens of Kilgore to shop locally and do business with local businesses and stores. By doing so, we are investing in our local community and its economy. It builds up our tax base, draws in industry, helps create better schools and a stronger community. In a day and age of fast food chains, corporate franchises and big box stores, such a message as this is radical and ground-breaking. When we K.I.I.K. it, we show our desire as a community to bloom where we are planted.
Jeremiah’s message was a radically practical and innovative. He told the Jews that rather than resisting, resenting or rejecting their circumstances. They are to embrace it. There is a great story I heard told once about two farmers who badly needed rain, but only one of them prepared his fields to receive it. The other did nothing but wallow in self-pity and complain about the lack of rain. Which one of these farmers strived to bloom where he was planted? God says through Jeremiah that we are where we are supposed to be for a reason that’s part of a larger, divine plan, so we need to put the past behind us, trust in the living God, put down roots, become productive and be good stewards of the gifts and resources we have been blessed with.
We will miss much of the past, but whining and pining about it will not make it reappear. Instead, Jeremiah challenges the Jews in captivity, and us, to embrace the place where God has us and find ways to be faithful in our living, so that others might ask about our inspiration, our resolve and our trust, and thereby be drawn into a relationship with God.
These exiles are no doubt despondent about losing everything they held dear: their temple, their homes, their way of life. They are now aliens in a strange land, with strange customs, laws and traditions. Their hope is gone. They have lost faith. They want to go back to the way things were, the way things used to be. This is the audience Jeremiah is addressing in our text this morning. And what is Jeremiah’s message? The past is past. You are to live in the here and now. You are called to be faithful where God plants you.
Today’s lesson consists of a portion of the first of two letters sent by the prophet Jeremiah from Jerusalem to the Israelite exiles in Babylon in about the year 594 B.C. Jeremiah’s letter is addressed to “the remaining elders ... the priests, the prophets, and all the people” in exile in Babylon (v. 1). Jeremiah’s letter is intended to counter the unrealistic and potentially harmful counsel of the false prophets, and in order to have any kind of impact on the people, Jeremiah will need to influence the people’s recognized leaders. Jeremiah’s advice to the exiles is for them to undertake all those mundane projects and activities — building houses, planting gardens, arranging marriages (among themselves, not with their captors, v. 6) — that constitute a settled existence.
In other words, God tells the Israelites to stay put and get comfy. Do not resist the captivity you find yourself in for it will not end soon. Don’t be afraid to make a new home in a strange, new land.
Jeremiah’s offer is intended to be encouragement for a people who have lost everything they knew; to not just survive where they are but to go and thrive right where they are.
But we all know people who are never quite satisfied with their situation in life. At presbytery meetings I can hear laypeople say that if they just had a different pastor, their church would thrive. It is ironic that in pastor’s groups some pastors imply that if they only had a better church, then their gifts and graces would shine. In both cases overactive imaginations avoid a truthful assessment of reality. All of us play the “if only” game: “If only I had gone to a different school…”, “If only I made more money…”, “If only I had chosen a different career path…” This game allows us to avoid dealing directly with our reality.
What should be our attitude toward our present circumstances? In the 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, Glenn Holland, a musician and composer, takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his 'spare time', he can strive to achieve his true goal - composing one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. Teaching was to be a side bar in his life with his primary focus on writing his symphony. He approaches his teaching job as temporary; as a way to make ends meet and support his family while pursuing his true interest. As Mr. Holland discovers 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans' and the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success through his 30 year teaching career. His students are his symphony; his mark on the world. Mr. Holland learns to live in the here and now and bloom where he was planted. In the same way, God calls us as stewards and as his disciples to bloom where we are planted.
I remember when I first arrived here in Kilgore I was having lunch with Ronnie Spradlin when I noticed a bracelet on his wrist. On the bracelet were the letters K.I.I.K. I asked him what the letters represented. The letters stand for Keep it in Kilgore. Ronnie explained that it is a push to encourage the citizens of Kilgore to shop locally and do business with local businesses and stores. By doing so, we are investing in our local community and its economy. It builds up our tax base, draws in industry, helps create better schools and a stronger community. In a day and age of fast food chains, corporate franchises and big box stores, such a message as this is radical and ground-breaking. When we K.I.I.K. it, we show our desire as a community to bloom where we are planted.
Jeremiah’s message was a radically practical and innovative. He told the Jews that rather than resisting, resenting or rejecting their circumstances. They are to embrace it. There is a great story I heard told once about two farmers who badly needed rain, but only one of them prepared his fields to receive it. The other did nothing but wallow in self-pity and complain about the lack of rain. Which one of these farmers strived to bloom where he was planted? God says through Jeremiah that we are where we are supposed to be for a reason that’s part of a larger, divine plan, so we need to put the past behind us, trust in the living God, put down roots, become productive and be good stewards of the gifts and resources we have been blessed with.
We will miss much of the past, but whining and pining about it will not make it reappear. Instead, Jeremiah challenges the Jews in captivity, and us, to embrace the place where God has us and find ways to be faithful in our living, so that others might ask about our inspiration, our resolve and our trust, and thereby be drawn into a relationship with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment