This is a letter written by the famous Judean prophet Jeremiah which was sent to the people who had been exiled, ethnically cleansed, to Babylon when Jerusalem had been conquered. The leaders, the wealthy and many of the workers had been moved lock, stock and barrel and found themselves on the moon – a different world.

Jeremiah 29:5-14

The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks to all those he forced to go from Jerusalem to Babylon. He says, ⁵ “Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶ Get married. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters to be married. Then they too can have sons and daughters. Increase your numbers there. Do not let the number of your people get smaller. ⁷ “Also work for the success of the city I have sent you to. Pray to the Lord for that city. If it succeeds, you too will enjoy success.” ⁸ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Do not let the prophets trick you. Do not be fooled by those who claim to have secret knowledge. Do not listen to people who try to explain their dreams to you. ⁹ All of them are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” announces the Lord. ¹⁰ The Lord says, “You will be forced to live in Babylonia for 70 years. After they are over, I will come to you. My gracious promise to you will come true. I will bring you back home. ¹¹ “I know the plans I have for you,” announces the Lord. “I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come. ¹² Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you. ¹³ When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me. ¹⁴ “I will be found by you,” announces the Lord. “And I will bring you back from where you were taken as prisoners. I will gather you from all of the nations. I will gather you from the places where I have forced you to go,” announces the Lord.“I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you away.”

Whilst they circled their wagons and discussed their predicament around the campfire the few people left in Jerusalem with a puppet governor debated it too. What to expect, what to plan for. Understandably they were ashamed and humiliated by the turn of events, that their God had finally fulfilled his promise to exile them if they wouldn’t obey him.

The trending themes on Israelite Twitter were all about Mission Impossible and how the Babylonians were going to get their come-uppance and the people of Israel would be rescued and restored to Jerusalem.

But the true message brought by Jeremiah was that they had been beaten in battle, that they were being punished for turning their back on God and that they should expect a lengthy stay in Babylon. Even more, the advice God was giving them was to change their attitude and focus on blessing Babylon. Instead of treating it as enemy territory, the surface of the moon, it was time to make it home.

V.7 Make yourselves at home and work for the country’s welfare. (Message)

The word translated success, welfare or peace is derived from the Hebrew word Shalom. This describes what it is like when we each have a home and a job, good health and plenty of food and drink, living in safe communities. This is what we are to work for. Not just a home but a hub. Working for the city’s welfare.

There is another message within this one.

V14 I will bring you back from the countries into which I drove you. (Message)

They are also a people in exile not from one city to another but from their heavenly home to their earthly one. The language resonates with the words of Genesis when God confronts Adam and Eve with their sin and banishes them from the garden of Eden.

The gospel story is of God’s mission to make a way for his creation to come back to him. He has won the decisive battle that has turned the course of the war, paid the price to set us free. The time will come when we will be called home to a new heaven and a new earth. In the meantime, in this sense, we too are living in a foreign land.

2,500 years after Jeremiah wrote this letter to the exiles in Babylon, his message is also meant for us.

Whilst we wait for the time when he takes us home –

The Lord is telling us that we are to make ourselves at home in Leeds and work for its success.

Let’s think about different ways we can respond to being exiled into a foreign land called Leeds.

Missionary

I come from missionary stock and I think the call and work of a missionary has great value. It is also possible that some here are missionaries to Leeds. My challenge is to those of you who aren’t but who think as though you are. You think of yourself as a missionary in a foreign land. I know some of you are only here for a while – maybe working on a contract in Leeds for a year, maybe just checking us out. That’s fine. But I believe God has put you in the city for a purpose.

The exiles were not sent to Babylon as missionaries. They had no choice. They had been forcibly relocated. They weren’t being funded from Jerusalem and sending back prayer letters. So, for the time you are in Leeds, settle, make yourselves a home and pray and work for the welfare of the city.

Waiting room

This can be the attitude that comes out of a misunderstanding of the meaning within the meaning. We need to understand that we live in the now and the not yet. Jesus has promised us his kingdom and he has taught us to pray “on earth as it is in heaven.” We do experience his kingdom, heaven on earth, today. We know that we only see in part that which one day we will see in full. We only hear an echo of the song we will one day sing in a choir of millions. We glimpse the core beauty of humanity in the Paralympics and we look forward to the day when we all have new bodies and run on a new earth.

The exiles were not plonked in a waiting room with a kindle to read and told to kill time until they could go home. The temptation is to treat our stay here like sitting in a waiting room for the train to arrive. We will put up with the imperfections of our city, stay closeted with our friends and read a good book.

So we are not missionaries and we are not occupying a waiting room … what are we to do?

Settle

V5&6 Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Get married, have sons and daughters. V5&6

God’s invitation to you is to settle down. Make Leeds your home and pray for the city. Get a job or get involved and make an impact in the city for God through the way you work and live. Build a family here. Identify needs and seek to mend them. Bring blessing on Babylon.

Instead of moaning about how dangerous it is or how much alcohol is drunk in the city centre on a weekend or how high the Council tax is or how badly Leeds United are doing… let us be the best salesmen the city has. Speaking well of the city, finding something to be proud of, discerning what God is doing and celebrating it.

I am not directing your career or providing a location service. I am just saying that if God has placed you here – until he takes you away, settle down.

Leeds Facts and Figures

Leeds is a big city. It is the 4^th largest conurbation in the UK, 3^rd largest city (812,339 people) and the 2^nd largest Metropolitan District in England,

Leeds has as many people over 60 as under 16. There is a higher proportion of young people than the national average, including a large student population. It is a diverse city, the most diverse outside London, with many cultures, languages, races and faiths.

Despite 25 years of economic success it also ranks poorly in terms of inequality and ingrained deprivation.

Deprivation and inequality occur much more in big cities like Leeds. Nevertheless Leeds is managing its problems relatively well coming second out of the eight core cities in the country. But because it is a big city, within it there are some of the most deprived areas in the country.

Last year The City of Leeds launched its vision for the next twenty years,

“To be the best city in the UK”. 

Tom Riordan, the chief executive, said, “We are setting ourselves a challenge, to be the best city in the country. Not the richest, or the biggest, but the best for all who live and work in Leeds – our children, our communities and our businesses. A place where everyone can enjoy a good quality of life.”




So how does the Vineyard play our part? By building a hub. This means:
1.       Making a home which equips and supports us as we:
2.       Walk across the room – friendships, children and young people, work, play;
3.       Be the best bosses, students, employees, parents and community workers in the city;
4.       Reach Out – HOTS, OtS, Gardens/Houses etc;
5.       The Vine – building bridges – Debt Advice, CCC;
6.       Housegroups and congregations around the city;
7.       Church plants around the city;

We make a home, “come and see” – and then we build a hub – “go and tell”.

Secret weapon

I believe there is only one way to really transform the city, to really bless Babylon. We have a secret weapon. The way to make Leeds the best city in the country is for the people of Leeds to meet Jesus. He has the love and the mercy they crave, he has the power to forgive and to heal. Only he can really transform this city of 800,000 people.

So we do all the things I have been describing, becoming the best citizens in the city, but in our prayer, in our actions, in our testimony we will bring the people around us a kingdom message, that God loves them, that Jesus died to save them and that the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives can transform them.

The tune

There are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people walking the streets of Leeds listening for the music of the Kingdom. They are not sure what the tune is but, deep within, their souls are straining for a salvation song. We have heard this song, not in its completeness but enough for us to want to hear it again and again and our mission is to play this tune for the people of Leeds.

Some of you have only just begun this journey, you have heard the tune and want more. Some of you are a longer way down the road and have begun to sing the tune for others. Making a home and building a hub are two parts of doing this. We make a home and say, “come and see”. We build a hub which sends people out saying, “go and tell”.