Oct. 8, 2023
Imagine you decide you want to go on a great adventure! So, you’re going to Africa to see elephants, rhinos, lions, all the animals in the wild! You get to your destination out in the jungle. You’re there with your tour group. You are enjoying all the sights and sounds. You notice your shoe is untied. And the friendly guy next to you offers to hold your bag while you tie your shoe. So, you kneel down and tie your shoes. And when you get up: you look around and realize everyone is gone. Maybe they went that way. Or could it be that way? There you are, lost in the jungle by yourself! And you have nothing: no water, no food. Lost, alone.
How would you feel? Afraid, anxious. Maybe angry at the person who sold you this vacation! How do you have hope? You need someone with you who has vision and direction, who knows where to go.
Lost, alone, there in the jungle you are like the people of Israel in Babylon. What is Babylon? It was a city in ancient times. Over 2500 years ago, the Babylonian empire destroyed city of Jerusalem, the temple, and sent many of the people of Israel in captivity to Babylon. They had to stay there, for years. They worried; would they ever get back home? Babylon was a place they never wanted to be, but here they were.
Babylon represents a place you don’t want to be. It’s a place where you feel lost, alone, afraid, and without hope. We all end up in Babylon at some point, sometimes because of poor choices we have made, or because of poor choices others have made, or a tragedy. You don’t want to be stuck there! So, you’re looking for someone with vision and direction to lead you out.
The people of Israel are looking for someone with vision and direction. God provides that person! His name is Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was a prophet, which means he told the people what God wanted them to do. God gave Jeremiah a vision for His people who were far from home and their temple. Still God was with them in Babylon.
In this vision, Jeremiah is telling the people, don’t go in this direction: saying “I don’t care about anything”, or “I hate my enemy,” or “I’ll do what everybody else does, I’m not going to follow God.”
Jeremiah is saying, God calls you to live as an ambassador. Strive to have a good relationship with the foreign land you are in. But you have a different king you obey. The vision Jeremiah gives is this, If you look to God and his ways in a difficult place, he’ll get you through.
In Luke 6:8, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to his followers, “Do not be like them.” Do not be like the people around you. Jesus had a problem with the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, so he told his followers, “Do not be like them.” But that was not an excuse to break the religious law. No, instead Jesus wanted his followers to do the right thing more than the religious leaders, be more loving to their neighbors. Jesus wanted his followers to be different from those around them. Don’t take your cue from everybody else. Take your orders from God. If you look to God and his ways in a difficult place, he’ll get you through.
Here’s what Jeremiah says to the exiles in Babylon. They’re wondering, should we start a revolution? Overthrow Babylon? Become just like all the Babylonians? No: be an ambassador.
Jeremiah says, Get married and have kids, settle down, plant gardens, eat fruit.
He encourages them to live their lives. Yes, life around them is difficult. But God’s people aren’t defined by the problems around them. Don’t let inflation make you live in fear. Don’t let turmoil in Washington discourage you. Don’t fear your best days are behind you. Trust that God has this. He’ll give you a future and hope.
Jeremiah says to the people living in captivity, Seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon. The people of Israel probably respond, “What are you saying, Jeremiah, these are the guys who kidnapped us! Are we supposed to give them peace signs and cheer when they make money?! Jeremiah says, “If they prosper, you will too.” God wants them to pray for their Babylonian neighbors. Seek their good. If you look to God and his ways in a difficult place, He’ll get you through.
Jeremiah tells them, have good relationships with the Babylonians, and be ambassadors for God. Make sure the ruler of Babylon likes you! Don’t start a fight!
The people listened! They settled down, and they sought the good of the city they lived in. After 70 years, a different empire was in charge of Babylon! The Persian empire defeated the Assyrian empire. And the people of Israel asked and were actually allowed to leave Babylon and return home. They were even given the supplies to rebuild the temple, as well as a guard to accompany them on their journey, because they were liked in Babylon! If you look to God and his ways in a difficult place, He’ll get you through.
When you are in a situation you don’t want to be in, it’s tempting to strike out at others, or just shut down and get depressed. Jeremiah’s words say there’s a different way. Take care of yourself, live your life. And take care of the people of this strange city of Babylon. God is saying, listen to me here, I have not forgotten you! Have good relationships with people, even though you may not like them! That’s how you follow me while you’re in Babylon.
You might have heard about the budget difficulties at WV school district. That’s upsetting to me. Not just Williams Valley, but so many school districts are facing this in Pennsylvania. Somebody can do something about this: the Pennsylvania legislature. Actually, they have to because a court found PA is unconstitutional in how it funds school, because schools with less money don’t get enough money from the state. to provide their students with an adequate education.
I found out that Dave Argall, the senator for Schuylkill County and carbon and Hazleton area, is chair of the Pennsylvania Senate education committee, and he is also on the commission that is trying to figure out how to make Pennsylvania’s funding for schools constitutional. I know Dave. He was our boy scout leader when my oldest was in boy scouts. I have been sending him emails about how schools, particularly Williams Valley, need more funding. But I wanted to make sure he heard THIS IS IMPORTANT! We need help!
Thursday morning, Senator Argall was having coffee and donuts with constituents. Anyone was invited to come and ask a question. So, I went! There was a group of maybe 50 people there. So, I raised my hand. I told Senator Argall there are budget problems in the Williams Valley school district. There were teacher furloughs and a 6th grade class started the school year without a teacher. And I said the cuts are upsetting to kids. I said, I know the state used to pay the full cost for charter schools, but now the state only pays a small portion of the cost. The school districts have to pay for most of the cost when students from the district go to charter school. Williams Valley paid almost $3million last year to charter school, and that number is probably higher this year. I said if the state reimbursed WV $3million every year, I don’t believe there would be budget problems!
He responded, It’s tough. And how he talked about how he tries to get different people in the legislature to work together.
Afterward I thought that I didn’t change anything. I thought about what I could have said differently to make a better case for funding the school district. I thought I should have fought harder or got him with a zinger! But I didn’t, I was nice.
After that meeting, Senator Argall went to the Basic Education Funding Commission hearing in Hazleton. I watched the video of the hearing later. (I know, I need to get a life!)
During the hearing Dave Argall asked a speaker, representing all the school boards in Pa, “If you were king for a day, and you could get us to agree to just one change to help our public schools, what would that be?” The expert said, mandate relief, especially the mandate for school boards to pay most of the cost of charter schools.
And I thought, wow! That’s like what I said! Maybe what I said helped! I had told Senator Argall that charter school cost is a problem for Williams Valley, which is in his district. And two hours later, at a hearing, an expert told him, above all, school boards want charter school relief. The expert reinforced it. I believe it was a God thing! Two times in two hours in two different places, somebody told Senator Argall the same thing!
I realized, I don’t have to fight or be nasty to Senator Argall, who is a person too, and somebody I have known a long time. I also don’t have to give up and think nothing I do matters. Just be an ambassador for God. I was nice to Senator Argall. I brought my concern and let him know the problem.
God has a plan; God has a future and hope. Be kind to the people around you, even when you’re mad. Keep acting in the way God wants you to, and you’ll be ok.
My homework for you is to think of a challenge you face, your Babylon. How can you trust God while you’re in your difficulty?
When Israel was sent to Babylon, God gave them a vision: be my ambassadors. Seek the peace of the city you were brought to in exile. Walk in my ways, and I will give you a future and hope. I will gather you and bring you back home. God eventually brought them home and they rebuilt. And just so, if you look to God and his ways in your Babylon, he will gather you out of tragedy and bring you home! Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 