This Article was originally a message given by Rev.Todd Crouch on the Fountain of Life, which was aired on RKP Radio www.rkpradio.com
Some time ago, while I considering what the Holy Spirit was leading me to address in a sermon I read a scripture, which I have read many times before, yet, when I read these words this time, they spoke to me in a way I had not thought of before and now felt that God wanted me to address it in some way.
But at that time, I had no context for it, yet
the words of the verses stayed in the forefront of my mind. I found myself
thinking about them and wondering how they applied to us in the Christian life
which we are called to live.
Seek the Welfare
In the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we can
read that God placed the Jewish people in varies towns and villages in the land
of their captivity. God then spoke to the people of Israel through a letter
written by the Prophet Jeremiah giving them instruction regarding their lives
among the Mesopotamian people.
"This is the text of the letter that the
prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles
and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had
carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon." Jeremiah: 1:1
God, through his servant Jeremiah, address how
they and we Christian of our day ,should conduct themselves .For some of them
the instruction may have been difficult to follow.
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God
of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry
and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters
in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number
there; do not decrease. Also, 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: 1:4-7
God spoke of their lives in the towns where
they were in captivity, God told them through Jeremiah, and encouraged
them to build their lives and to seek the welfare of the communities where
they now found themselves, adding, that it is he himself who has taken them to
where they now resided.
God had placed the Jews in the communities in
which they were now in, and the Lord through the Prophet was
encouraging them to build their lives and to seek the welfare of their communities,
so that they would be blessed.
Pastors Meeting
This need to seek the welfare of our
respective communities was highlighted to me while I was in attendance at a
gathering of Pastors from churches from around the Washington Pennsylvania
area.
At this particular meeting was the mayor of
the city of Washington Pennsylvania. The Mayor spoke about some of the
challenges which were on his heart and other issues that Washington, and many
municipalities in the county face, as well as hopes which he had for
Washington.
After the mayor was done speaking, it was
suggested that we, the assembled Pastors offer a special prayer on his behalf.
I was asked to come forward as a representative of all the pastors and churches
of the community and lay hands on and pray for the Mayor and bless him as the
representative of the whole community.
As I prayed for the mayor and the whole of
Washington, and for each community in Washington County which was represented
there at this gathering, the Scripture in Jeremiah came to my mind again with
assurance that God would answer and bless the community. That God would answer
that prayer for Washington and the whole county.
Another Pastors Meeting
A few days later on a Tuesday evening while I
was at a gathering of Pastors from the churches in Bentleyville , which is the
town in which I had been living live, the Pastors from the area were planning a
Community Thanksgiving Prayer Service.
During this planning meeting as we talked of
the needs of our community the Jeremiah Scripture bounded back into my thinking
as we talked of some of the challenges which our community faced and how it
needed the blessings of God.
Community Relationship
Communities, and community living is not the
idea of humanity simply devised for “conveniences” safety or “profit”. Living in community is, in truth, a desire for
extended relationships with others of which the family is its basic unit.
God himself stressed the need to seek his
divine favor and blessing on the communities in which we live. You see, God
forms communities as a reflection of His own Triune nature in which he is
blessed within himself. The community of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son
the Holy Spirit is the perfect community on which all other relationships are
based.
This community relationship which the Holy
Trinity has, is the very relationship that, through Jesus Christ, we are made a
part of and invited to participate in through Jesus Christ.
God wants us, Christians and Churches, to seek
the welfare of the communities in which we have found ourselves "scattered”, as the Lord had admonished the Jews
who lived in the cities of Babylon.
We Christians, as spiritual Jews, who
live scattered in the Babylon of the world. In this scattering we are called to
bless the communities where God has placed us, to seek the welfare of the community,
to intercede to pray for the people, our neighbors, friends. We need to
interceded for the civil institutions the leadership the business, schools and
even the Churches.
St. Paul wrote regarding this very thing to
the young Pastor Timothy.
"Pray for kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty" 1Tim:2:2
God has allowed human civil governments to be
in place so that there may be order. He tells us to pray for those in these
positions and to do so even if they do not represent our personal "political preferences" ; Jesus does not
belong to a political party.
We can read what St. Paul wrote of the
Christians relationship toward civil government in Rom:13
We scattered Christians need to pray that
God would glorify himself wherever we live, so that we might preach Gospel the
message about our Lord Jesus Christ without obstruction and or interference and
so that many would come to believe in Jesus. There can be no better way our
communities can be blessed than to hear about our Lord Jesus Christ.
In, Not Of
Being in ,and building the life of and involvement with , the community is making a spiritual investment where we live, it can be a fine line to walk for the Christian, for as we are told in Scripture that , we are “in, not of” the "World System" , yet, if we do not make this spiritual investment where we live so that we know and are aware of the challenges in our communities and to pray for God’s hand to move in the lives of the people within our communities so that it brings Glory to God, who will do it if we will not?
Do we look out and view the issues in the communities
where we live, do we see the broken lives, the lost the lonely, the downtrodden
the families which are struggling to survive, problems in our schools, economic
challenges, crime, miscarriages of justice , a lack of leadership and
corruption in government at all levels, lack of opportunities for jobs,
whatever they may be, if there are challenges and we see them we should pray
for our Lord to bless.
God calls on Christians to seek the
welfare of cities where we are scattered not just to pray but to demonstrate
the love of our God toward any and all as we have the opportunity to do so.
Understand, that I am not talking about
"political or social activism" , but " active
prayer", that is praying for the challenges and
needs of the towns, and cities where we reside and reaching others with the
love of God and the Gospel.
Gods' Glory to Enter
"Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory." Psalm: 24:7-10
This invitation to the King of Glory to enter
in through the gates of Jerusalem, or as we might understand it, through the
church at large, Christian can, be those gates and doors by which the King of
Glory, Jesus Christ, may enter the lives of the communities where we live.
Christians should ask our Lord to come into
our communities that he might bless them and that he will be glorified. Asking
Jesus' authority to be brought to bear against the host of problems which may
abound around us resulting in the healing of the collective wounds of our communities
and for our neighbors. We all see the discouraged, the poor, the sick, injustices,
corruption, the empty store fronts, the dyeing and dwindling churches and empty
churches.
Community With God
In the end, in eternity, we will all
live in a perfect community relationship with God and each other. We see this
portrayed in the Book of Revelation:
St. John wrote the vision, which the Holy
Spirit showed him, of the perfect extended community of those who have accepted
our Lord Jesus thru the Gospel message.
"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new
earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was
no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now
among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God
himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their
eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away.” Revelation: 21:1-6
The New Jerusalem is more than just a city, it
depicts the perfect ideal community relationship that God has always intended
and decreed for humanity with himself, the one Jesus came to give us
access into.
This is perfect community relationship where
the great God is worshiped. Where we fellowship with him and one another. Where
our Lord is accessible. There is nothing to keep us from him, there are no
barred gates, that is, through Jesus who is the way into this Community
Relationship we might live for eternity.
We are called to pray for your communities and
its problems and its needs, asking, that the King of Glory might be manifested,
so that our communities, wherein we are scattered, might be blessed and our
Lord Jesus Glorified.
Benediction: May we each and all be a blessing
in and to the communities where we are scattered so that the King of Glory
might come in, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
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Rev. Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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