Gratitude in Exile: Seeking the Welfare of the City
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and Psalm 66:1-12
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c and Psalm 111
“To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.” —The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. LeGuin
Of the many traits of Jesus that I admire, the wisdom he displays in moments when big, tough questions are being lobbed at him is particularly instructive for me. As a teacher by profession (and perhaps also by disposition and inclination), I often feel an internal pressure to have a ready answer for the Big Questions of Life, regardless of who is asking and why they are asking. Jesus sometimes ignores the question and asks a new question instead of answering. And his new question usually gets at the underlying thinking of what is really going on in the heart and mind of those asking the questions.
It is indeed tempting to spend our energy trying to give satisfying answers to the tough questions. Sometimes we get lured into debates about what a Scripture text REALLY means, too often resulting in division and bitterness. Today’s 2 Timothy 2: 14 text reminds us to “avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening” and to instead, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2:15). But here someone will probably shout, “What is truth anyway?”
We can imitate Jesus’ wisdom in this moment by refusing to get sucked into an argument which will not satisfy and which will likely do more harm than good among us. If we trace the theme of today’s lectionary texts, we see that it is gratitude for God’s provision, whether that provision shows up as healing coming through unlikely methods (2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c; Luke 17:11-19) or in the midst of exile (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7). As the Psalmist declares,
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs; You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place (Psalm 66:10-12, emphasis added).
If we see ourselves similarly situated today as strangers and aliens, how do we learn to see our situation with grateful hearts? How do we live in this unfamiliar, spacious place as workers approved by God? Our guidance comes from the familiar Jeremiah 29 passage:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
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 in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 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 (Jeremiah 29: 4-7, emphasis added).
Too often we get caught up in asking and trying to answer questions like, “What are we doing here? Why are these things happening?”. We spend our time and energy looking for right answers rather than cultivating grateful hearts and city gardens. We complain bitterly about the failures of the city’s leadership or infrastructure instead of asking the Lord to bless the city which will in turn result in good for us and for all our neighbors. Settle in. Plant gardens. Raise children. Work for the common good. Share the fruits of your garden with thanksgiving. Live at peace with everyone and work for the common good by doing the truth in love. Thanks be to God for graciously providing and for keeping faith with us in our exile.