Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face
shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. Psalms 80:3 (NLT)
The
Psalmist saw Israel in shades of gloomy gray!
Psalm 80 is part of a corporate lament expressing the grief and sorrow
connected with defeat and exile. Israel
is pictured as God’s vineyard, broken-down and left in ruins. (Seems perfect for a Monday, eh?)
The choices
for Israel were all scary (aren’t they always that way when you’re
not in control?):
1.
They could accept their captive status
and live the life of slaves…forever defeated and entirely unlike beings created
in the image of God.
2.
They could deny anything has happened
and live in memory of greater days…forever a caricature of the conquering
children of God. (This is the Emperor’s
New Clothes option – confident in their minds that the good days are on
the way back, but, in reality, impotent and naked before the world.)
3.
A final scary option: totally abandon themselves to God’s choices
for their future by confessing their sin and humbly waiting for God’s strength
to revive and/or restore them to what He wanted.
God’s
people of the exiles were corrupted spiritually long before their political
captivity began. It’s no small leap to
figure out that, to reverse the process, first a spiritual healing would have
to take place; then (if God approved) a political revival could begin.
In
conversation yesterday (Sunday) with a church member we discussed the lament of
today’s church. With something like 4 of
every 5 churches in America rated as either declining in membership, or simply
“just holding-on” there is plenty of wailing to be done.
In the
United Methodist Church the term “revitalization” is the current watchword. Bishops and other leaders proscribe
“indicators” of what a revitalized church (local and global) will look like. Like captive Israel of old, revitalizing –
claiming our spiritual heritage and strength is something of an “Emperor’s New
Clothes” issue, because re-vitalized presupposes anyone
really knows what vital looks like. For a
denomination that’s been in decline for half a century, that’s a sobering
thought.
Is there any GOOD news?
There’s
always good news. And whenever it takes
hold, this Good News (Gospel) is a fresh wind of revival. But it’s always on God’s terms
“Turn us again to yourself, O God.”
Throughout
the last two millennia, whenever the people of God have decided to lay aside
their “Emperor’s rags” and stand naked in the hands of Almighty God, the Spirit
of God has moved among us, changed us, and set the world on its ear.
I wonder if
we’re capable of doing that in our Mainline denominational machinery? I wonder if we’re capable of doing that in
our focus groups and caucuses? If not –
and I truly wonder if God really wants that anyway – then it would be good news
indeed for a fresh wind of revival to come bubbling-up from outside the walls
of the church buildings.
Today…for YOU
Is there any “fresh-wind” of God’s Spirit blowing through your life? Psalm 80 is a good place to lay down the rags of
slavery.
Let the revival begin.
Title Photo: https://blog.spu.edu/lectio/out-of-the-depths-onto-the-heights/
No comments:
Post a Comment