Staying afloat in the post-covid dinghy
It’s common for Christians to extract a verse from the Bible out of context, and apply it generally to their own circumstances.
A much-quoted verse is the following from Jeremiah.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“ NIV
It’s a marvellous promise and contains an element of truth for every Christian. However to get the larger revealed truth, we should examine the context in which this verse was written, and we should look carefully at what goes before it and what follows.
The scene is this:-
King Nebuchadnezzar had captured a lot of the skilled and gifted people from Israel (including Daniel), and having transported them to Babylon, was now using them to his own advantage.
The prophet Jeremiah, had written a letter to the exiles in Babylon outlining what they should now do as captives while in that strange land. He was correcting some lies from a self-appointed prophet who had made up the story from his own imagination that the Babylonian captivity would only last two years and that Babylon would fall spectacularly by that time.
In his letter, Jeremiah says some significant things to help and encourage the exiles, and those same things are extremely relevant right now as the world emerges from the Covid virus pandemic.
Today the enemy has sent a similar conqueror to us wearing 3 ugly crowns.
(The crown of fear; the crown of poverty; and the crown of civil disorder) Many people the world over, have been carried away to a place like spiritual ‘Babylon’. And there is more to come. Jobs will be lost and trade borders will be re-defined, as nation after nation struggles with unemployment, poverty and civil unrest. Even the superpower nations will struggle to regain the prosperity and power they once enjoyed.
That’s the state of the world, but what about the Church?
Some in the Church have also been caught up in fear and civil disorder, and may soon be plunged into poverty as well. Not only this, but some in the Church have believed the self-appointed prophets who say that everything will soon go back to pre-Covid normality. All that sounds very familiar to the situation in the days of Jeremiah.
But normality won’t come back even to the Church! (Well I certainly hope not, anyway)
The world will not be the same again, and the Church will not be the same either! Yes a vaccine will be found and re-assurances will be proclaimed, but nothing is the same anymore.
Post Covid is a different “country”. The language; the culture and the landscape for Christians will look different!‘Babylon’ never did look or behave like ‘Zion’.
There is great fear and confusion all around the world that was not there before. Christians have to show themselves as different. Christians must portray the peace, freedom and fearlessness that the world cannot offer today. The Church must demonstrate Christ today more than ever before. We should seek his face and take hold of what He wants us to do, and how He wants us to live. We are the only ones who can offer real hope to this desperate world.
A different country
Jeremiah instructed the exiles to carry on their lives as normal in the new land, but with a heart of compassion for those around them. (Jeremiah 29 verses 5-7)
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 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.
The words of Jeremiah’s letter in chapter 29 are as relevant now, as they were to those exiles. We are to pray and believe for our prosperity and for fruitfulness in our lives; but also we are to live for more than just ourselves.
He continues ….
‘Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper’
Jeremiah 29:7 NIV
As Christians, we need to have compassion on all the people who live in our cities and do our best to help them, and pray for them, and comfort them in these troubling times. Many people will be afraid and hurting. We have the Holy Spirit who brings peace and comfort and solutions to problems. We bring Jesus who saves and heals. We have the gifts of the Spirit at our disposal. If we are weak in our own faith, or do not have a strong personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, we need to seek Him now with everything we have. We need to throw ourselves into developing a growing relationship with the King of kings, and we need to ask Him for the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. Those gifts and that power is for the benefit of those who live amongst you and around you as you go about your daily life.
Jeremiah said the same thing to these people who found themselves surrounded by millions of people whose culture was very different, but who were ordinary people like themselves ruled by a dictator who had no thought for them or their families.
Now the much-quoted verse makes more sense.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future
Peace & Prosperity for themselves, but also Peace & Prosperity for their new community. Plans to serve themselves, and plans to serve their community. Plans to pray and serve those around them. Doing that leads to fulfilment and hope.
He continued :- ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord ‘’
Jeremiah 29:13
Yes, Jeremiah’s letter is relevant for us today as we drift into a post-Covid world!
gartoni 