Citizenship

Several years back I went through the Gospel in Life study from Tim Keller.  In that book, he talks about a passage from Jeremiah that has stuck with me.  I think about it often as I consider what it looks like to be an ambassador for God’s kingdom.  This week my son and I were talking about the idea of citizenship and what it means to be a good citizen and we paused to read these verses together because they offer a perspective that leads to flourishing.

Jeremiah 29:4-7
This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and live in them.  Plant gardens and eat their produce.  Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters.  Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters.  Multiply there; do not decrease.  Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to.  Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

These verses are the beginning of a letter Jeremiah sent to those that had been exiled to Babylon.  These people had forcibly been removed from their homes and taken captive in a land that was not theirs.  Thriving in this new space probably wasn’t their first thought.

And yet, God told them you are going to be here a while, so you should settle down and invest in this community that you will call home.  Make it beautiful.  Grow gardens.  Eat.  Have weddings.  Grow your families.  Build homes.  Work hard.  Celebrate.

In the face of exile, and losing all you love and know, start again.  This is your home for now.  Your families won’t be exiles forever, but for the time being plant roots here.  Let my kingdom increase here.  Pursue the well-being of the city!

And then in Jeremiah’s letter, we see these words from God - “Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

God is asking them to pray for this city they will call home.  This city that has destroyed their previous home and exiled them from their land.  This city that does not recognize God and is pagan in nature.  He is calling them to pray for this city because when this city thrives they also will thrive.  The two are knit together.

I think we have the same invitation in the cities we live in.  Settle down in the place you call home.  Grow roots.  Be good citizens.  Love deeply.  Celebrate.  Pursue the well-being of the city.  Pray to the Lord on behalf of the city.  Be beacons of hope in the city.

God wasn’t telling them to assimilate into the city and become just like them; rather, he was inviting them to love the city and live lives that would point to God. 

How would our cities begin to change if we adopt this way of thinking?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

~  Melissa