This is the first of two sermons on Jeremiah. Today's text was actually last week's lectionary lesson, and today's lectionary will be used next week. I did not have much going with the sermon most of the week, but it came together for an okay sermon. The Time with Young Disciples was a very good set-up for the sermon, and made the sermon better than it might have been otherwise.
“Living” St. Andrew, Denton; October 20, 2019; Jeremiah 29: 1-7; Luke 17: 11-19
“Living” St. Andrew, Denton; October 20, 2019; Jeremiah 29: 1-7; Luke 17: 11-19
Jeremiah 29: 1-7: 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. 2 This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: 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.
Introduction: We are not people who have been forced into exile like those to whom the prophet Jeremiah writes the words we read today.
But, we now what it is like to be people not where we want to be in life.
So listen to what the prophet Jeremiah has to say.
Move 1: We are not living in a fairy tale world.
a. Life is tough for the Israelites.
1. They have been exiled.
1. Their homeland has been invaded and they have been defeated.
2. Prominent leaders no longer in Jerusalem. Remember, that was what a conquering nation like Babylon did. They sent important leaders into exile so the conquered land was easier to control.
3. The Davidic monarcy, which they had assumed would last forever is clearly over
4. The hopes and dreams for what God was doing had been invested in the Temple, in Jerusalem, in the house of Judah, and that is basically gone.
5. It was for all intents and purposes the end of the world.
6. They are a broken people.
7. As broken people ourselves, we recognize ourselves in them.
b. To these shell-shocked Israelites in exile comes a letter from the prophet Jeremiah.
1. That the letter came from Jeremiah was a sign of just how bad things were.
2. We may think of Jeremiah as a major prophet, but in his time he was a small town boy trying to make it big in the big city, and by all apparent measures, he was a failure.
3. Jeremiah was from Anathoth in the tribal lands of Benjamin. Benjamin was the home of the failed monarch Saul, and the town itself bore the name of the Canaanite goddess, Anat.
4. Jeremiah was in a position to send this letter because he was left behind in the deportations; the Babylonians did not think he was worth the effort of deporting (Wil Gafney Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible Brite Divinity School, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=704)
5. But from Jeremiah comes the word of God.
Move 2: Embrace living where you are
a. Do not cling to false hopes that deny the world in which you live.
1. Look back one chapter to hear what a false prophet had told the Israelites.
2. the prophet Hananiah has predicted a short stay in exile (2 years).
3. Imagine his popularity.
4. But his prediction of a short stay would also lead to not feeling a need to adjust and live fully where they are.
5. The false prophets call people to escapism, to ignore the truth, to avoid having to deal with life in exile
b. The word of God through Jeremiah to the exiles in 29:5-6 was to plan on staying in Babylon for the foreseeable future.
1. They are to build homes, settle down, get married, have children, and watch their children get married.
2. In fact, the lesson ends with even more surprising word in verse 7, "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." (Wil Gafney Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible Brite Divinity School, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=704)
3. Jeremiah calls for the Israelite to live out their calling in this new, strange place.
c. Huge shift in understanding how God is at work.
1. The Babylonians may be able to separate the Israelites from their land, from their Temple, from the way they always had worshipped God, but the Babylonians cannot separate the Israelites from their God.
2. If the Israelites do not find themselves rescued from the exile in two years, it is not a sign that they cannot live as God’s people because God is in their midst in exile.
3. While Israelites might most often remember God as the God of Exodus who took them to the Promised Land, Jeremiah reminds them that God was also with the Israelites in the wilderness.
5. God will be found in their midst wherever they live; as God’s people, they are called to live out their calling wherever they live.
d. Jesus expands on what Jeremiah tells the Israelites.
1. When we tell the story of the ten lepers, we often focus on the gratitude he expressed, which is a great lesson.
2. But notice that it is the Samaritan, the outsider, who is the one who recognizes what God has done in his life.
3. Jesus points out the Samaritan leper who returns to give thanks, he announces that now it does not matter who a person is, the person can be one of God’s people.
Move 3: Speaks to us about living as disciples of Christ.
a. Discipleship is not just being faithful when everything works out.
1. Discipleship is not just being faithful for a few short years until God has sorted out everything.
2. Discipleship is about living in the moment as God’s people.
b. Every day it seems I talk to people or read about people or feel myself like we are people in exile.
1. we are not quite where we want to be.
2. Maybe you are not physically living where you think we ought to live.
3. Or technology has moved so fast, you feel like the world has passed us by.
4. You are in a new school and nothing feels quite right.
5. the world seems headed in directions you do not want to go and do not think the world should go.
6. You feel like an alien in the world around you.
c. Welcome to the world of the Israelites in exile.
1. Welcome to the world where God is at work.
2. Welcome to the world where you are called to live as God’s people where you are.
Amen.
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