Drugs bring Death
Unless you have been out of town for a long time, you know that lots of things have happened in our city during the past several months. Some are hopeful, some confusing, and some are troubling.
In addition to recent acts of violence, we hear charges of racism, profiling, and prejudice. Unfortunately, some of us don’t listen to each other well and as a result don’t understand each other.
At a clergy luncheon Sue and I attended, a black pastor helped us understand some of the questions he and others from the black community have about the Tarika Wilson case. He told us that some African-Americans feel that the system is stacked against them and that nothing they do makes a difference in the way things turn out.
Violence in our city continues at a high rate. In 2007, the police reported 596 incidents of domestic violence alone. Already this year they have reported 238 incidents. Those are in addition to hundreds of burglaries, assaults, and vandalism incidents. In 2007, police reported a total of 9292 incidents. That calculates to 25 per day. We all know that there is plenty of crime to go around.
Last Wednesday, we were walking on Central Avenue and noticed a young man carrying a large bundle of aluminum siding as he walked toward the recycling center. Just then a police car came and the officer stopped him and ask, “Where did you get it?” We heard him say that a friend gave it to him.
How do we cope with a world saturated with crime and violence? Do we lock our doors and stay to ourselves and just give up? We know people who don’t know the names of people who live next door. They don’t want to know. They just lock their doors and stay inside.
In recent weeks, lots of people have joined Jesse Lowe in his demonstrations against drugs. I don’t know how many of you have stood with him, but I encourage you to consider it. Last Tuesday, I went to the public meeting he called. There were about 100 people there, common, ordinary folk, who were concerned about what is happening in this city.
This movement began with Jesse’s concerns about the connection between drugs and violence. He created a sign, Drugs Bring Death, and stood alone at first on St. Johns Avenue, across the street from drug dealers who taunted him. Now each week, a hundred or so people stand with him.
At the meeting the other night, Jesse handed out a pack of reports and resources, but the thing that struck me as I got to the last page, was a full-page prayer that began with the words,
“Father in Heaven, In the mighty name of Jesus, release your powers and anointing to flow over this city.. ..“ and, it said further on, “Father, release a spirit of conviction and repentance upon the people of this city. Release a spiritual hunger into the hearts of the people.”
For me, that prayer brought perspective to everything that is happening. The events we hear about are not in the hands of the drug dealers, police, or politicians. They are in the hands of God. And our response must be not to give up, but to stand up. God has called us to his mission and we must be about his work, working for the well-being of the city and looking forward with hope.
God provides a future
In today’s scripture, Jeremiah came to God’s people, not by carrying a sign, but with a letter. Many of the Israelites had been taken out of their country as prisoners and carted off to a foreign land. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way because, after all, they were God’s special people. But it did.
The Bible tells us that generations earlier, God had commissioned his people to be his light to the nations. God had led them and blessed them in many ways, but they had not been obedient to God. As a result, God allowed Babylon to invade their land and deport them by the hundreds.
Now they were living on unfamiliar streets in a foreign land. Psalm 137 reflects that experience. “By the rivers of Babylon- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.”
How were they to cope with their desperate situation? Then from 800 miles away comes this letter from Jeremiah, who was still in Jerusalem. God had a word for them:
1. Settle down there where you are. (29:5,6). Go ahead and call Babylon your home for now. Don’t get in a hurry to escape your circumstances. It doesn’t matter where you live when God is with you and when you know that you are a citizen of heaven.
2. Seek the welfare of the city. (29:7). In other words, make it a better place than when you got there. Bring down the grace of God on that city. They must have heard these words with disbelief. Seek the welfare of this city? It was a strange message. It would have been easier to shut their eyes, lock their doors, and stick their heads in the sand. But God didn’t want them to give up; he was asking them to stand up. They probably felt like saying, “Wait a minute. Here we have been displaced, beaten down, imprisoned and God says Seek the welfare of the people who put us there.”
“These people are different from us.” Seek the welfare of the city
“These people don’t know God.” Seek the welfare of the city
“These people are crass, uncultured, uncouth at times.” Seek the welfare of the city
“We don’t want to get involved with them.” Seek the welfare of the city
But God wasn’t teaching them how to escape or disengage. He was teaching them how to obey.
And I hope you noticed the command (29:7) to pray to the Lord on behalf of the city where they were living. Prayer is the key to living in adverse circumstances.
3. God promises a future. (29:10-14) Yes, things look bad right now, but God promises a future. They may have despaired at the thought that they would not see Jerusalem, but their children would.
It would have been easy to throw in the towel, to give up. Have you ever noticed how people, when their city is wiped off the map with a tornado, begin to build right away? A year ago this month, Greensburg, KS, was all but destroyed, killing 11 people and wiping out nearly everything in its path.
But, according to an NPR report, “a remarkable transformation has taken hold, and a new town is emerging.”
There is something about working with your hands, overcoming difficulty, and looking forward to the future that inspires hope. Whether for tornado victims or exiles, the hope for restoration squelches the tendency toward despair. Paul wrote in Rom 5:3-5 that hope comes after suffering and endurance.
Last week I asked another pastor about a youth pastor who has been diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. The person I asked said, “You know, sometimes people who have received a call from God go through testing and they become stronger for it.” If you are going through testing, remember those words.
God provides a future for his people. He did it then, he can do it now. One of the gems in this passage comes from verse 11. Take comfort in the fact that God has a plan for you. And he has a plan for his people wherever they are gathered.
God brings hope
So here we are - a small church in a city with challenges. What is God’s word to us? I believe it is that same as his word to the exiles: Seek the welfare of the city.
It would be easy to turn our eyes from the problems and bury our heads in the sand, but that is not what God is calling us to do. Here are some ways we can work for the well-being of this city.
1. First, God is calling us to pray on behalf of this city just as God called the Israelites to pray for Babylon. It’s easy to complain about the problems, but how often do we pray about them? Put Lima on your prayer list. You can start by using the monthly city prayer list. And pray especially for the decision regarding charges against the police officer. Some people will be unhappy no matter how it comes out.
2. Build relationships with people different from yourself. When we discussed the issue of race relations at a clergy meeting, one pastor said, “I’m ashamed to say that I don’t know any African Americans.” Pastors white and black are now talking with each other, eating with each other, helping each other.
God has blessed this congregation with diversity. Let’s get to know one another. Let’s test the edges of our comfort zone. Our potluck with Future Church was one little step in getting outside our walls. Our VBS for the past several years has given us a great opportunity to work with them. This year we have invited an additional small congregation to join us. On June 14, city churches are planning an all-day picnic in the park. Plan to attend.
3. Think of the blocks around this building as your neighborhood. If there is one neighborhood association you hear about on the news it is Midway East. That association began here in this room over 10 years ago. Some events are still held here. Association members think of our church as a partner with them. I believe God is calling this congregation to look out for the well-being of this neighborhood, whether its members live on these streets or not.
We can give in to feelings of despair and try to escape the problems of our city or we can embrace the opportunities God has placed before us, affirming His promise of hope and restoration.
Conclusion
Jeremiah 29:12 says, When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord. That may require some repentance on our part. I read of a Christian organization on a secular college campus that decided to do something different during the annual campus festival. This college has been named "the college where students are most likely to ignore God." (Don Miller, Leadership Magazine. Summer 2005)
This little group decided it was time to let the campus know there are Christians around. So, as they were planning, one said, “Let’s build a confession booth in the middle of campus.” Only, it would not be for party-goers to confess, it would be for the Christians to confess that they had ignored people around them. They made the confession booth and it opened lots of doors to students who had written Christianity off.
I’m not suggesting that we put up a confession booth, but God may be asking us to reflect on ways we have failed to carry out his call. How can we seek the welfare of the city where God has placed us? What is the future he has for us as his people? Let’s search for God’s face as we seek the welfare of our city.
