Staying Put (sermon, October 17, 2010)

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14


Dan Savage is a well-known columnist, journalist, and newspaper editor. Most recently, Dan is the creator of an internet project called “It Gets Better.” In response to the rash of recent teen suicides in response to the bullying of youth who are gay or perceived to be gay, Dan and his husband, Terry, sat down together and recorded a video. In it they talk about their experiences with bullying and their life now, which is very good. They have been married for five years and together are raising an adopted son. The point they want to get across to these teenagers who are being harassed is that life does get better and that the struggling adolescents should stick around to see it. Since Dan and Terry put their video on the web it has “gone viral,” as they say, and been viewed and shared by hundreds of thousands of people. In addition, thousands of other videos by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens and adults have been added to the project, all with the same message of hope: “It gets better.”

Back in the sixth century BCE, there was no internet or You Tube through which people could communicate with each other. But there were prophets, who spoke on behalf of God to God’s people, and there were letters. Today we read a portion of a letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent to the Israelites who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. And what was his message?: It gets better.

The thing is, even this hopeful message from the prophet Jeremiah was NOT what the exiles wanted to hear. Because as far as they could tell, life as they knew it was over. Here’s how one commentator describes the modern equivalent of what these exiles had just experienced. Imagine if: “Our national government has just collapsed as the result of an invading foreign power. There is no remnant of the military. There is no government. The President, First Lady, Cabinet and Congress have all been exiled. All of the artists in New York and steel workers in Pittsburgh were separated from their families and exiled as well.” (1)

Essentially, this is what has happened to the Israelites. Jerusalem was invaded and taken over. The leaders of government and all the skilled workers have been taken into exile and relocated to Babylon. And Jeremiah wasn’t the only prophet who was sending letters to the exiles. In chapter 28, the prophet Hananiah had just proclaimed to the exiles that they would be released from captivity very, very soon, and that God was going to break the necks of the Babylonian leaders who had caused this calamity. But here we have a case of a prophet who says what the people want to hear rather than what God wants. That unfortunate role is left to Jeremiah.

Listen again to what Jeremiah tells the exiles: “Build houses, plant gardens, take wives, have children, seek the welfare of the city and pray for it.” In other words, stay put and invest. It will get better.

Staying put is no easy thing to do. Just look at LeBron James and his decision to move to Miami. Before he announced his decision, there was not just hope that he would stay, but genuine speculation that staying put was the best option for LeBron; he had a lot to gain by sticking with the team he’d played for since graduating high school and by staying here, he could continue to give back to the community that had done so much for him. But in the end, the temptation to move on and to be part of a championship team, the pull to be part of something new and different -- all this overcame the benefits of staying put.

The temptation to move on to greener pastures is something all of us face. The “greener pasture” might be a different job, house, relationship, church, or community. Regardless of the details, we all have wondered at one time or another whether pursuing something different, somewhere different would change things for the better and help us find happiness once and for all.

Fifteen hundred years ago, a Christian monk named Benedict established a monastery not too far from Rome. Near the end of his life, after thirty years of monastic living, Benedict wrote down what he felt were the most important guidelines for life in a monastery. This book, known as the Rule of Saint Benedict, has become the leading guide in Western Christianity for monastic living in communities.

According to the rules of Benedictine monasticism, men and women are required to take three vows. The first is a vow of obedience, placing oneself under the authority the leader of a community. The second is a vow of conversion, and this includes giving up private ownership, committing to a life of celibacy, and dedicating oneself to seeking God through a balance of prayer and work. The third and final vow encompasses the other two and is what Saint Benedict calls a vow of stability. With this vow an individual commits to staying in one particular monastery for the rest of his life. Benedict believed that only by making this lifelong commitment to a particular community could both the individuals and the community thrive. (2)

It is this same kind of commitment to stability that Jeremiah prescribes for the exiled Israelites. Hananiah was flat-out wrong, Jeremiah says. The exile isn’t going to be over anytime soon; in fact, it will last for more than a generation. But instead of spending seventy years longing for greener pastures, Jeremiah tells the Israelites to make the most of today by investing in the place where they find themselves. “Build houses, plant gardens, take wives, have children, seek the welfare of the city and pray for it.”

Not only does Jeremiah tell the exiles to invest by building houses and planting crops and getting married and having children, he also tells them to work and pray for the welfare of Babylon. Nothing could have been harder for the exiles to hear. After all, the Babylonians were the very ones who had destroyed their homeland. In Psalm 137, which Becky read earlier, we get a glimpse of the emotions the exiles experienced. “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” But Jeremiah tells them to stay put, invest, and work and pray for the welfare of their enemies, not as a punishment, but because only by doing so can the Israelites experience the fullness of life. “For in [Babylon’s] welfare,” Jeremiah writes, “you will find your welfare.”

Today is the day we set apart to reflect on stewardship. This is by no means the only time in the year we talk about how God wants us to use our resources, but this is the time of the year when we as a church are beginning the process of budgeting for the future. Stewardship season is all about planning for the future...and not just the immediate future, but the future that none of us will be here to see, a future that will be seen only by the next generations.

The Bible is full of stories of people who were asked to invest and participate in the work of God even though they would not be around to see God’s promises fulfilled. Think of the many Israelites, including Moses, who escaped slavery in Egypt and spent decades wandering in the wilderness, but who didn’t live to set foot in the Promised Land. Think of the earliest disciples and followers of Jesus, those whose lives were described in the Book of Acts. Many of them risked their lives and even gave their lives in order that future generations would know about God’s work in the the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and because of them, all of us have lived in a time when we do not risk our lives by professing to be Christian.

What you as members of Firestone Park Presbyterian Church must do in these days is perhaps not quite so drastic as these examples, but it is not so different, either. When Jeremiah wrote to the exiles to tell them to stay put and invest in Babylon, he didn’t just tell them to do what was necessary for their immediate survival -- build house, plant gardens -- after all, whether they were there for two months or two decades they would need food and shelter. He also told them to make the ultimate act of investment in the future -- bear children. Through Jeremiah, God was telling the exiles that God didn’t just want them to survive in exile -- God wanted them to thrive.

I’m guessing that for some of you, there have been times in the not so distant past of FPPC where it felt like the church was in survival mode. Maybe from time to time you find yourself wondering whether the church will be here when you and your family need it most in the ways you need -- for a baptism, a wedding, a funeral. Well, when it feels like an organization is in survival mode, it can be very hard to be generous in your giving. After all, if you are giving to an organization that looks like it won’t be around much longer, then you would be wise to give just enough to keep it going for a finite period of time and no more.

It would be wise...but as God’s people, we are rarely called to be wise, we are called to be faithful. And being faithful to God’s vision for this place, this church, means that we have to be generous in ways that aren’t necessarily wise. It means we have to trust that when we give money and time and talents to this place, we are not pouring our resources down the drain, we are watering gardens which will bear fruit, even if we aren’t around to see the fruit that is borne.

I am confident that FPPC has a vibrant future. This fall, there is a task force devoted to figuring out, at least in part, what the specifics of that future are going to look like. There is also a confirmation class with young people who are learning about their faith and about this church. In other words, we are even now making investments in our future. It isn’t always clear how those investments will turn out, but this is God’s church, and one thing we know for sure is that God is preparing a future for us just like God planned a future for the exiles who could not see any way forward, a future with hope.

Right about now, maybe some of you are thinking that there is not one more thing you can do to invest in this church. In these challenging economic times, you think there is not one more penny you can give. In your busy, overscheduled life, you think there is not one more minute out of your week you can spend working for the church. That may be true. For others, I suspect that you may have more to give, but you have chosen not to because you don’t really know if giving money and time to the church is an investment or simply throwing money down the drain. Well, this stewardship season, I challenge each of you to stay put, to look around at this church -- God’s church -- with a renewed vision and find a way to increase your investment of money, time, or talents by any amount. “Build houses, plant gardens, take wives, have children, seek the welfare of the city and pray for it.” For what was true for those exiled Israelites is also true for you, in the welfare of this place you will find your welfare, in the welfare of this church you have the opportunity to see the love and grace of God at work, and to glimpse the plans God has for you and for this church...a future filled with hope. Amen.

Endnotes:
1. From Wil Gafney’s commentary on this passage at Working Preacher.
2. Read more about St. Benedict here.