Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the
elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by
King Nebuchadnezzar.
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all
the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build
homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens,
and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then
find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work
for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will
determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:1,
4-7
During last
week’s prayer time in worship one of our members[1] asked that we pray for the strength to build the church back up. I have not been able to get that thought out
of my head since. Then Jeremiah’s
message showed up in today’s lectionary, and I took that as more than a
coincidence; I feel certain it was a prompting from God’s Holy Spirit to lift
up His plan for what we are to do to build the church back
up.
Today Jeremiah tells us exactly how to do what we must. I believe strongly that the Old Testament
gives us understanding of what Jesus came to do in us and through us. That is, to build the Kingdom. And, frankly, the building process doesn’t
end when you’ve got a building in Bennett or Seagrove. That building process will be complete when
Jesus comes back for His bride. Until
that time, in good times of plenty, or in lean times when it is dark, our
mission is unchanged; we must be working on building the Kingdom of God until
He comes.
It’s no secret that we live in a dark time. It is culturally-dark, with ungodliness
proliferating, violence and anger ruling in every dark corner. Sexual perversion is at a height most of
never dreamed possible. Dishonesty,
lying, and a complete absence of integrity in government, business, and even
churches. And, on a close-to-home note,
our United Methodist tribe is in a time of divisive, vitriolic upheaval that is
almost certain to end in another General Conference that will make the shootout
at the OK Corral look like a minor disagreement between kindergarten children.
Now, I am not about to give you a six-step surefire plan that will fix the
United Methodist church, or grow this one.
I’m not going to announce a 30 day fast, or 40 days of planning and
preparation for new programs. I just
want to point to what Jeremiah said to people who were going through darker
times than we are.
He told them to live!
Jeremiah told God’s nation, Israel, demolished and demoralized by King
Nebuchadnezzar’s storm troopers, to live.
He told them to live, despite the fact that their city, Jerusalem lay in
ruins; the walls of the city had been torn down, temple desecrated, looted, and
burned!
But Jeremiah did more than just say live;
He told them to live…and have hope!
Notice in the text the prophet told them to build, plant, marry, have
plenty of children and grandchildren, and work for peace
and prosperity where they were, exiles in Babylon, nearly a thousand miles from
their Jerusalem homes!
Jeremiah demonstrated his preaching by buying a piece of property in a
dead city. He bought a plot of land in
Jerusalem while he was in jail (and “jail” would’ve been a fancy name…it was
actually a hole in the ground with bars overhead). Land was worthless in the conquered city, as
was the currency of Israel. But God had
said Israel still had a future. And when
you believe God, you act that way.
For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’” Jeremiah 32:15
Jeremiah’s preaching became Jeremiah’s practicing! And that’s what we should begin to do…live
with hope! That means we must live like
we say we believe…trusting God with our time, talent, and tithe.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!
Go to VIDEO
[i] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com.
All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated)
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