Seek the peace of the city and pray for it

In the New Testament there are two words that speak with respect to time. One is Chronos and the other is Cairos. Chronos is current time and Cairos is God's time and I sincerely believe that it is God's time for us.

No one wants to see and participate in tragedies but the moments in history when things like this happen is when God's people have to rise up strong. A biblical passage has been touched on that has been my motto; The truth of the matter is that next Sunday in Buffalo, New York I am going to preach on this passage. The truth is that I always preach it wherever I go.

The motto of the CUME ministerial education center is Jeremiah 24:7: "Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you and pray for it because in its peace you will have your peace." Without taking much time, the word peace is shalom, in the New Testament it is irene and formed by shalom itself; a rich word that means well-being, prosperity, wholeness, health, salvation, liberation, salvation.

The truth is that when the Bible speaks to us here it tells us two things that we have to do in the city easily. In this passage: "Seek the peace of the city and pray for it." Seek peace means that we seek all the well-being of this city, at every level of life, not only of the spiritual soul but also of the body, the totality of life.

As I tell my students, I have never seen a soul walking around, it needs shelter and warmth and love and food, total well-being; but you know that all of us have something to do in procuring the peace of the city because all of us are not preachers and some of us do not have the fluency to share the Gospel like others but you can show them the love of God with a piece of bread, with water, with clothes, with a heat, in different ways express the love of God. And if you can't do that at least pray.

The background of this passage is very interesting. Jeremiah is writing to these people who are in bondage in Babylon. Babylon, Boston. It doesn't matter, they have been transported to that place. The word in Hebrew is galah, the word means exile but it also has an ambassadorial sense as Samuel said today: many have come here as in exile that has brought them here, right? and for some reason we are here. Now we are not exiled or transported, we are now ambassadors and we are called to seek peace as ambassadors.

The first ones who heard this thought that Jeremiah was crazy. Procure peace in Babylon, this city, this empire so bad and so ugly, sinful? Maybe Boston isn't as bad as Babylon. Many times we see the city and the people out there as hitters and bad guys but God calls us to have compassion and seek peace for them, for this city.

Pray for them, pray for them. The least we can do is pray. It is interesting how that part of 7 says: "For in his peace you will have peace." Did you hear that right? That is interesting and profound, that to the extent that we seek the peace of the city, the well-being, prosperity, all the resources and greatness of God for them, God will give it to us.

It seems that God has a sense of humorousness, can you tell? because as he says at least if they don't want to seek peace they because they want to do it He tells them: but look, do it for your own interests, the blessing. At this point we know something better, we recognize that we do it by the will and challenge of God to our lives, God's love and grace manifest in our lives and can make a phenomenal impact in this city now. It is now the Cairos of God.

Ask yourself at work, at your school, where you are present, how can I be a shalom for the people, for the city? We have a great challenge. God help us to fulfill it.

I end with a Psalm. Some very familiar verses, I'm going to read them first, the first seven verses I'm going to read. Yes, the well-known Psalm 91: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

"And I will say to Jehovah: My hope and my castle, my God in whom I will trust."

"He will free you from the hunter's bond, from the destructive plague. With His feathers He will cover you and under His wings you will be safe, shield and buckler is His Truth."

"You shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that destroys at noonday."

"A thousand will fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but you will not come" blessings.

I thank the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord is in this community; God has great things that He wants to do through us. These are pregnant times.

God wants a people who are channels of blessing and of His Grace and His love in this city. Many more things will possibly happen, but I know that if the salt of the Earth is in the city that we are, His people and His Word, the enemy will always have to flee defeated.

Let's pray for a moment and thank the Lord, we apologize if we couldn't choose all of them, there will be other opportunities in the future as well. Let's stand up please. Let us raise our hands to the Lord in unity.

You have called us Lord to be the salt of the Earth, you have called us to be peacemakers, people of peace. We offer you our hands, our words, everything we have to be instruments of your peace; may Your peace be in this broken city, may Your love and Your peace and Your life shine in us.

May Lord, as we give ourselves to You and to others in the way that Jesus our Lord gave himself, Your light and Your love make themselves known, and may that peace that Christ won for us on the cross be always in our hearts. and in our minds, and that it be given to us to share it with the world as we give ourselves and place ourselves at Your service. May we be used by Your Will following the example of our Lord.

We thank you, we adore you for everything you have done for us, use us as we leave this place; We pray for the Glory of Your Name and the life of the world and of humanity, in the Holy Name of Jesus, amen and amen. Thank you Lord, may the Grace of the Lord bless you and be with all of us.