Seek the Welfare of the City, a sermon based on Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7 and 2 Timothy 2: 8-15, preached on October 12, 2025

What we’ve just read as our second Scripture lesson is a personal letter. It’s part two of a personal letter that tradition tells us was written by Paul, that legendary leader of the Christian faith, who, when he wrote this letter, was nearing retirement. It was a forced retirement. He was imprisoned. He writes to Timothy, who was just getting started, and so the books of our Bible 1st Timothy and 2nd Timothy are full of advice from Paul to Timothy, and the portion of 2nd Timothy that you just heard begins with advice of the most common Christian wisdom. Paul’s admonition to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ” is among the most basic of Christian principals, and so I ask you: Do you remember Him? Plenty of people forget about Jesus, or maybe they never really knew Him to begin with. Remember Jesus Christ with me this morning so that we do not use His name in vain. Remember with me Jesus who spoke Aramaic, which is a language that so few people spoke in His time, so that when He traveled outside His hometown, people immediately knew where He was from. Have you ever had that experience? In college, I took a trip to New York City. There, I told a man that I was from Georgia, and he responded, “I know.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was raised in Galilee. At that time and in that region, the locals spoke a language called Aramaic, which was sort of like a redneck version of Hebrew, yet not everyone remembers that about Jesus. In fact, in 1924, the Governor of Texas, Miriam Ferguson, in an effort to end the teaching of the Spanish language in public school, was quoted as saying, “If English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for Texas school children.” Remember Jesus Christ, who didn’t speak English, who was raised in a backwater town and spent most of His life, approximately 85% of his ministry, within 12 square miles of clay on the plains of the Gennesaret on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee in what today we call Palestine. Without any form of mass communication other than word of mouth, with no social media presence whatsoever, Jesus of Galilee became the most influential human being ever to walk the earth. What unfolded on 12 square miles of clay forever changed the world, so before you go thinking that you need to head on to the big city to really live and to expand your sphere of influence, remember Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ, who was influential but did not make a career out of being an influencer. Do you all know that term? It’s possible these days to make a living by developing a presence on social media. You put your brand out there on the internet. You share your opinion or your exercise videos, and once you gather enough followers, marketing companies will pay you to promote their products, and so I tell you that this sermon is brought to you by Cokesbury preacher robes, the best robes to preach in. I’m just kidding about that. I’m not trying to become an internet celebrity. Jesus wasn’t. Remember Jesus, who spent most of His life within 12 square miles of clay. Remember Jesus, who walked around marketplaces full of people yet noticed the individuals. Do you remember that there was a crowd of people and one woman who had been bleeding for 12 years? She reached out and touched His robe, and Jesus turned towards her out and spoke to her. He called her daughter and said to her, “Your faith has healed you.” Rather than use a bullhorn to preach from, He spoke to people. He looked into their eyes. He made people feel seen and loved. Remember Jesus Christ. I’ve just read a book that Denise Lobodinski gave me called Theo of Golden. Have you heard of it? Theo of Golden is about a man from out of town who walked into a small-town coffee shop. On the wall of that coffee shop, he notices portraits of the regulars. A local artist who spent much of his time in that coffee shop started drawing the people he saw around him and was trying to sell the portraits by putting them on the coffee shop wall, only no one had bought any of them. This man, Theo from out of town, couldn’t believe it. How could no one have bought such beautiful portraits? Surely these works of art should be hanging in homes, sitting on bedside tables. They should be enjoyed by the people so beautifully captured by the artist, and so one by one, he bought the portraits and delivered them to the people whom the artist had drawn. Gift by gift, these people were changed. That’s the whole plot of the book. I won’t tell you how it ends because I hope you’ll read it. And for every copy sold this morning, I’ll be receiving $1.00 in proceeds. I’m just kidding, but I do hope you’ll read it because it’s a beautiful book illustrating the truth of how much of a difference one person can make when he slows down to notice the people in his neighborhood. Remember that Jesus spent 85% of His ministry within 12 square miles of clay. What kind of a difference can you make in this world? What kind of a difference can you make if you simply notice the people in your neighborhood? If you simply show kindness and remind them that they are forgiven and loved by God? From 12 square miles, Jesus changed the world. Remember Jesus Christ. Thinking about Jesus this way reminds me of a woman I knew named Nancy Oliver. Nancy was a local celebrity in Columbia, Tennessee where we lived and where I was a pastor for seven years before coming here to Marietta. Nancy walked up and down Church Street. She would walk into First Presbyterian Church to get a cup of coffee, and she’d always try to grab a copy of our church directory so that she could solicit our church members. These days, scammers try to cheat you out of your money through email. Nancy Oliver did it the old-fashioned way. She wasn’t perfect, but she was kind. Once, while it was raining, our church secretary put the potted plant that sat on her desk outside the church so it would get some good rainwater. Nancy picked that plant up and took it to the bank, where she gave it to her favorite teller. That was half a kindness, right? She would visit the staff and the bank. She would visit us at the church. She would also sit with the staff at the funeral home. My point here is that Nancy wasn’t particularly kind, but she was kind enough. She wasn’t educated or influential, but she took the time to talk to people, and when she died, I was one of three pastors who officiated her funeral. She had two soloists and a crowd of people in attendance because when we take the time to be present, getting to know the people in our 12 miles of clay, even if our only kindness is stealing someone’s plant to give it to a bank teller, we will make an impact. Don’t think you have to go to Washington, DC to change the world. Don’t think you have to go on a mission trip to Tanzania to be a missionary. Don’t think you have to see your name in lights to see your name in the Book of Life. Do justice. Love mercy. And walk humbly with your God right here, right now. Turn off the TV, get out of your car, give up those habits that isolate you from the world outside your doors and remember again that there are people around you whose names are worthy of remembering and whose faces bear the image of our creator God. Every single one of us has a calling. Every single one of us is called to serve the Lord, to live our lives for His glory. Do not sleep through this life when God has called you to be a blessing. Remember Jesus Christ, who spent 85% of His 30-some years within 12 square miles of clay yet He shaped eternity. He died before turning 40 yet a more complete life has yet to be lived. You don’t have to live to 100 to make an impact. You don’t have to go to a big school to be somebody. Just slow down and notice the people around you. Remember Jesus Christ. When we left Columbia, Tennessee, the home of Nancy Oliver, my friend Jim Grippo told me a story. He said that a moving truck pulled into a gas station. A man got out of the truck and started filling the tank. An old man sitting outside the convenience store asked, “Where you from?” The moving truck driver said, “We’re coming from the most wonderful place. Full of people we loved. We hated to leave. Do you think we’ll like it here?” The old man said, “You’re going to love it. This town is just like the place you left.” An hour later, a second moving truck pulled in for gas. While he filled the tank, the old man asked, “Where you from?” The man filling the tank said, “We’re coming from a place we’re so glad is now in our rearview mirror. It was full of people we’re so glad to forget. I hope this place is different. Is it?” The old man said, “I hate to say it, but this town is just like the place you left.” My friends, the Palestine of Jesus’ day was full of crooks, infidels, sinners, and the unclean. Remember Jesus, who saw them as the children of God. Avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourselves to God as one approved by Him. Be a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth, which is the Good News of Jesus Christ, that He came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. May He live through you, and may your spirit be lifted, remembering His power and his might to redeem and save. Amen.