Jeremiah 29:1-14
29 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 [shalom]
of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare [shalom] you
will find your welfare [shalom]. 8 For thus
says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the 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,
says the Lord.
10 For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit
you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this
place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for
you, says the Lord,
plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then
when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When
you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I
will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the
nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you
into exile.
A ‘cutting’ of tree wisdom (Genny Tunbridge)
When I was five my family
moved from England to Holland; I remember complaining that I would not see the
apple tree we had planted in our garden grow big enough to climb in! Frequent
house moves followed during both childhood and adult life – knowing you won’t live
somewhere long makes it tempting to not bother much with gardening, especially
with planting trees, since you won’t be around to benefit from them in years to
come. But others will benefit even if we do not.
Planting trees is a
present act that shows commitment to the future. The slow growth and long life
of tree mean that most varieties will likely long outlive the humans who plant
them. Their very many benefits – food and shelter, carbon capture and oxygen
supply, and uplift of the spirit – will benefit future generations more than
our own, and the whole eco-system, not just the human race. According to some biblical writers, our
brief life on earth is like an exile, waiting to return home to God. But
holding this view does not mean (just as it didn’t mean for Jews in exile in
Babylon) that we should not care for the wellbeing of the place where we find
ourselves here and now – however temporary our stay may be. Planting trees
contributes to the earth’s shalom.
One way to do this is
through the Woodland Trust[1]:
you can buy native trees to plant yourself, or support their work by dedicating
a tree as a memorial, or a celebration of a birth or anniversary.
Introduction to the theme (Al Barrett)
One of the themes we’ve
returned to repeatedly in our ‘Trees of Life’ journey so far has been exile.
The kingdom of Judah, centred on Jerusalem, was invaded by the powerful
Babylonian empire (around 590 BCE), Jerusalem was ransacked, and many of the
Jews (especially their leaders and ‘professional’ classes) were taken by their
captors back to Babylon. While they were clearly the ‘losers’ of this
particular inter-national conflict, the evidence suggests that the Jewish
people’s life in Babylon wasn’t awful. Yes, they had all the challenges of
being foreigners in a strange land, but this wasn’t Egypt: they weren’t slaves.
With the hindsight
perspective of history, this period of exile was to last somewhere between 50
and 70 years – those who were taken from Jerusalem as adults would see out
their lifetimes in Babylon. But the prophetic books that took shape in exile
(e.g. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, some parts of Isaiah) didn’t have the benefit
of hindsight. For all they knew, the Jewish households and communities who’d
been taken to Babylon could be there for generations.
So the exiles were caught
in a dilemma. Do they, on the one hand, ‘sit tight’, wait and pray for a return
home – keeping themselves to themselves as much as possible, trying to preserve
a little ‘outpost’ of Jerusalem, hanging on to what they remember of their past
lives, driven by a homesick, nostalgic longing to go ‘back to the way things
were’? Or do they, on the other hand, make the decision to call this
place ‘home’, settle down, put down roots, get involved with the society around
them – and try to work out new ways of living as faithful children of their God
YHWH?
The passage from Jeremiah
includes elements of both. There is the promise of a home-coming, when God will
‘gather’ the scattered and bring ‘restoration’. But the Jewish exiles are not
to sit tight and wait for that moment. They are to call this place ‘home’ for
the time being, and ‘seek the welfare [shalom]’ of the city where they
are – because in that seeking they will discover their own welfare [shalom]
(Jer. 29:7). Has God abandoned them? Is God waiting for them ‘back home’ in the
ruins of Jerusalem? Is God in their midst, in the strange land of exile? Or
might the answer be Yes to more than one of these questions?
Reflection (Paul Wright)
I begin by reflecting on
the Biblical portrayal of Babylon. The whole Bible presents us a city devoted
to materialism and sinful pleasure. A place that rejects the One True God. The
prophets mention Babylon as both a warning of punishment and an example of what
displeases God. The New Testament gives it as a symbol of humanities sinfulness
and God's judgment. In 1 Peter 5:13, the apostle cites Babylon to remind
Christians in Rome to be as faithful as Daniel was. Finally, in the book of
Revelation, Babylon again stands for Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, the
enemy of Christianity. Let’s just say the Bible doesn’t paint a good picture of
this place.
In our reading today, I
imagine a place where you feel captive and a place you are in exile is going to
cloud your judgement. It’s a strange place, a foreign land, a place described
by your closest family, friends and leaders as sinful. Probably most felt it
most brutally as a place where they lost their power, entitlements, maybe even
their dignity. So I give them the benefit of the doubt. This Biblical
understanding and in today’s passage the Jewish perspective is of an ‘other’
place. Not our place and not our real home. For me this begs the question who gets
to judge? Who gets to describe it? And what impact does this labelling of
‘other’ places have?
One thing I have learned
from the past few weeks exploring Black History is that maybe it’s not always
wise to just accept how the one’s telling the story describe and treat the
‘other’ places and ‘other’ people! It is interesting how the Rastafarian religion
understands the Biblical experience of Babylon and how they see this in the
imperialistic evil of the British empire, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and
the exploitation and oppression that still exists today. A place wrapped up in
the history of a white western society rooted in Christianity and the power
influenced by the teachings of the Institutional Church. Maybe we need to start
thinking of the Church as Babylon and ourselves as Babylonians, but that’s for
another day!
There are of course other
historical perspectives of Babylon, a place laced with an intricate system of
canals leading off the Euphrates River, used for irrigation and commerce.
Breathtaking buildings adorned with enamelled brick, neatly paved streets made
Babylon the most impressive city of its time. Described as a centre of
learning, culture, science and knowledge. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a
colossal maze of terraced trees, shrubs, flowers and manmade waterfalls, are
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
So at least two sides to every story!
I come to today’s
passage. For me this is one of the most influential stories in the Bible. It
influences how I understand God and understand living out my faith. We all will
have a quote or a story that resonates, and today we reflect on some of mine.
It leads me to my story, and the story of a few others, who have moved to Firs
and Bromford and made it our home.
Now I am very concerned
that there is any hint in my story that I am describing Firs & Bromford as
the Bible portrays Babylon! But what I will say is Firs & Bromford for me
was an ‘other place’. It wasn’t my home and it is different to where I grew up
in Coleshill & Castle Bromwich. I had passed Chipperfield Road on many
occasions on the 90 and 94 bus but had never been down there. I had heard of
this place ‘The Bromford’ and made my own judgements/assumptions based on what
people said. When I spent time living in and hanging out in Smiths Wood,
Chelmsley Wood, Shard End, Kingshurst and Castle Vale (similar 60’s built estates)
I still heard about this place! The other place, the place people who didn’t
live there looked down upon.
When I started to do
youth work in Firs & Bromford I heard it described by some professionals as
the problem estate! Workshy, anti-social, apathetic, hard to reach, deprived,
and a sink estate. I have also heard stories and heard myself how Firs &
Bromford has been described by Church members. Statements like ‘watch out for
your car down there’, ‘it’s not safe to walk there’, ‘why would you want to
move there?’, ‘all that stuff in the Bromford is sucking the life out of the
Church’ and being described as ‘you people down there in Bromford’. The more I
call Bromford my home, the more that hurts! I say this not to offend anyone or
call anyone out, I am just drawing attention to the deep-rooted sense of
‘other’ that exists in us all and the deep-rooted power and impact it has.
Jeremiah clearly outlines
that God is instructing us to ‘seek the welfare [shalom] of the city where I
have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its
welfare [shalom] you will find your welfare [shalom]’. Now that is one heck of
a prophetic statement to disrupt the ‘status quo’ of how life was being
understood! Imagine the people hearing that statement. This place that we have
been told is sinful and a wicked ungodly place, the place we are in exile with
no power, status or influence. You are saying seek God’s Shalom here? God is
here? Our welfare is to be found here? Our welfare (or let’s say Salvation) is
intertwined with the people here!? And more than that it can be found in those
people who live here, they will reveal God to us!?’ I bet they didn’t know
whether to laugh, cry or maybe keep listening to the ‘false’ prophets telling
them otherwise.
I can imagine them saying,
‘No, no, no, you can’t be right. We must be being saved some other way! Tell us
we will be brought back to our home of power, status and safety. We will ride
it out by sticking with our own, only engage if people are willing to believe what
we believe, look like us, and eventually we will return to you God. Maybe if we
do this we will rescue a few of those people and bring them back with us.’ I
think the passage about building houses, growing gardens, increasing in numbers
could even be misunderstood as this as well, and the passages about eventually
coming ‘home’ might be understood as ‘it’s gonna be tough for a bit, but at the
end of the day I will rescue you’. But this would be ignoring the clear belief
that God’s Shalom is in Babylon, God is here, and I am asking you to seek it.
This has been my
experience of moving to Firs and Bromford. I, alongside other Christians, came
with a faith filled with hope & love. I didn’t come with a faith that would
bring light to a dark place, I came seeking the Shalom of the city, seeking the
light that already exists, and a faith that believed God has a plan for this
place and a future filled with hope. I
have found it and I know others have found it too. The relationships that have
grown, the friendships, the things we do ‘together’ like Junk Food Kitchen, FAB
Church, The Hub, Street Connecting, and so much more. This also includes life
beyond the Firs & Bromford like the Old Rectory and the exciting plans for
the Pantry. This is people who have chosen to move here, those that have lived
here for years (if not all their life) and those who join in. This includes
people of faith (in a range of religions) and of no faith (well not faith in a
particular religion). The ups and downs of community life we experience is ‘of
God’, teaching me and others about God and revealing to us God’s Shalom.
During my time here it is
interesting when some people say to me they see and feel something different in
us, by that they mean the ‘Christians’! They describe compassion, love,
forgiveness, hope and generosity. I say to them that is God’s presence in us,
and I see that in you as well, and all around this community.
Finally, the ‘home
coming’. Well Bromford is now my home, Hodge Hill Parish is my home. I am not
seeking a newly built Jerusalem to move back to because I don’t believe the
home coming as a physical geographical thing. The home coming is seeking and
experiencing ‘The Kingdom of God’ in the now, and the Kingdom to come (the New
Jerusalem).
I finish today bowing my
head in prayer and lifting my heart to the Lord, joining with friends and
neighbours who also seek the Shalom of the City, knowing the answer has already
been laid out before us all:
“11 For surely I know
the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for
harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come
and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me;
if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the LORD,
and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all
the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to
the place from which I sent you into exile.”
Reflection (Penny Hall)
Many of us will have
moved house at some point in our lives; often for positive reasons such as a
new job, to be closer to family or for a sunnier climate. Others will have
moved for economic reasons, downsizing or the loss of a job. Often, moving
house is exciting, a challenge, a happy new beginning. Not so many of us will
have been pushed to move because of poverty, war or persecution for our
beliefs. Even fewer of us will have been forced into exile by a dominant power,
as happened to the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s time. Even if we chose to
leave our previous home, there may be a sadness, leaving family, a familiar
culture, especially leaving somewhere you have lived for a large part of your
life.
Through Jeremiah, God
tells the exiles to build houses and live in them, to plant gardens and eat the
food, to marry and have children and to seek the welfare of the city and pray
for the city. “In its welfare you will find your welfare”. Jeremiah
encourages the exiles not only to endure their exile but to discover a new life
in faith and hope, to make this new city their home.
How could the people of
Jerusalem pray for and settle down in a city which represented those who had
destroyed their home and slaughtered their loved ones? This question reminds me
of a story I heard many years ago, a story about attitudes:
A wise elderly man sat
under a tree outside his village. A traveller came up to him and asked what
kind of people he would meet in the village. The wise man asked him first to
tell him what kind of people he had met on his travels so far. The traveller
replied “I have met the most awful
people! People who are selfish and unkind to strangers. People who don’t care
for anyone.” The wise man said “I am sorry to tell you, but if you go into my
village, I’m afraid that’s exactly the kind of people you will meet.” The
traveller carried on along the road without going into the village.
A while later, another
traveller came upon the wise man and asked the same question. Again, the wise
man asked him what kind of people he had met in his travels. The traveller
replied “I have met the most amazing people! People who are kind and generous
to strangers, people who care for one another like family.” The wise man said “I am happy to tell you
that if you go into my village, I am certain that is exactly the kind of people
you will meet”. “Come then” said the traveller “and introduce me to them”.
Perhaps this story and
God’s words through Jeremiah are both telling us to take some personal
responsibility for finding peace in our community. Was the exile an opportunity
to discover the love of God? Was it a chance to think through what was
important in their lives? Can we discover the word of God in our community?
So, how can we find
Shalom in our neighbourhoods? I’m sure we could all find bad things in any
neighbourhood, but I’d like to share with you some of the good things happening
on the Bromford. I have lived for just one year on the Bromford estate, part of
Hodge Hill parish. I wasn’t exiled here! On the contrary, I chose to come here
because I already knew quite a few people and I had been involved in lots of
community events. I knew I would find Shalom here.
Over the last few years
there has been a tradition of pop-up places of welcome (PUPOWs) on grassy
street corners. A gazebo, tables and chairs would be set up with drinks games
and activities for children and people would be invited to bring a contribution
to the picnic, but more importantly to bring themselves. People brought
platters of samosas, sandwiches, cakes, pans of chicken and rice. A banquet
would arise from nowhere! People helped elderly neighbours to walk across, or
took food to them if they couldn’t. Neighbours chatted to each other, found out
each other’s names and got to know each other. Relationships were built. It
just needed an opportunity.
Since the arrival of
Covid (putting us all into a bit of an exile!), neighbours in my road had a
physically distanced street party to celebrate the anniversary of VE Day. One
neighbour provided music, another provided cakes and we sat on our drives and
enjoyed being neighbours. People passing brought out food and drinks and joined
in.
This week, Sahra will be
telling her amazing story of how she and her neighbours transformed their dull,
overgrown, unused communal garden into
a haven of joy. Out of the shared commitment to improving their environment
came new friendships; another glimpse of God’s kingdom.
In our lives, we will
have occasions where we long for the past and hope for the future. But we can
have Shalom here and now. We can find those glimpses of God’s kingdom and be
part of it, and even to help to build it.
Reflection (Lizzie Gawen)
For a long time
now, I have wanted to settle down. To find a sense of permanence and peace in
my life. A community and a place to call home. So, I guess I identify a little
bit with the exiles. They didn’t know if Babylon was a place to call home or if
it was a temporary situation. They didn’t know if they should be vulnerable to
envision a future in a place they wouldn’t be for too long.
Yet, God calls
the exiles to seek the welfare of the city. In my life, amid my many house-moves
and time spent in various Christian communities, God has opened up my heart to
seek the welfare of the city through gardening. For me, gardens are not just
lawns and plants. They are places for community, flourishing, growing (tomatoes
and people). I love this Greek proverb: ‘a society grows great when wise men
plant trees whose shade they will never sit in’. Gardens are a long-term
investment that take time and patience. The seasons can’t be hurried. A tree
grows at its own pace. Gardening helps me stay grounded in a changing world and
feel connected to God, in a way that nothing else does.
In his autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson
Mandela talks about the impact of gardening on his life “A garden was one of
the few things in prison that one could control. To plant a seed, watch it
grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring
satisfaction. The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth
offered a taste of freedom’. Lockdown has impacted all of us and my escape has
been to garden. I’ve reclaimed the raised beds outside Church House with the
help of neighbours and made new raised beds which are filled with flowers and
seedlings. Neighbours can now pick herbs and fruit as they walk by.
Yet, I was still searching for something more. A green oasis
in the city. Not being able to go on retreat or on a holiday has really
impacted my mental health. When I was told that there were plots available at
Black Pit Lane allotments, I visited that weekend and was handed a key. In this
new season of uncertainty, my allotment is my retreat in the city. Something to
invest in for the good of others and for myself.
In a time where a lot of us have given up planning anything,
I’ve realised the one thing I can plan is my allotment. I can sow some seeds
and watch them grow. It’s my place to be with God and see their goodness in
creation. If you need a retreat and/or a project right now, why not try an
allotment? Or create a small patch to garden? You may find a small piece of
satisfaction and a little bit of God too.
Questions for reflection / discussion
As I read / listened to the
readings and reflections for this week…
·
what
did I notice, or what particularly stood out for me?
·
what
did they make me wonder, or what questions am I pondering?
·
what
have they helped me realise?
·
is there anything I want to do or
change in the light of this week's topic?
A prayer for this week: ‘For an exile’, by John O’Donohue
When you
dream, it is always home.
You are there among your own,
The rhythm of their voices rising like song
Your blood would sing through any dark.
Then you
awake to find yourself listening
To the sounds of traffic in another land.
For a moment, your whole body recoils
At the strange emptiness of where you are.
This country
is cold to your voice.
It is still a place without echoes.
Nothing of yours has happened here.
No one knows
you,
The language slows you,
The thick accent smothers your presence.
You sound
foreign to yourself;
Their eyes reflect how strange you seem
When seen across a cold distance
That has no bridge to carry
The charisma in which your friends
Delight at home.
Though your
work here is hard,
It brings relief, helps your mind
In returning to the small
Bounties of your absence.
Evening is
without protection;
Your room waits,
Ready to take you
Back like some convict
Who is afraid
Of the life outside.
The things
you brought from home
Look back at you; out of place here
They take on lonely power.
You cringe
at the thought
That someone from home
Might see you now here,
In this unsheltered room.
Now is the
time to hold faithful
To your dream, to understand
That this is an interim time
Full of awkward disconnection.
Gradually,
you will come to find
Your way to friends who will open
Doors into a new belonging.
Your heart
will brighten
With new discovery,
Your presence will unclench
And find ease,
Letting your substance
And promise be seen.
Slowly, a
new world will open for you.
The eyes of your heart, refined
By this desert time, will be free
To see and celebrate the new life
For which you sacrificed so much.
(from John O’ Donohue, Benedictus: A Book of
Blessings)
Activities
/ conversation-starters with young (and not-so-young!) people
·
In
today’s reading, the people of Israel are coming to terms with being in a
situation they didn’t want – they are working out how to live in a strange
land. Perhaps there are some similarities with our situation now? Think back
over the period of the pandemic. Make a list of things that have changed and a
list of things that have stayed the same.
·
Look
at your lists of things that have changed and things that have stayed the same.
Where have you noticed God in these things? What are the things you want to thank
God for? What are the things you want to ask God for help with? Are there
things you feel angry or sad about? You can tell God how you are feeling.
·
“Seek
the welfare (shalom) of the city… for
in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Can you think of something you
could do for the welfare of your city? It could be something local, like
helping a neighbour or picking up litter. It could be something for the city as
a whole, like writing to your local councillor about an issue you care about
(eg. climate change or childhood poverty).
·
“I
know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not
for harm, to give you a future with hope.” It can be hard to imagine the future
at the moment, but it is important to remember that things won’t always stay
the same. What gives you hope? Create something – write a word, draw a picture,
find an object – which reminds you to hope, and put it somewhere you will see
it often.
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