Jeremiah 29: 1-7 (links validated 8/23/22)

Lewis Smedes once wrote that we should avoid being fake or hypocritical and just admit that deep down what each one of us wants is some enjoyment in life. Deep down we hope that the day may come when people will stand up and cheer over something we did. We want the bells to ring and the Hallelujah Chorus to sound for us, too. Smedes even said that anyone who claims otherwise, anyone who says he could care less about whether or not anything good ever happens to him, such a person is not only being dishonest but is probably a bit of a nasty person, too! Most of the people I’ve met who claim they don’t care about being happy have tended to be pretty good at spreading their unhappiness around! Our great God created us for joy and one day, as C.S. Lewis predicted, joy itself will be the serious business of what heaven is all about. As Jeremiah 29 can remind us, God sees us in all those times of our lives when we are less than joyful—indeed, he sees us in all those times when we are dwelling in the place that is very nearly the opposite of joy and flourishing...

Is there a place for rebelling against the powers that be, as the false prophets urged the exiles to do? Is Jeremiah’s advice applicable for every situation, or was it directed to a specific time and place? One thinks of Jews in Nazi concentration camps, their twentieth century Babylon. Does Jeremiah 29:4-7 apply to them? In my Dutch Reformed circles we are mourning the death of Diet Eman, author of the memoir, Things We Could Not Say. She was a survivor of WW II and Nazi atrocities. She joined the Dutch underground and fought the Nazis with everything she had. Her recent death was commemorated with great praise and honor for her courageous rebellion. Was she disobeying the will of God as enunciated in Jeremiah 29?...

Tom Cousins, a very successful real estate developer in Atlanta, read an article in The New York Times published back in the mid-1990s that claimed that the majority of New York's prison population could be traced back to eight neighborhoods in New York City. Mr. Cousins thought that that couldn't be - a majority of New York's prison population couldn't be populated by eight neighborhoods in one city. So he picked up the phone and called the weekend editor at The New York Times. And he said, "I have just read the most alarming statistic in the newspaper this morning. That number can't be true." The weekend editor assured Mr. Cousins that the statistic was true and he urged him to call the chief of police in Atlanta, because he believed that there was a similar statistic in every major U.S. city in America. Mr. Cousins, being Mr. Cousins, picked up the telephone and called the Atlanta chief of police and shared the statistic that he had just read in The New York Times. The chief of police in Atlanta said, "Mr. Cousins, I could trace the majority of Atlanta's jail population back to even fewer than eight neighborhoods. I could trace the majority back to about four, with one neighborhood being the main culprit -- that's the East Lake Commons neighborhood." Mr. Cousins said, "I can't believe that the majority of the prison population here in Fulton County comes from one neighborhood. And you're telling me that neighborhood is just east of where I live? I want to go and see that East Lake neighborhood." The Chief of Police said, "Mr. Cousins, that is not a good idea, it's really dangerous. In fact, our officers have stopped patrolling that neighborhood. They call it Little Vietnam." Mr. Cousins said, "With all due respect, Chief, I've got to go see it."...

“Seek the welfare of the city.” In the Hebrew text, the word we read as “welfare” is the word “shalom.” If this word is familiar to you, you might know it is often translated as “peace.” But unfortunately, we sometimes use the word “peace” as a throwaway. It loses some of its power. Doug Priest writes, “The meaning of shalom goes farther. It means wholeness and health. Shalom refers to the internal peace we have in our soul, spirit, and body. But shalom is even more than that. It applies to our relationships at work and to our relationship with nature and creation. As one author wrote, ‘To have shalom is to be whole and healthy in yourself and in all that challenges you, be it people, be it the issues of your world, your environment, your society, or be it the problems which are at hand, the problems which await you.’”

("Lewis Smedes once wrote that we should avoid being fake or hypocritical and just admit that deep down what each one of us wants is some enjoyment in life. Deep down we hope that the day may come when people will stand up and cheer over something we did....")

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