Rector’s Blog – day 87

Dear Friends

Jeremiah 29:  11 – 13

It is becoming more and more common to have conversations that begin, ‘I’m furloughed but I’m not at all sure that there’s going to be a job to go back to’, or, ‘Alfie didn’t take his A levels of course, and we’ve no idea when he’ll manage to get a job.  He’s applied for dozens’, or ‘We thought we were OK, but the company’s just laid off half the workforce’.  Quite apart from the worry of being able to pay the bills there is a different pressure which is about feeling valued and having a purpose.

If you’re a Christian and believe that you have been created by God, it can make it a little easier.  We’re created for a purpose and not just randomly.  Isaiah 43: 1 says,  ‘I have called you by name, you are mine.’  We’re created to do something rather than nothing.  Genesis 1: 26 says, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’  And the Holy Spirit helps us to discover what our purpose is.  1 Corinthians 12:  11 says  ‘All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.’  But if you are struggling against the odds, or if you have given up struggling because everything you hoped for has been dashed then it can seem a million miles away.

When Jeremiah spoke these prophetic words to the Jews, disaster had just struck.  They had been conquered, humiliated, and forcibly deported to Babylon, hundreds of miles away whilst their beloved Jerusalem, and the temple, the focal point of their national identity, had been destroyed.  Everything they lived for, all their dignity had been taken away.  Where was their God, who had promised he would never abandon them?  What was their purpose?  Did they have any value as slaves in a foreign city where they did not even speak the language?  And Jeremiah prophesies, ‘For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart’.

It seems that the hope that God was offering was rather different from the hopes of the Israelites.  They had grown used to life in Jerusalem and thought they deserved it.  Disaster had struck and their lives had been turned upside down.  God is saying, through Jeremiah, ‘Build me into your life and focus upon me.’  Your life may not be easy but it will have direction, and meaning, and purpose.’  Perhaps not the meaning or the purpose you were expecting but almost certainly, in the end, much more valuable.  That’s the hope.  That’s the resurrection after crucifixion!  Share the dream!  (Because of course, in the end the Jews came back from exile and the new adventure began.)

A prayer.

Lord, we pray for your Church:
for those who lead us…
for those who teach us…
for all who break bread with us…

Help those of us who are unemployed
to share with those in work
in the struggle for justice
for all men and women.

Lead us out from darkness
to walk as children of light.

We pray for our national leaders…
for those who advise them…
for the leaders of industry and commerce…
for writers and broadcasters…
May they work together
to strengthen the weak
and empower the powerless.

Lead us from darkness
to walk as children of light.

Father, be with all of us who are in work…
those facing redundancy…
those in training…
those whose work is unpaid, or undervalued…
and those without a job…
May we support and love one another
as Christ loves and values us.

Lead us out of darkness
to walk as children of light.

Father, we pray for the casualties of our economy…
for those whose work is monotonous…
for those poorly paid…
for those suffering discrimination…
for unemployed people and their families…
for those living in poverty…
for those who are homeless…
for those who are ill…
for those in despair…
Help us reject the notion that some have the right to wealth
at the expense of others.

Lead us out from darkness
to walk as children of light.

Listen to the second movement of Gorecki’s third symphony and watch the flame of hope appear.  Depending on your mood it might exactly chime a chord (or not!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WVHLHqZafQ

If you would like to join us for Evening Prayer today (Wednesday) it is at 5.00pm