Archive for October, 2005

I am writing this article two days before the anniversary of 911 and while the United States is experiencing the cataclysmic devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  I believe that God calls His shepherds to represent Him clearly, courageously, and wisely in such times.
Many will misrepresent Him.  They will say that such a hurricane proves that God does not exist.  They will ask, “How could a good God or any God allow such terrible suffering?”  Others will offer up an emasculated God.  They will confidently proclaim that some things are beyond God’s control.  Still others will offer up a half God—a God of love but not a God of holiness and righteousness.  At a time when many are shocked out of complacency and many are asking why, Satan will do his utmost to promote blindness.  You as the shepherd of God and missionary to your community must proclaim the true and living God.
I would recommend Lamentations as a starting place.  Jeremiah wrote this small portion of Scripture in the worst imaginable times for the city of Jerusalem.  He watched as mothers ate their children for food (2:20).  The blood of priests and prophets flowed from within the sanctuary (2:20).  The bodies of the young and old, women and men, lay decaying in the street (2:21).  In graphic language, Jeremiah bemoans that he has been invited to a feast of terrors (2:22).  Meanwhile, false teachers bewitched the people with “false and deceptive visions” (2:14).
What lessons can we learn from Jeremiah about shepherding our people through a calamity?  It seems to me that there are two lessons.  The first lesson is that we must identify personally with those who suffer.  The second lesson is that we must proclaim faithfully the truth about God.  We must hold to both or we will not be representing our God accurately.
Jeremiah completely identified with the people of his city, Jerusalem.  Early in his book he asks, “Is there any sorrow like my sorrow” (1:12)?  Read these words of compassion for his neighbors and friends:

Lamentations 1:16Lamentations 1:16
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.  

(NKJV) “For these things I weep; my eye, my eye overflows with water; because the comforter, who should restore my life, is far from me.  My children are desolate because the enemy prevailed.”

Or these words:

Lamentations 2:11Lamentations 2:11
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.  

(NKJV) My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the infants faint in the streets of the city.

We will forever know Jeremiah as the “weeping prophet” because of his complete identification with the people of Jerusalem.
Nothing is more repugnant, especially in times of catastrophe, than self-righteousness and smug indifference to incredible suffering.  Every shepherd must imagine what it is like to lose a home, to have a wife swept out of your arms by a flood of water, to have no prospect of livelihood before he dare speak to this event.  Perhaps we could even say that if we have not shed tears we should keep quiet.
Yet, we must not allow our compassion and hurt for the people suffering to prevent us from faithfully proclaiming the truth about God.  Jeremiah proclaimed the true and living God and gave his people accurate understanding of the terrible events of the day.
Jeremiah proclaimed a sovereign God Who controlled all events.  The Lord had “covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger” (2:1).  Although an enemy army invaded and ransacked Jerusalem, Jeremiah made clear that they acted at the command of God.

Lamentations 2:17Lamentations 2:17
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
17 Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; He hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; He hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.  

(NKJV) The Lord has done what He purposed; He has fulfilled His word which He commanded in days of old. He has thrown down and has not pitied, and He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.

Jeremiah accurately proclaims that God, in His rule over the affairs of Israel, has brought this about for His purpose.
Jeremiah proclaimed a holy God who punished sin.  He announces, “Jerusalem has sinned gravely” (1:8).  “We have transgressed and rebelled,” says Jeremiah (3:42).  Notice that Jeremiah uses “we” and not “you” or “they.”  God has finally visited, to the surprise of the kings of the earth, His wrath upon the city.  Why?

Lamentations 4:13Lamentations 4:13
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
13 [It is] because of the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.  

(NKJV) Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in her midst the blood of the just.

God’s day of reckoning, after much patience, has come.
A word of caution here.  As His prophet, God clearly told Jeremiah the reasons behind the destruction of Jerusalem.  God has not told us anything about His reasons for allowing the hurricane to strike.  We only know that the wrath of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.  I believe that it is not profitable to wonder about the specific reasons why God allowed these horrible events to occur. More profitable is to have a proper view of ourselves in which we wonder why we are not all consumed because of the manifold wickedness that exists in humankind.  In the recent words of John Piper:
Rather let us put our hands on our mouths and weep both for the perishing and for ourselves who will soon follow.  Whatever judgment has fallen, it is we who deserve it—all of us.  And whatever mercy is mingled with judgment in New Orleans neither we nor they deserve.  God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners.  He did not suffer massive shame and pain because Americans are pretty good people.  The magnitude of Christ’s suffering is owing to how deeply we deserve Katrina—all of us.
In perhaps one the best known and beloved passages of Scripture, Jeremiah also proclaimed a God of mercy, compassion, and faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22Lamentations 3:22
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
22 [It is of] Jehovah's lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  

– 23 (NKJV) 22Through the Lord’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
God does not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men (3:33).  Nor will He cast off Israel forever (3:31).  Jeremiah lovingly calls on his people to “hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (3:26).
What a salvation we have the privilege of announcing to people!  Jesus Christ experienced the wrath for sin we deserved to experience.  His substitutionary death secures our salvation.  All who trust Him alone receive the gift of eternal life.  We may experience the loss of all material goods, the loss of our family, and even the loss of our physical lives but we never can lose the eternal life Jesus gives us!  Further, we can announce the change that Jesus makes in our life, especially as we learn of story after story of Christians ministering to the victims.
I will be praying that the Spirit of God will use the terrible events to open the hearts of people in your community to the Gospel.  Go forward as the prophet Jeremiah, weeping with compassion and faithfully proclaiming the truth of God!