Seeking the Welfare of Others
Ask Me to Pray for You • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Letters are a thing of the past. Today, communication is more sophisticated; or is it?
A letter speaks of deliberation, thought and can be a work of art. On the other hand, a text message or an email is fast and accessible, but is often misunderstood and misspelled.
President Abraham Lincoln once summoned an Army surgeon to the White House. The major assumed that he was to be commended for some exceptional work. During the conversation President Lincoln asked the major about his widowed mother. “She is doing fine,” he responded.
“How do you know?” asked Lincoln. “You haven’t written her, but she has written me.”
Lincoln continued, “She thinks that you are dead, and she is asking that a special effort be made to return your body.”
At that, the Commander-in-Chief placed a pen in the young doctor’s hand and ordered him to write a letter letting his mother know that he was alive and well.
Letters are intentional and are often written with care.
Our passage for today presents correspondence written by the prophet Jeremiah to the elders of the exiles in Babylon.
He tells them a number of things. He sets the record straight. Although its setting is difficult, Jeremiah’s letter contains encouragement and a promise.
For our time together, let us look at the prophet’s words and apply them to our own situation.
Trouble (loving discipline) comes when you live in disobedience.
Trouble (loving discipline) comes when you live in disobedience.
First, its setting is not a positive one. Its recipients have been in a foreign land for some time. Burton Goddard paints the following picture of what it may have been like to be a part of the Babylonian exile of 586 B.C.. Their future was uncertain, or so it seemed.
Goddard states:
“The trek of a conquered people into captivity is a pathetic sight. Tradesmen unaccustomed to physical exertion are herded along, weary and footsore and faint. Old men who have known better days are cursed by guards as they stumble on the march. Little children cling to their mothers’ skirts and cry. Families become separated- forever.
Nor do the cruelties suffered or the heartaches endured end when the journey comes to a close. The strange land of adoption is seldom friendly. The newcomers are fortunate if they escape slavery. They are no longer a nation, no longer free. They long for the familiar scenes of the homeland. Their hearts are not at rest.” (Goddard, 111)
All of this was for a reason.
The people had turned their backs on God.
They worshipped idols.
They committed abominable acts.
They made unhealthy alliances with the wicked nations around them.
God warned them for hundreds of years, but they would not listen.
And so the Lord gave them loving discipline, in order to remind the people that they needed Him. Every single day, they needed Him.
As a nation, we are in the position to receive God’s judgement. The waywardness of the land and its citizens shows that we are ripe for God’s discipline. Among the things that beg for God’s punitive hand are the following:
Our deviance from God’s plan for sexuality and marriage;
The way in which we treat the unborn and children;
Our openness to thoughts and philosophies that are godless;
Our lust for power and independence is staggering;
The idea that we don’t need God.
And so what were the people of Judah to do? What are we to do?
Nevertheless, it was time to make the best of something less than ideal.
Nevertheless, it was time to make the best of something less than ideal.
He tells them a number of things like the following:
While there, lay roots, invest and thrive (vss. 5-6).; Jeremiah 29:5-6
5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.
In other words, life must go on. Don’t be given over to wishful thinking that the situation will conclude anytime soon. In fact, it will be a lifetime for some- a couple of generations before the return to their homeland.
Spirituality is not tied to a place, but to a person- namely Jesus Christ. It is our circumstances that remind us how much we need God.
Don’t live selfishly, but pray and seek the welfare of the host. (vs. 7); Jeremiah 29:7
7 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.
The people of Judah were to be a light to the Babylonians. They were to live in such a way that their neighbors would know that there is something to this God of Israel. Their demeanor was to be open, optimistic and willing to serve. A peaceful Babylon would mean peace for the exiles.
And so God tells them to be a light in a dark place. Make the place better. Jesus words in Matthew 5:14-16 comes to mind.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
How can you and I be a light in this spiritually dark place of Lansdale and beyond? What would God have us do?
Sometimes it means going against the culture.
Such was the case with Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace for not bowing down the to statue of the king.
Or Daniel, who was thrown into the lion’s den because he prayed to the Lord for several times per day.
Or Esther, who was willing to sacrifice her life to speak to the king on behalf of her people.
God is calling us to be different than the world, while we live in it.
Watch for those who would deceive and put themselves in front of others, speaking lies and giving false hope (vss. 8-9);
Arnold and Beyer point out that the Judeans were being fed lies from false teachers of the day, getting their hopes up. A dose of reality was necessary. They state:
“False prophets there were actually assuring the people that the exile would soon be over. But Jeremiah told the people to build homes, plant gardens, raise families, and pray for Babylon’s welfare for they were not leaving any time soon. He restated God’s timetable for exile: seventy years.
Jeremiah named several false prophets who had led the people astray by claiming to speak for God. The Lord’s death sentence on them would prove that they were false prophets.” (Arnold and Beyer, 380)
God has His plans, which are always good (vs. 11);
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
You will be there for 70 years. After which, I will visit you and bring you back. (vs. 10). It was time to hunker down.
It is a vulnerable and sometimes scary feeling to have to completely trust God in your circumstances. You do not know of its outcome, but what is your alternative? To worry? To stress? God does not want you to implode. He wants you to lean on Him!
Burton Goddard states:
“The exiles in Babylon were to live in the present; they were also to live in the future, to lay hold on hope according to the wonderful promises of their God. In the dark days of the captivity they were not to forget the God who had wrought for them so many miracles of grace during the checkered history of their nation. In Babylon as in Jerusalem they could pray to their God. They could read and study the inspired writings, the Law and the prophets. They could still sing the songs of Zion. Though the temple sacrifices would no longer burn on the brazen altar, they could bring sacrifices of thanksgiving and obedience and purity of heart to the Lord.” (Goddard, 113-114)
Your faith must following you wherever you go. It is a badge that you wear. It is like clothing that you put on. Colossians 3:12-14
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Pray and I will restore you. (vs. 12)
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
God gave the promise: I will bring you back.
Prayer is something that God gives us to get through any adversity. Prayer is leaning on the Lord. Prayer is pouring your heart out to God. Lamentations 2:19
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
And Psalm 62:8 This brings up the type of mindset we are to have while living in a foreign land.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
How does this apply to our present situation?
Certainly we pray for ourselves. But God puts people in our way for whom we must pray. Praying with someone is something simple you can do. It shows that you particularly care for one- regardless of their needs.
I had a situation recently. There’s a lady in my neighborhood who is often out exercising in the morning. My neighbor and I would see her jog by or ride her bike, as we were walking.
On a recent morning, she came up to me and was wearing a bandanna around her head and I could see her port site just below her collarbone. She had been given a cancer diagnosis and revealed that she was halfway through her chemo treatments.
She revealed that she has been dealing with this for a while. This was a shock to me because she is so health conscious. I offered to pray for her and she accepted.
Now I have no idea of her spirituality or even if she has any. But it was my opportunity to take her to the throne room of God with her situation. She greatly appreciated it.
And you can do this too.
What should you say when you pray for someone?
Thank the Lord for them.
Mention that we serve a God than can do anything. “All things are possible with God.” (Matthew 19:26)
And that we ought to pray for anything as Philippians 4:6-7 states:
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
And then ask God with faith on behalf of the person.
You see, it is not that hard.
So often we think that introducing ourselves as Christians to the world is more difficult than it actually is.
Keep in mind that the devil wants you to clam up about your faith. By your silence, he can accomplish more of his agenda.
10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
What better thing could you do for your friend or neighbor that does not know Christ, than to pray with him to Christ!?
Conclusion
Conclusion
In 2011 an eighty-four-year-old man named Henry Morello was driving north of Phoenix, Arizona, when he realized he was heading the wrong direction. When he tried to turn around he got stuck in a ditch. Unable to walk to the main road to get help, he spent five days trapped in his car. To stay alive he took a rock and cracked open the wiper fluid container in his car and drank the fluid. He even read his car manual in its entirety to pass the time. After he was rescued, doctors were amazed to find him in such good condition.
Those who are thirsty—truly thirsty—know what it is to seek something with a great desire. That level of desire should characterize our walk with God. You and I should seek Him above all others. He should be your greatest desire.
And He has promised that when you seek Him in this way, your search will be rewarded. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
Sounds a lot like Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.