dwell

a toast to the launch of Common Table

When it comes to inspiration for this journey, I have found myself increasingly meditating on a passage in the 29th chapter of the book of Jeremiah.  In my opinion, the understanding of this section could be one of the most transformational realities that followers of Jesus and the churches  they inhabit could possibly latch onto.  Many to most of my evangelical friends think that they know where I may be going with this...that I am headed straight for verse 11 and the promise that God knows the plans he has for me.  Good verse, but I'm not going there today.  I have found that some of the best, yet least known words in the book of books are found in fairly close proximity to some of the most known words.  They are hidden gems, rarely encountered because of our tendency to parrot back the known words, extracted from their total context.  The best case result of this might be an incomplete or watered down truth.  The worst case can be a total distortion.   If we were honest, sometimes the sound bite suits our comfort more than the entirety of the teaching. 
Prior to verse 11, God, speaking through Jeremiah, encourages his people, exiled though they might be, to make themselves comfortable in the place that they find themselves.  Someday will be deliverance, but that day is not to-day.  While they are there, they are to make use of their time.  They are called to, what probably amounted to a nearly inconceivable task.  They were to pray for the city that was not their own in the land they were captive in.  They were to work for the good of, the peace of, the blessings of, the city they now called home.  They were called to stop trying to hide from, wrestle with, and avoid their circumstances and live in the moment for all they were worth.  My translation of this is that they were called to "dwell" intentionally in their city.
The following questions keep me up at night.  They form the foundation of my life's mission as well as a leveling mechanism for "Common Table"

• What might happen if we who call ourselves followers of Jesus were to take this seriously?
• What if a considerable focal point of our faith was this admonition to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city"? 
• What if we actually "lived in" rather than ran from the influences and realities of our neighborhoods...not because of a random service project coordinated by a paid staff person or an overworked volunteer at a church? 
• What might happen if concepts like "shop local" and "green conscious" weren't seen as liberal agenda, but a biblical mandate? 
• What if we understood that peace and prosperity for the city translated into the same for those of us being called by God to work towards them? 

From personal experience, I can tell you that it would make an incredible difference.  As we leave a neighborhood that we have called home for 14 years, it is very gratifying to hear that we will be missed as much by the community as the church we served with.  When God came down in the form of Jesus, John tells us (in the Message) that he "moved into the neighborhood".  May the same be said of us.