Our church has recently begun to record sermons. One of the many changes that the age of Covid has brought. Since I type out a sermon, I usually place it on the blog in that form. Then I pair it back to an outline and preach. Below is the transcript, if that’s what you can call it. And here is the video of the sermon.
It was once clear in our country how Christians could interact with society. Today that does not seem to be the case. People are constantly bickering over how Christians are to interact. Some seem to think that we are to just be obedient to government leaders while others think that we are simply to toe a political party line.
We are nearing another heated election. And now political actors hurl threats at each other like a 7 year old schoolyard bully, who just needs to be shoved down the slide to help him understand his place in the world. And this heated rhetoric grows with every presidential election, but then again it does not. Every presidential election since I’ve been alive has been the most consequential in history, and OBVIOUSLY the world is going to end if the bully doesn’t get his way. This one does seem different because there are actually cities burning as some of the bullies threaten to burn everything down if they don’t get their way. Rather than getting pulled into the stupidity that oftentimes accompanies American politics or negotiating with terrorists, it is important for us to be clear headed about the role we are to play in the society we live in.
In the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which this Church adheres to under the heading, “The Christian and the Social Order” we read,
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
We are going to look at this in Jeremiah 29:1-14 today and see that we are exiles who work for a better society, but hope in the life to come.
The context of Jeremiah 29 is clear. The people of God are about to be exiled because of their sin. And this letter is sent to the “surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” (V. 1b) And here there will be given instructions as to how they are to live in their new existence as exiles.
We Are Exiles (Vv. 1-4)
It is very easy to understand and apply these instructions to our day and time because the writers of the New Testament did so. When Peter calls Christians “sojourners and exiles” in 1 Peter 2:11, there is good reason to think that he had this text in mind. The instructions that Paul gives to believers in Romans 13 has long been thought to be informed by this text, as well as the passages of Scripture that urge believers to pray for their government leaders. They had no problem looking at this text to see how the believer should relate to society, then why should we?
But we have to remember that our exile is not the same as theirs. There is a fundamental historical difference between what they were going through and our lives today. They were being severely disciplined for their sinfulness. And this is just not the case for the believer. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13) and are exiles on Earth (1 Peter 2:11). Our true and ultimate citizenship is in Heaven. (Philippians 3:20) and we do not have a lasting city here to call home but are seeking the Heavenly city to come. (Hebrews 13:14) For the non-Christian this is as good as it gets, but for us there is something far more glorious than the United States of America that we call our true home.
So, we are not of this world. America is not our great hope. We Christians are in exile here.
But even though we are not being punished here in America, it does not mean that we are here by accident. Christ has called us to be here and so there is some sense that God has placed us in the location that we are living as we await our eternal home. Though it is not our final resting place, we will be here for a while and have things to do while we are here.
As a church we are not part of this world. We are an outpost of the Kingdom of God meeting together weekly. We are exiles worshipping God together, sharing with one another, carrying one another’s burdens as we live in a land that is not our own and can be very dangerous for us to be in both physically and spiritually. Our concerns as a church are not primarily American, but Christian concerns.
But, we work and pray for a better society in the place where we live.
We Work and Pray to Better Society (Vv. 5-7)
Sitting down and sulking in a corner was not the way they were to live. They were to live their lives. Think about these instructions.
“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7 ESV)
Though they were exiles and not in their true home, they were to set down some roots with their society. They were to commit their selves to the place they lived. For them it was accepting God’s judgment against them as they worked for the welfare of the place they lived. The prosperity of the place they lived would be a good to them, as it is for us.
It is the same with us today. Though we are not accepting a punishment, we are awaiting our true home. But we are to fulfill these commands today as people in exile. Though this is not our home we are setting down roots and working for the betterment of society. Look at these commands one by one.
- Build houses. That is quite simple. Build a home, buy a home, rent a home, and live there. Yes, we are exiles, but you are planted enough in America that we set down some roots.
- Plant gardens and eat their produce. This is about work. Be productive. Build things. Be an entrepreneur. Have a job.
- Then he says to take wives and have sons and give your daughters in marriage…multiply there…do not decrease. This is simple as well. Have a family. Grow a family. Have kids. Christians need to have children. Look around at the future of our country. We need to be having children if we can and we need to be educating them well. But this growth also has to do with bringing people to faith in Christ. We need to be out sharing the gospel and leading people to become citizens of the greater home that we are so looking forward to.
- He also says to seek the welfare of the city they are living. This is being a good citizen. This is Romans 13:1-2, living in accordance to the laws of the land. We are to be good citizens and neighbors and work for to better the place we live. Because of America’s Constitution this also means that we need to make decisions that will be for the betterment of our country. I have a love/hate relationship with politics, but it would be wrong of me to be uninformed. I need to go and vote in a way that will propagate the prosperity of the country I live.
- Then, he says that we need to pray on behalf of the city, “for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” It is good and right for us to pray for America, and as the New Testament puts it “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. (1 Timothy 2:2 ESV) And, the truth of this statement cannot be undersold. The welfare of the place we live will be our welfare. Americans are incredibly blessed because God has blessed America more than any other country in the world. I think that all of us here today feel the welfare that is ours by virtue of being a citizen of America. But there is also a negative side to this.
As the moral rot sets in in our country, we feel that more and more as well. I think we can all look at people we know, our families, or others and feel this deeply. This rot may have come to our families through government schools, it might be through the entertainment of the day, it might affect your kids and grandkids, and you might accidentally let the rot in your front door and it brings harm to your family. We feel the degradation of society very deeply and the worse things get the more we will feel it. We should stand against this degradation and work for a better future for our society. As the Baptist Faith and Message portion we read earlier says,
“In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.”
As is written here in Jeremiah and we know very well, the welfare of the place we live should be of great concern to us. We should work for the welfare of our city, county, state, country, and we pray for that too. When prosperity is abundant for the place we live, we find prosperity both physically and morally. When there is a degradation in physical and moral spheres then we are touched by that as well.
Towns that burn down due to rioting and looting bring equal opportunity hardships. Rampant pornography and abuse throughout a nation brings hardships to more people than just the partakers. Towns that are peaceful, prosperous and moral bring a great deal of prosperity to its people.
We should not feel the need to cloister and leave the public sphere. We should enter the fray, but we should do so with the right concerns. Our foremost concern is to glorify God and any conversation or fight we enter into should have this as our primary goal. We should fight the degradation of families, pornography, meddling with gender, the destruction of marriage and many other evils that our society calls good. But it should always be because we want to honor God and love our neighbor. We aren’t trying to win a battle; we are trying to better the place we live. And we pray to that end, because we need the blessing of God.
Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” and as the ways of God are left behind and our society moves further and further into its rottenness, we work to better society. Ultimately, our society needs Jesus. People and a society cannot become good overnight, but by the power of God a society can become better. And we work to bring the entire world under Christ.
This means that politics are important, not as an end in themselves but as a help to society. We should be involved and informed. And we should vote and work politically for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor. But we should be even more involved in propagating the faith within our families and to the lost and dying world that surrounds us.
And our understanding of our role in society should inform what we do as a church. We are to deliver that saving message of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. And we also help our city, county, state, and country. Our time is complex. And, it’s probably time for us to get creative. Local churches may need to be thinking about an exit strategy for children in the government-school system soon. Depending on a person’s location it may need to have happened years ago. Some school systems will be okay for a while longer, maybe. But as the rot of our society sets in we will find that more and more it is taught to our children. How are God’s people going to help?
The Church may need to be reteaching the history of civilizations. I was curious for a while, some of you had to take my test. I asked a simple question to folks, it was this, “Why did Rome fall?” To a person, everyone I asked answer could be predicted based upon when and how they were educated. If they were in their 50’s or older or educated outside of government schools the answer was that he fall of Rome was part of their moral decay, they rotted from the inside out. Younger than 50 and educated in government schools and the answer was that Rome simply overextended itself and could not pay for the expansion.
The Church may need to retell the story of how Western Civilization became what it is today. The PCA recently put forth a report that was quite interesting. They argued that Christians need to inform the public of how brutal relationships were in the past and how Christianity, with its teaching on marriage between one man and one woman for life, changed everything. The abuse of women and children was greatly reduced, and civilizations flourished. And now, as our society returns to its pre-Christian ideas on human sexuality the abuse has returned. As Christ and His ways are rejected by our society the harm that existed long ago has returned. Why aren’t we telling that story?
We need to understand that we are salt and light in a lost, decaying, and dying world. Christ is ruler over all, and everyone needs to know that they must
“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are those who take refuge in Him.”—Psalm 2:12 ESV
The world must submit to Christ. And, we need to share with this lost world the love of God found only in Jesus Christ. They need to know that we all have God’s wrath hanging over our heads and that His Son bore the punishment of sin for all who would believe. They need to know that He rose from the dead after dying on the cross. And that those who trust in Christ, who repent of their sins and trust in Him, are rescued from this lost and dying world. We need to share that message with them. But we also need to be at work to better the civilization we currently inhabit, for its prosperity will be our prosperity.
But we do not hope in any rescue from this civilization. We have a future hope.
We Fight False Hopes (Vv. 8-9)
In George Orwell’s essay “In Front of Your Nose” from 1946 he said some things about Christianity that were just patently false, but a line concerning something else really stuck out to me. “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” When you are surrounded by false hopes on every side, you will face a constant struggle to realize what is good and what is bad.
Think of it this way. If you were a fish swimming in toxic water and I said to you, “Hey, that water you are swimming in is bad for you.” You probably wouldn’t care. You wouldn’t know anything but this toxic water that is killing you.
Right now, America is a wasteland of false hopes. Western Culture is fast decaying and promising all kinds of things. It’s dust and ashes, and eating it will be unpleasant.
False prophets had arisen that were giving God’s people false hopes by lying to them. We do have this at times. Folks from the health, wealth, and prosperity sector have been selling false American hopes for years. But right here, in this message, I am more concerned with the promises that our godless society sets forth.
Western Culture sets forth promises of hope and happiness through false gods like “education”, “money”, “politics”, and much, much more. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are going to save you. They are not going to fix the rot that has set in here in America.
We have to know and understand that our society is not going to provide for us any sort of real salvation. The hope that we are staking our lives on is only found in Christ, not America.
The non-Christian has a lot of secular saviors. None of them are working, look around. The false hopes of this world are exactly that, they are false. Turn from them. Trust in Christ who brings real salvation. This gospel that we’ve taken hold of is our only true and lasting hope.
And Christians, we need to be careful. We do not need to hope in these things either. It’s easy to get the stuff on you. We are swimming in a secular sea, it’s all around us. It is incredibly easy to get these things on us. Don’t. We fight the false hopes of our secular society. We fight hoping in the GOP. We fight hoping in Democrats. We fight hoping in some sort of salvation from this world. We fight trusting in this world. We fight trusting in this society.
Hey, I love hotdogs, apple pie, and shooting guns. I love America and I understand that I am blessed to be here. But my hope is not here. It is in the life to come. As a church we come together every week and celebrate the fact that we’ve been rescued out of the domain of this world. Don’t go trusting in the things of this world. We are passing through hoping not to get too much of this world on us. Our hope is in what is to come.
We Await Our Future Hope (Vv. 10-14)
The Israelites were exiled, but God called them to look to their future hope. In 70 years they would be back in the Promised Land. They were to build homes but were not to find hope in that pagan city. They were to work and seek to make it prosperous, but trust ultimately in their future salvation.
We too live in a foreign land and work for its prosperity. But our hope is not in the progress of our pagan city. Our hope is in what God is doing and what He has already done for us in Christ. We are to look to the future and live for our eternal home, not this one.
For the non-Christian, trust in Christ. You will not find salvation anywhere else. There is no other name under Heaven by which you can be saved. You could be the most prosperous person in the most prosperous society and still find yourself paying the punishment for your own sins after your brief life. Salvation comes from Christ and Christ alone.
The Christian’s future hope is not in education, large sums of money, political power, or other things. This secular world does not have anything ultimate to offer us. Our future hope is found only in Christ.
If you are suffering today, know that this passage was written to those suffering. Forced to leave their homes and forced to live in a land that was not their own, there was great sorrow. That is what it is like to be in exile. Here there is pain and suffering, and sometimes more of it than we feel we can bear. And here, much like other places in Scripture, we see that God calls us to look to our future hope.
Christ has achieved entrance into the New Heavens and New Earth for us. That is our hope. That is our resting place.
Read Revelation 22:1-5.
Christ achieved that for us. Isn’t that better than anything America can give you? Why would you set your hopes on anything less.
Seek to be good citizens of both these cities, but set your hope on the one to come.
R. Dwain Minor
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