From Jeremiah 29: 1 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 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: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they 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. 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.
Dear Church,
So your neighborhood has changed, and you have new neighbors; make the best of it! You basically have two churches, prosper among your new neighbors by getting to know them and love them; or get bitter, close your blinds and live isolated, bitter and alone. My "neighborhood" changed in 1971. I went from the largest city in Texas to a tiny town in East Texas. It was a world of difference. I had my family and my home, I had my church family in my church, and I had some friends at my school and my work; but I left those all behind to attend college. My plan was to go home as often as I could, but with the work scholarship I received, I had to work in the school cafeteria every other weekend. That meant having to work on Sundays during regular hours of worship. However, this was in those years when most churches had what was called Sunday night worship. I know it is an amazing, unbelievable concept, but people would actually go to church twice on Sundays. And some, like me, had the chance to go worship once, at night because in the mornings I smelled of egg and coffee and other things that came on the dirty dishes that I washed. It was my choice and thank God, a small group of my friends liked the idea so we would walk to the church and worship God. Having friends was also my choice, I decided it would be a good thing to know new people even though they were different from me, had come from their own neighborhoods with the same goal in mind of getting a higher education, and we made the best of it. Some of those friends are still my friends today, and I thank God for their lives and their love and influence on me during what could have been a very lonely existence had I chosen that way to live. (The photo is of my graduation from Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, now closed)
Jeremiah wrote such a Dear Church letter to those who found themselves in a new neighborhood. He did it on God's behalf, he was, after all, a prophet, meaning a "mouth piece" for God and shared God's vision for this church in exile. It basically says, "Make the most of it!" Live among them as true neighbors, settle down and make roots for yourselves among these new people. Find from among them, if you're single, a spouse and have kids, and those who have and love their children with respect, know they will never be alone and as they have children, your family will increase. Seek for the wellbeing of others in your midst and your wellbeing will increase as well.
You and I know of some who have chosen the other route, if you can call it that, for standing still leads nowhere; a route indicates some movement and if you're walking with God, a route takes you where God leads you. To choose to walk without God usually means a route leading away from God and towards loneliness and meaningless, Purposelessville. And there is little to no life in such a chosen neighborhood. Some churches has chosen that attitude towards their "new" neighborhoods, assuming neighbors have their "own" church, their "own" friends, and their "own" families, so they make no effort to truly know these "new" neighbors, and both lose out. "We have a new entry to our church!" Guess what, it leads out as well. "We have new padding in our pews!" It only helps your comfort while you receive instructions on how to get up and go into the new neighborhood. "We have greeters!" Yes, most of them greet those they haven't seen in six days... Dear church...
PRAYER: Loving God, we are all guilty of seeking that which is best and most comfortable and that which requires less effort. Open our eyes, ears, hearts and arms, to walk among our neighbors and love them into the relationship with You that leads to life and that in abundance. This we pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Prayer Request: Dear friends, a longtime friend and colleague of mine, The Rev. Greg Hackett is in the hospital with pneumonia here in Corpus Christi. He is pastor of First UMC here, and yesterday was moved to ICU. Thankfully, he has started responding to new medications, but still needs our prayers. Bless you for praying for Greg.
