Faith Matters | If we think of ourselves as ‘exiles,’ we may find a closer connection to God
As a church family, we have been working our way through the book of I Peter. From the introduction of this ancient letter to its end, we see one primary metaphor given to its recipients: exiles. Now consider that scripture writers give a host of other more “positive sounding” identities. I’m actually partial to son, brother, or even athlete, particularly in this season of Tampa Bay sports dominance.
But a stranger in a strange land, without a place to truly call home? There’s a reason no one “self-identifies” as an exile, alien, sojourner, or a foreigner. Of course the latter does sound like it could work for a band name.
T.S. Eliot captures the exile/foreigner mindset in his “Journey of the Magi”:
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms.
But no longer at ease with an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
If you can relate to this “dis-ease,” then consider yourself blessed. Jesus does. On the contrary, if we don’t feel somewhat out of place, even in the places we love, live and serve, we might be self-identifying as a Christian simply out of convenience.
The prophet Jeremiah penned a letter to God’s exiled people, forcefully relocated from Jerusalem to Babylon. Even though everybody else was probably “working for the weekend,” their foreign mindset motivated them to work for the welfare of their new town. Instead of living as temporary transients, these transplants had an opportunity to demonstrate an uncanny care for their present city.
But more than commands, we see hope given to those living among an “alien people clutching their gods.”
“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 (Jeremiah 29:10-11).
Do you see that the truly great plans God has for His exiles find fruition not in their generation, but in their grandchildren’s generation? With our natural individualistic lens we tend to think, “Well what good does this do me now?”
Yet Christians can stop “self-identifying” as 21st century disconnected autonomous individuals and embrace our given exilic identity. When that happens, we find a new hope in our covenantal connection with those who have gone before and those will come after. Good news for them, now becomes good news for us.
In a radical departure from the typical self-expression narrative, Rogue One actually celebrates the power of a covenantal hope. A group of outnumbered and unlikely characters, united in their belief that “rebellions are built on hope,” willingly give their lives for the generation who will come after them. Once they had hope in the operation’s possibility of success, whether or not they personally lived to see that success took a back seat. They wouldn’t see the evil empire defeated but the next generation would. A blessed posterity replaced the drive for personal prosperity. Thank you, Disney, for capturing the beauty of exilic hope and sacrifice.
What if we adopted this mindset, laboring and sacrificing in hope that generations who come after us could see a far better church and city? What if we began to think locally and long term? We would give before the next generations started giving. We would serve before they started serving. We would listen to their questions and their terms before they returned the favor.
I would never choose the identity of an exile, but I’m glad it was given when we were forgiven. I’m hopeful that such an identity can help Christians think and sacrifice more for the church and community that will come well after we’re gone.
Faith Matters is written by members of the Bradenton area clerical community. Geoff Henderson is pastor of Harbor Community Church (harborcommunitychurch.org) in Bradenton. You can reach him at geoff@harborcommunitychurch.org.