Proper 23 / Pentecost 21 / Ordinary Time 28
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
-- Jeremiah 29:7
There are times when God sends us into exile as God sent Judah into exile in the time of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's instructions to those living in exile can well be God's word for us at such times. Our exiles come in many different forms. We may be exiled into a job or city in which we do not feel at home. At times we may find our place of exile to be among acquaintances that hold different values than we do.
For many in the church, their exile is in a denomination that refuses to take the actions that they feel are consistent with what they believe is true. The natural human desire is to either plot to return to where we are more comfortable or to at least yearn for that which no longer exists for us. Jeremiah counseled the exiles to settle in for the long stay. "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters...."
We are so prideful in our assumptions about the rightness of our opinions that it is difficult for us to believe that God could be working in ways that we do not understand. Imagine being part of a church or denomination that has taken a position with which you strongly disagree. In a sense, you are living in exile as surely as the elders, priests, prophets, and people to whom Jeremiah wrote. If you choose to make your home in that church and listen to God's admonition to pray for their welfare, how might your welfare as a Christian be affected?
Many of the fights in churches and splits in denominations are a result of unbending pride that cannot trust that the grace of God can be operative in that situation. To trust the sovereignty of God is to trust that God can accomplish more than we ever imagine possible if we will but trust in God's faithfulness.
-- Jeremiah 29:7
There are times when God sends us into exile as God sent Judah into exile in the time of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's instructions to those living in exile can well be God's word for us at such times. Our exiles come in many different forms. We may be exiled into a job or city in which we do not feel at home. At times we may find our place of exile to be among acquaintances that hold different values than we do.
For many in the church, their exile is in a denomination that refuses to take the actions that they feel are consistent with what they believe is true. The natural human desire is to either plot to return to where we are more comfortable or to at least yearn for that which no longer exists for us. Jeremiah counseled the exiles to settle in for the long stay. "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters...."
We are so prideful in our assumptions about the rightness of our opinions that it is difficult for us to believe that God could be working in ways that we do not understand. Imagine being part of a church or denomination that has taken a position with which you strongly disagree. In a sense, you are living in exile as surely as the elders, priests, prophets, and people to whom Jeremiah wrote. If you choose to make your home in that church and listen to God's admonition to pray for their welfare, how might your welfare as a Christian be affected?
Many of the fights in churches and splits in denominations are a result of unbending pride that cannot trust that the grace of God can be operative in that situation. To trust the sovereignty of God is to trust that God can accomplish more than we ever imagine possible if we will but trust in God's faithfulness.
