The Gospel For The City

Voice to the Nations ProJect 29 Brandon Greene

Stralsund, Germany May 11, 2008

THE GOSPEL FOR THE CITY We want a church that will not just exist in today's culture but thrive, flourish and multiply. Wednesday night we shared BIG vision of a new reformation that transforms society through preaching and living the purity and truth of God's Word. Today I want to talk about what makes us and our Gospel vision distinctive. This is our 'insider talk'. The letters of the New Testament were written to Christians in Cities - Ephesus, Phillipi, Corinth. They instructed Christians how to live out their Christianity in those cities. Jeremiah 29, an amazing chapter in the Old Testament, gives us a summary of these instructions and a picture of how we are to live it. It also shows us the different perspectives of our current culture, religion and true Christianity. It's packed with value for us today. Here is the Backdrop: Jerusalem was like a Christian ghetto. They had their Christian music, Christian parties, and pretty much only hung out with each other. They weren't living on mission to be a light to Gentiles as God called them to be. So God sent the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem and they took a majority of the Jews back to the city of Babylon as exiles. Now the Jews are faced with living in this hostile city and must deal with the question of how they are to relate to the City. Vs. 4-14 "4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 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. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, b 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. 10 For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." There are 3 things we see here: 1. Wrong ways to relate to the city. 2. The right way God's way. 3. How to do it God's way. There were two groups in the story that had their own agendas. God rejected both of them. The first was the Babylonians. They were experts at dealing with unruly nations. They learned that if you expel a conquered nation of people they'll come back angrier than before and cause problems. If you subjugate them as slaves they will become bitter and there will bloody insurections. It will be too messy. But if you assimilate a conquered nation then they will lose what makes them distinct and they will become extinct. So Babylonians told the Jews, "You can live with us, have the best jobs and the best of everything as long as you become just like us." You see this in the story of Daniel. What happens is the community loses its own distinct understanding of itself and its worldview. It becomes extinct in a couple of generations because people want the best jobs, they want the money, the lifestyle, and the power. God refers to this in vs. 6. 'Increase - do not decrease.' Don't assimilate. This is the way the world works. "...do not be conformed to this world." - Romans 12. The second group was Jewish prophets - one of them predicted that in 2 years God would judge and destroy Babylon. The prophets told the Jews to stay separate - live on the other side of the river from Babylon in their own little ethnic enclave. Take advantage of Babylon to increase money and power for the tribe and then wait for its destruction. Sounds like some Christians-

'The City and non-Christians are bad. So let's serve ourselves and our interests and wait for God to judge the sinners.' They fear the City and culture and criticize it. They are waiting for the Antichrist to stamp them with bar codes and scan them like food cans at the grocery store. But it will all be OK in the end because God will settle the score at Armageddon. What this says is 'on the outside I smile at you, but inside I am really prejudiced against you'. They only deal with the City, non-Christians, to benefit other Christians or their group or church. Even many church growth ideas have this thinking behind them. 'I need you so I can grow my church. Then if you aren't interested...phew!' That's wrong thinking. That's what these prophets said to do. There is a word for this - it's 'Tribalism'. God said, "Don't do either one!" Instead - vs. 4 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 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. 7 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." It must have been astonishing for the exiles to hear that. The city was filled with idols. The Babylonians killed the family members of these Jews and destroyed their hometown. And then God tells them to settle down in Babylon, cheer for it, pray for it, and seek its good. Augustin wrote that the history of the world is a tale of two cities. One is the City of Man and the other is the City of God. He uses many Bible references that describe the earthly City as a place of pride. It's a place where people seek their own recognition, power, and achievement. It's a place where people live to serve themselves and their needs. Therefore it's place of exhaustion and oppression. That means I am exhausted because I work and work to try to achieve something and be somebody and I oppress because I have to use you get what I want to fulfill my needs. Or I don't work, therefore, I use the system and other's efforts to get what I want. Either way it's about all about me. We feel its exhaustion - uhhh... tomorrow is Monday. 'Alltag' is recited with a weary tone. You can feel the exhaustion and oppression in the city. You hear it when you talk with people. On the other hand, the City of God in scripture is described as a place of peace. Instead of human effort we live by God's grace. It's a place of joy because we are already loved. We don't need to feel good by comparing ourselves with others. We're not trying to prove something. We know who we are. We are not looking to get for ourselves but to give. It's my life to serve you. Jesus explains it in Matthew 5 - "14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." You are a City! People will see your good deeds and glorify God. Deeds in this context are not good behaviors but acts of service. The city of God is not just future or heavenly. Every city is both. As Christians we form a City within the City. The moment we are born-again we have dual citizenship. The Heavenly citizens should the best earthly citizens. We are forming a small City within the greater City of Stralsund to love this City, serve this City and see its transformation as it comes to know Jesus as Lord of Stralsund. We are to seek the peace or 'shalom' of the city. Shalom is an incredibly rich word. It's more than a state of inner calm or the absence of problems. It means flourishing in every dimension - socially, economically, culturally, spiritually. It's Kingdom Come! We don't engage the City for our sakes and assimilate. We don't engage for the sake of our tribe or church - we'll end up disdaining the City. We work for the sake of the whole City. The issues of our City matter. God says we should seek the 'Shalom' of every situation in our City. Christianity has the power to solve a City's problems and fulfills its hopes. Such engagement may sound radical. Maybe you don't know many people like that or haven't ever seen that practiced by Christians. History records that early Christians lived it. During the bubonic plague of the Roman empire an eyewitness recorded this account: "The doctors are incapable of helping. Fear dominates. Thousands have died with no one to care for them. People are staggering in the streets reeling from the effects of disease. People are indifferent to every

rule of morality. They are even throwing loved ones in the street to avoid contagion." Now, if you are in the city for yourself, you get out when that starts to happen. If you are living for your tribe, you get yourself and your tribe out. Christians didn't do either. It's an historic fact. This account continues: "They stayed and showed unbounded love and loyalty to the people. Christians attended to every need. Though many were themselves infected, they continued to serve. Many lost their lives in this manner but served with joy to the end." They stayed and took care of people at their own peril. Many people survived because Christians served both Christians and pagans. This plague marked the downfall of the Roman Empire and the historic rise of Christianity. It overwhelmed and transformed the empire. People looked at Christians and thought, 'You are not here for yourself. You are not here for your group. You are not here for anything but us. You are not by trying to take power, to gain political power to rule us, but you are serving us.' This so captured the imagination of people that by 300 AD most cities of the Roman Empire had become Christian. These Christians were living for the applause of heaven. That brings us to a question. Why are you here? -Is it because you simply enjoy the City? Is it just because you were born here or have a job here? If so, then you're in the City for you. If you're here for all the same reasons as the other citizens then you are lapsing into the culture you are assimilated on some level. If you are here just to get a church going - that's tribalism you'll use the City to serve the church's purposes. The way to be involved in Stralsund but keep our identity is to serve out of our beliefs and our differences. This is the condition of our City. In Stralsund, there are more pets than Christians. Maybe our slogan should be, "Every pet deserves a Christian owner." We talk about missions as sending Christians to exotic destinations and we should. But in Stralsund we have a smaller percentage of Christians than in China where the open practice of Christianity is forbidden. We need to send missionaries to exotic places like the neighborhoods of Grunhufe, Vogelsang, Knieper Nord, Tribseer Vorstadt, and Andershof. We have one church building for every 7500 people. So if our city wanted to go church this Sunday, we'd have to tell them, "No, we have no place for you". On top of that, we live in the 3rd least evangelized region in Europe. How do we live as a City within a city that will serve this city and see it transformed as it comes to know Jesus? 8 Points from Jeremiah 29: 1. Live with the confidence that you are called to live in the City for the City. - vs. 4 " Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon..." - God sent the exiles to Babylon. Acts 17:26 - "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place." It was not your idea. God called you to this City. 2. Because you are called to the City, make long term plans, settle down and invest in the City. "Build houses and live in them..." Develop a personal vision for your life and future here that's bigger than working 35 hours a week till you retire. That's selfish. Invest, increase, build a future here. 3. Be productive! "...plant gardens and eat their produce" Most people end their days between 4 and 6 then spend 3 hours in front of the TV - that's a fact. The average German watches between 1200 - 1400 hrs of TV a year. See time as an investment. How are you investing your time and what is it producing? We are to make solid decisions and build a future, not just for ourselves but the welfare of the whole City. 4. Have a Biblical view of Sex, Marriage and Children that's distinct from the culture. Our culture promotes sex apart from marriage. It encourages divorce if your marriage conflicts with your selfishness. Christian divorce rates now equal those of non-Christians. Our social system rewards people for having children without being married. Children are seen as a problem in our culture, but two guys in leather pants handcuffed together at the Love Parade in Berlin is OK. In contrast we believe sex is a gift of God given to a male and female who are married for the purpose of pleasure and procreation. We are building a city that works towards godly marriages that demonstrate the joyful union of Jesus and his Church. We love kids and have kids. The city we are building grows through natural births and new births. We are raising future generations of Christians. vs 6 "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." This also implies that fathers are involved in giving their

children in marriage. When the son comes home and says,"I met a girl, she's so hot." Ok, can she read? When the daughter brings a guy home and says, "I've found the man of my dreams." Does he have a job? A plan for his future? Is he responsible? Will he be a dream or a nightmare? Father's lead their children and are involved in crucial decisions. We instill godly values in our children so they will not depart from them when they are older. They in turn pass those values onto their children. 5. Do Good things for the City. vs 7 "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile..." We work jobs, not just for ourselves and families but we want to bring others up also. We work for the welfare of the whole city.We need to work for social justice in the city and demonstrate God's love for all people in practical ways. We need to seek practical solutions for the city's problems and find ways to put our resources and energies together and network with others to make a difference for the whole City. As we do that, God will prosper Stralsund and we will also prosper. 6. Pray for the City. "... and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." We don't just pray for our group and other Christians but we bless this City in prayer and God promises to bless us in the process. Proverbs 11:10 "Upright citizens bless a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart." What we say about this city needs to line up with what we are praying for this city. As sinners, we deserve condemnation and judgment, but God sent Jesus to be condemned and judged for our sin. He sent us blessing even though we deserved condemnation. Through Jesus, God spoke 'Shalom' to us, therefore we speak 'Shalom' to this city. 7. Ignore voices that tear down the City and speak against what God is doing here. It doesn't matter if they call themselves prophets or if they are non-Christians speaking against the City. God has a positive vision for this city. "8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord." One of the biggest enemies to fruitful Christian living is a wrong view of end times. I won't take time for that right now. What matters is not how we leave this earth but how we live while we are here. People will say many things, but we will minister 'Shalom' to this city. 8. Live full of hope. "11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." God is sovereign and in control of all of history. He has a good plan for Stralsund. That fact should fill us with hope, expressed with a joyful outlook on the future that inspires others. We want to so serve and love this city that non-Christians say, "I can't imagine this city without them. We need them. They make Stralsund a better place." Proverbs 11:10 "The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the godless die." Heavenly citizens are the very best earthly citizens. As Christians become prominent it brings joy to the City. Our message for Stralsund is one of hope in Jesus Christ and our work is to create a new future for the City by doing Scripture and demonstrating the difference Jesus makes. It's not so much about us being a great church, but about Stralsund being a great City - one that knows and loves Jesus.

Scripture translations ESV