Author: David

John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

To understand such a statement, we need to understand Jewish culture.  In America, when a young couple gets married, they find their own place and start their own lives. In Jewish culture, it was not so.  The bridegroom would go and prepare a room for his soon-to-be bride.

During this period, they would be apart as the room was prepared and the bridegroom would come by night to take his bride.  When he arrived, she would be watching, waiting and ready to go with her beloved. The bridegroom would take his bride to a wedding feast and they would celebrate the beginning of their marriage. 

What does that mean for us?  See the grand romance in the Christian narrative.  There is a warning, an invitation and then a return.  We are living in the midst of the invitation.  Many have already accepted but some have rejected the invitation despite the warning, but for those who wait for the return, we live with hope.

What it means for us is that there is something greater than the pleasures of life to live for.  Those who ignore the warning and get lost in the convenience and gratification of this life will only find the destination of meaninglessness that is the results of momentary happiness.

What it means for us is that there is a reason to live beyond our own interests.  That we are living in an engagement period as we wait for the return of our bridegroom.  Life is no longer about what we want for ourselves.  Life is no longer devoid of purpose.  We are living for someone greater and in this relationship, we are not alone.  We have a bridegroom.

What it means is that the bridegroom has changed everything about us and for us.  Our ending is not death but eternity.  Not only did Jesus redeem death, but He redeemed life.  We are waiting, but because of Him, we are alive.  No matter the challenge or the moment, we are loved, and we have hope because a day will come when the bridegroom returns, and we will be with Him forever.  What it means for us is life changing and despite life’s challenges, we face them knowing who we are living for and who gives us a real reason to live at all.

In the passage today, this is basically a prayer.  The nation of Israel is facing difficulty after difficulty.  They are crying out to God to be saved.  But the problem would soon be revealed that more than they needed rescue, they needed revival.

You see, we must make the distinction here in those dark and hopeless moments.  In many ways, what we long for is rescue, but what God really wants to give us is revival.  Revival is greater than rescue.  A rescue changes your circumstance, but revival changes both your circumstance and your heart.  Rescue may end your outward battle, but for many, all the symptoms that put you in the battle in the first place remain.  Revival places you in God’s favor, your heart turns towards Him and in His response, God not only rescues but he revives.

We rarely understand the entire picture when we ask God to save us.  To truly be saved from circumstances usually requires a change and most times, requires a change of heart.  When we ask God to save us, God never intends to leave us the way we were found.  He has specifically designed our walk with Christ to transform us. A rescue alone could never do that for us. We need revival. 

Revival is critical because revival leads to a greater faith.  God has called us to a faith that can change the world, but it must first change us.  Jesus speaks in Matthew of a faith that can move mountains.  As we walk this journey of faith, what we discover is that often, the mountains that need to move are us.  The seemingly impossible task that faith accomplishes is the movement of ourselves.

Rescue will never accomplish what revival can because revival is the flame to the fires of faith in our lives. If revival comes in us and through us, it will take a faith burning in the fires of revival to change the world.  Never settle for rescue when God offers so much more.

In reading this chapter what we learn is that Judah has become lost in its sin.  They have turned their backs on God so greatly that even the land has responded and not produced food.  They are believing false prophets, false truths, false idols and the covenant people of God are hardly keeping to their part of the deal.  The condition of Judah is bleak and not many take notice.

Today we must ask ourselves:  What is the condition of our country?  With all the education and convenient morality, we have imagined we could do life better without God. We have our idols and pleasures that we so readily let into our lives with very little room for faith.

The question really is for the Church (Capital C).  Where is our anguish?  Jeremiah weeps for God’s people.  He has a burden to reach them in order that they would change and turn to the God of their ancestors. This burden carries him to people ignoring their covenant with God .

Jeremiah has anguish and a burden for his people.  To be blunt, often the Church doesn’t seem to have a burden for anyone but the saved, but we are called beyond ourselves to have anguish and a burden for those lost without Christ.  Listen to Nehemiah’s cry when he hears that Jerusalem is in ruins:

Nehemiah 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.

Where is our weeping?  Where is our mourning?  Where are our prayers for those hopelessly lost without Jesus?  You see, as we become more and more like Christ as we follow Him, we should take on the burdens that He has for mankind.

Having a burden for the lost is when our lives become less lived for our will and we find ourselves living more for His.  This burden should be present in us to share the Gospel with those God loves.  This is one of many ways that Christianity is no longer about us but about Christ.

We must look within the walls of our church buildings and see if God’s people are carrying God’s burden.  I would dare say, we by large overlook this part of our faith.

Let us turn again to anguish, having a heart like Jesus longing greatly for the lost to be found.  Let our hearts break for those separated from Christ.

When we look at the New Testament, I personally believe that Jesus gives us a glimpse of what this new Kingdom will be like with Him as judge.  Let us look at one of His healings.  As the paralytic is lowered through the roof, Jesus takes the time to heal the man but says something interesting. He says, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Many people, rightfully so, see this as a miracle as the man is healed, and while this is correct, there is more to this passage.  What did Jesus really do here?  I believe we get a glimpse of Jesus as judge.  He looks at the man on the mat and as the righteous Judge sent by God, Jesus forgives the paralytic man’s sins.  Not only that, what is the result of Jesus’ judgment?  The answer: complete restoration.  Yes, it is a miracle, but I believe we get this glimpse of Jesus and His Kingdom coming.  I can only imagine what it will be like, but we get this idea of how Jesus will judge.   

Look at how Jesus handles the woman caught in adultery.  The people brought her to Him, and they ask Him what to do with her (They ask Him to judge her).  To their surprise, He first judges those prepared to stone her, and after they drop their rocks and walk away, He restores the condemned woman and tells her to “go and sin no more.”  We have this beautiful picture, not only of Jesus who will condemn evil ultimately, but this picture of Jesus as one who will as Isaiah states, “judge not by what His eyes see or His ears hear.”  In these instances, God’s judgment is beautiful.  His judgment is glorious! 

Here’s the thing: People look at God as some angry old man in the sky, but honestly, we are the angry ones.  This perception of God seems to reflect more of our nature than it does His.  The Christian can rest assured that God’s judgments are good, and we can trust them.  We can trust Him.