Letter to the Exiles

In my continuing search through the Bible for references to gardens, growing, seeds, etc. I came across this section of scripture, Jeremiah 29:1-14.  It's a letter written to those Jews who were in in exile in Babylon.  In it Jeremiah instructs the people to take up residence.  They are to build homes, grow gardens, give their children in marriage and continue to grow as a people.  The people are also instructed to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city..."  Today we see the church in a kind of exile.  At times being unfaithful and finding ourselves wandering, looking for home.  But God has put us in the place we live for a reason and perhaps his word to us is much the same as it was to them.  To take up residence, raise our children even to grow gardens and certainly to seek the peace and prosperity of where we live.  Now I have to confess that the prosperity part isn't so hard in America, but I do know of lots of people living around me that are in need.  There are different ways in which our community of faith is working at seeking the peace and prosperity for all in the place we live.  We help with unmet bills, child care, food and other outreach to our local community.  We also work at sharing peace with our community and the world by being an active voice for non-violence.  We are working at making our area look more and more like the Kingdom.

What does growing gardens have to do with the peace and prosperity of the city?  I'm not sure what Babylon was like, but if it's anything like American cities today I can see why gardening was part of the seeking peace and prosperity.  I've recently been talking with a number of people at Mechanic Grove about gardening and the importance of teaching the next generation to garden.  As we have "progressed" in society we have moved away from the earth.  We've forgotten where food comes from, the work that goes into it.  We have forgotten the lessons that we learn from the garden like patience, taking your time, life from death.  Perhaps teaching people again to grow food, to work in a garden, to learn basic life skills it part of the "peace and prosperity."

In Jeremiah 29:1-14, verse 10 begins a shift.  God is talking about bringing his people back from exile and restoring them.  To me there's a difference between seeking the peace and prosperity of the place I live and coming to believe Babylon is home.  There's a danger in getting too wrapped up in whatever nation we find ourselves in exile.  Perhaps in some places the Jewish people became content with Babylon.  It was the world power of its time.  It would have been easy to see the affluence and prosperity in Babylon and begin to think that it had been chosen or especially blessed by God.  Babylon is not home.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile by Rob Bell and Don Golden is a re-read for me, but I haven't written about it.  Bell and Golden look at the Exodus story and its implications for the church, especially the American church, of today.  They focus on four key places; Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem and Babylon.  Egypt is the place where the oppressed Israelites cry out to God and their cry is heard by God.  God responds when he hears the cry of the oppressed.  God sends Moses to lead the people to Sinai, and at Sinai God makes a covenant with his people.  He chooses them to be his people who will show the rest of the world what God is like.  He commands the people repeatedly not to forget Egypt lest they forget how they were once slaves and set free by God.  Jerusalem is where the people begin to see God's blessing.  But soon they have forgotten Egypt.  They are now the ones oppressing, hoarding and protecting that which they feel is their right.  Solomon builds large military bases to protect and defend their way of life.  They are no longer helping other oppressed people.  Now the oppressed are crying out again which results in Babylon.  In exile the prophets begin seeing a glimpse of a bigger picture.  They start talking about a new exodus, one that will be bigger and more complete.  It's one that will be for all the world and not just the Jews.

The authors equate this with the American church's blessing and now responsibility to hear the oppressed.  Thrown in are some sobering statistics of America's wealth, military spending and waste compared with the rest of the world's need.  Bell and Golden encourage the American church to be a Eucharist or "good gift" to the rest of the world.  They ask the pointed question of "Who would care if your church closed?"  Are we making a difference in the world?

The book is written in the typical Bell style if you've read any of the other books he's written.  It's an easy read, but one that will challenge and convict.  Bell and Golden take what they call a "New Exodus Perspective" as they look at the meaning of the events of Exodus.  It's not my favorite Bell book, but one that can be very convicting of us as American Christians.  Overall 4 out of 5.