Bloom Where You're Planted

October 13^th, 2013    “Bloom Where You’re Planted”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 137

          The Psalm this morning is one of the most famous in the psalter.  Written in the time of exile it speaks of the heartache of the people of Israel.  As you may know, by this point in the history of the Jews, the Babylonians have run rampant over the land of Israel and Judah.  They have destroyed the city of Jerusalem and more importantly the temple.  Many of the people have been captured as slaves and taken to live in the land of Babylon, far from their now destroyed homes.

          It is easy to imagine their great suffering and sadness.  They have lost their homeland and the seat of their faith.  The Psalmist writes of his heartache when he says “By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and there we wept.”  The captors ask the Israelites to sing, but “how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” the psalmist asks.  In grief, the Israelites have hung their harps in the willows, and they pray for the destruction and death of those who hold them captive.  In one of the most truly awful passages of scripture, the psalmist gleefully cries for the violent death of the children of the Babylonians.  It’s not a pretty picture of God or of the people of faith.

          Our reading from Jeremiah is from one of his letters, sent from Jerusalem, to the people that are in exile in Babylon.  We read before this that a rival prophet, Hananiah has arisen in the land of Judah and is bringing the people of Israel a word of hope.  He declares that the Lord has spoken to him and asked him to deliver a message to the people of Israel.  Hananiah claims that God will break the yoke of the king of Babylon and that the Israelites will return to their homeland within only two years.  It is certainly good news to those held in exile, and something they would want to hear.

          Despite such words of hope, the Lord speaks to the true prophet, Jeremiah, and lets him know that Hananiah is a liar.  The real message from God that Jeremiah is to preach is that the Lord has put an iron yoke on all of the nations and that they are to serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon for seventy years, not two.  Jeremiah predicts the death of the rival prophet Hananiah, and he is gone within a year.

          Now this is where we pick up the story.  Jeremiah is called to preach this bad news to the people in exile.  He is called to tell them that though God hears and answers their prayers, they aren’t going anywhere, much less going home.  Rather than telling the people what they want to hear, Jeremiah is telling them the truth, and it is an awful one.

          The people of Israel are called to remain in the land of exile and Jeremiah tells them to prepare for the long haul.  They are called to truly settle in the land; to build houses and plant gardens.  They are called to take husbands and wives for themselves; to have children, and to even consider taking spouses for their children.  Rather than being in exile for only two years, Jeremiah makes it clear that God intends for the people to be in exile for two generations.

          In direct contrast to the psalmist’s prayer for the death and destruction of the Babylonians and their families, Jeremiah tells the people that they are to pray for the good of the Babylonians.  “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.”  The modern Christian is reminded here of Jesus’ lessons on loving your enemies.

          Jeremiah is not bringing good news to the people in exile, but he is bringing the truth.  They will be in Babylon for years on end, and they are called to make the most of their situation.  While they may feel abandoned by God, this is certainly not the case.  Further on in the letter Jeremiah writes “For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”  The promise remains, eventually the people will be freed from captivity and return to Jerusalem.  And here we find one of the more famous passages from Jeremiah, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

          The story of the Israelites in exile is a powerful one and I find it echoed in many of our modern day situations.  Many of us are in difficult situations, praying for the Lord to save us from our circumstances, to redeem us from exile.  For some of us, the exile is an economic one.  I personally know a family that has been trying to sell a house for almost two years.  Month by month many families struggle to make ends meet and they pray to God for change.  They pray to God to be freed from the exile of juggling the bills and living from paycheck to paycheck.

          For some people, the exile is one of illness.  When a diagnosis of cancer hits a family a time of exile begins.  On a journey into the wilderness the family goes through many trials; first biopsy, then surgery, then months of chemo and radiation.  The individual has low white blood cells, literally exiled in their home as they cannot socialize for fear of catching a bug.  While the person diagnosed with cancer struggles with an exile from their former healthy self, the whole family carries the burden of extra work and care.  And all involved harbor the very real fear of “what if”.

          For some of us it is an emotional exile.  Where once there were mutual bonds of love and respect, now it seems as if there is nothing but pain.  From relationships between married couples, to relationships with our adult children, to relationships with aging parents; the climate of emotional exile is very real in many of our lives.  We pray to God for healing and change, but we wonder if things will ever be different.  And we fear that perhaps the relationship is finally beyond repair.

            Like the Israelites trapped in the land of Babylon, many of us are trapped in an exile of some form or another, and like the Israelites we are angry and we want change.  We are hurt, stressed, and emotionally broken; and we are hungering for a positive word from God.  This is why false prophets like Hananiah are so popular.  We want to hear some good news, that God will answer our prayers right now today, and that everything will be perfect when we walk out of these church doors.  Our modern world has its fair share of good news, prosperity gospel preachers, because theirs is a message that people long to hear.

          But more often than not, our redemption does not look like that.  Like the people of Israel, the news for us is not so good.  Our exile will last a long time, and there is little hope of dramatic improvement.  The situation is out of our hands, and our call is to simply be faithful and wait.

          Here is where the word of Jeremiah brings us good news.  God has not forgotten us, God has a plan for us, and in the meantime, we must simply bloom where we’re planted.  Economic difficulties stink, cancer is awful and scary, broken relationships are devastating, and yet in the midst of these exilic circumstances, we can choose to have a good attitude.  We can choose to make the most of a bad situation.  We can choose to bloom where we’ve been planted, be it a beautiful back yard garden, or a crack in a dirty parking lot.

          A big part of what helps us do this is our attitude.  Many of us harbor anger, guilt, and resentment in our hearts.  Like the exiles in Babylon, we are busy praying for the destruction of our enemies.  That is not the way God would have us be.  If we are to bloom where we are planted, then we need to be able to let go of past hurts and pains.  Acknowledge pain and heartache, and then leave it behind.  If we are living in the past, holding on to the way things were before we were in exile, then we won’t be able to move forward.  We won’t be able to settle into the future that God has for us.

          As many of you know, in our Brown Bag Bible Study we have been reading Rob Bell’s book “Love Wins”.  He has some great language around this letting go stuff, as it relates to the new life that is available to us through Jesus Christ.  He writes,

“Jesus talks about death and rebirth constantly, his and ours.  He calls us to let go, turn away, renounce, confess, repent, and leave behind the old ways.  He talks of the life that will come from his own death, and he promises that life will flow to us in thousands of small ways as we die to our egos, our pride, our need to be right, our self-sufficiency, our rebellion, and our stubborn insistence that we deserve to get our way.  When we cling white knuckles to our sins and our hostility, we’re like a tree that won’t let its leaves go.  There can’t be a spring if we’re still stuck in fall.” 

While Rob is talking about redemption and forgiveness of sins I think the language here really applies.  We can’t be like the people of Jerusalem, crying by the rivers of Babylon all our days, mourning the loss of our perfect lives and calling for the destruction of our enemies.  No, we need to let go of those false images of a perfect life that we were never promised.

          We need to move forward into new life, rebirth, even here in our times of exile.  We need to dig roots, and plant gardens, to get married and make plans for a future.  We need to bloom where we are planted, praying for our enemies, and making the most of a bad situation.  And though we may feel like we have been abandoned by God, we must know that that is not the truth.  Rather, God is with us in exile, and God promises us “For surely I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” no matter what exile you find yourself in today.  Thanks be to God for this truly “Good News” and may God help all of us to bloom where we have been planted.  Amen.