A Word from one of our Ministers

Friends,

I was invited to prepare the devotions for the September Circuit Meeting, and I focused on Jeremiah’s letter and that so very familiar passage in chapter 29 that many know and hold tightly. I do too. I find in it words which give me comfort and confidence in my calling to the Diaconal Order. Have a quick look at Jeremiah 29.4-14, and you will see instructions to make homes in exile, to marry and bear children, and to pray for the good of the city, indeed, to flourish in a strange place. Later, we find the promise that, “when you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.” (29.13).        
 
Why am I bringing you this now? What’s this all about?   Two things. 

Firstly, when all around you feels uncertain, when you are not sure what the future holds, you can be sure that God holds it. When we don’t know what is going to happen, when we are stuck in a liminal place, as some feel that we are right now, the instruction is to seek God. Draw closer to God, focus on discipleship, on getting to know Jesus more and more. When we are all at sea, Jesus is our anchor. When the world around us looks volatile, God is our refuge.  The church’s future might look blurred at the moment as we continue to wait for conversations to happen, for discernment and for decisions, but God is present in the waiting, in the chatting and in the process. God goes ahead in all that we do, and so we can be sure that God’s plans will work out, eventually. Sometimes, as in the case of my calling to ministry, it can take time, but our God is patient, thank goodness! In these days of uncertainty and change, seek God.

Secondly, God tells us to make ourselves at home in new places, in places where we feel uncomfortable, where we are not the host, where we perhaps have to learn another’s ways. God instructed the exiles to integrate, to pray for the welfare and the thriving of their new place, and to settle. I feel that this calls on us to embrace change, to learn to adapt and to be flexible, and I think that this is in Cornerstone’s future. We may not want to be exiles, but I don’t think anyone ever does. There is a huge difference, after all, between choosing to go and being sent, and as one who lives sent, I am learning to trust God that the places I land will be beneficial for me, even when they are new to me. (“Where is Dorking and Horsham, then?” I remember asking when I was told of my stationing outcome in 2021!) 

I am wary sometimes of taking passages written for a very particular context and applying them to our context, but I have always felt that there is much to learn about God in this passage, and about what God does for us in life: God continually seeks relationship with us, and God loves us, so God wants our flourishing and in Jeremiah, advises those in difficult and unexpected situations about how to find that flourishing.

This takes us a step further now. The wellbeing of the new place in which the people find themselves is bound up in their own welfare, and as I am often found to be doing, I want to connect this with mission. The wellbeing of any city must be improved when there is a bigger faithful population, and this would impact more and more of civic life and wider society. When Christians are found on our school boards, our local councils, running charities, teaching our children, caring for our elders and so on, society changes. Mission is a vital part of what we are called to do as a church. It is not just about “bums on seats” on Sunday mornings, and about having enough volunteers to continue to run the groups in the church community: it is about growing the Kingdom. I am committed to the growth of the Kingdom, and I invite you to make that your focus too.  Growing the Kingdom benefits the world, and we know that the world could do with some help at the moment! We have wars raging, political instability, the continued cost of living crisis, housing issues, homelessness, poverty, elder care…the list just goes on and on. 

Many scholars speak of Jeremiah’s ministry beginning around 627 BCE, although the book was written sometime much later. More than two millennia later, there is still such wisdom in Jeremiah’s words for us: get comfortable in uncomfortable situations, seek God, and then I would add, let’s keep telling other folk about God and God’s unwavering love for us all.

If you want to seek God more closely, the Learning and Worship forum is running a course called “On the Way” starting in early November at London Road. It is not teaching but exploring, conversation and discussion, and it is for everyone. There is space to ask questions, space to wonder and to think aloud. Or listen quietly. If you would like more information, please do go and look at the article about it later in the magazine. 

Let’s pray: Loving God, we give you thanks for Jeremiah as a prophet who calls us back to you, again and again. Give us courage when times are tough, patience when the way ahead feels uncertain and grace when those around us want different outcomes. Help us to find room for celebration and joy as well as lament and grief. Give us wisdom in discernment, peace in our hearts as we listen and engage with new thoughts and ways, hope when we feel like we are in exile, and a sense of anticipation about what you are going to reveal. Above all, Lord, meet with us at every turn whenever we seek you with all our hearts.   Amen.
 
Every blessing
Sarah