This City

Read:  Jeremiah 33: 10-16

With each passing generation, it seems that our society becomes more and more secularized.  A few generations ago, it was not uncommon, especially in rural town, for most folks to be a regular participant in the life of a church. Today, that is more the exception than the norm; more and more people are either distancing themselvs from the church, or find no reason or benefit to be a part of a church. As this trend continues, more and more of those who remain in the church, it seems, look around with a sense of hopelessness and helplessness for the God and the church they love so dearly. We ask ourselves why people would turn away from God or refuse to turn toward God. We wonder why people refuse to allow God to work in their life. We wonder why people turn away from the only One who can save us from all the ills of the world.

About this, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I don't have the answers to these questions. I am just as confused as the next person as to why someone would not want or allow the gosple of Jesus Christ in their life. The good news is that even when people turn their back on God, God doesn't turn God's back on them. The good news is that even when people want nothing to do with God, God still wants everything to do with them. Even when an entire town, nation, or world declares they are finished with God, God is not finished with them. Through the Holy Spirit, God is ALWAYS working in this world. God is ALWAYS working to convince people, God's very creation, to turn back to God and God's ways. Through Jeremiah, God declares that even a place that was considered desolate and a "waste" would once again echo with praises to God. God made a promise to our ancestors in faith that God would never forsake humans and leave us on our own, as orphans. Through Christ, that promise is fulfilled. Through Christ, God offers salvation to all of creation. This salvation isn't just the salvation from sin, but salvation from all the ills and wrongs of the world. It is a salvation from unholiness, injustice, fractured relationships, and anything else that goes against God's design and intention for human beings and our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with one another.

God is not finished with our church, our city, or our world. I think this song describes the situation perfectly. As you spend time with God today and observe your world...I challenge you to see those areas that could be considered "desolate wastes" and offer them to God. Where do we need saving? Where do we need or want to to see the Holy Spirit at work? Let us see those things, and offer them to God this Advent season. All so that, one day, all things in this city might echo the praises of God and declare the steadfast love of the Lord!