Don't you love this verse? We sometimes read it on coffee cups and plaques. Christians memorize it. What does it mean to us? If we do not learn the context, we may well use the text as a pretext to say what we want to hear. Jeremiah is writing to the exiles in Babylon. They have been sent away because of the long legacy of sinful behavior by their forebears and themselves. Now they just want to come home. Some preachers are telling them to get ready because any minute they will return to their homes.
Jeremiah brought the good news: you get to stay in exile for 70 years. The older folks will die in captivity in Babylon. Nevertheless, the people of God were to settle in as resident aliens. They should plant crops, build homes and let their kids get married. They were in it for the long haul. Aren't we all?
What does this mean to twenty-first century Christians in the United States? Is it a promise that everything in our lives will go well -- that we will never have a problem? No. As C. S. Lewis says, we too are in exile in a world where the forces which rebelled against God are still very powerful. Thankfully, Jesus, the rightful King has already landed on planet earth in his first coming. He invites us to participate in the battle through subversive actions of serving and suffering.
Jeremiah reminds us that our security does not lie in our government and politics but in God who knows the plans he has for us. He will prosper us and give us hope and a future. As Joshua Barrett preached recently, all of this is fulfilled in Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of the promises in the Old Testament. God himself promised his presence to his people and then in Christ's incarnation, God kept his promise.
Not since the garden of Eden have we as humans had such access to God through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the advocacy of Christ at the right hand of the Father. Today if we pray God will hear us. Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. The Holy Spirit prays with groaning on our behalf. Today if we seek God with our whole hearts we will find him. Will we seek God today?
