Trusting God with my Country / Jeremiah 29:4-11

Trusting God with my Country / Jeremiah 29:4-11

According to the media, every election of my lifetime has been the most important election in America’s history. The last one truly felt that way. We weren’t deciding between tax amounts. We were deciding between life and death in the womb—the dignity of marriage. The two options, the two directions, could not have been more different.

I confess to you, after the assassination attempt on Trump, I was consumed. I would listen to podcasts and YouTube videos at double speed to be up to date on every twist and turn of the election cycle. It was unhealthy. It made me unhealthy.

At one point, it hit me, of the current events that I am so consumed with, which can I actually take fix through action? Answer, 10 minutes of voting for a decision I had already made up in my own mind.

My worry was outpacing my action to help the community.

Some listeners may be stunned. You weren’t stressed at all during the last election. You slept well. You didn’t get caught up in the news. Is this the more biblical route?

Regarding politics and concern for our nation. I have observed two common pitfalls: worry and apathy.

Today’s passage is going to give us a third option. Here is the setting.

Jeremiah 29:4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

I have sent. I have sent. I have sent. If you know the history of Israel, this might be confusing at first glance. Babylon took the people of Israel captive. And yet, God says, I was working through Nebeichednzer. Your exile is not random. You are here for a purpose.

I am friends with many who lived through a season when America felt like the promised land. Like the Holy City, Jerusalem. Now, to some, America may feel like exile, the pagan Babylon.

God allowed the exile as a season of discipline. His chosen people turned to sin and idolatry, so God gave them up to the consequence of exile. Taken captive by a foreign land, foreign people, foreign worldview. If America is in a season of exile, could it be because of our idolatry? Our sin?

Here is the good news: even in exile, God gives us things to do rather than worry and apathy. From scripture, here are 5 actions to take during exile.

Multiply

5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their 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.

When my wife and I moved to Richmond, we had two cars full of belongings. When we left Richmond, we had two pods full of belongings. What made the difference? We built a home, and we had babies. We were committed to our community because we knew we’d be there for a while. How different would our approach have been if they had just called me to be a summer intern? I wouldn’t buy a house. I wouldn't have babies. And I would barely have time to influence my neighbors.

When you are in exile, you know it is not your home. It is tempting to keep your suitcases packed. It is tempting not to nail any decorations to the wall. For Christians, this is an acute feeling. We know that heaven is our home, not earth. We may think in our heart of hearts, why does voting matter when in a vapor of time, I will be walking the streets of gold? Perhaps it would be better if we all bunker down in the church, as if it’s a monastery. Maybe it would be better if we stay dry in our ship as we pass through the waters of this world on our way to heaven.

But God has a different command for us. Unpack your suitcase. Nail your decorations to the wall. Even in exile!

Build homes - establish Christian families.

Plant gardens - be patient, slow down

Have babies - the best way to make disciples (Muslims are the fastest growing religious group globally (3.1 fertility rate per woman), 2.7 Christians, 1.7 religiously unaffiliated)

Live as though the next generation is going to inhabit the land. (Imagine if every generation lived as though the next one wouldn’t have to live in the land.) Evangelize like he is coming tomorrow. Build communities as if he is coming in 1000 years.

Multiply - Do not decrease. God is calling us to be planted trees, not tumbleweeds.

“The great Master-gardener, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in a wonderful providence, with his own hand . . . planted me here, where, by his grace, in this part of his Vineyard, I grow. . . . And here I will abide, till the great Master of the Vineyard think fit to transplant me.” (Letters of Samuel Rutherford, 93)

George Washington - he learned that he didn’t need to win; he simply needed to outlast the enemy. Don’t overthrow Babylon, outlast it.

And the way we will win our war is not with swords and shields, but with a bended knee.

Pray

7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Before verse seven, it is possible to just seek the welfare of your tribe while in exile. You may think, “I can’t control what Babylon is doing, but I am going to make sure that my home and garden are thriving.” But God does not allow apathy to remain an option. He calls Israel to pray for their captors.

In the New Testament, Jesus said that Christians are the salt of the earth. Not only does salt strengthen flavor, but salt is a preservative. Salt prevents decay. When Christians seek the welfare of whatever city we belong to, we prevent spiritual decay. Falwell, champions for Christ - sent into all arenas. “If it’s Christian, it should be better.” River Oak is reaching 1%, we need 100 more.

Apathy is not an option. When you choose not to be involved in the community, you are like Adam standing by while Eve is tempted. You are a hidden lamp. You are salt with no flavor.

As Americans, we have a unique opportunity to steward. Our constitution and principles afford us the privilege of influencing the direction of our nation through political involvement. Genesis 1 tells us to multiply, subdue, and have dominion. Romans 13 says, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (ESV) If I must submit to the ruling authority, and I have the opportunity to influence who is appointed, I want those who are appointed to align with the Christian worldview as much as possible.

According to First Liberty, “41 million born-again Christians are expected to not vote in this election (2024).” Reasons given, “Not being interested in politics (68%) Disliking all major candidates (57%) None of the candidates reflected their views (55%)” If only half of them would become convinced to actively seek the welfare of the city where we belong, the nation would change overnight. Vote. Support crisis pregnancy centers. Teach your grandchildren. Go to a March for Life. Join your school board. Be honest in your taxes. Let your doing outpace your worrying. And more than anything, PRAY!

You pray for River Oak, are you praying for Chesapeake? Does your praying outweigh your complaining? for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Discern

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your 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, declares the Lord.

You might assume, that the false prophets were spreading a message of fear. But instead, they were spreading a message of false hope. They were saying “peace, peace” when there was no peace. They were convincing the gullible that the exile was going to be shorter than God’s timeline.

“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;

they fill you with false hopes.

They speak visions from their own minds,

not from the mouth of the Lord.

17 They keep saying to those who despise me,

‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’

And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts

they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’

In the days of endless podcasts and clickbait YouTube videos. How can we discern the true from the false? Jeremiah gives us a clue. Look at the lifestyle of the prophets. The false prophets of the exile practiced adultery. They claimed to speak for God while living like devils. It mirrors the description of false prophets in Jude.

Jude 8–13

[8] Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. [10] But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. [11] Woe to them! [12] These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; [13] wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. (ESV)

How can we know what is true? God’s word! God’s word! God’s word! It is living and active. More relevant and up to date than your morning news.

Wait

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

The problem with the false prophets was not good news. It was the timing of the good news. They were promising a false hope today. But God needed a 70-year runway of sanctification for Daniel to overcome lions, for friends to survive a furnace, for Nebuchadnezar to be humbled, and for his people to learn to pray.

Every nation has a shelf life. The world itself has a “Best by” date. But God alone knows the expiration. For Babylon, it was 70 years. For us, will it be 7 years, 70 years, or 700 years? I do not know. While we are called to discern the times and live with wisdom, I know history. I would have thought that Nero was the antichrist and that Jesus was returning soon. I would have thought Hitler was the antichrist and that Jesus was returning soon. Are there world events today that should catch our attention? Yes. Are prophecies still being fulfilled? Yes. Is technology advancing to be utilized by both the antichrist and the advancement of the gospel? I think so. But has God revealed our “best by date”? No. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Be fixated on the promise. Not the number of years. He is coming to bring us to heaven; let’s take as many people with us as possible.

Hope

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Before verse 11, the exile might be discouraged, “I’m going to have to wait 70 years!” But God comforts us with good news. The happily ever after ending is coming. Though Israel didn’t deserve it, God’s mercy triumphs over judgment. He is rich in mercy. Not only does he have plans for them, but he has plans for welfare and hope.

News companies make millions of dollars attempting to sift through God’s plans. Which nations will rise? Which will fall? What will happen to the economy? Is this the end of the world? He hasn’t told us. He hasn’t opened the scroll to every plan. We don’t know the plans, but here is the comfort: He knows the plans. And he is good. I do not need to lose sleep about the plans, because I know that he knows the plans.

Some of us may spend a good portion of our day worrying about the plans. We would sleep better simply by trying to know the heart of our Father who holds the plans. Because he is good, I can trust that his plans for his people are good.

If you find yourself in exile, you don’t have time to worry or be apathetic. God has called you to multiply, pray, discern, wait, and hope!