FORGET NONE OF HIS BENFITS, volume 7, number 44, October 30, 2008

I know the plans I have for you. . .plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope, Jeremiah 29:11.

Bringing Peace To Your City

World magazine recently had an inspiring article about the Gompers Charter Middle School in inner city San Diego, and how Allison Kenda, a Christian teacher at Gompers, along with several other administrators, teachers, and parents are transforming the school from a veritable disaster and “prelude to prison” to a place of peace and learning. It reminded me of what can happen when Christians take seriously their calling “to seek the peace of the city.” Jeremiah the prophet is writing to the exiles already in Babylon, telling them to “bloom where they are planted”, to take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters. . .to build houses and to live in them. . .” Another word for welfare is our word peace, the Hebrew word being Shalom, a sense of fullness and prosperity in every aspect of life.

What are the needs of your city or town? The 1990 U.S. Census revealed that Hartford, the capital of the wealthiest state in our nation, was one of the fourteen poorest U.S. cities with over 100,000 people. The 2000 Census showed that ten of those cities have reduced their percentage of the poor, but Hartford has gone the other way. Hartford is now worse off that Miami, Gary, IN, Laredo, TX, and New Orleans. What are you, your family, and your church doing to seek the peace of your city? What does this mean? How are we to do it? And what can we expect?

Ultimately the peace of the city is the restoration of all good things. In verse 14 Yahweh tells the exiles that He will be found by them, that He will restore their fortunes and will gather them from the nations where He had driven them. We know the world lost its pristine purity due to the fall into sin and resultant sin, sickness, poverty, war, and death have reigned ever since. We are promised, however, that God will bring a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 66, II Peter 3, Revelation 21), that He will sum up again all things in His Son, meaning the world will be restored to its original peace, purity, and glory. In the meantime, however, seeking the peace of the city must mean bringing to bear the kingdom of God on it. Paul says the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Micah says we are called to love justice, to do mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Jesus said we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that we are to let our light shine that all will see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. In the short term restoration means that the children in our towns can live in two parent homes where Daddy works hard, assuming Godly leadership of his family, loving his wife sacrificially, teaching His children to delight and serve God and others. Theirs will be a family of peace, joy, and righteous living where they are trained to continue a godly, covenantal family for a hundred generations. In the “hood” this will mean that children can play safely in the streets, that Daddy does not abandon his children, that he remains faithful to their mother, that he works a legitimate job, that he saves, invests, and teaches his children to live godly in Christ Jesus for a hundred generations. It means that corruption by big business gives way to putting the customer, client, and employee before golden parachutes, that CEO’s not sacrifice long term gains for short term greed.

And what are you to do to bring peace to your city? According to Jeremiah 29:4-9 you are to live joyfully where God has planted you, as exiles in a foreign land. You are to be people of integrity, godly character. You are to live quietly and peaceably, treating others with dignity and respect. You are to pay your bills, work and live responsibly. There is nothing romantic or exciting about it. It’s what the Puritans called “holy drudgery.” You are in it for the long haul. Live obediently in Christ Jesus. And what is to drive such living? Yahweh warns the exiles to not listen to false prophets for He has not sent them. Such a lifestyle, therefore, is word driven. We always lead with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the preaching of God’s word. We don’t lead with mercy ministry, as important as this is, for any number of secular and governmental organizations can do that. Instead we are to do what no other organization can do- we are to preach Christ crucified and to teach people to live according to God’s word through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, holding them accountable to do so.

And what can we expect from seeking the peace of the city? Our cities can gain a measure of hope. Living without hope is the worst thing anyone or any community faces. I see it all the time in the North End of Hartford. The people live, as it were, in a daze. Most don’t think past today. They seem to have no capacity for the future. But Jeremiah says God promises a future and a hope. The immediate hope to the exiles was a restoration from Babylon to Jerusalem after seventy years. Another restoration was the first advent of the Lord Jesus at Bethlehem. The dawning of a further restoration was Christ’s passion at Mt. Calvary. And we can expect progressive though never full restoration as the presence of Christ and His gospel enters families and communities.

And what specifically are you to do to bring peace to your city? Yahweh makes clear through Jeremiah that you are to seek Him. He promises to allow us to find Him if we seek Him with all our hearts. Here, dear friends, is the crux of the matter for you and me. Do you want the peace of your city enough to pray for it? Are you willing to pray, seeking God with all your heart until He visits you and yours with His glorious presence? I am speaking about a serious commitment to personal and corporate prayer. I know how hard this is. I am constantly amazed at the weakness of my own flesh, how I can find time to do just about anything but pray. More than once, as we approach our Sunday evening prayer meeting, my flesh is arguing with me, trying to convince me that I am too tired, that this is too hard, that I would rather be watching NFL football. But this kind of prayer, where we admit our sin, our guilt of materialism and worldliness, where we confess our prejudices and laziness, where we confess our total inadequacy to effect change in our world, where we acknowledge that the lost will not be saved by anything we do, where we truly believe just how desperate we are for a mighty movement of God is the cry He wants to hear. We must come to admit our folly, that we have foolishly pursued Mammon to the detriment of our souls. Until we are mighty in prayer then we should not expect mighty preaching, and without mighty prayer and mighty preaching why should we expect mighty conversions? It’s time we quit hiding behind the doctrine of election and the deadening effect of post modernism, and repent of unbelief, coldness of heart, worldliness, and selfishness. When we do, when the Holy Spirit visits us with His awe filled presence, we then will have great joy and boldness in our lives. People will listen to the preacher who is so possessed and dominated by the Holy Spirit, and this zeal will drive people into the city to be the church to the needy.

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

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