Monday, October 14, 2019
This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah 29:10-14
Isn’t it strange when people ignore
reality in favor of constructing a fantasy world? We’d be on safe ground to say we’ve all done
that, ignoring the context of a statement or circumstance to create a better outcome(in
our minds, anyway). You ignore where the
decimal point falls in your bank account and go ahead and buy that yacht. We plow ahead, ignoring the sign that says bridge
out. In the hopefulness of
youth, or foolishness of old age, we ignore reality and cannot imagine what we
want is beyond our reach.
Jeremiah’s retelling of God’s message that
God’s plans for us are good, and not disaster, is, unfortunately misused in
this way. I’ve seen that statement
written on more Bibles presented to young people each June as they graduate
from High School or college. Taken out
of context it reinforces the tripe passed along from generation to generation
that you can be anything you want to be. It’s a well-meaning sentiment but can put a
young mind on the wrong pathway by just a few degrees. Given time, a few degrees wrong in direction
can mean missing the goal by a universe!
So…what’s the problem? Consider where Jeremiah was, and where the
people of Israel were…the prophet was in jail and the people were worse off, a
thousand miles from Jerusalem in Babylon.
Their armies had been defeated, land and all property confiscated,
families pulled-apart and exiled like so many relocation camps, and their God
was silent in heaven, having allowed Nebuchadnezzar’s storm troopers to
dismantle the city’s walls and desecrate the temple. Everything was in ruins. Does that sound like only good plans
for you? And Jeremiah says
that God said…all my plans for you are good. What?
Therein is the contextual heresy of those
graduation Bible inscriptions…they send the message that life will be a bed of
roses if you just identify as a God-follower, go to church several times a year
and don’t get caught embezzling, murdering, or cheating on your taxes. That was Israel, and who are we to say America
is much different?
Without the context of Israel’s captivity,
slaughter, and grief, we are left with a terrible theology of a God who is like
a vending machine. All you have to do is
show-up occasionally, throw a little money in the slot (offering plate), and
you’re good to go; you’re gonna be blessed with your best life, ever! That is so spiritually-blind it isn’t
laughable. The plain fact remains that
God is the one who caused the Babylonian dictator,
Nebuchadnezzar to succeed in his siege against the fortress of Jerusalem and
conquer God’s people. How’s that for plans
that are only good?
From current day perspective we know that
God orchestrated Israel’s humiliation and troubles for the purpose of
disciplining them, which was meant to bring them back to the reality that
they’d gotten off course in being faithful to Him. It is the equivalent of what parents used to
do in spanking their children…get their attention.
Bottom line: There
is a whole generation or two that knows nothing of accountability. And considering that a genuine faith-walk
with God in Jesus Christ is entirely about accountability,
it is no wonder children who aren’t accustomed to any kind of discipline, or
even hearing the word “NO”, go off the reservation when it comes to faith!
For You Today
It is often said that if there is
breath there is hope. I believe
that; I also believe where there is hope there is also possibility. It is possible to reverse the post-Christian
wave of hedonism we see in our culture these days. But it will take a hard look at reality, and
a hard pull on the wheel of our lives to get back on course. Start with telling the truth, and not
ignoring what’s eternal; that’s a course correction essential!
