Please turn in your copies of God's word to Jeremiah, book of Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah chapter 29, and we'll read together verses 1 to 14, these words of the letter that the prophet wrote to those Israelites taken into exile. Hear now God's word. These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elassah, the son of Shaphan, and Gamariah, the son of Helkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. It said, 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 their 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 your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you and do not listen to the dreams that they dream. For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, 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. And now 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion of Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. So ends the reading of God's word. Let's pray together once again. Our great God and King, we thank you for this letter to exiles in Babylon and Peter's letter to elect exiles scattered throughout the Roman world. And we thank you that you, throughout time, have not left your people without a prophetic voice. And we ask that even as you speak to us now through You are preached word that you would comfort our hearts and teach us how we are to live as exiles and sojourners with our eyes fixed on the new Jerusalem and Christ our King. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. A few years ago, Dr. David van Droenen wrote a very helpful book on the doctrine of the two kingdoms. He aptly titled his book, Politics After Christendom. And in this book, he explores the question of how Christians are to engage with society now that the age of Christendom is over, hence the title, Politics After Christendom. And by Christendom, van Drunen is referring to that period of time that stretches from the medieval age well into certainly the modern period, a time when most Western nations in Europe and North America at least professed to be Christian nations. During this era, state churches enjoyed legal and financial privileges while religious minorities were often suppressed and persecuted by the sword of the government. But following the Enlightenment and the increase of secularization and pluralism, it led to the collapse of Christendom, ending this perhaps long-standing era of state churches. And with the ending of Christendom, an important question is raised for Christians everywhere to consider. How are Christians to engage with society now that Christendom is over? Are we in a crisis such that Christendom is something we need to fight to reclaim? Should we be praying for a Christian state government that would enforce Christianity on every single citizen? Should we be praying for some kind of national revival that would take us back to the glory days when we had state churches and Christianity was enforced by the sword of government? Well, we need only look back at those so-called glory days and realize they were not so glorious, especially if you were a minority Christian. For example, if you were a Protestant living in France in the 1500s, you could well expect to be imprisoned and even murdered by the Roman Catholic state. Or if you were a Baptist living in England, or even in New England in the 1600s, you could be beaten, fined, imprisoned. And not by atheists, not by pagans, but by the ruling Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Paedo-Baptist Congregationalists. And so we see as we look back at these so-called glory days, they weren't so golden and glorious as we might have thought. And so if reclaiming Christendom is not the answer, what is? And where does that leave us? Well, that's where we must, as with every theological question, go back to what the Bible says. And as we go back to scripture, we realize that we're not quite in the crisis that we thought we were in. God, in his holy word, has given us the paradigm for understanding how we are to live as Christians who are in the world, but not of the world. As Christians, we live in the tension between two ages and in two kingdoms. The apostle Peter captures this tension for us when he calls us elect, exiles. On the one hand, Christians are elect. We are God's chosen people. We are adopted as sons of the king, heirs of the life to come. We're seated in heavenly places. Our citizenship is ultimately secured in the kingdom of heaven under the covenant of grace. And yet at the same time, Peter calls us exiles. This language of exile is an allusion to the experience of Israel as they were taken into Babylon as exiles living in a foreign land. Our paradigm, therefore, is not that of mighty Israel dwelling securely and triumphantly in a land of promise with armies protecting her borders and prophets calling down fire on her enemies. No, rather it is as Israel living as humble and weak, at least to the eyes of the world, exiles in a land that is not our final home. And like the exiles, we've been called to love our neighbors, yes, even our pagan neighbors, by working hard. praying for peace and prosperity. And yet at the same time, like the exiles, we must never think that our hope and our future is tied to this land and to this earthly common kingdom. Our hope is not tied to the moral improvement of the United States, just as the exiles' hope was not tied to the moral improvement of Babylon. No, our future and our hope is secured by God in the promise of a new Jerusalem. And thus, in all of life, we must keep our hopes set and our eyes fixed on that eternal city whose founder and builder is God. Well, this afternoon we'll explore what it means and what it looks like to live as elect exiles. We'll consider the Christian's context, the Christian's call, and the Christian's hope. First, we'll consider the Christian's context, And by our context, I mean the setting in which we live according to scripture. Now as you read your Bible, one of the things you'll notice is that God always deals with people according to covenants. These covenants establish the context in which we live. They teach us what God expects of us, and they teach us what we can rightly expect of God. For example, Old Testament Israel lived under the Old Covenant. This covenant was one that was deeply woven into the fabric of day-to-day life and regulated nearly every aspect of their life, including politics and religion and culture. These laws shaped Israel's national identity. And therefore, it was fitting for ordinary Israelites to seek to live according to that covenant. It was legitimate and fitting. It was expected that society would conform to the laws of Moses. However, some today suggest that Christians should urge modern nations to follow these laws of Moses with a Christian kingdom or a Christian theocracy being the goal. But the New Testament points us in a different direction. Our context as new covenant Christians is not that of a separated people living in a separated land, a land of promise, bound to a national identity with territorial borders and armies. Instead, our context is much like that of Israel in exile. Well, to see the difference, let's consider Israel's context under the Old Covenant. What did that look like? Well, first, God established Israel as a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, according to Exodus chapter 19. As a holy nation, they were set apart. That's what that word holy means. It means to be separate, set apart. They were to be different from the other nations. And not just in the way that Egypt might have been different to Assyria, no, in an even more Different way, if you will. They lived under a theocratic kingdom where there was very little distinction between sacred and common. Second, the Israelites were not sojourners or exiles. They weren't in a land not their own. No, they had been given a land to them by God. God had promised them the land, they took the land, and that's where they were living. As God said when they first left Mount Sinai, see, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that I swore to your fathers. So they had a land that was theirs. It was their home. Third, Israel was to be distinct from other nations. Although they were to show kindness to some foreigners dwelling within their borders, they were strictly commanded not to adopt the practices and cultures of surrounding pagan nations. They were not to seek the welfare of other pagan nations. In fact, Israel was to destroy the pagan nations living within the boundaries of the promised land of Palestine. The first part of Deuteronomy chapter seven verse two reads this. When the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Fourth, the Mosaic Covenant regulated Israel's cultural life down to often the most minutest of detail. For example, the law regulated their diet, their clothing and fashion, their foreign policy, their agricultural practices, their commercial trade, their funeral observations, their health care. Cultural life and kingdom identity were one and the same under this covenant. So God gave Israel all of these laws, and these laws were tied to the land. If Israel obeyed these laws, they would remain in the land, and God promised to bless them. If they obeyed these laws, God would bless them with things like rain, fertility, peace, and ultimately long life and prosperity in the land. But if they disobeyed, well, then God promised or threatened these covenant curses. They would face famine, infertility, or barrenness. war, and ultimately, worst of all, God would exile them from the land. Even as early as the book of Deuteronomy, God's told them that he would be exiling them. And God was faithful in this covenant. He promised them the land, he led them into the land, they took the land, he established them in the land. which for generations Israel failed to obey. Where God was faithful, they were faithless. And despite the many warnings and the many prophets sent by God over the ages, Israel continually acted like an adulterous spouse. She turned to the worship of foreign gods, forsaking the covenant with Yahweh her God. Ultimately, Israel and Judah split into two kingdoms. By the eighth century, Israel and Judah were caught in the crosshairs of all these multiple empires that were vying for power, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians. Eventually, the Assyrians took and conquered the north kingdom of Israel, and later the Babylonians would conquer Judah, destroying the temple and deporting many of her citizens to Babylon. Well, imagine the trauma of the exiles as they're ripped from their homes, they're ripped from everything they know, from the temple, from their laws, from their monarchy, their king, and they're taken as strangers under the rule of a foreign king. And now here they are in exile, and they need to learn what it means to live faithfully as strangers in a land that is not their home. And this experience of Israel in exile is what the Apostle Peter alludes to in his first epistle. It's not just once, but actually three times that Peter refers to us as sojourners and exiles. He does so in chapter 2, verse 11, chapter 1, verse 1, as we read earlier, and again in chapter 1, verse 17, where he even says this, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Peter calls us exiles, and he identifies the time that we're living in, our present experience in the world, as the time of our exile. Our context, therefore, as new covenant believers, is not like that of Israel, living triumphantly in the promised land with armies and borders and prophets calling down fire. Rather, it is as exiles living in Babylon, in a city that is not our true home. And thus we say, with the saints in Hebrews chapter 13, here we have no lasting city. Understanding our context as exiles in a foreign land is essential because if we miss that, we can easily fall into one of two errors. First, if we mistake this world for our final home, we can all too easily begin to find our identity in earthly success, in earthly wealth, in earthly security. It's all too easy to grow attached to the comforts of this life. And when that happens, we are very easily tempted then, aren't we, towards moral compromise in the face of persecution. When persecution threatens to take our status, take our stuff, or even take our life, if that's where our hope is attached, If that's the place in which we have located our hope and our comfort, well, then we can be very easily tempted to moral compromise. But we must remember John's warning. Do not love the world or the things of the world, 1 John 2.15. As exiles, therefore, we should hold earthly positions and earthly possessions lightly. knowing that our ultimate hope is in Christ and his promise of the world to come. The second danger of thinking that this world is our final home is that we can all too easily fall into the pits of despair. We can easily despair when things don't go the way we hope they'll go, or when the guy that we're rooting for doesn't get elected, or the person we really hope doesn't get elected gets elected. You know, it can be hard to look at the depravity of our society, the state of politics, the state of the prominent political parties, and it's hard not to feel absolute disgust and even despair at times. There was a famous painting from the 1800s called The Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich. In the painting, a lone monk stands on a desolate shore beneath an ominous, all-consuming sky. appearing almost insignificant against the immensity of nature surrounding him. The waves, the dark clouds, the vast sea, all of these elements tower over him. And here he is, this little figure in this grand painting, creates the feeling of smallness, isolation, foreboding doom perhaps. Surely that's how the Israelites felt as they were taken into Babylonian captivity. And if we're honest, We may feel that way too sometimes, don't we? We stand like that lone monk, a tiny figure before the overwhelming darkness of this age. At times, we feel small. We feel weak, isolated, alone, on the very verge of being consumed and submerged by this tsunami of darkness. Maybe you feel that way in the workplace, helpless, isolated, alone, or the home. And if that's all there was to the story, we should despair. But thank God it's not. For by faith, we know that Christ is ruling and reigning both over the kingdom of his church and also over the land in which we sojourn. And so we have not been left without hope. We'll consider that later. Well, we've considered the context According to the New Testament, we are like Israel in exile, living a land that's not our final home. The second question that arises is the Christian's call. How are we called to live in this land that's not our home? Well, since Israel's experience in Babylon serves as a paradigm for our own experience, we can learn from the way God called them to live during their exile. How were they called to live as exiles? Were they expected to transform Babylon into Jerusalem? Were they to separate completely from their pagan neighbors? Were they to wage war against their pagan neighbors as they were required to do when living in the land of Palestine? Well, then and now, God does not leave his exiled people without a prophetic message. Through a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah, God gives the exiles a clear list of instructions that they're to follow, teaching them how they're to live during their time of exile. Look at verse five. Jeremiah instructs the exiles to build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and give your daughters to marriage that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease. So God commands them to settle down, live peaceful lives, get married, have babies, multiply, increase. In other words, they're to do all of the normal stuff of life, even in this foreign land. They're not to think that any second now they'll be taken and whisked away and therefore they shouldn't plant gardens and have families. No, God says, do these things, do the ordinary things of life. And these commands echo the pattern that we see laid down for all of humanity in God's covenant with Noah in Genesis chapter 9. We read that earlier, didn't we, where God commanded Noah, his sons, and all of creation, of human creation, that is, all of creation, to be fruitful, to multiply, and to seek justice. And so the exiles are to do that same thing, living in the land. But how are they to engage politically? Are they supposed to work to subvert or destroy Babylon? Are they to completely disengage from Babylon and just live as their own Christian communes having nothing to do with their neighbors? Well, neither of these things. The letter continues in verse seven. 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. This command is radical. Even though Babylon had committed great injustices, the exiles are to work for the good of the city. They were to seek the peace and prosperity of the city that had destroyed their homeland, taken them from this land, destroyed the temple, removed their king. Their welfare is now bound up with the welfare of Babylon. And what's particularly striking is how Jeremiah uses the language of Deuteronomy 6, but turns it upside down. Under the Mosaic Covenant, as I mentioned earlier, Israel was instructed specifically not to seek the welfare of other pagan nations. like those outside the land, like Moab or Amnon. And specifically, they were to devote to destruction those nations within the land of Israel. But here, God calls his exiled people to do that very thing, to seek the good and welfare of these pagans. God is explaining to Israel that life in exile will be a two kingdoms experience. It will not be like the one kingdom experience living in Israel where there was no common culture, there was only the one kingdom. No, here in exile they will live as citizens of this foreign kingdom and yet at the same time they will have a deeper rooted loyalty to God's redemptive kingdom and to his covenant. And we know that Jeremiah's letter was both received by the exiles and it was put into practice by the exiles. We see the things in this letter exemplified, for example, in the lives of Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that these men be educated in their public schools. They were educated in the literature and the language of the Chaldeans, and they excelled in their studies. And Nebuchadnezzar even made these men, these exiled Jews, officials in his court. They were very important men. And what's interesting is that these men served a pagan king. but doing so for the common good and prosperity of the land. We might wonder, how could they have done this? Was there moral compromise in serving this pagan king? Well, not according to Jeremiah's letter. And of course, as we read the exemplary character of these men, we know that these men were willing to give their own lives before they would compromise. morally in terms of their faith to God and to his covenant and promises. And so Daniel and these men lived out their calling as elect exiles, as citizens of two kingdoms. They worked hard in Nebuchadnezzar's court for the good of the city, but as we know, without moral compromise, knowing that their ultimate loyalty was rooted in Yahweh himself. And this is both instructive for us and reflective of how the New Testament calls us to live as elect exiles. For example, just like Jeremiah's initial instructions, we are called to pursue ordinary cultural activities like those listed in the Noahic Covenant. We see this in the household codes of Ephesians 5 and 6 and Colossians 3, which give expectations and commands for household life and marriage and family. It indicates that Paul, the apostle, expects that Christians will do the ordinary things of life. Most of the time, Christians will marry and have children and engage in normal human societal behavior. Christians are also expected to be involved in the economic life of society. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes, aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you. So Christians are expected to work hard in society, work for themselves. What's interesting to note is what Paul says next in verse 12. He says, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. Paul sets the expectation for Christians that we won't be living in completely Christian societies. No, we will be living and working among outsiders. We will be working and living shoulder to shoulder with unbelievers. And our hard work in the culture around us will be a testimony to the gospel. So what is our calling as Christians living in exiles? The call is for us to seek the good and welfare of our unbelieving neighbors. To quote Van Drunen, Christians must strive for faithful obedience to God in both kingdoms. On the one hand, they must serve God in the worship, fellowship, and mission of the church as the redemptive kingdom now made manifest in the world. On the other hand, They must serve God and neighbor in the many cultural activities of the common kingdom. In both kingdoms, they render loving obedience to the one true God, yet do so in different ways. Well, now let me get a little bit more specific in our application as we think of how we can carry out these principles in our own society and nation. Well, first, Christians are called to seek the peace of the nation in which they live. Jeremiah tells the exiles to seek the peace of Babylon. Paul instructs Christians to pray for kings so that we might have peace. Babylon was a warmongering empire. was a warmongering empire, and yes, we live in a warmongering empire that throughout the centuries has engaged in endless wars and countless coups against foreign governments. Now certainly there are times when war is justified, but war is never good, and war is never desirable. Christians must pray for peace. Second, Christians are to seek the prosperity of the land in which they live. Certainly, as we considered, this includes working and contributing to society through our personal vocations. But we should also support, as we have opportunity, those things that give rise to prosperity within our broader culture. For example, the right to own private property is a God-given right. It's something that God has revealed through natural law. That is something that is observed in all places, in all cultures, and applies to all of humanity. And thus it's no coincidence that nations that uphold the right of private property, including free trade, are far more prosperous than countries that do not protect property rights. And so as we have opportunity and influence, we ought to seek to promote natural law, justice, because it will lead to the welfare and prosperity of all in our land. Third, Christians are called to seek the welfare of their neighbors. Certainly, seeking the welfare of our neighbors includes protecting and preserving life. No Christian should partake of or support activities that wrongfully destroy human life, like abortion. The abortion of an unwanted baby is not medical service or a kind of a neutral political position. No, it is the destruction of a life created in the image of God. And to the extent that we are able, we should seek both to influence policy and laws, also to inform public perception. And as we're placed by providence into positions where we can help, we ought to be willing and eager to help for the welfare of mothers and babies alike. And even with all of these applications of these principles, we remember that our goal ultimately is not to turn Babylon into Jerusalem or earth into heaven. These are not redemptive works that further the kingdom of Christ. Rather, we're called to do these things because they're good works. This is how we love our neighbor and honor the Lord. At times we can look at the state of our nation and feel hopeless, rather helpless and powerless to make any impact. We feel like that lone monk standing on the shore, alone, isolated on the brink of total collapse. We may even feel a certain pressure that we need to be doing enough and we need to be doing more and we often don't know what to do to affect change in society. But perhaps the comforting reality that you need to hear today is that very few, if any of us, will ever have the power, ability, or opportunity to affect any change on a national or international level. Now, your primary impact on the world will not come through changing national policies, but through faithful daily living in your personal sphere of influence. No, that doesn't sound very exciting, But dear Christian, do not underestimate the power of ordinary faithfulness in the little things of life. As Michael Horton humorously put it, and I've probably quoted this more times than I can remember, he says, everyone wants to change the world, but nobody wants to take out the garbage. Everyone overlooks the little things. Everyone overlooks the faithfulness in little things. They give the letter to the exiles, planting gardens, raising families, all those little things. But isn't there more we can do to destroy Babylon or change it? No, the exiles are called to faithfulness in the small things, faithfulness in their vocations and callings. If you are in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar, like Daniel and his friends, be faithful there. Don't compromise, but be faithful. Work. Dear Christian, what calling has Christ given you? Are you called as a mother or father? Then train your children, teach them, nurture them, correct them, lead them, guide them. Are you a husband or a wife? Then love and serve your spouse with all honor and respect. In your work, whether you're the new employee or you're the manager high in the totem pole, work as unto the Lord. Work with integrity, without moral compromise, even as you suffer unjustly. We all have a calling that God has given us. And if the Apostle Paul can give the following admonition and comfort and exhortation to slaves, well then, surely none of us should have issue with applying this application to ourselves. When he writes, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Well, as Christians, we live as exiles in a land, not our home. We're called to love our neighbor by seeking the peace and prosperity of the land. Third, and briefly, we'll consider the Christian's hope. Where is the hope of the exiles? Well, consider again Jeremiah's instructions to the exiles. They're not called to transform Babylon into Jerusalem. They're not called to wage a holy war against their pagan neighbors. They're not called to build a new temple with sacrifices in Babylon. No, they're simply called to be good neighbors. This is because Babylon is a temporary common kingdom. It is not the eternal redemptive kingdom. No, God has something far better than a changed Babylon in store for the exiles. In verses 10 and 11, the Lord promises the exiles, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 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. That's important language, isn't it? A future and a hope. Where is the exile's future and hope? Well, it's not in the land of their exile, but it's in the land that God has promised them. Just as God had placed them into exile, yes, the Babylonians were the means that took them there, but as God says himself in his letter through Jeremiah, he's the one who put them there. But just as he put them there, so in his timing he will restore them to the land of promise. So even as they're there fulfilling their calling, loving their neighbors, raising their families, seeking the good of the city, to do so with an eye to their true home. And beloved, God has wonderful plans for you. At some point I've probably made fun of people who have this on their fridge magnets or bumper stickers, and maybe in the ways it's been misused. But we should have this on fridge magnets and bumper stickers, especially in these times of election seasons. But at times we may look at this and wonder, where is that hope? What are these great plans that God has for us? I don't see them coming to fruition, for those of us raising Young children, we worry about the darkness and uncertainty of the times we live in and how that may influence our children. In the last few years, we've seen tremendous government overreach into the lives of private individuals, into the actions and activities of churches even being banned from meeting. We've seen wars. We've watched in bewilderment at the normalization and even the celebration of perversion and madness. And we've seen so-called Christian leaders and denominations support these things. That can be discouraging. But that's where you must remember, even amidst these discouragements, that you have a future and a hope. And that future and hope is something better than anything contained in this world. Your future and hope is not tied to who wins the election It's not tied to who will sit on the Supreme Court. Though those things do matter, they do not matter ultimately. And your future and your hope is not tied to those things. If you are in Christ, then here you have no lasting city. what you seek, the city that is to come. Hebrews 13, 14. Like Abraham, you are a sojourner, looking forward to that city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Hebrews 11, 10. Your future and hope is not bound to this land, this nation, certainly not the office of president, the state of our society. No, like the exiles, Your future and your hope are secure in God's good and certain and sovereign plan of redemption. Your future and hope is secure in Christ, who by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension has secured for you the glory of the life to come. And Christ has promised you, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also." Well, Christ has risen from the grave. He has ascended and he is presently seated and is reigning and ruling. And he is coming again to take us to his eternal land. And so, beloved, pray for this land. Seek its good, its welfare, its prosperity, but do not place your hope here. Economies boom and bust, empires rise and fall, and it will be no different with ours. But your citizenship is safe and secure in heaven, from where we await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming soon to take us to that heavenly land where righteousness dwells. Amen. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your letter to exiles and even to us. Lord, we ask that through your word you would encourage us and build us up. Lord, help us to walk that tightrope walk between not being too attached to the world and yet seeing our calling and responsibility in loving our neighbors and seeking the good of society. Lord, help us to walk as pilgrims, as sojourners, as exiles, always with our eyes focused on Christ. And may Christ's love and Christ's glory motivate all that we do in loving and serving you and loving and serving our neighbors. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.