Seek the Peace of the City

Building a Community Garden

There are times when I feel like I am in exile in a foreign land, both when I am in the States and in Russia. Trying to follow Jesus in a post-modernist world, where religion is privatized and marginalized – and often treated as irrelevant to life by the opinion makers – can be a struggle. In times like this, I can identify with the Jews who were literally in exile and to whom the prophet Jeremiah shared powerful insights about how to live in these conditions.

Let me briefly set the context for the exile of the Jews. Jeremiah lived during the tumultuous days when the Kingdom of Judah was a pawn battered about by the “superpowers” of his day. The land of Palestine was a battleground for the ravaging armies of Egypt, Assyria and Babylon and the Jews were caught in the middle of the violence. As if this weren’t bad enough, Jeremiah told the people of Judah that God’s judgment was coming for their disobedience and that their sins of idolatry and injustice would result in the collapse of their small, beleaguered kingdom.

After they had been carried off into exile by the Babylonians, Jeremiah sent them a letter with a surprising message: build houses, plant gardens, marry, have children and “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7) in which they had been relocated. Jeremiah gave them a message from God to seek shalom within the borders of the empire that had just conquered their land and deported them.

Sometimes followers of Jesus are caught in political situations beyond their control. They are forced to flee their mother country, are trapped in nations with repressive political regimes of the Right or the Left, or are politically powerless because of economic deprivation or other reasons. Or, like disciples in secular societies in Western Europe and America, are treated as narrow-minded sectarians because they believe the Bible to be God’s Word.

Building Homes
(c/o Habitat for Humanity)

The Biblical message for practicing peacemaking has relevance in all of these contexts: seek the peace of the city where God has put you. Even if you are not able to have an impact on the national or international level, everyone can be peacemakers in their city, neighborhood, and family.

Like the exiled Jews, followers of Jesus can be people of hope because they know God’s promise: “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). The practice of peacemaking for ordinary Christians begins right where we are.

So What?

• Can you identify with this sense of being an exile? Often, when attending foreign policy conferences where religion is ignored or quickly dismissed by secular-minded analysts, I get this feeling of being an exile. Does this happen to you in your work place or school setting?
• Can you think of some practical steps you can take to “seek the peace of the city” where you live?