The Welfare of the City - A Sermon for Pentecost 18C (Jeremiah 29)
I’ve lived in small towns and big cities, but I think you could call me a city boy. After all, I was born in Los Angeles and have spent the past seventeen years living in Metro Detroit! So, while I enjoy visiting small towns, I like the amenities that come with living in a metropolitan area. But big cities, like small towns, present their own kinds of challenges. The word we hear this morning from Jeremiah raises an important question. Are we willing to invest ourselves in making our communities more livable?
This word from the prophet Jeremiah comes in the form of a letter sent to the first wave of Jewish exiles that King Nebuchadnezzar sent to Babylon. When Jeremiah sent this letter, Jerusalem, along with its Temple, still stood. But, while these exiles, including the former king and his court, may have hoped they would return home soon, Jeremiah warned them that their exile would last for a long time. He told them to ignore the false prophets who made promises they couldn’t keep. Instead, he told them to settle in for the long haul and seek the welfare of the city where God had planted them.
What these exiles experienced during their time in Babylon isn’t that different from what modern exiles, refugees, and migrants face. They may have wanted to return to their homelands, but many refugees and immigrants never return home. So, if they’re going to survive, they’ll have to make a life in a strange land. That can be a struggle for first-generation immigrants and refugees, but most of their children will eventually blend into their surroundings.
Although I’m not an exile, immigrant, or a refugee, sometimes I feel like an immigrant because we live so far away from our homeland in the far west of the country. There are things we miss about our homelands. Cheryl misses the ocean, and I miss the tall mountains. Of course, our extended families live out West, so it’s difficult to gather together. Nevertheless, we’ve put down roots and made a life for ourselves here in Troy. While this was our choice, putting down roots isn’t always a choice. Sometimes, it’s a necessity.
The city of Troy is very diverse. I’ve heard that about thirty percent of the population is Asian of some type. Troy is home to a very large Hindu Temple, a mosque, along with numerous churches representing different ethnicities and backgrounds. Just down the street is a Coptic church, which is the home of Egyptian Christians. Over the past seventeen years, I’ve made friends with people who come from all over the world. One of my dear friends is a Hindu woman who was born in India but has spent most of her life in the United States. She has also served as our state representative. We’ve had lots of conversations about what it means to be an immigrant. I’ve learned that most immigrants work very hard to fit in, but it’s not always easy. There are lots of barriers that have to be crossed, including language, religion, and other cultural practices. It’s even more difficult when you are fleeing war and famine, like refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.
Most of us are not immigrants, exiles, or refugees, but I believe that Jeremiah would want us to put ourselves in the shoes of these Jewish exiles living far from home in Babylon. When we do this, we can try to imagine what it’s like to live in a foreign land, especially if you’ve been forced to move from a land you love. Even if you long to return home, this may be an impossible dream. So, your only option is to put down roots in the land where you are living. So, whether we’re exiles or not, I hear Jeremiah calling us to put down roots, make a life, and seek the welfare of the city where we find ourselves.
One of the questions these Jewish exiles faced was a theological one. Many cultures have assumed that the gods are bound to specific geographic areas. So, while Yahweh might be the God of their homeland, they may have wondered whether Yahweh would travel with them as they journeyed from their homeland in Israel and Judah to Babylon. Since they lived in a world where “church and state” were intricately intertwined, they may have wondered whether they should join the church of Marduk, the god of Babylon, since this was his territory.
Jeremiah responded to these questions by reassuring the exiles that Yahweh hadn’t abandoned them. Since this exile would last a long time, Yahweh wanted them to put down roots by building houses, getting married, and bearing children, so their numbers wouldn’t decrease. While things might look bad at the moment, they didn’t have to abandon Yahweh and join the church of Marduk because God had traveled to Babylon with them. Therefore, they would serve as Yahweh’s representatives in the land of Marduk.
When Jeremiah told the people to build houses, get married, and have kids, he was telling them that since they were children of Abraham, Moses, and David, God still had a purpose for their lives. They might be heartbroken over their situation, but God had a job for them. Whether they were officially priests or not, God gave them a priestly calling. Yes, because they were still God’s covenant people, God commissioned them to pray for their neighbors and seek the welfare of their city.
If they were going to fulfill their calling, they would need a new vision that would empower them in the years to come. Song Mi Suzie Park puts it this way: "In the face of this religious upheaval, Jeremiah encourages the community to continue to have faith in God’s larger plan—a plan that seems utterly impossible, but which Jeremiah hints is possible for God. They are to hope and know that God can and will bring God’s promises to pass" [Connections, p. 377].
A few chapters later, Jeremiah will reveal that God was in the process of establishing a new covenant that would guide the people upon their return to their homeland. This new covenant would be written on the hearts of the people rather than on stone tablets (Jer. 31:31-34). In the meantime, however, they would need to make a life in Babylon while staying in fellowship with Yahweh.
While this word about a new covenant was addressed to the exiles living in Babylon, early Christians interpreted their experience with Jesus in light of this promise. Jeremiah might not have us in mind when he wrote about God’s new covenant, but Paul suggests that God has grafted us onto the vine that is Israel so we can participate in God’s covenant promises (Rom. 11:17). That means we have also been called to be a blessing to the nations along with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:1-4).
It is in verse 7 of Jeremiah 29 that the prophet reveals God’s purpose for our lives, whether we’re exiles or not. That purpose involves a call to“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.”
As we ponder this message, we might call to mind that old adage about blooming where we’ve been planted. When we bloom where we’ve been planted, we can make a difference in our communities. Over the years of my ministry, whether in Santa Barbara, Lompoc, or here in Troy, I have tried to invest myself in the local community. Sometimes that has meant being a leader, and at other times it simply means being part of the team. But I have done this because I believe this is our calling as followers of Jesus. Taking up this calling doesn’t mean we get to control things. After all, this motley group of exiles to whom Jeremiah wrote this letter didn’t have political, economic, social, or even religious power. But that didn’t prevent God from giving them a job while they lived in this strange land.
By pursuing the welfare of the city, we pursue the common good of all. When we do that, we will be blessed. That’s because our welfare is caught up in the welfare of our neighbors. That starts close to home, in the cities where we live. But, since we live in an increasingly globalized world, in many ways our welfare is caught up in the welfare of this planet. But, because we’re people of God, we must depend on God’s Spirit, who empowers us, rather than worldly power, if we’re going to make a difference in our communities.
In a moment, we’ll sing Eric Routley’s hymn “All Who Love and Serve Your City.” This hymn reinforces Jeremiah’s message as we sing:
In your day of loss and sorrow,
in your day of helpless strife,
honor, peace and love retreating,
seek the Lord, who is your life.
The hymn closes with a conversation with the “Risen Lord,” who answers the question “shall yet the city be the city of despair?” with a promise:
Come today, our Joy, our Glory:
be its name, “the Lord is there.” [Glory to God, 351]
Yes, the “Lord is there,” in Babylon and in Troy, and wherever God’s people live and accept their priestly calling to seek the welfare of the city where God sends them.
Preached By:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, MI
October 12, 2025
Pentecost 18C
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