The Politics of Exiles: Cooperation Without Corruption (Jeremiah 29:1-9 )
Before jumping into the message today, it is important to recap where we are in this three-part series. The series' big idea is “Do good for the land, knowing it's not your homeland.” As “exiles” in this world, we are waiting for our true homeland to arrive at the end of the age when the kingdom of God is fully manifested in the New Heavens and Earth. This does not mean we are indifferent to the lands that we are in. We are called to seek the good of this land.
Last week, we discovered the greatest good that followers of Christ can do for the lands they live in is to protect the purity of the Church. When we protect our purity, we maintain our credibility, amplifying the persuasive nature of the gospel, which is the greatest good for humanity. The Big Idea for last week’s message was “Purity over politicians or policies.” If we place politicians or policies as priorities over our purity, we jeopardize our credibility and hurt the witness of the gospel. This does not mean we can not bring about good through politicians or policies. We can if we maintain our purity and character. I mentioned four ways I believe we compromise our character when promoting politicians and policies: 1. Justifying immoral means for political gains. 2. Overlooking horrendous character flaws in candidates. 3. Disrespecting those we disagree with. 4. Applauding abusive language used against our opponents. So, with all these pitfalls before us, how do we bring about good through politicians and policies?
Big Idea: Cooperation without corruption. As followers of Christ, we should feel morally obligated to cooperate with others in bringing about societal good. We need to be concerned for the good of our families, cities,states, nations, and our world. In order to promote human flourishing in the lands we live in, we will need to cooperate with secular and immoral administrations. There is a way to cooperate without corrupting or compromising our character. Before addressing that topic, let's first see our moral obligation as followers of Christ to promote public good. Jeremiah's message to the exiles in Babylon helps us see this obligation.
Jeremiah 29:1-9, “These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 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 their 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. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah felt the need to write this letter to the exiles In Babylon because of a false prophet who was misleading the people. The false prophet was claiming that the exile would be over in two years and that the people should only plan to stay in the land of Babylon for a short time. God had revealed to Jeremiah that the exile would last seventy years and that the people should prepare to be in the land of Babylon for several generations.
The exile wasn’t outside of God's plan. In verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar is described as the one who brought the people into exile, whereas verse 4 states that God was responsible for this situation. God used Nebuchadnezzar to bring about the just consequence of exile on His faithless people. God also had a plan for how His people should conduct themselves while in Babylon.
God wanted His people to focus on private and public good. They were to grow their families and work for the city's welfare. It is interesting to note the three things Jeremiah called people to do concerning their private good. He tells them to “build, plant, and marry.” These three activities are referenced in Deuteronomy 20:5-10. In this chapter, Moses gave the Israelites the grounds for someone being exempt from military service. If someone just built a house, planted a vineyard, or had been engaged, they are exempt from fighting in battle. Jeremiah was telling the exiles that they should not seek to fight against the Babylonians. They were to see this as a time of peace.
In verse 7, Jeremiah also encouraged the exiles to be concerned with the public good of their land. They were to seek out the city's “welfare,” its peace and prosperity. Notice how they are called to pray and work for it. The welfare of the city was not just on their prayer list but their priority list. We see a similar exhortation in 1 Peter 2:11-12, where the people of God are called “exiles.” Peter instructed them to keep themselves from sin and to do good. The “good” Peter mentions must be public and not private because outsiders are able to see and glorify God in heaven.
1 Peter 2:11-12, “11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Two great examples of this in the Old Testament are Joseph and Daniel. These men brought about significant public good under pagan—not just secular—administrations. Joseph served the nation of Egypt and Daniel the empire of Babylon. Egypt and Babylon were not models of a holy nation. They were corrupt, immoral, and pagan, yet God used these two faithful leaders to promote civic prosperity. These men were able to cooperate with pagan leaders without corrupting their character. Joseph and Daniel are two of the most faithful characters in the Old Testament, yet they lived in pagan lands. How can we do the same now? How can we, as exiles, cooperate in bringing about public good without compromising our character? Paul shows us the way in his letter to the Roman believers in the 1st century.
Romans 13:1-7, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed,respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
This passage teaches us that governmental offices and the officers who serve in these roles are a part of God’s plan to promote good and punish evil. We should see God’s authority behind all governing authorities. This does not mean that God approves of everything they do or that all governing officials align with God's standard for morality. Even though their wills and agendas don’t always match up, God uses the governments of this world to accomplish His purposes. Since we are in a democratic republic, we must read ourselves as the governed and as the governing authorities in this passage.
In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln said we are a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” We are not in a dictatorship or an oligarchy, where all the power of governing authority resides in one person or a small group. All citizens of voting age in America are a part of the government, which means we should feel the moral obligation in this passage to promote good and punish evil by voting. By not voting, we are violating the moral responsibility of this text. If God wants us to vote, how can we vote without corrupting our character? This passage addresses that question as well.
Understanding the historical context of this letter to Roman believers is essential. The Roman Emperor at the time of this letter was Nero. He had not yet begun his systematic persecution of Christians but was still known as a wildly immoral character, committing several sexual sins and acts of violence. Some consider Nero to be the most immoral Roman emperor. It is wild to hear Paul instruct the Romans to “respect” and “honor” an immoral character like Nero. Paul called “Nero” and all governmental leaders “servants” and “ministers” of God. These were terms that Paul used to describe himself and other Christian leaders.
For Paul, one was able to acknowledge and honor the political good of someone who was spiritually depraved. We can honor the political good of immoral politicians. We can honor them because we see the authority of God behind them and His plan to use them to bring about civil good and punish evil. Paul says that God’s wrath on evil was being channeled through the pagan authorities of the Roman Empire. Even though Paul called the Roman believers to honor Nero, he was also honest about the rampant moral failings in the Roman Empire.
Paul’s exhortation to honor Nero helps us greatly as we seek to cooperate with politicians to achieve public good. A Venn diagram helps us see Paul's wisdom in this passage. A Venn diagram consists of two circles that overlap to some degree. Where the circles overlap is where the two ideas, represented by each circle, find agreement. The two places where they don’t overlap are where the ideas disagree. Paul shows us in this passage that Nero, or any governing authority, commits actions that align with God’s will. There are some things that both God and Nero agree on. There are also a lot of things they disagree on. We are called to see the public good that aligns with God’s will in the center of these two circles. We should honor Nero because God placed him in power and because he promoted public good, which aligns with God's will. This act of honor and respect does not corrupt the character of the Christian. If it did, Paul would be out of line asking his readers to do so.
Based on the honoring of Nero, Christians can vote for immoral candidates and maintain a clear conscience. When we vote for a politician, we should not feel we are endorsing their character completely, just as “honoring” and “respecting” Nero wasn’t an endorsement of his immoral character. Let’s consider the Venn diagram again. When we consider political candidates and policies, we should acknowledge that no person or piece of legislation will completely align with the will of God. The circles will not completely overlap. On the other hand, we must also acknowledge that there will be some degree of overlap, even if it is small. The degree of overlap is our primary concern. I mentioned last week that overlooking character flaws in candidates is a way Christians compromise the Church's purity and hurt the witness of the gospel. This is when we only see the overlap between God’s will and a politician's and disregard the places that don’t overlap. We have to be honest as we honor those in political office. In Romans 1, Paul lists many of the sins Nero was guilty of, yet he told his readers to honor him in Romans 13.
I wish I could tell you the point when the overlap of what God promotes and what a politician or policy promotes is in enough agreement to deserve your vote. I can’t give you that formula. I don’t think it is appropriate to use my authority as a pastor to provide you with that exact percentage. My responsibility is to inform your conscience with the principles of Scripture that will allow you to make the wisest choice possible. Being politically active is incredibly challenging and requires a lot of work. I can’t and shouldn’t do all the work for you, so I don’t endorse candidates or policies. Voting is hard, but it is necessary to cooperate to bring about human flourishing.
Cooperation without Corruption is hard to achieve. God has placed followers of Christ in countries all across the globe to proclaim the gospel and promote the public good. We can and should do both. The Scriptures show us the principles that lead to human flourishing. It would be wrong of us to keep this gift to ourselves. Our concepts of morality are not just for us and our families. We should share the wisdom of these ideals. We are not to legislate our faith, but we must promote good, which is informed by our faith. We owe it to society to show them the principles that define family, sexuality, justice, and human dignity. Our land won't flourish without the morality of Christianity.
I said that the application of each of the messages in this series would be prayer. Last week, I asked you to pray for the purity of the Church. This week, I am asking you to pray that God would give you wisdom on who and what to vote for that will best promote our land's welfare. I would also like you to have one political conversation this week with a friend or family member in which you seek to learn something new. One of the main reasons we struggle to know how to vote is because we try to figure it out on our own.
Life Level Application
Head: Read Daniel 6. How is Daniel portrayed in this chapter? What qualities make him stand out among the administrators? What does Daniel’s commitment to prayer and his God teach us about faithfulness in challenging circumstances? What impact did Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den have on King Darius and the people of his kingdom?
Heart: Read Mark 12:13-17. How does this passage relate to the concept of being made in the image of God? What does it suggest about our obligations to God versus earthly authorities? How does this passage challenge or encourage your own views on civic duties and your faith?
Hand: Read 1 Peter 2:13-17. What are some practical ways Christians can demonstrate good conduct in their communities, as encouraged in verse 12? According to verse 15, what is the purpose of submitting to authority? How does this relate to the concept of good conduct among non-believers? In verse 16, Peter speaks about being free yet not using freedom as a cover for evil. How can believers balance their freedom in Christ with their responsibilities to earthly authorities?
Habit: Do you feel satisfied with your knowledge of everything on this year's ballot to vote in a way that will please the Lord? How can you inform yourself more? Who do you feel you could converse with to help you make wiser political choices?