For most of the problems and hurdles of life, there are no quick fixes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need to lose 15 pounds? It won\u2019t be fast. Need to find a new six-figure job? It won\u2019t be easy. Need a plumber to install a toilet? It won\u2019t be fast or easy \u2014 and it won\u2019t be cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may have seen a complete home renovation happen on TV in under 30 minutes \u2014 pausing only for a commercial about the latest flexible miracle tape. But chances are that a rapid-response team isn\u2019t going to show up on your doorstep to offer a quick solution for most of life\u2019s conundrums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was growing up at 40 Glendale Street in Nutley, New Jersey, there was one bathroom in the little house that I shared with my parents and brother. And that bathroom was the one project my father never had time to complete. You see, after he bought the house in 1957, he put in new drywall in the bathroom and spackled it \u2013 but that was it.  He never got around to the next step. That meant that he was unable to install a shower head above the tub, because you can\u2019t have a shower splashing water on bare drywall. Which meant that the Reeses could only take baths. No showers for us.  Just hot baths \u2013 even in the middle of summer. This \u201ctemporary\u201d bathroom set-up went on until I was 16 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we\u2019re forced to live in the \u201cin between,\u201d or \u201cmeantime,\u201d periods of life \u2014 those years when we\u2019re waiting for circumstances to change or be altered, knowing that, perhaps, they might never change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how many of the people south of us feel right now, as they struggle to get back on their feet after the wrath of Ian.  Damaged and destroyed homes. No power. No water. And things won\u2019t be getting much better anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the bleak future awaiting the Israelites who had been exiled from their homeland in 606-586 B.C. It was in these years that their nation had ceased to exist. The glory years of Saul, David, and Solomon were now only shop-worn tales told by bearded scribes and hoary elders. There was no Israel now. No Judah. No nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the critical piece in today\u2019s Old Testament lesson is the fact that the Hebrews were in exile because God moved them into exile.<\/em> This being the case, the prophet Jeremiah says stay where you are. Don\u2019t plan on moving; don\u2019t start packing until God sends some moving trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are where we are because God has led us, pushed us or dragged us, then we better stay put until otherwise notified. If, on the other hand, we got into our present muck up without any help from God, then we might need God to un-muck it. God might do this when God is good and ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not encouraging. In other words, there\u2019s no quick fix here. No Instant Pots, instant coffee, Instagram, instant gratification or instant messaging. The expatriate pilgrims of Babylon quickly learned to embrace the wisdom of Psalm 90: \u201cFor a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past,\u201d (v. 4), which was revised centuries later to read, \u201cWith the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day\u201d (2 Peter 3:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Jeremiah\u2019s advice to the Jewish expats \u2014 and by extension to us \u2014 is to do two things. First, decide if we\u2019re \u201chere\u201d (wherever \u201chere\u201d is) by the will of God; and second, if so, settle into a life as though we\u2019re here for life \u2014 or until God moves us on.Jeremiah\u2019s counsel is that in life, the circumstances in which we find ourselves are not always amenable to an easy solution. It might be best to adapt to your surroundings and adjust to make life bearable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not mean you compromise your faith, but that you\u2019re willing totake the long view. This problem, this situation, this context, is here to stay for the indefinite future. When I find myself in a new place, new life, new experience, I had better decide how I can live a meaningful life within<\/em> the situation, rather than outside <\/em>of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theme, then, is how to live when you\u2019re an exile, or when you feel like an exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah was the first theologian who spoke before the exile and during the exile as one of the exiled. Although Jeremiah had not yet made the trip from Jerusalem to Babylon, he would eventually. But before he\u2019s trundled off to exile, he writes a letter. It\u2019s part of today\u2019s lesson: \u201cThese are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon\u201d (v. 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is from the prophet himself. And his advice is very practical. There are no platitudes in this letter. No theological speculation. Instead, Jeremiah responds to a similar question posed by the British punk rock band, The Clash, in their 1982 hit, \u201cShould I Stay or Should I Go?\u201d Jeremiah answers in terms of dollars and cents, of marriage and family, of houses and farms. Bottom line: the exiled community must get a grip and get a life, face the harsh facts and begin a major adjustment, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

• They might wish they still had the temple. But they don\u2019t.<\/li>
• They might wish they still lived within the walls of Jerusalem. But they don\u2019t.<\/li>
• They might wish they could still drink the wine of their own vineyards. But they can\u2019t.<\/li>
• They might wish they could sing their songs in Judah, but they can\u2019t.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  Jeremiah tells them they must build a bridge and get over it. The destination has changed. Getting \u201chome\u201d will not happen for another 70 years minimum. For now, Babylon is <\/em>the destination. Like the sign says in the mall, \u201cYou are here!\u201d Don\u2019t move unless God moves \u2014 and by the way, God is not moving \u2026 yet. Your Jewishness is not tied to a location. You can still be a people of the book, a people of faith, a people of your religious traditions, wherever you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The first thing any family might do before moving to a new part of the country is arrange for housing. This is probably done before you ever set your trip odometer and head out on the interstate. You need a place for you and your family to reside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Jeremiah says, \u201cBuild a house.\u201d He\u2019s doing more than offering practical advice. He\u2019s reinforcing the message that three generations of families are going to live in Babylon. This is the context of your new life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  In your house, you will cook kosher, sleep, and take care of the dog. You will take singing lessons, study and memorize the Torah, and go to Torah school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  And you will pay your way. The government may offer you some jobs, probably manual labor. You will plant gardens, do some farming. You need to make a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  You will have babies. \u201cMultiply there, and do not decrease\u201d (v. 6). You will sing songs and find husbands for your daughters and brides for your sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Jeremiah notes that \u201cIf your host city prospers, you prosper. Therefore, pray for its success.\u201d His exact words are: \u201cSeek 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\u201d (v. 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The apostle Peter also wrote to a beleaguered community \u2014 the diaspora, groups of exiles and expats in the first century. They, too, needed encouragement. They were living in all parts of the Roman Empire, including Rome, which the apostle John refers to asBabylon. Peter writes:\u201cLive such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds\u201d (1 Peter 2:11). Sounds a lot like Jeremiah\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  A whole lot of Floridians are facing their own exile right now.  Jeremiah would want them to know that, although life will certainly be different and they may be in exile for years to come, God will still be with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  And remember this: Gratitude is how faith responds in remembering God\u2019s faithfulness in the past; hope is how faith responds in trusting God\u2019s faithfulness in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  For most of the problems and hurdles of life, there are no quick fixes. Need to lose 15 pounds? It won\u2019t be fast. Need to find a new six-figure job? It won\u2019t be easy. Need a plumber to install a toilet? It won\u2019t be fast or easy \u2014 and it won\u2019t be cheap. You may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n