Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. Jeremiah 29:7
According to known population trends, chances are very high that you live in or near a major city. The massive urbanization of the world’s population is a remarkable feature of the past hundred years. While in the ancient world cities were viewed as hopeful places of law and order where learning and commerce could safely be conducted, that is not the case today. Cities and their surrounding suburbs are often marked by separations along racial and socio-economic divisions. These divisions are often deliberately constructed by those in power to insulate themselves from people they don’t want to be around. Suspicion and hostility often result between people, even Christians, who live in such environments.
Jeremiah 29 contains the letter the prophet wrote to the Jews whom King Nebuchadnezzar forced into exile in Babylon. The letter brought bad news— namely, that their time as exiles in a foreign land would not be short. But the letter also gave specific instructions for how to thrive while there.
Rather than spending their days waiting for God to rescue them from their current circumstances, Jeremiah encouraged the exiles to live full lives. His first set of instructions was simple, straightforward, and unexpected. He told the exiles to build and settle, plant and eat, marry and have children. Then they were to tell their kids to do the same. But Jeremiah wasn’t done with his instructions on how the Jews were to live while in captivity. God’s perspective on what thriving looked like was quite different from our normal human response toward those who make our lives uncomfortable.
God stressed that he carried them into exile and that instead of becoming bitter toward their captors, they ought to desire peace and prosperity for their prison, the city of Babylon. Additionally, the Jews were to pray for Babylon because as it thrived, so too would they. The idea to pray for and seek the very best for an enemy was revolutionary and countercultural. Yet it was God’s best plan for his children living under duress. And it still is.
PONDER: In what ways is God calling you to seek the peace and prosperity of your enemies? What practical steps can you take to build relationships with those with whom you seem to have little in common?
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Lack of Authentic Reconciliation
In recent months I have been troubled by the lack of authentic reconciliation between the haves and the have-nots in our inner-city congregation…
I came to the city to serve those in need. I have resources and abilities to clothe the ill-clad, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless. These are good works that our Lord requires of us. And there is blessedness in this kind of giving. But there is also power that allows me to retain control. My position as a helper protects me from the humiliation of appearing to need help. Even more sobering, I condemn those I help to the permanent role of recipient…
I need the poor? For what? The question exposes my blindness. I see them as weak ones to be rescued, not as bearers of the treasures of the kingdom. The dominance of my giving overshadows and stifles the rich endowments the Creator has invested in those I consider destitute. I overlook what our Lord saw clearly when he proclaimed the poor to be especially blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20). I selectively ignore the truth that monied, empowered, and learned ones enter his kingdom with enormous difficulty.
The community into which Christ invites us is one of interdependence. We are called to mutual sharing and the discovery of gifts Christ has concealed in the unlikeliest among us. And to those who consider themselves leaders, our Lord offers humility—the salvation of the proud that comes from learning to receive from the least, who are the greatest in the kingdom.
Excerpt from Theirs Is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America by Robert Lupton
First, I really have to look at myself. What kind of person am I? What are my likes and dislikes and why? What and how does God truly guide my life? Do I let Him? And if I really do, how do I think that God would see this person. Next, I have to be genuine in presenting myself and in being open to receive what others bring to the table. Third, I feel that it is important to be curious like a young child…not assuming and not being pre-judgemental. Fourth, as hard as it is sometimes, I need to make the first step…in Grace and not fear. Finally, in al of this, I MUST trust in God to be with me at this time, walking with and guiding me.
I have found that people tend to respond positively when approached positively.
I must trust that God is with me while going through mistreatment by my enemy. Now I understand the importance of praying for others who may want to harm me emotionally or otherwise. Its important to consider they are privately miserable if they want to make someone else’s life miserable.
Regarding Robert Lupton’s “it would be very interesting to me if he could elaborate further on the second paragraph that was quoted from his book … Especially the last sentence .
The Lord showed me long ago that the best way to get over angst or animosity towards someone was to pray for them…to really pray blessings and God’s peace and love over them. When I have been hurt, and the wound goes deep, I ask him to forgive the person through me, to love them through me, because my human capacity to do so is sometimes so small. If the rememberance of the pain caused by another arises at later times, I ask forgiveness of God for myself and that person, and again ask Him to forgive and love through me…I remember that Jesus said we are to forgive “seventy times seven”: that means it not only is an infinite number of times for offenses, but that He knew as humans we tend to relive and revisit past hurts.
It is always such a beautiful thing when a connection between the old and new testament can be seen. Growing up, I always struggled with the thought that God seemed so different in how he acted in the old vs. new testament. It is always reassuring to see that the message Jesus brought was not new; it was rather a reminding of a part of the story that was forgotten by the people of that time. Loving your neighbor and your enemies has been at the heart of God yesterday, today and forever. The prophets understood this. I pray for a heart that would act on this.
Good point Kyle, I totally agree ! It gives a lot of food for thought.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
– “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ ” [Matthew 22 :34-40 NIV]
In the Old and New Testaments, as well as loving us in the same way, I’m sure God becomes equally angry when he sees evil done deliberately. Jesus gave us salvation but I believe we all still have a choice to make. Hell is just as hot as it ever was. Heaven is still perfect.
Yes, very difficult to forgive. However, we are not asked to forget, so maybe that helps. Clinging on to bad things that were done to us hurts us much more than the person who did them, and who has most likely forgotten about them.
“We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it” [Rick Warren]
“To your enemy, forgiveness.
To a friend, your heart.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
[Oren Arnold]
A very interesting view from Robert D Lupton, many thanks for sharing ! I suppose his is a similar concept to “give a man a fish and feed him for a day; teach him to fish and feed him for life”. Whilst “feeding himself for life”, the man can also be proud and hold his head up high.
I worked overseas for many years and many of the people working for me were very poor and lived in extremely difficult conditions. It wasn’t too difficult to reward their honesty, loyalty and enthusiasm with respect, training, shared experience and opportunities. My reward was to see them grow in their roles, gain promotions, have families, buy homes and cars and then accept the fact that they had earned these things. I didn’t do much at all in the great scheme of things, but it was worth it. The best part is that those people will not be too proud to pass on their skills and encourage others.
Lord God, I find it completely fascinating that when you told us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love our enemies the same way, that in loving me you were killing two birds with one stone…
Father, your love has power… power that transforms, power to break down a person and bring about redemption and now you have given me the power of your love, so I will use it to love my enemies for the sake of Christ Jesus and their salvation…
Lord Jesus, as you told us when you were here, it is easy to love a friend or even a mild acquaintance, that is nothing more then a business contract… but to love someone who is your enemy, that is what it means to be like you and be a disciple for you…
Holy Spirit, help me to keep loving my enemies, even if they reject it, help me love them in a way that pulls from their very essence their hatred for me and turns them into my brother or sister for the cause of Christ Jesus and for His glory…
Lord God, the season of obedience is here…