Sermon Cloud

TEXT

Jeremiah 29:4-9: “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 their 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. 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.”

INTRODUCTION

I wanted to take some time between Galatians and Acts to look at the book of Jeremiah.  The reason this book is so important is that it has many parallels to our current situation, if not physically it certainly feels like it spiritually.

In this section we are reading, the great city of Babylon and its leaders have invaded and defeated Jerusalem and have taken men, women and children off to Babylon as exiles. 

When the Jews got to Babylon they found a large city that was filled with other exiles from various people groups who all held radically different beliefs about morality, religion, the world and even the purpose of the city.  How do you respond to a fragmented, hostile city? 

We live in a society in which most people feel like exiles.  Many are not natives to San Diego; some have been sent here by the military.  Some have moved here because of the sun.  Some have come for jobs, and our culture is incredibly fragmented.  Think about this: the liberals in San Diego think that this city is too conservative and it frustrates them, yet the conservatives think this city is entirely too liberal and it frustrates them.  Now, both are residents here in our city.  We live in a fragmented society which does not have consensus about what is wrong and what is right, very similar to what the Jewish exiles were facing. 

Now, here is the question: How do you respond to a fragmented culture?  The answer from God through the prophet Jeremiah is incredible.  This is a very important text for Kaleo and it has shaped us tremendously in the way we view the city and see ourselves as a church in the city for the city.

There are three things this passage teaches us about the city:

I- Wrong ways to relate to the city
II- God’s way to relate to the city
III- How to get the power to accomplish God’s way

I- The wrong ways to relate to the city

In this letter God is speaking to the exiles of the city. 

Verse 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…”

God alludes to two wrong agendas for relating to the city of Babylon. 

1- The Babylonian Agenda

God brought the Jews as exiles to Babylon and the Babylonians had their own agenda for the Jews.  Babylonians had learned how to tame unruly nations they conquered.  They were masters at this and had developed the skill and practice to effectively take over a people.  There are a few ways that they did this which are understood by sociologists today.  They say there are three ways you can oppress and exclude a people.

a- Expulsion.  Expel them, drive them out.  The Babylonians found that if you expel them and drive them out, they gather together and come back armed, organized, and angry. 

b- Subjugation.  Subjugate them by enslaving them.  Chain them up and have them as your slaves.  Make them do hard labor.  The problem with a subjugated people is that they get tired of being slaves and organize and try to overthrow you constantly.  People don’t like being slaves.  The third way is the most effective.

c- Assimilation.  With assimilation, you offer the exiles great jobs and positions of influence with material possessions as long as they become just like the oppressors. 

Think of the book of Daniel.  He was taken off to Babylon because he was strong and intelligent.  He was given a pagan name and he and his colleagues were given the best education and training.  They attempted to assimilate Daniel educationally, socially, intellectually, culturally, and spiritually.  That community then loses its distinctive quality that makes it what it is.  It loses its memory of who it once was.  Within a couple of generations you can train them to want the best jobs, and positions of power so that they will do anything to change and work to have them. 

God refers to this in verse 6: “multiply there, and do not decrease.”  The Babylonians wanted them to decrease.  Not necessarily in physical numbers, but in worldview numbers.  The Babylonians wanted their distinct qualities to decrease and assimilate into their culture.  God says no. 

2- The False Prophets Agenda

a- Tribalism

Verse 8: “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.”

The false Jewish prophets had an agenda, but that agenda was not God’s agenda.  The false prophets were telling them something that God says He did not tell them.  What was the false prophets instruction?  Turn back to chapter 28.

Jeremiah 28:2-17: “‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, ‘Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8  The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.  9  As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.’  10  Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them.  11  And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.’ But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.  12  Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:  13  ‘Go, tell Hananiah, “Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron.  14  For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.”’  15  And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.  16  Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.”’  17  In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.”

Hananiah was predicting that God would break the leaders of Babylon and the Jews would return to their home.  He was giving them a false-hope because this is not what God was saying.  Does this sound familiar?  Is this not what all the rapture theorists argue—that God is coming to whisk us away, so just hang on and He’ll get us out of here soon?  This view says the city is going to be destroyed and judged and it’s our job cling together in our own little tribe.  Don’t go into the city, stay out here.  This is nothing more than tribalism.

Tribalism views the city as its enemy, but is willing to take from the city as if the city exists for them.  Sure, make money, trade with the city, go into it when you need something from it, deal with it and exploit it so that you can have a nice, safe and quiet life. 

Assimilation means that you go into the city and engage it for your own individual power and wealth, so you fit right in and assimilate. 

Tribalism means that outwardly you smile but on the inside you disdain the city.  You despise the society.  You only deal with it to make your family, tribe, religious group, more powerful.  This is what Hananiah was telling them.  Don’t love the city, use it, disdain it, look forward to its destruction.

The Babylonians wanted them to assimilate, come in, blend in, be like them for personal power. 

God says neither will do.  God’s way is so vastly different than man’s ways that it is shocking.  God does not seek tribalism, nor does he seek that we assimilate, it is a third way that is beautiful. 

II.  God’s way to relate to the city

Verses 5-7: “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 their 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.”

God says to move in!  Build homes and settle down. Stay there a long time, plant gardens.  Take wives, have sons and daughters, give your daughters in marriage, have kids and grandkids.  Don’t decrease; multiply.  And oh, seek the welfare (shalom), the peace of the city.  What!?  Seek the welfare of our greatest enemies?  Desire a dynamic flourishing of peace?  Pursue their welfare?  Their hands are still dripping with the blood of our family members whom they killed!  This city is wicked and terrible.  God has the audacity to tell them to seek its peace because in its peace you will find your peace.

Don’t just move in the city and smile so you can selfishly use the city, and don’t exploit the city by going to it only when you want something from it so you can make your tribe or family more wealthy.  Seek the prosperity and peace for the whole city.  Love it, seek its greatness, root for it, don’t root against it.   

The only way you can understand this is if you understand the meaning of the city in Scripture.  Augustine wrote the great book called the City of God.  He says that the whole history of the world can be summed up as a tale of two cities: the city of man and the city of God. 

The city of man operates on the principle of pride.  People in that city seek power and recognition in a selfish way.  It is a place of exhaustion and oppression.  They go to the city to get something.  It oppresses because you are seeking your own good and so you step on others along the way.

The city of God is entirely different.  This city does not work on the principle of pride, but of peace; not on the principle of human efforts, but of grace.  Because of that, it isn’t a place of exhaustion but of joy.  They don’t need to work in this city to get something; they already have it, grace.  They don’t enter into this city looking to get but to give.  You already know who you are by God’s grace and you don’t need to try to get your identity or prove yourself, you come to serve and love.  You’re already loved and know who you are.  It’s not a place of exhaustion, but of joy.  It’s not a place of oppression, but of justice. 

The city of man works on the principle: your life to benefit me.  I go to the city to get.

The city of God works on the principle: my life to serve you.  I come to give. 

All through the Scriptures you have these two city’s views.  They are two totally different kingdoms.  We live in a time when we feel like we’re only in the city of man, under the king of this world’s dominion.  We feel exhausted and oppressed.  We then retreat into a place where we seek nothing more than the destruction of the city just like Jonah.  We are sitting in the suburbs waiting for the city to be nuked by God. 

In Jeremiah’s day, this was certainly the prevailing view.  Yet God says they should move into Babylon, stop waiting for the destruction of the city in the suburbs and seek the welfare of the city.  Seek its peace. 

Jesus explains this to us in Matthew chapter 5 on the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:14-16: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

He tells His disciples that they are the light of the world, a city set on a hill!  When He says that we should let our light shine before others so that our “good works” may be seen, He doesn’t mean personal moral behavior alone; He means works of great love and charity of service. 

Every earthly city is comprised of citizens who are part of the city of man and each city has citizens of the city of God.  Every city is two cities.  The city of God is a mini-city of each city.  The city of God is an alternate city within a city.  You are a city on a hill!  What does this city look like?

Christians are to be an alternate city in every city and instead of using sex, money, and power for exploitation and pride like the city of man, the city of God uses them in life-giving ways to serve the city.

The way to bear witness to the city of God for the benefit of the city of man is to go to your city not for your sake but for their sake.  You don’t exploit it; you serve it.  You don’t oppress it; you liberate it.  Work in the city for the city’s sake.

Augustine said that the moment you are born again, you get a dual citizenship.  You become a citizen of the city of God as you are living in the city of man.  What is the mark of a citizen of the city of God?  They are the very best citizens of the city.  Because they don’t move in to assimilate, they don’t move in to exploit and tribalize, the move in for the city’s sake. 

When Jeremiah says to seek the “shalom” of the city, he isn’t thinking of our English version of peace.  The Hebrew word is very dynamic and has fullness to its meaning.  The English version of peace is often viewed as the absence of war or hostility, or we see it as a personal inward calm.  That is not what the Hebrew word means.  It means a total flourishing in every dimension: socially, economically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

If you are going to be a citizen of the city of God, this has to be the mark of your life.  Seek and pray for the total flourishing of that city.

Think about what this would look like:

Socially: Helping different racial groups love one another and relate to one another out of respect and compassion. 

Economically: You have to see that you don’t have a career here to only make your life more comfortable.  You career here is to work to see that the water level of the city is raised and all the boats rise.  You are working to see each person develop and grow so that they can flourish with shalom.

Physically: You are seeking the shalom of the citizens for the safety and benefit of all citizens.  You desire the city to be safe.  You desire the city to be a place where people feel a sense of peace over the city.

Emotionally: You are seeking the welfare and shalom of each person you know so that they are freed from depression, guilt, despair, despondency, anger, hostility, etc.  Because you have been given grace, you are to be an ambassador for your city and show what it looks like to be blessed by grace emotionally.

Spiritually: You are to seek after the hearts of every person you know, to see them come to a close and loving relationship with your Father.  You are to show them what it looks like to be children of this Father and citizens of your Father’s city.  You are to seek after their conversion to grace from a place of work and self-salvation.  The only true peace comes from the Prince of Peace Himself. 

With our grace given to us by God we are a to serve the city.  I know this sounds insane.  How many churches are doing this?  Not many.  But the early church did, and it won over the most powerful empire in the world, Rome.

Listen to the description of these early Christians:

An early Pagan writer even called Christians their own "genus," or in other words, they were their own species. Why would he say that? He said it because Christians didn't keep their Christianity private. It shaped their culture publicly and they created a counter culture which had entirely different values than the culture at large. Rodney Stark and other anthropologists tell us that there were ten main differences between the church and the world:

1- They refused to attend blood thirsty entertainment. They wouldn't go to gladiatorial events because they believed it defiled humans who were created in the image of God. This made them appear to be anti-social. Tertullian and Augustine both wrote about these events in a negative light.

2- They did not serve in the military to support Caesar's wars of conquest, which made them appear weak.

3- They were against abortion and infanticide. In this culture, both were considered acceptable. To throw your baby out on the dung heap if you didn't want it was not taboo.

4- They empowered women by showing their value and dignity in places of learning and service which had previously been exclusively for men. Christians held women in high regard and treasured them rather than viewing them as just a step above expendable children and servants.

5- They were against sex outside of marriage. This fidelity was considered odd and against culture. Sex was viewed as nothing more than a desire like eating or sleeping. Christians held a high view of the bed and kept it pure and would not engage in sex outside of marriage.

6- They were against homosexual relationships. This was odd in a time when same sex practice was not frowned upon.

7- They were exceptionally generous with their resources. They shared what they had with one another and welcomed others in with a hospitality that was unparalleled.

8- They were radically for the poor. In a time when the poor and downtrodden were viewed as getting what they deserved, they were aggressively committed to loving and serving people in the margins of society.

9- They mixed races and social classes in ways that were unseen in their gatherings, and for it they were considered scandalous.

10- They believed only Christ was the way to salvation. This was in a time when everyone had a god and could believe something entirely different and it was totally acceptable to be polytheistic and pluralistic. Christians dared claim that Jesus was the only way and refused to bend to other gods.

Twenty to thirty years after the Apostle John died, there was a letter written to explain what was going on in the spread of the Church. It was a description of the church that was immensely attractive and gives us a glimpse as to how the Church grew so rapidly and caused many to be curious about Christ. It is called:

The Epistle to Diognetus, c. AD 130

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

"They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet suffer all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their babies. They share their table with all, but not their bed with all. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their exemplary lives. They love all men and yet are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word-what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world."

How about the view of the church? Let's look at an early description from Tertullian in 197 AD.

From the Apology of Tertullian, AD 197

"We are a body knit together as such by a common religious profession, by unity of discipline, and by the bond of a common hope. We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This strong exertion God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation. We assemble to read our sacred writings... and with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we make our confidence more steadfast; and no less by inculcations of God's precepts we confirm good habits. In the same place also exhortations are made, rebukes and sacred censures are administered. For with a great gravity is the work of judging carried on among us, as befits those who feel assured that they are in the sight of God; and you have the most notable example of judgment to come when anyone has sinned so grievously as to require his severance from us in prayer, in the congregation and in all sacred intercourse. The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honour not by purchase but by established character. There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. These gifts are...not spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines or banished to the islands or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God's Church, they become the nurslings of their confession. But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. See, they say about us, how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves would sooner kill."

III.  How to get the power to relate in God’s way

Centuries after the story of the Jewish exiles in Babylon, Jesus Christ comes to another city, Jerusalem.  Babylon in Old Testament prophecy usually symbolized the earthly city, and Jerusalem was a symbol of the heavenly city, the city of God.  Jesus Christ comes to the city of God. 

What happens to Jesus when He comes to Jerusalem?  He’s executed and thrown out.  They never executed someone inside the holy city, they had to be executed outside of the city, on Calvary.  Why did they execute criminals outside?  It was symbolic of the banishment and exile that sin deserves.  The consequences of selfishness and sin is exile.  You lose the safety of your community and you’re thrown out. This was not mere symbol with Jesus, it was a reality. 

Hebrews 13:12-14: “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

Jesus suffered outside the gate.  What does that mean?  Jesus Christ was forsaken on the cross.  Jesus was cosmically thrown out.  God forsook Him.  He experienced true exile.  Jesus was thrown out so that we would be brought in.  He got the punishment, He got the banishment, He received the exile so that you and I don’t have to.

When you believe in Jesus, you are automatically enrolled in the city of God as a citizen.  Jesus lost the city that was, so that we could be citizens of the city to come.  That makes us salt and light to the city that is, the city of man.  If you have the love of God and acceptance in His city, you don’t need the city to get something, you have everything, so you can now serve and love this city, the city of man.

The way we ordinarily find an identity factor is by despising the people that don’t have the identity factor that we have.  We find our self by exclusion in the city of man.  If you’re a hard worker, you despise people who are lazy.  If you are moral, you despise the immoral.  You think you’re okay because you’re not like them. 

But what if your identity is in Christ?  What if you’re loved based upon His grace and not what you do?  What if you believed you aren’t worthy of anything, but have been given everything by sheer and utter grace?  If that is your basis, how do you see the city that is broken and lost?  You see them as people who can potentially be reached by the Gospel.