Seeking the Welfare of the City

See Jeremiah 29:1–23; Romans 16:23; Acts 19:21–22; 1 Peter 2:11–12

Jeremiah 29:1–23 NIV

1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said: 4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” 15 You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16 but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile—17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ 23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.

Romans 16:23 ESV

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

Acts 19:21–22 ESV

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Why is Erastus listed as the subtitle?

INTRODUCTION

“We are all living in exile. Our true homeland is elsewhere.” I was with students visiting an orthodox synagogue and Rabbi Martin Hier expressed something of the universal dilemma for people of faith. Our true homeland is the new heaven and new earth, a totally renewed creation. Unfortunately some have interpreted this to mean “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through,” as the old spiritual put it. But we are not to retreat into a private and personal Christianity that has no concern for social justice or for the culture or city we live in. So part of our service to God and neighbor involves, in the phrase of the prophet Jeremiah writing to exiles in Babylon, “to seek the welfare of the city.” God has plans for us right where we are.

GROUP DISCUSSION

Who in your group, or someone known to a group member, has come from a different country to settle where you are? What were some of the experiences of being in a “foreign land?”

PERSONAL REFLECTION

If you have traveled, what was your experience in being in a country where you did not know the language, customs or culture?

In this study we are exploring our service to the city. We do this through three passages of Scripture: first, the long letter of the prophet Jeremiah to the exiles; second, the few cryptic comments in the New Testament about Erastus, who was serving in the church but also was “the city’s director of public works” (Romans 16:23), and finally a letter of Peter about how to live in the world. Tragically, the church is often of the world without being in it, like a boat drawn out of the water but filled with water.

Read Jeremiah 29:1–23

1. Jeremiah is a prophet of Israel during the troubled time when thousands of citizens had been taken captive and physically transported to Babylon, hundreds of miles away, leaving the poorest of the poor to tend the vines. This is seven centuries before the time of Christ. In contrast to the false prophets in Babylon who were promising a quick return to the homeland, what does Jeremiah say is God’s word to them?

How long does he say the exile will last, and how should they regard this time of “waiting”?

2. Undoubtedly there was corruption and idolatry in Babylon, not to mention false prophets.

How are the people of God to seek the welfare of the city they are living in temporarily?

3. Describe the actual situation of your own city or town.

Why should you seek its “peace and prosperity” (v. 7)?

In what ways could you individually and corporately as a church contribute to the welfare of your community?

4. What faith assurances does Jeremiah give the exiles (vv. 11, 14)?

5. Why is it so important for Jeremiah to warn the exiles of false prophets (vv. 15–23)?

What are false teachers and prophets today telling us about our role in the city?

6. Read Romans 16:23 and Acts 19:21–22. In both church and city, how is the service of Erastus described?

7. When you are not meeting with other believers, where are you found in the city?

What difference will it make for you to see this location as providential and an opportunity to seek the welfare of the city?

8. Read 1 Peter 2:11–12. How does Peter counsel the believers to whom he writes to live with the tension of “temporarily here” but “destined for a glorious future” just as Jeremiah had done?

9. What have you learned about serving God where you are even though your ultimate future is elsewhere?

Thank God for all he has done through the history of his people in the world. Ask him to help you take your place in this great service to the city.

Now or Later

It is often said that “Christianity has never done the world any good.” The record is actually stunning: the provision of the first hotels, hospices and hospitals; the only people that would bury the dead during plagues; the first burial societies; rescuing abandoned and aborted babies from the garbage heap; bringing dignity and status to women; the first universities; pioneering in health care; strategic help for the poor; microeconomic development; establishing orphanages; the abolition of the slave trade; and so many others.

List as many biblical and theological reasons as you can for why Christians should take their two-fold service to church and society seriously.