Godly People in an Ungodly World / Jeremiah 29:1-14
Introduction: Living Between Two Extremes
If you have your Bibles, we are going to take a wee bit of a detour. Find the book of Exodus, keep going to the right, and stop at the book of Jeremiah. We are going to be in Jeremiah 29, a passage that, looking through some of my notes, I haven’t taught in fifteen years. Yet it’s a commonly referred to passage. Most of you have the bumper sticker, the doily, or the bookmark containing a couple of verses that we are going to cover in our time together.
To set this up, we need to be reminded that in the Old Testament, people were largely living under the Mosaic Covenant. God gave this covenant to Moses, and if you summarize it, it was an “if/then” covenant: If you do what is right, obey Me, and keep Me first, then I am going to take care of you, be on your side, and be with you. But if you mess it up, turn to other gods, and start messing around, then we’re going to have a problem. That is my translation, but that is the essence of the Mosaic Covenant.
The people of God, like most of us, started off pretty well. But over time, their hearts began to grow cold. The story you read through the Old Testament is a story of ups and downs as the people of God try to learn how to stay consistent in their worship of God. As the narrative progresses, the leadership becomes corrupt, the priesthood becomes corrupt, and it is a downhill spiral from there.
In 605 BC, God raised up an oppressive kingdom—the Babylonians. They came in and began the first of three deportations. They literally carted the people of Judah away. Starting in 605 BC, you have guys like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (those are their Babylonian names; Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were taken captive with Daniel—his fraternity brothers, if you will). In 597 BC, the second deportation took place, and tens of thousands of people were exiled into Babylon. Finally, in 586 BC, after God in His grace repeatedly allowed them time to repent and get back on track, the third and final deportation took place. Jerusalem was sacked, the city was destroyed, and only the poorest of the poor were left in Jerusalem.
There were three primary prophets who wrote during this seventy-year exile: Daniel, Ezekiel, and a man named Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29, we catch the narrative mid-story.
Jeremiah is speaking to a people who should have worshiped God, but chose to worship idols and were taken captive. He gives them instruction on how to be the people of God when surrounded by exile, pagan nations, and pagan gods. God is showing them what I call a “third way.”
When we talk about how the godly live among the ungodly, people typically separate like oil and water into two extremes.
One extreme says, “The world is evil, so we need to completely remove ourselves.” On a bad day, that looks like buying a cabin in Shaver Lake, stockpiling weapons and emergency food, and isolating completely. No disrespect if you own a cabin in Shaver, but you get my point. They live in their compound, and if you want to visit, you better call first so you don’t get shot. They distance themselves entirely from the world.
The other extreme says, “If a little is good, a lot is probably fine, so let’s just fit in.” That was me in my early days as a believer, trying to do tequila shots to reach my frat brothers—not a good combination. These are people who don’t live distinctly. They don’t stand out or influence anyone; they are incognito, compromising and blending right in.
Those are typically the two poles of how believers live among an unbelieving culture. But this passage reveals a third way that is neither extreme. It is a way where we live distinctly, set apart as the people of God—hopeful, faith-filled, prayerful, and trusting, actively engaging what is happening in our community even in the midst of chaos.
Before we look at the text, we must understand the context. I don’t mean to break your heart, but this passage was not originally written directly to you. While it’s great to quote verse 11 and say, “Christian, God has a plan for your life,” the original audience was a Jewish community in Babylonian captivity, not a Christian trying to live godly at GB3. However, there are profound, transferable principles here about what it means to be the people of God that we can apply today.
The Historical Setting: Exile in Babylon
Let’s begin in verse 1:
Jeremiah 29:1 (NASB)
Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
These are the words of the letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders in exile, to the priests, prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Verses 2 and 3 provide the historical context and the players involved, but the core of the message begins in verse 4.
Jeremiah 29:4 (NASB)
’Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
Notice that these individuals were not in Babylon because they lacked military strength. They weren’t outmaneuvered or outgunned, and the Babylonians didn’t just have better generals. The reality is that God sent them into exile. God was clear: obedience brings blessing, but disobedience brings discipline. They had an obedience problem with God, so God sent them into captivity—into the wilderness—so He could begin to shape and form them.
Settle In: It’s Going to Be a Long Stay
God sends them there, but in verses 5 and 6, He tells them to prepare for a long stay. This was not a weekend trip.
Jeremiah 29:5-6 (NASB)
’Build houses and live [in them]; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ’Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.
This was a generational stay. You’re going to need more than a carry-on; you will be there for seventy years. To “build” and “live” are imperative commands. God is saying, “As much as you would like this to be a quick thirty-minute timeout where you figure things out and go right back home, you are going to be there a while. Settle in. Sink some roots. Plant a garden—it will take years to enjoy the fruit, but you will be there to eat it.”
He tells them: do life in captivity. Live, flourish, prosper, persevere, and engage. Do not pull away. Do not isolate yourselves on one extreme, distancing yourself from the city and community. You cannot wash your hands of the city, fold your arms in protest, and throw a tantrum because you are in exile. God says, “I sent you there for a much more redeeming purpose.”
Seek the Shalom of Your City
That purpose is revealed in verse 7:
Jeremiah 29:7 (NASB)
‘Seek 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 have welfare.’
“Seek the welfare of the city.” That means work for it. As a follower of God in a pagan land, take initiative for the betterment and flourishing of your city. Actively engage in activities that raise the welfare of your community.
“Welfare” here is the rich Hebrew word shalom. While often translated as peace, shalom encompasses well-being, prosperity, safety, satisfaction, blessing, completeness, and wholeness. As a follower of God in a secular culture, don’t run away to a cabin. God didn’t place you there to flee; He placed you there to influence. Seek the shalom of your city. Even as exiles, be part of the solution by personally investing in the peace and prosperity of the place God has stationed you.
Changing the Fresno Narrative
Can I make an observation about our city? It often comes up when I’m on an airplane. When I travel, I put in my headphones and send every “leave me alone” signal known to man because I cherish thirty thousand feet—no phone calls, no emails, just quiet. But inevitably, someone asks, “Where are you from?”
When I say, “Fresno,” the response is often, “Oh, Fresno… at least it’s not Bakersfield!”
Then notice how we who live in Fresno explain our city. People ask, “Doesn’t Fresno have gangs?” And we say, “Well, yeah, but it’s close to the Sierras, close to Yosemite, close to the beach…”
Isn’t it fascinating that we often define Fresno not by what Fresno has that is awesome, but by what Fresno is close to that is awesome? We are all guilty of it.
Dr. Randy White spoke to our staff recently and shared an insight that has haunted me ever since. He noted that Fresno has a narrative of self-loathing. Fresnans love to hate Fresno. It’s like guys complaining about getting older and out of shape—we talk about our city the same way: “Oh, our city is a mess; it’s got so many problems.”
We complain about neighborhoods, crime, and issues, yet we aren’t part of the solution. We are great at complaining, but are we missing the call to seek the shalom of our city? Instead of throwing up our hands and walking away, what would it look like to roll up our sleeves and seek the welfare of the city where God has strategically placed us?
God wanted you here. How do I know? Because you are here! And He didn’t put you here just to complain about the Central Valley; He put you here to shape it. He placed you here to pursue the welfare of this city, bringing His presence and His church into dark places to be part of the solution.
Hands Dirty, Knees Dirty: Praying for Our City and Leaders
This calling requires more than getting our hands dirty; it requires getting our knees dirty. Many of the problems facing our city cannot be solved by human effort alone. You cannot simply serve them away or throw enough money at them. Many of our deepest issues will only change when the gospel of Jesus Christ bears down on them. That means our work must be fueled by prayer.
Jeremiah 29:7 commands us to “pray to the Lord on its behalf.” We pray for its needs and its leaders.
If you have lived here for even two days, you know the list of needs is long: poverty, spiritual bankruptcy, immigration challenges, housing issues, water rights, racial division, gangs, struggling schools, and blighted neighborhoods. What if we brought those before God? The solution doesn’t simply lie in who occupies the mayor’s office. There isn’t a secret lever that Mayor Brand or former Mayor Swearengin could just pull to fix everything. What if we asked God to intervene, believing that through the gospel, we could become a city on a hill—even here in the Valley?
We are also called to pray for our leaders.
I love serving as chaplain for Fresno State football because I get to stand on the sidelines. You don’t just see the game; you hear the crack of the pads. But do you know what drives me crazy? The guy in the second row who thinks he’s an expert because he plays Xbox, yelling, “You should run this play!” He is choking on his nachos, screaming at the coach, when he couldn’t coach a down himself.
When it comes to our civic leaders, it’s easy to sit back, choke on our nachos, and complain: “They should have done this; they shouldn’t have said that.” Stop shouting from the sidelines and pray for them. Pray for Mayor Brand; he has a tough job. Pray for our city council. Pray for Chief Dyer and Sheriff Mims. What would happen if God’s people were known for lifting up our leaders in prayer rather than tearing them down?
1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NASB)
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties [and] prayers, petitions [and] thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Paul instructs Timothy to pray for kings and all in authority so that we may live tranquil and quiet lives. When you pray for leaders, you pray that God might grant them wisdom, but prayer also transforms you. God reminds us that all authority is established by Him.
Romans 13:1 (NASB)
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Remember who was in authority when Paul wrote to Timothy: the Roman emperor Nero, a tyrant who impaled Christians and set them on fire to light his garden parties. If Paul could call believers to pray for a ruler who fed Christians to lions, we can certainly pray for our leaders today.
Matthew 5:44 (NASB)
’But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Too often, Christians are known for what we are against rather than what we are for. Our mission is to honor God in the midst of a chaotic culture.
A Promised Future and a Hope
Jeremiah writes that in the welfare of the city, you will find your welfare. When the city flourishes, you flourish.
Years ago, when we started this church, we committed to helping people connect to God and each other in every neighborhood. We took Matthew 5:16 seriously:
Matthew 5:16 (NASB)
’Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
We didn’t want to be educated sinners with full notebooks who never engaged our community. We chose a third way: neither retreating into isolation nor adopting social justice devoid of Jesus, but incarnating Christ and carrying the gospel into our city.
In Jeremiah’s day, false prophets were telling the people that the exile would only last a few days, discouraging them from investing in Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:8-9 (NASB)
’For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ’Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. ‘For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.
God warned them not to listen to those lies. Then He gave them this promise in verse 10:
Jeremiah 29:10 (NASB)
’For thus says the LORD, ’When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
God tells them, “You won’t be here forever. The timer is ticking. After seventy years, I will fulfill My promise and bring you back home.”
Years later, in Daniel 9, Daniel is reading the scroll of Jeremiah during his quiet time, discovers this passage, and begins to pray. Exactly as prophesied, God moved the heart of King Cyrus in Ezra 1 to release the exiles so they could return and rebuild the temple.
Right in the middle of their exile and anxiety, God speaks the words we know so well:
Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ’plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
In the original language, the word “I” is emphatic: “I alone know the plans I have for you.” God says, “I know what I am doing. I am with you, working in you, and I will restore you. While you are in captivity, walk that third way. Settle in, make an impact, pray, and seek the shalom of your city.”
Living in Exile Today: Salt and Light in the Valley
What does this mean for us today? This world is not our ultimate home. Scripture describes believers as aliens and strangers in a foreign land. While we are here, we must neither isolate ourselves from the culture nor blend in so thoroughly that we lose our saltiness. Through Christ, we are citizens of God’s household, appointed to be salt and light.
We will not be here forever. Jesus promised His disciples:
John 14:2-3 (NASB)
’In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. ’If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, [there] you may be also.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, the angels asked the disciples why they stood gazing into the sky, promising that He would return in the same way.
Acts 1:11 (NASB)
They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’
Revelation 19 pictures the returning King, and Revelation 21 declares that He is making all things new.
Revelation 21:5 (NASB)
And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’
Just as God placed Israel in Babylon for a designated season to seek the shalom of that city, He has placed us in our community for this season. We have the promise of a future and a hope, but until that day arrives, we are called to be faithful here.
Let us seek the shalom of our city. Let us get our hands and knees dirty in service and prayer. Let us rewrite the narrative of self-loathing, proclaiming the gospel in every corner of our valley for the glory and renown of Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, as we reflect on this passage, stir our hearts toward faithfulness in the simple, everyday things. Change our perspective. Remind us that You have strategically placed us here in this city, in our neighborhoods, and in this season.
May we be known not for what we are against, but for what we are for. Make us a people who pray earnestly for our leaders, who actively pursue the shalom of our city, and who carry the hope of the gospel into every dark place.
We pray that years from now, when people speak of Fresno and the Central Valley, it will be a story of how the people of God showed up in profound ways—living distinctly, loving deeply, and reflecting Your glory across this entire region.
Help us to honor You in all we do. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.