The First Gospel: Jeremiah 29 - Living as Exiles | Josh Harrison
Living as Exiles: Ambassadors of Shalom in Babylon
It’s been several weeks, now, that our journey through the “First Gospel” series has carried us into the exile narratives of the Old Testament prophets. This Sunday, we spent our time immersed in the world of Jeremiah, especially the famously quoted chapter 29—a passage as likely to be found on a coffee mug as it is in a seminary syllabus. Yet, as Josh so powerfully reminded us, the true message of Jeremiah 29 is deeper, more urgent, and far less sentimental than its “plans to prosper you” verse has often been made.
The occasion here is the Babylonian exile: a cataclysmic episode in which thousands of Judah’s elite have been uprooted from Jerusalem and forcefully resettled in Babylon. How did this happen, and what did it mean? Jeremiah’s prophetic letter confronts burning existential and theological questions—questions about defeat, identity, and the meaning of suffering. The sermon invites us to revisit these ancient crossroads and take seriously their message for the Church today.
A Profoundly Disorienting Exile
Josh began by recounting the geopolitical and spiritual chaos of the era: the collapse of the northern kingdom to Assyria, Babylon’s rise to power, the back-and-forth between Babylon and Egypt, and finally Babylon’s devastating sieges of Jerusalem. The exiles—7,000 at first, later many thousands more—found themselves suddenly out of context, wrestling with the loss of temple, home, even their sense of divine protection. Had Yahweh been defeated? Had their covenant been broken? Or was something deeper at work?
This confusion, Josh observed, produces more than theological speculation. It forces a practical question: “How are we to live here?” Should the exiles assimilate—blending into Babylonian culture and adopting its gods, values, and comforts? Or, should they isolate—forming insular pockets of resistance, preserving their distinctiveness at all costs? Either approach would have seemed reasonable. Both would prove spiritually disastrous.
God’s Radical Response: Neither Assimilation Nor Isolation
Into this crisis, Jeremiah speaks—bearing a letter (chapter 29) whose instruction upends the exiles’ expectations. God says, in effect: neither. Neither assimilation nor isolation. Instead, build houses, plant gardens, form families, and seek the shalom (“wholeness”) of the city—even of Babylon itself. Pray for it, invest in it, bless it.
Josh highlighted the shocking nature of this call: God does not instruct his people to keep themselves pure by resisting all contact, nor to make their lives easier by adopting Babylon’s ways wholesale. Rather, they are to move in, integrate, build relationships, and work for the flourishing of their neighbors—even the very empire that has destroyed their home. At the same time, they are not to forget who they are: their citizenship and primary allegiance belong to Yahweh, not Babylon.
An Exilic Ambassadorship: Living in the “Dwelling Tension”
The heart of Jeremiah’s letter—and the sermon—is the tension between integration and distinction. God’s people are not to melt into the empire, losing their identity; nor are they to become antagonistic, walled-off opponents. Instead, Josh challenged us to embrace the role of “ambassadors.” An ambassador moves into the midst of a foreign place, learns the language and culture, builds meaningful relationships, and advocates for the good of that city—while never forgetting where they come from or whom they ultimately represent.
This ambassadorship is not theoretical. It requires moving toward people who aren’t like us, building bridges, seeking out opportunities to bless, and refusing to become known merely as cultural warriors. In the process, we must also resist the subtle temptations to be renamed by the culture—remembering always that our deepest identity and citizenship remain in God’s family and kingdom.
The Church as Exile: Implications for Today
Josh then brought the conversation forward: the New Testament writers frequently refer to Christians—even those living in their home countries—as “exiles.” This is not nostalgic piety. It is a radical orientation of life. To belong to Christ is to receive a new citizenship, a new mission, a new set of priorities. All other labels—national, ethnic, political, economic—have been made secondary. We are called to make decisions about where we live, who we relate to, how we spend our resources, according to mission, not mere practicality or cultural preference.
In practice, this means moving toward the pain and complexity of our cities; building genuine relationships across boundaries; becoming people of shalom who work for the good of the world, even as we refuse to let the world name or define us. And here Josh made explicit what, if we are paying attention, we know to be true: this is what Jesus himself did. He “moved into the neighborhood,” risking misunderstanding, discomfort, and even suffering, so that we might share in God’s wholeness.
Key Lessons from Jeremiah 29
Our citizenship in Christ is primary. All other labels and loyalties are secondary. We are sent into the world as exiles, ambassadors of another kingdom, and this must shape our decisions and desires.
Resisting assimilation and isolation is essential. God instructs us not to lose our identity by blending in, nor to abandon our calling by walling ourselves off. Faithfulness requires living in the tension.
We are called to seek the shalom of the city. The Christian vocation is not merely to oppose or critique the world, but to invest in its wholeness—building relationships, working for its flourishing, and praying for its good.
Ambassadorship requires both intimacy and distinction. We must move toward others in love and vulnerability—building bridges, not barriers—while also remembering and living out our true identity as God’s people.
The challenge, Josh insists, is not an easy one. But it is the way of Christ, and the power to live it comes not from ourselves, but from the Spirit of God who dwells within and among us.
