Speaker: Greg Sanders

Passage: Jeremiah 29

JEREMIAH 29 // MULTIPLY PT. 1

Last Sunday, while we were off, we released a teaching online, and I know a lot of us watched it because we pay attention to the clicks and the views to know what’s going on. It was out of Jeremiah 29, and in total honesty, when I wrote that teaching, it was really driven out of a place of, Well, I’ve got to write some teachings. 

And so I was just going to share what the Lord’s dealing with in my heart, and I didn’t expect it to expand the way it has. During the break, I felt like the Lord was really clear that He wanted us to stay here, to kind of camp in this passage. And I asked the Lord why, and I felt like He said, I want to recalibrate. That was the word He used very specifically. I want to recalibrate our direction and our focus. And so I want us to really grab on to the understanding of what it means to be recalibrated. 

Calibration is when we’re aligned to a standard. It can happen in several formats. It happens with TVs, it happens with computers, it happens with airplanes. Dan Clark was a pilot for United for years, and after the last gathering, he said, “You do realize, like in an airplane, we have–” he used a bunch of words I don’t understand, but he talked about having a calibration for direction that has to be calibrated correctly because if you’re one degree off, over sixty miles, you’re a mile off; over one hundred and twenty miles, you’re two miles off. And it starts expanding to where you’re way off course with just a minor part of calculation.

I would say it this way: in the Kingdom, you can be a degree off or one hundred eighty degrees off. Either way, you’re still what? Off. So when the Lord says, I want to recalibrate, I take that as a word that means the Lord really wants to align us properly to where we’re supposed to go. He wants to call us back to who we’re supposed to be. 

I don’t know exactly how long we’re going to be in this passage, my guess is two or three weeks. I love being systematic, but I just want to be faithful to what the Lord has asked us to be. So, I think I would invite us to just settle our hearts and go, Alright, Lord, we’re going to be here as long as you want us to be here, so we can learn what you want us to learn.

All that to say, regardless of how long we’re in this, what I really believe is this is a word for this house for this moment. All Scripture is God-breathed. All Scripture is useful. All Scripture applies to us. But there are times where the Lord will highlight something; He’ll put a spotlight on it and say, I really need you to pay attention to this. I think this is one of those for us right now as a family. 

GOD’S PLANS FOR US

So I want to go to Jeremiah 29. Before we jump into the entire text, I just want to bring out of it the verse that a lot of us are probably familiar with. How many have ever heard this verse quoted? How many have seen it on the placard, or maybe had it in a card? “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans of blessing, not cursing, for good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” 

We know that it’s a very greeting-card-ready phrase. It’s beautiful, and it’s wonderful, but this verse carries a lot more to it than just that promise. I love the rest of it: “‘In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you,’ says the Lord.” 

We’re going to dig into that in the weeks to come. But before we dig into all of that, I just want to highlight a concept that I think is really important and will become for us an overarching idea in this study. If God knows the plans He has for us, then what is left to us is to decide how we’re going to respond to that knowledge. 

Think that through with me for a second. If He knows the plans He has– and by the way, timeout. For all of you that are worried about the Broncos game, yay, they’re in the playoffs, good for the Broncos. My clock up there will keep us on schedule so you can make it home and catch your Broncos game. I do understand the priorities in Colorado. The next gathering is going to be for all the people that love Jesus more than the Broncos. Feel the shame. 

But before we dig into this passage, I just want to highlight this idea that if He knows the plans He has for us, what’s left to us is to decide how we respond to that knowledge. Will we allow what He says to set our trajectory, or will we allow what we feel and see to control the narrative? 

I want to restate it. In this passage, the Lord reveals that His people– look at your neighbor and say, Us– His people will either live from His promise or from their perspective. I want you to consider the idea of what does it look like to live from His promise versus my perspective? 

Could that mean that in any situation that my perspective– what I see, what I feel, what I think– when it’s contrary to what He said, I need to set that aside and choose to honor what He has spoken? I believe that concept is vital in our journey. And I think that concept is foundational to this word. 

OUR TRUE CITIZENSHIP

If we look at the background to understanding Jeremiah 29, it was a word written to a people who were in a land that was not their home. You’re like, Why does that matter? Well, 1 Peter 2 says that you and I are strangers and aliens. We are not of this world. What we are instead is citizens of Heaven, which means we can extrapolate from this passage because, just like them, we are a people in a land that’s not our own. 

Does that make sense? They’re in a land that wasn’t their home. We’re in a land that’s not our home. We’re strangers, we’re aliens, we’re captives, really, from a Kingdom point of view. Let’s simplify it. Where we are living is not where we are to live from. All right, let’s go to Jeremiah 29. 

JEREMIAH 29:1-14

“Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah, and all the craftsmen had been deported from Jerusalem. He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah’s ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar, this is what Jeremiah’s letter said:

“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, sends this message to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food you produce. Marry, and have children. Then find spouses for them, and have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray to the Lord for that city where you are held captive, for if Babylon has peace, so will you. 

“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, ‘Do not let the prophets and mediums who are there in Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams because they prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them,’ says the Lord. 

“The truth is you will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you,’ says the Lord.” 

I want to give you some observations, and here’s how we’re going to do this. I’m going to teach as long as I can, and then we’re going to shut it down, no matter where we’re at, and you’re going to go watch the Broncos. 

THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR CAPTIVITY

My first observation is, I want to talk about the truth of their captivity. We have to look at who put them into captivity. It says it right here in the text, God did. God put them into captivity. For some of us, that’s a hard thing to wrap our minds around. Why would God do that? Why would a loving God put them into captivity? But that’s the wrong question. 

What it should highlight for us is a truth and an understanding that He is sovereign, and because He is sovereign– meaning He’s in control of everything– this truth here should cause me to believe that where I am, where we are– unless I’m in direct disobedience to something He said to me– where I am is where I’m supposed to be. 

What do you mean direct disobedience? There are times, I’ll give you one of mine. I was a young youth pastor. I had a friend who wanted me to come interview for a job in Ojai, California. So I go to Ojai, California. I killed it in the interview, it was great. He offers me the job. And I didn’t want to move to California because it was California, and Ojai makes Boulder look calm on the crazy scale. And there were a lot of reasons. 

So, I come back, I was working with Pastor Gary. I come back and remember where I was at. I was sitting in the parking lot of the church that we pastored, and I just had this moment where I was really learning about what it meant to be a son. And I’m like, Lord, I, as a son, I love the right that you’ve given me the right to choose, and so I just choose no. That began two of the hardest years of my life. 

Why? Because I was in disobedience. Nothing worked for two years. It was abysmal. I didn’t understand the principle that the thing that moves us should be the voice of the Lord. But we have to understand the reverse principle: when He doesn’t speak, we don’t move. So this principle should– I would argue must– kill off the question and argument within us about where we are and if we are to be there. I actually think it should cause us to pause and consider the incredible placing of God. 

See, as Americans, we love options. Options reveal character. Success brings options. Options reveal character. We love options. Options like I can pick up, move if I want to, I can relocate out of this area if I want to. I don’t like the climate here. I don’t like the finances here, blah, blah, blah. 

Could I just offer you an idea? That perhaps where you are is where you are to be. Perhaps He’s sovereign, and He set us where we are. He intended for us to be where we are. He has purpose and destiny in it. Perhaps the fiscal market of this region is nothing to Him because there’s a giant in every land. This one happens to be finance. Big deal. There’s different giants in every place. 

Perhaps what He wants to do is be the God of breakthrough for you in that particular area. But what He really needs is you to understand this simple principle: I am where He placed me. Just because we can change our situations with a simple action doesn’t mean that action isn’t a violation of His placing. 

What do you mean? You know, I’m in a marriage, Pastor Greg, it’s just so rough. I got to get out of this. What happens if you push pause and go, This marriage is awful, but the Lord put me here, and the Bible gives me clear parameters of what it looks like to be successful and faithful in marriage. God put me in this job, and it’s awful, but I’m here because He put me here, and I’m going to be gracious and grateful and thankful for it. 

What happens if we as a people quit itemizing what’s wrong around us and start itemizing what’s right? And we learn to find what’s right and praise out of it. And we decide, You know what, Lord, I’m going to make you so tired of me being grateful for this situation that if you want to stop hearing my praise about said thing, you can move me out of it. 

There’s not a single place in Scripture where the complaining of the people of God moved Him to action that was good for them. I didn’t say didn’t move Him to action. It just wasn’t very good for them because the ground opened up and swallowed some of them. 

See, here’s the principle: His placing will always require my surrender in order to be appreciated, which means until I surrender to Him as the one in control, I’ll never be able to appreciate where He’s put me. 

So, if you’re in a spot where you hate everything about your life, it’s probably because you haven’t surrendered to the one who put you there. You’re like, Ouch. I don’t mean it to be Ouch. If He can say to people in Babylonian captivity, I put you there, then we should understand He’s probably saying to us, Guess what? I put you there. 

You see, when I don’t honor His sovereignty, here’s the concern. You remember my story about As a son, I just choose no? When I don’t honor His sovereignty, I begin to believe I can flippantly choose my own direction because I’m no longer under authority. It’s my life, I can choose. Church, that isn’t really how it works. 

So that’s the truth about their captivity. They were there because He put them there. I want you to notice that God not only had a plan to put them into captivity, He had a plan for how they were going to live in captivity. He had a plan for how they were to live. 

THE PLAN FOR THEIR CAPTIVITY

Now, this concept, I think, is vital because I believe it translates absolutely directly to us. If God had a way, He desired His people to manage their lives in Babylon, which, if you study history, was the most pagan culture of the day. It’s probably the apex of pagan culture. It is kind of still looked back upon as the apex of pagan culture. And He has the audacity as God to say, I’m going to put you in that super pagan culture, and then I tell you how I want you to live. 

So, I think the obvious answer is we have to assume that when He puts us in a culture, He’s got a way for us to live. So this passage can teach us how to live, and I think if we allow it, it’ll soften our hearts and recalibrate our focus. 

I just want to look at one concept, because that’s all we have time for before Bo Nix takes off. I’m a diehard Oregon Duck fan. Bo Nix was a Duck. The rest of the Ducks this year really hurt me and failed me. But I hope Bo Nix does great for you. 

In the beginning of this passage in Jeremiah, it says, “The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, sends this message to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem.” The first principle we are to live from is to never forget where our real citizenship is found. 

We are exiled into the earth from the Kingdom of God. According to the New Testament, we are translated into the Kingdom of God because of Jesus and our citizenship and our orientation, our origination, changed at that moment. You’re like, What do you mean? I was born on the earth. 

Okay, consider this. Is God eternal? Is He outside of time? Is He governed by time? So if He’s eternal and He’s outside of time, He does not live within the construct of time. So, any decision He makes lives outside of time, therefore it predates anything time could ever have held. So the moment you came into salvation, the moment you came to Jesus, you were eternally translated into the Kingdom of God, as if you had never not been. Let that one bake your noodle. 

So if, as citizens of Heaven in captivity, if that’s who we really are, then we are to walk in honor to the captivity we are in because He placed us there while carrying the citizenship of our native land. You see, we’re bound to our King first, which means we represent Him in everything we do. 

I think this is a call to recalibrate our attitude toward where we are because if He placed us here, we’re on assignment. And if we’re on assignment, we are to carry His heart into every aspect of our lives. It means there’s no room for complaint, church, about our situation. Why? 

Because He put us here. 

I so deeply want to get to the next one, but there’s no time. Stand up. I made you a promise. I did think the irony of the Broncos making the playoff on our first three-gathering Sunday was really funny. I hope it goes well for them. If not, you could spend the rest of the year thinking about how next year is going to look for you. 

I do want us to take this word to heart. There’s a flightiness in the people of God. There’s a flightiness in us as humans. We want to believe it’s up to us to choose it, and it’s just not. I want to challenge us to root, to ground, to dig in, to be a people that can look in the mirror and go, You are where you are because God put you there. 

And no matter what you face, He’s got you. His promise in Psalm 34 is you will face a lot of troubles, but He will rescue you from all of them. 

Jesus, we honor You, we love You. Lord, I know this is a tough concept because it’s a concept that kind of is an affront to our sense of individualism. It flies in the face of what we want. But we ask You to begin to work on our hearts and recalibrate us to the right perspective that we would understand we are placed where we are with a purpose. While we are captive, we are captive with a mandate. May Your face shine upon us this week. In Jesus’ name, amen.