I want you to think of the different places you’ve lived. I think that I have lived in 12 different places since I started life. Some of those places were chosen when I was a baby or growing up. I had very little influence on those decisions. You would expect that I had the most influence on choosing the places that I’ve lived as an adult. And you would be wrong.
A year before I moved to New York, I was offered a job in San Diego. I had never heard of Jackson Heights. A year before I moved to
Syracuse, I expected to stay in Buffalo permanently. A year before I moved to 
Buffalo, I had no idea that I might live there.
Most of us are living in a place that was somewhat forced upon us. Perhaps your job changed and you needed to find housing in the area. Maybe you want to be close to family. Perhaps a friend showed you apartments and only knew about Jackson Heights. Whatever the reason, suddenly you were cast onto the shores of Jackson Heights like a refugee.
The Bible knows a lot about people living far from where they expected. The Scriptures to the one place that we know that we want to live – the Promised Land. God has prepared a home for each of us, but how do we have joy and blessing in life while we wait for the Promised Land?
There is a wonderful passage in the Book Of Jeremiah in today’s reading. Its written to people in exile. And it has some thoughts on how to find community and love wherever you are. If you struggle with loneliness and wish for more happiness in life, I pray that Jeremiah’s words will offer you a path of hope while you look for the Promised Land.
The Lord is looking for people who will create happiness and Americans assume that happiness is an experience instead of a work of art. We all know that some of the best experiences in life take effort and even practice. We all like to eat good food and we all know that it takes some work. If you bake us a fine cake, we will enjoy that cake at coffee hour. If you bring the ingredients for a fine cake, the flour, the eggs, and the soda, we will wonder what on earth you are thinking.
The people of Israel were in captivity. The earlier wars against Jerusalem had been unsuccessful because Egypt rushed to their aid. This time Egypt was occupied elsewhere and did not feel the same necessity for a buffer state with Babylon. And so the forced deportation happened and now people were raising families in the new land. The language was not their home language. They were looked down on as a non citizen.
Their feelings are echoed in the mass people movements today as people in Iraq try to escape the violence, Palestinians live on the margins of Israeli society, and Sudan creates refugees in Darfur. “How can we sing the Lord’s songs in a foreign land?” the Psalmist asks.
So if you are living in a place you have not chosen, you join a long line of pilgrims who yearn for the heavenly city, but dwell in the valley.
The verse that instructs us today is the 7th verse, "But 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 find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7).
Jeremiah tells the people that the exile is not going to end today. Only false prophets encourage you to believe that all problems will be solved by 8 pm tonight. The songs of Camelot are enchanting, but that’s not real life. What is real life is that God has given us the gift of Shalom, the gift of peace. We can bring Shalom wherever we live and expand the reign of God.
Several years ago, a friend of mine was the soloist here one morning. We grew up together and I knew his parents well. About 10 years ago, their house caught on fire. Everything was burned. He has no pictures left from childhood, any small thing from his parents, any letter written. It hurts to think of it. So many of the things I treasure are notes from family, notes from some of you.
Our reaction to life depends on what you believe about God. If your God is sovereign, then we believe that God gives us the power to bring Shalom into the situation we have. If you are not happy, then God has given you the power to create happiness. On the other hand, if your God is weak, then you are a victim. You need to wait for happiness in life, not start to make it.
Living in exile is not just passive acceptance of how bad it is. It also requires hope about the future, no matter how dark the present. That, too, was part of God's message (29:11): "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Living in exile is bringing Shalom to the situation with the belief that God will make it all turn out well. If you are lonely, then your Shalom is not just passive acceptance, but to look for someone in your building to whom you can spread Shalom. Shalom is not getting more diversions – more time in the park, or more books from the library. Shalom is changing your community by some act to spread the peace of God. When you start to think about the welfare of your community and use what God has given you to make a difference, then your happiness level will rise. You cannot bless others without getting a new blessing for yourself.
Many of us have some moves still ahead in life. We will probably not even know the neighborhood a year in advance. Your happiness depends more on you than the neighborhood. It may be a wonderful experience right from the beginning. Or it may be a place where you really have to pray a lot, spread Shalom, keep your faith that God will help, and grow your happiness.
The big word is Don’t be a victim.
