Sermon Transcript: November 23, 2025
Jeremiah 29:1, 4–14
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 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. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.
For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
***
“I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans for your welfare, not for your harm. To give you a future with hope.”
This beautiful, encouraging statement has been used in a variety of contexts over the years. You may have encountered it on a graduation card, or congratulations for a newborn baby, or at a baptism. We might encounter them in a condolence card when life has somehow not gone according to plan, or to encourage a young person who’s about to set off on a new adventure.
The words are meant to convey divine care and providence—the idea that the God of the universe loves and cares for us, has laid out a plan for each of our lives, and wants the absolute best for us. Michael Chan writes that this verse, “emblazoned on coffee mugs, jewelry, graduation cards, journals—has provided comfort to countless readers of the Bible. Its beauty is undeniable, and these words are certainly deserving of our thoughtful attention.”
So, when we pay careful attention, we might be surprised by what we find.
First of all, we’re still in a very tumultuous period of time in Israel’s history. You may recall from previous weeks, they’re still living in a divided kingdom—north and south—and in the southern kingdom in particular, things have gone from bad to worse. The Temple in Jerusalem—that center of religious and political life—has been destroyed by foreign invaders. They’ve sent all the rich and powerful of Jerusalem into exile in Babylon and replaced the king with a puppet who’s controlled by these foreign powers.
And onto this stage comes Jeremiah—the reluctant prophet, the weeping prophet. The people, they’re hungry for a word from God. They want to hear how these evil foreign powers are only temporary. That God will vanquish them and rescue God’s people, setting them free. That the north and the south will reunite, the Temple will be rebuilt—Jerusalem restored—even better than ever. That those in exile will return, the nations will heal, and the fortunes of each person will turn for the better.
But Jeremiah’s message is not that simple.
First of all, when it says, “I know the plans I have for you,” Jeremiah is not speaking to an individual person. He’s speaking to a collective. The Hebrew is plural. It’s not just “you,” but as we’d say in the South, “y’all.” Or better yet, “all y’all,” right? The plans I have for you—all of you.
The other thing that has a major impact on the way we understand these verses is the fact that these promises are being made less to those who are hearing them—and more to those who will come after them. It says right there in the passage: the period of exile is going to last for seventy years.
So, most of the people who are hearing these words will pass before they come to fruition.
Again, Professor Chan writes: “Jeremiah’s hope was set against a long, multi-generational horizon. It was hope that would be realized by future generations, not those who first heard the letter. The initial hearers would not ultimately be the beneficiaries.”
It might remind us of the people who had been released from slavery in Egypt. They had to wander the desert and the wilderness for forty years before they got to the promised new land. And as we read it, we realize—the group that sets out on that initial forty-year journey is not the same group that enters the Promised Land. People have passed away. Children have been born.
There’s this biblical theme: that the solace is given not for the current generation, but for future generations. Their solace is not in their own freedom, but in knowing that their people will not remain estranged. And that future generations will get to experience the return for which they themselves long.
What’s further surprising is that, in Jeremiah, the prophet tells them not only to make peace, but in the meantime, they’re to take up roots in this foreign land. They’re even to work—for the welfare of the city. Just to be clear, this is the city of their oppressors and their captors.
Professor Chan says: “instead of trying to manufacture a speedy return to Judah, Jeremiah calls upon his audience to exercise active, hopeful patience—by putting down roots, building lives, even working for the prosperity of their conquerors. Jeremiah’s words challenge the exiles not just to hold on to hope, but to act upon it through practical, everyday actions. Build. Live. Plant. Eat. Marry. Give. Bear. Multiply. Seek. Pray.
These are the verbs in the passage. These dynamic verbs call for active engagement with the world around them, even in the unfamiliar and often hostile environment of Babylon. Hope, in Jeremiah’s vision, is not passive or abstract. It’s lived out in the daily rhythms of life.”
The daily rhythms of life—that’s where hope is cultivated.
But Jeremiah knows that these small, daily acts reflect our faith in God’s promises. Remember, prophets are not those who are able to predict what happens in the future. Rather, they are those who trust so much in God’s future that they know it—not just as a possibility—but as an eventuality.
So it’s not so much that they have special knowledge about what is going to happen—so much as they know that no matter what happens, God is in control.
This idea—that some have special knowledge of the future that others do not—is a heresy called Gnosticism, which early Christians rejected. The name “Gnostic” comes from the Greek word for knowledge—gnosis. You can think Da Vinci Code here, where there are all these divine hidden secrets and clues in scripture and creation, or in history, that somehow some are able to decipher and gain an edge on the rest of us.
The early Church rejected this idea on the grounds that the Gospel does not prefer some over others. No one is given special knowledge—not even Jeremiah. Jeremiah doesn’t know exactly what’s going to happen in the future. But Jeremiah trusts in God, no matter what.
And that difference is really important, because one leads to resignation and passivity—while the other inspires courage, even in the most dire of circumstances.
Hope is often understood simply as wishful thinking, writes Professor Chan. “I hope we get a lot of rain this year. I hope things work out. I hope they go our way. But for Jeremiah, hope shapes action.”
Let me approach this a different way. Pastor Adam Hamilton writes that a member of his congregation once sent him a Facebook meme that said: “Everything happens for a reason—but sometimes the reason is just that you’re stupid and you make bad decisions.”
It’s not that the sentiment’s wrong—it just doesn’t go quite deep enough.
Hamilton affirms that “God guides us—by the Spirit, through Scripture and church. We pray. And through other Christians, God strengthens us. God walks with us. And we are called and empowered to be God’s hands and voice in the world.
But God doesn’t force us. God has shown us what is good and what’s required of us. But God also gives us freedom—to walk the path or to walk away from it.
And that choice is what makes us human.”
My friend Bobby Williamson talks about putting his five-year-old son in time out. He looks over and sees him crying, and he knows the boy’s sorry—but he and his wife have agreed that they’re supposed to be consistent in their consequences.
So instead of letting him out of time out, Bobby pulls up a chair and sits down next to him for the duration of the time.
Hearing him tell about this brought me back to my own experience as a child. It might not surprise you, but I had more than a few occasions to be put in time out—or grounded. And as I sat there, I can recall wondering if I had done something to make my parents stop loving me.
I know it seems silly, right? But you remember what it was like to be that young—to be a vulnerable child.
My parents’ love was everything to me. And the idea of losing it? Devastating.
Of course, I hadn’t lost it. Not even close. I was just experiencing the consequences of my own behavior. And they, out of love, let me experience them. But they never really left me on my own.
“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “Plans for your welfare, not for your harm. To give you a future with hope.”
I hope you have people in your life who love you no matter what. I hope you have people in your life that you love no matter what.
And I hope that our church community can be a place where we can endeavor to be those who love and are loved unconditionally.
And while I certainly don’t want any of us to have seventy years of exile before we get a taste of God’s future… most of all, what I really wish is that we have complete and utter faith in the love of God. That, in the words of Paul, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Because sometimes in life, we do have to endure the consequences of our own actions.
But what a difference to know that we’re not alone. And that we’re loved, no matter what.
Amen.
