Reading Political Mail in Exile: Jeremiah 29

The Bible calls us to live as disciples of Jesus in every area of our lives, including politics, but how do we live as faithful political disciples when politics is so often complicated and even toxic? Welcome to reimagining biblical politics, a podcast conversation between me, Michael Rhodes a biblical scholar and my very good friend Marshall Teague. We're going to skip the hot takes and instead immerse ourselves in the startling, strange, beautiful and all too often neglected world of biblical politics, hearing what God actually says about how we can follow Jesus in public life. If that feels like a conversation you need, welcome to reimagining biblical politics. Welcome back to reimagining biblical politics season one of the Crossroads podcast and once again, I'm here with Marshall Teague. How you doing, Marshall? Ready, buddy. I am ready. Where are we today? Old Testament, New Testament? Well, actually, today we're going to cover a little bit of both because, you know, we're talking about pilgrim politics outside the halls of power. And so if you're new here, what we mean by that, we're talking about how God's people live out their allegiance to King Jesus, how they live out their allegiance to God, how they live as citizens first and foremost of his kingdom in relationship to the nations and places and communities and institutions around them that do not acknowledge God's reign. And we're talking specifically about how scripture talks about doing that pilgrim political work when God's people don't have a lot of power, direct power or influence. So today, we're looking at, functionally, two letters, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament, both addressed to exiles. So that's what we're going to do, we're going to get a little bit of both, move across the canon this afternoon. That's great. Let's start with the Old Testament one. Is that cool with you? Yeah, sure. So we're looking at Jeremiah 29. And as we've done a lot of weeks on the podcast, it's nice to know some of the background. And so as soon as God's people are coming into the promise land, like way back in the beginning in the Torah, God is warning the people that I'm giving you this law to show you how to participate in my mission. But if you reject it, there will be judgment and eventually you'll lose this land. And Jeremiah is writing right in the middle of the period where God's people have finally rebelled so much that they lose the land. And they get kicked out. And they get overrun by the Babylonians, King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. And it happens in two waves. And so the point in time when we're looking at Jeremiah 29, what's happened is the Babylonians have taken the first round of people from Judea into exile. And Jeremiah is writing a letter to those exiles telling them how to live in exile. But I think it's worth reflecting like this is such a disaster for the people. The Babylonians raised Jerusalem to the ground eventually. They destroyed the Lord's temple. They leave a few people behind and they take many people on this multiple month long walk back to the land of their enemies. And a lot of the Bible, you can see the economic and social and political scars of this. You know, you can see how the people suffered through this exile. But it was also a theological problem because from the Babylonian perspective, they won because the gods were on their side, as we've talked about before. And God had made these enormous promises to these people. And it must easily have felt like he wasn't able to deliver the goods. So if you imagine these exiles, they must have felt like they're really only option was to assimilate to join the Babylonians to disappear into that culture. Well, I mean, if this were me, clearly God didn't do it. He wasn't, he let me down. Yeah, that's right. I'd probably get rid of the judgment. That's right. And so at this point, like, why not? Yeah, that's right. Can't beat them. Join them. Exactly. And what's interesting is Jeremiah in that environment does this active theological jujitsu? You know, about jujitsu? Oh, man, I knew all about jujitsu because I was a kid in the 90s. Okay, for those of you who weren't kids in the 90s, the best to understand it, jujitsu is this martial art form where you like use the power of your attacker, right? So there's an attack. And then you kind of like receive that attack and turn it to your advantage. And so Jeremiah does this active theological jujitsu where it looks like Yahweh has been proven powerless. Right. But what Jeremiah actually says is no, this is God Yahweh's judgment on you. He summoned the Babylonians here to bring judgment on you as was promised in the Torah, which is a really hard message to hear. I'm sure you know what I want to hear when I'm on my way to exile that this was in fact my God's plan. Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. And so they get to Babylon and you can think about the temptation to either be like, okay, we're going to completely resist. Maybe we're even going to revolt. Maybe we're going to wage violent resistance against Babylon. Yeah. Or to just completely assimilate. Those must have been the obvious options. Yeah, right. And Jeremiah writes this letter to the exiles and he offers a very surprising third way. So this is what he says. This is the beginning of his letter. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters and marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the Shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its Shalom, you will find your Shalom. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, don't let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you and do not listen to your dreams that you dream. For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. I did not send them says the Lord. What? I would be so pissed inside of this letter, right? I would be hoping for the rebellion or the hey, don't worry. Be cool for just a little bit. I'm going to judge your real bad and then I'm bringing you back. Yeah, that's right. But I for sure and not going to be psyched about seeing the good of the very people who are taking me. That's right. And the prophets, the false prophets, Jeremiah is talking about there are doing exactly what we just referenced. They're saying, oh, this is going to be just a quick minute. And Jeremiah is saying like, no, no, buckle up, dig in, and here's how you do that. In all these different ways, seek the Shalom of this community, which I'm sending you. And I left that word Shalom on translated because it's kind of a tricky word to translate. I mean, it's all been translated in peace and it certainly includes that idea, but it's more than just a lack of violence. Some people have said welfare, which kind of gets it a little bit of well-being. It's almost like flourishing or the good life, right? So seek the flourishing or the good life of the community to which I'm sending you. For in its flourishing, you'll find your flourishing. There's a real rich concept there that Jeremiah is offering them. Yeah, kind of the question about the passage that you read. Yeah, it's kind of tangential, but he says take wives at one point. Yes. The language feels a little bit weird to me like, whoa, he's not saying take wives from the Babylonian nation, is he? Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I don't think it's completely answered for us in the text. So it's hard to be 100% sure. My own sense is that no, Jeremiah probably means multiply there. Yeah. Like don't dwindle. Like invest, buckle up, go in for the long haul. I think because Jeremiah wants them to continue to pledge their allegiance to God, marriage to people who don't pledge their allegiance to Yahweh would be problematic. So that's why I don't think he's talking about marriage to religious outsiders at least. But he is saying to some extent, get involved in this society there. Yeah, seek that shalom. You'd have to get involved with this society to build the farms, to raise families, plant the vineyards, and especially to seek the flourishing of that community and to pray for its flourishing, to pray for the flourishing of the land of your enemies. I don't know too much about exile. I haven't been exiled yet. With the Israelites had the opportunity to do all that. Like he's saying build houses, plant gardens. So I'm assuming that they in captivity have a fair amount of, I mean, freedom is the wrong word but opportunity to do these things. Is that like a tall order? Is this poetic language? Like that can't actually be done. I'm not sure I know exactly how to answer it. I think the experience, the exiles is probably pretty various. Like I think we're talking about a lot of people being displaced. And so some of them may have had quite different experiences from one another. And we don't want to in any way minimize the suffering that they experience and the marginalization that they experienced. But what we know for sure from the Bible and I think people would argue from like the archaeological and literary evidence beyond the Bible is that some of God's people did just this and that they did get involved. And that's why we see people like Ezra and Nehemiah who have risen to some prominence in what's become the Persian Empire. But that's a trajectory there. Yeah. And so it does seem like God's people got to work in this place. So it's not just poetic. No, I don't think so. Symbolically. But it would feel like it would feel like a really tall order and also think it'd be easy for them to get like we don't really have the resources to have a huge impact here. We're not in control. How can we do this when we're like such a marginalized vulnerable people? Right. And the task is to sort of seek the flourishing with what you got. Yeah, I think in these sort of simple everyday ways. One of the interesting things here that I sort of discover as it's working on this passage is that that word seek can kind of have two meanings in Hebrew as well as in English. So seek can mean like go on a treasure hunt like seek for buried or it can mean seek as in like pursue, like work on. And I kind of wonder if here the language means both. So in the one hand, God's people are supposed to look for flourishing already in the land of their enemies. Like the only way they can do this is because even Babylon, even Babylon is not entirely bereft of science of created goodness. So in one sense, maybe part of what God's saying is like look for the flourishing that's already there. And then of course, definitely God is also saying now pursue it alongside them. And alongside, again, we can't emphasize this enough. Alongside and on behalf of people with whom you have outrageous disagreements isn't even the right word. These are the people who've conquered you, who've subjugated you. So this is like a really hard, difficult teaching. But one that's very powerful, when we think of politics, we often think of like the huge big federal elections or something, you know? Or we think of, well, to make a difference, we've got to do something huge. And that huge thing is almost certainly going to be in federal party elections. And this thing that Jeremiah is calling them to, to seek the flourishing of the communities to which God has sent them, is political action. But it's not on a grand scale. It's in the everyday. It's in the workplace. It's in the neighborhood. It's in the humdrum of raising families and trying to make the place you're in better than you found it. And I think this is a word for us that the political, political discipleship is about so much more than federal elections. It's about how do we work together with our neighbors and all sorts of things? And it means that we can get involved in everyday stuff that are jobs, in a parent teacher association, in a residence association, in an organization that tries to help those who are struggling for this. We can get involved in these public ways. And this is part of our politics. We seek alongside people we disagree with. Maybe we may even consider as enemies. We seek the flourishing of our communities together. Flourishing is a thick concept, right? So if you're actually going to do that, you're going to have to have an opinion. This isn't everyone be nice and get along. Like you're going to have to like actually work towards a specific vision of what a good neighborhood or school or city would be like. But what this passage is saying is, you're also having to do that alongside people who have different visions. - Yeah. - And not only do it alongside them, but with their good in mind too. And in case you missed the memo and thought this was all just pragmatic, like, well, got to include them, because you have to pray for them, right? So this seeking the flourishing is an act of love. It's enemy love fleshed out in the mundane messy work of saying, how do we make the communities were part of a little bit better? - It's almost like it's connected to this guy who would come later, who would die on a cross. Yeah, I think about my buddy who I've mentioned in a previous episode that it feels like the simplistic Christian view on politics is like, oh yeah, be nice, but that's put in this second or tertiary kind of a category of importance. And I think when you talk about Jeremiah's letter, it flips that on its head, 'cause these guys have no vote. - Right. - They don't have a vote with the Babylonians, they don't have a vote with God. - Yes. - But they are given this, like, be nice on steroids, right? Like, and be nice is one thing, it sounds like what's convenient, like, yeah. And this is not convenient at all. - No. - When I think about politics, I think my duty is every two to four years, man. - Right. - Or did you just like, gripe it when I see on the radio, or here on the radio, or uponions, whatever, and have an opinion. - Yes, my opinion. - An opinion, isn't my opinion. - The opinion and the vote. - Yes. - Right. - Whereas this puts this on the side shelf and says, no, like, you're your political responsibility via God is to do these things. - Yeah, according to Jeremiah, part of your discipleship life is centered on seeking the flourishing and well-being of a community that includes your enemies. - And everyone. - And everyone. - Can do that. - And everyone can do that, wherever you are, right? However much influence you have. And again, you can't say, well, we can't really do that 'cause our nation is going to the dogs or something, 'cause Babylon is worse than your nation, right? Babylon that raised Jerusalem to the ground and destroyed the Temple of Yahweh is worse than your nation. - Yeah. - Whoever's listening here, around the world, that's my wager for you. - Right, right. - And Jeremiah said they could seek the well-being of the community of their enemies alongside their enemies in those hostile environments. - Yeah, that's awesome. But I think it is awesome. I also think it's easy to misunderstand because if you stop where I stop, then you may miss what Jeremiah goes on to say, which is crucial, okay? - Lay it on me. - So this is how the passage continues. Without this, it could sound like he's saying, just settle down in Babylon, right? Work forever. This is the new hope is in Babylon, that's where it's all going to go. - You're in a bad situation, this is how you make it okay. - Yeah, that's right, that's right. Maybe people need to relocate their hope and settle down permanently. Fix your house in Babylon, say a prayer, put your head down, get to work, that's all there is, right? But listen to what Jeremiah goes on to say. What he says is, for thus says the Lord, only when Babylon's 70 years are completed, will I visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans for your Shalom, there's that word again, and not for harm, to give you a future with hope, when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I'll hear you, when you search for me, that's seeking language, you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I'll restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and the places where I've driven you, says the Lord, and I'll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. What I think that shows is that there's a twofold flourishing here, a twofold Shalom that Jeremiah is telling them about. On the one hand, there's the short term, partial Shalom, they work towards in Babylon. And on the other hand, there's the longer, fuller grander Shalom that will only come when God does a new thing. And a part of that will be them seeking not just the flourishing of the communities, but them seeking God. And so Bruce Winner says that this passage, it's like a chameleon who has monocular vision, right? So the chameleons, an animal that has eyes on both sides of its head, right? And it can look in two directions at once. So on the one hand Jeremiah is saying, right now, fix your eyes on the flourishing that you can work towards, partial imperfect, even in the land of your enemies, and fix your eye at the same time, on the finer, grander, fuller Shalom that will only come when God does a new thing. And if they take their eye off either one of those goals, then they won't get to participate in God's mission the way he's inviting them to. They put both eyes on the Shalom they can experience partially in Babylon, then they'll lose track of God's grander vision, and they'll disappear into Babylonian society, and they'll lose their distinctiveness, they'll forget who they are ultimately. If they fix both eyes on this long term thing when God does a new thing, they'll miss all these opportunities to seek the flourishing of the city. And God says you gotta keep an eye fixed in both directions. And that means you're seeking not just the flourishing of the community, you're also seeking me, knowing that your ultimate hopes reside there. - That is a different understanding of Jeremiah 29. That is wild, that sense of, hey, to do what I'm asking, you can't focus on one of these where you become super unbalanced. - Yes, that is unreal. - And it makes possible what the late Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks called, it makes possible for the community of faith to become a creative minority. The late Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, said that this is a new thing in the history of the world because God's people are becoming a creative minority, a community that sustains their distinctive identity that live their faith, and that contribute to the wellbeing of the communities that they're in, without being the majority or controlling them or dominating them. So the options are no longer just being your own land, have all the control, do your own thing, or end up as somebody else's land and assimilate fully. Now there's this creative minority option where God's people can pledge their allegiance to God, live out that counterculture and get involved. - Yeah. - And seek the flourishing, even in the land of their enemies, alongside those enemies. - It seems like that would be hard to do over time, and like that we would need some sort of rhythmic, I don't know, system of worship that would help us constantly refocus on that. - You're really big on that Psalms conversation we had. - Psalms conversation, yeah, because, I mean, in all honesty. - Yes. - Because I think trying to sustain keeping your eye on both. - Yes. - Under the Babylonian rule would be so hard. - Well, and we have to assume, and there's even evidence of this, like you can glimpse it kind of in Ezekiel or whatever, but like, I think you're exactly right. Temple is destroyed. So they're literally living scattered and dispersed away from the center of worship. - Right. - And they're gonna have to figure out what does it look like in small groups and communities to sustain this life of faith. And both the work of cultivating that countercultural identity is excruciating. Like, how do we remember that we are different, that we are set apart, that we do not pledge our allegiance to the Babylonian king, that we do not worship the Babylonian gods, that we do not live the Babylonian. That's excruciating work. And the work of saying, how do we leave this better than we found it? How do we invest it? How do we bend our workplaces and our lives and our neighborhood involvement towards a world that's better, not just for our kids, but everybody's kids, not just for our businesses, but everybody's business, that's excruciating work. And Jeremiah says, the work of discipleship in your context is to do both at the same time. - But you didn't even do in your own country without the Babylonian. - Yeah, but I think like Luke Brothers and Points out that the surprise here is that Israel's gonna learn and exile what they should have and fail to learn in the land. And just like God's people learn a ton in the wilderness, sometimes it's the unpromising political context that proves most powerful to learn the lessons that are harder to learn when we're in control, when we've got all the power, when everything's going our way. - Yeah. - Yeah. At the beginning of the episode, you had talked about we're gonna be in the New Testament and the Old Testament. We've clearly been in the Old Testament. I would love to get to the New Testament part, but looking at the time, how do you feel about if we just push the New Testament kind of sister piece of this to next episode? - This sounds good. - Yeah, okay. All right, but before we wrap up, let's think about how this applies. I mean, we've talked a little bit about that, but I would love for you to connect this letter from Jeremiah and what you're talking about to my current contact/ear listeners. - Well, I think it would be such a cool assignment if every little group of believers said, what would it look like for us to seek the flourishing of our communities and to begin by saying, how do we go on the treasure hunt? What's already good and beautiful and amazing in our neighborhoods and in our schools and in our political communities? And how might we use the power faithfully that's in our hands to make those even better, including when we have to do so by working with and alongside and praying for our enemies? Like, I just think that is an incredible vision. And any group of Christians could get a lot of mileage after just saying, what's it look like for us to get on the treasure hunt together to see what's already beautiful and bubbling up here? And then how do we use what God's given us to strive and all sorts of small and big ways to seek the wellbeing of the community to which God sent us? And then maybe the other thing is to just ask, what does it mean, what does it look like in our context to sustain as we do that? A life that's fixed on God's final hope to know that we're not gonna bring the kingdom of God by that, that however good that goes, our final hopes will only come when Christ returns that sets up his kingdom in our midst. So how do we remind ourselves, even as we seek the flourishing of our communities, how do we in prayer, in worship, in scripture, remind ourselves again and again that we are seeking God and the full flourishing awaits his return. I think those two polls could really help God's people in our neighborhoods and churches re-imagine our mission in our communities. - Yeah. - Okay, I've got one more question. - Okay. - As you're looking at this, what makes you comfortable pulling that forward to us today? - Well, that's a great question. And it gives me an opportunity to say one, I'm not pulling this forward because I think we're in the exact same situation, right? I actually have a friend, Kaelin Schuss, who's doing her PhD dissertation on how people use this passage in politics and one thing she's worried me about is like, but you know that we are not poor pressed exiles living in a modern day bevelin. If you're an American Christian like, we got it all with a lot of power. We got a lot of influence. We got the right to vote. These situations are not exactly right. And some people have made probably like two quick jumps to like, oh no, we're marginalized community. When really it's like, at least in my circles, that's a stretch. So I'm not saying this is a blueprint for our exact situation, but I do think that there's something really significant here that is fundamental and true of every Christian, that there's a sense in which we are in a community that we're called to seek the flourishing of and we're called to cultivate this allegiance to God's kingdom in a way that requires this sort of monocular vision. And one reason why I think that is 'cause as we'll see, first Peter uses this same language to describe all Christians as being in some sense, exiles. - Oh, that's cool. - But let's save that for the next episode. - I can't imagine what book we're gonna look at next. I have no idea. All right, thanks for joining us. Thanks for us. (upbeat music) Hey, everybody, thanks for listening. If you liked this episode, please give us a rating, subscribe to the podcast, share it with your friends. If you've got questions, you'd like to hear Marshall and I discuss in future episodes. You can send those questions to us at [email protected]. If you wanna go deeper, you can read the book, reimagining biblical politics, on which this podcast sees in his base, you can find that book wherever books are sold. And you can also follow me on Substack at MichaeljReds.substack.com. Thanks and see you next time. (upbeat music) - The Baptist NZ podcast network.