Mission from Exile
""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 have welfare." (Jeremiah 29:1-23, emphasis here on verse 7)
... this is a radical assertion of the Gospel, radically unlike all of the religious conceptions of man. Because it is obviously a passage about mission as well -- the Israelites were "sent" (missio) into exile (and those who remained in Jerusalem are here cursed). They are commanded to strive in life, in prayer, for the welfare of those in the place of exile, a place as evil as Egypt, and the opposite of Jerusalem, the city of God, from which they are outcasts. A place they might have thought impossible for worship or prophecy, for the singing of the Lord's songs, or the playing of harps. But their iniquity and banishment, not their piety and faithfulness, become the very occasion of, the condition for, their mission in the world.
We have realized that to be a Christian is to be, like Jesus, in exile and humiliation, bearing the judgment upon sin. Not simply in times of testing or duress, but for as long as we are here as strangers in this foreign land. This passage goes on to speak of the re-gathering and home-coming, but only "when seventy years have been completed" (v. 10). (...)
What a hope that when God is against me, when He has sent me into exile, He is also preparing a mission, a calling for me. Our believing brothers and sisters in Romania who suffered prison and torture under communism say that on the one hand, this was God's judgment against them, which they accepted as such. But it was also God sending them into the mission field of the prison, "the parish" of those who were clergy. "The Communist torturers will not come to the church -- how else will they hear the Gospel unless we are sent to be the tortured?" they asked.
And why does God send His own people to seek the good of a place of godlessness? For the sake of that city and its inhabitants? Certainly. But also, because "in its welfare you will have welfare." God makes inseparable the welfare of His believing people with the welfare of the pagans, and appeals to the self-interest of His own people: the interests of both are not united in an altruistic and sentimental way, but matter-of-factly and quite literally. Maybe we think it is more holy (or simply, nicer) to love the non-believers in our lives for their sake, out of some generosity for their good. But God says, no, love them for your own good. Let their benefit be your benefit. It is the essence of the second great commandment; it is clear from this passage that loving your neighbor as yourself is a missionary call.
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you as captives..." The Israelites are the over-powered and afflicted in this situation, the lowest people on the social rung of the city's population, with no power or status. We see again and again in the Bible that God loves to use the lowest and the weakest -- consider the slaves of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 who convince their master to seek and follow the counsel of the prophet Elijah. They have access to heavenly things that their earthly master does not, but they dare to seek their own welfare in that of their earthly master.
And what if seeking the welfare of the unbelieving city seems to conflict with previous calling from God? Seeking the welfare of the city will undoubtedly prove more difficult than we think, as with Peter, for whom seeking the welfare of the unbelieving Cornelius meant being commanded to eat unclean meats. We don’t know, still we cling to the promise that "in its welfare, you will have welfare."
[GEN, 2010]
... this is a radical assertion of the Gospel, radically unlike all of the religious conceptions of man. Because it is obviously a passage about mission as well -- the Israelites were "sent" (missio) into exile (and those who remained in Jerusalem are here cursed). They are commanded to strive in life, in prayer, for the welfare of those in the place of exile, a place as evil as Egypt, and the opposite of Jerusalem, the city of God, from which they are outcasts. A place they might have thought impossible for worship or prophecy, for the singing of the Lord's songs, or the playing of harps. But their iniquity and banishment, not their piety and faithfulness, become the very occasion of, the condition for, their mission in the world.
We have realized that to be a Christian is to be, like Jesus, in exile and humiliation, bearing the judgment upon sin. Not simply in times of testing or duress, but for as long as we are here as strangers in this foreign land. This passage goes on to speak of the re-gathering and home-coming, but only "when seventy years have been completed" (v. 10). (...)
What a hope that when God is against me, when He has sent me into exile, He is also preparing a mission, a calling for me. Our believing brothers and sisters in Romania who suffered prison and torture under communism say that on the one hand, this was God's judgment against them, which they accepted as such. But it was also God sending them into the mission field of the prison, "the parish" of those who were clergy. "The Communist torturers will not come to the church -- how else will they hear the Gospel unless we are sent to be the tortured?" they asked.
And why does God send His own people to seek the good of a place of godlessness? For the sake of that city and its inhabitants? Certainly. But also, because "in its welfare you will have welfare." God makes inseparable the welfare of His believing people with the welfare of the pagans, and appeals to the self-interest of His own people: the interests of both are not united in an altruistic and sentimental way, but matter-of-factly and quite literally. Maybe we think it is more holy (or simply, nicer) to love the non-believers in our lives for their sake, out of some generosity for their good. But God says, no, love them for your own good. Let their benefit be your benefit. It is the essence of the second great commandment; it is clear from this passage that loving your neighbor as yourself is a missionary call.
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you as captives..." The Israelites are the over-powered and afflicted in this situation, the lowest people on the social rung of the city's population, with no power or status. We see again and again in the Bible that God loves to use the lowest and the weakest -- consider the slaves of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 who convince their master to seek and follow the counsel of the prophet Elijah. They have access to heavenly things that their earthly master does not, but they dare to seek their own welfare in that of their earthly master.
And what if seeking the welfare of the unbelieving city seems to conflict with previous calling from God? Seeking the welfare of the city will undoubtedly prove more difficult than we think, as with Peter, for whom seeking the welfare of the unbelieving Cornelius meant being commanded to eat unclean meats. We don’t know, still we cling to the promise that "in its welfare, you will have welfare."
[GEN, 2010]
posted by CS at 12:17 PM
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