Living here and now

Lily Cathcart March 05, 2024 6 3

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Jeremiah 29: 4-7 (NRSVA)

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.

Some would say that Esther was not very obedient when it came to following the law, she married a gentile for starters. But the words in Jeremiah 29: 4-7 tell a different story. It says: be where you are, do not try to be elsewhere. It says: make a home where you can, build a community of who you find. Plant food for your table, eat, grow, be good for the place you find yourself.

Are you good for the place you find yourself? Is your church good for the place it finds itself? It can be a risk with worshiping communities that we become isolated from our geographic communities. But that’s not God’s wish. God does not want us to shrink and look inwards holding on tight.

That doesn’t sound much like God to me.

So the next time you notice the sounds of ‘us and them’, or find yourself holding back love and goodness from those around you, try to think of Esther, try to think of God, try to reach out and seek the welfare of the place you have been sent.

Prayer:

Dear God of being present,

Thank you for the gift of a place to be

Please help us to find ways to bring health and life to our homes

Guide us to the places our communities need us

Walk with us as we plant for the future wherever we are

Amen