Going The Extra Mile-Jeremiah 29

If you are old enough you may remember the film [before they became known as movies] "The good, the bad and the ugly". When you read the bible you soon discover that this is good title for its contents: there are cert 18 stories containing sex and violence in the extreme- rape, prostitution, adultery and fornication there is swearing there is treason and treachery and there are wars and rebellions But there are also heart rending stories such as the loyalty of Ruth the love poetry of Solomon and the divine love expressed by Paul and then there is the gospel account which speaks of the great grace of God who came to rescue us from certain death. Then there is the sheer ugliness of the cross where men were executed for treason as decided by Rome The days of Jeremiah were difficult days for the whole nation as they came to terms with their change in circumstances- here we have the people of God living in exile under the heal of a foreign dictator. The Psalmist expresses their turmoil well when he says, rememmering their days in exile- Ps 137 v1 "By the waters of BVabylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion" The question the Jews were aasking was is God still sovereign even in this foreign land, even in this god-forsaken place? V4 The answer comes from their personal experience and it is a clearl yes, even here. Jeremiah goes further than this and he tells them to pray for the welfare of the city , even that heathen city because they have a vested interest. Go into the street and ask the question- "do you think it has ever been this bad?" and many will say an emphatic no- it has never been so bad. It grieves me that so many are leaving or have left North Belfast- seeking out the "godlife2 in the subburbs just mimicking the way of the world when here we are at the cutting edge with a great opportunity to demonstrate the power of the gospel . Even though we have been called to preach the gospeland make disciplesofall nationsmany evangelical Christians are heading out of the city. One preacher said that as he was returning to the city the church was leaving!. If we run away we only give evil an opportunity to gather momentum- if we surrender, it wins- we need to be clear about this - there is no sense in complaining about the darkness if we are unwilling to light a candle. When you really love someone there is nothing you would deny them or refuse to do for them, if it is for their welfare. Here is a question for each of us as we begin a new session of work, both in the vine and in the church- do you love this place? Do you love this city? I came back to Belfast, to the streets were I was born and bred because this is my city- you cannot minister effectively to any people unless you love them- that was one of the lessons of Jonah. Yes God will do His work anyway but we will miss the blessing. If you really love this place you will want to go the extra mile- for you this work is not just the thing you do- not just what you are paid to do, it will be your very life blood, the thing which motivates you to get out of bed and face another day it is this divinely given love which keeps you going even though the feud is ongoing, even though there is more sectarian violence only a "stone's throw away" [forgive the pun] We are called to be enablers- helping people to be reconciled to God and to each other, called to be the conscience of the community and so we must be in the community- yes we are to go the extra mile because God loves us with an extra-ordinary love.