The Local Church

Jeremiah is in prison, the Babylonians are invading Jerusalem, and all hope seems lost. This is the setting of Jeremiah 32:1-15. Even then, Jeremiah does something unexpected: he buys a field in the land occupied by the enemy. This prophetic act of hope declares God's presence in the midst of chaos, and His promises for the future. That’s the same hope that God wants to speak into our lives today.

Our faithfulness to God can be compared to the kind of faithfulness required in the high and low seasons of marriage. In Jeremiah 7:1-15, Jeremiah gave a sermon challenging the Israelite people about their faithfulness to God beyond the temple gatherings, similarly to the faithfulness needed beyond the wedding day to the actual marriage. We can come with this same mindset of faithfulness on a Sunday morning while living in sin the rest of the week. But God invites us to live a life with him and for him, even when things get hard.

Few people lived life with God and for God better than the prophet Jeremiah. This life did not come easily for him though. There were plenty of times when Jeremiah was frustrated and angry at the hardship that he faced. He complained to God in Jeremiah 12:1-5 and God responded....” if you have raced with men on foot and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?” The question was an invitation to not settle for average and a challenge to hold onto hope even when it’s difficult.

In Luke 7, we follow John the Baptist as he waits in prison and begins to wonder - is Jesus the King he's been waiting for? Jesus isn't saving John the way he desired or expected to be saved. What do you do when your faith and hope crashes into suffering? Unmet expectations? Disappointment?

In Part 2, we looked at Luke 3:3-6 again as John the Baptist announced that Jesus was coming, he urged his audience to clear a path for a road in their hearts to make way for the king. One of the ways the road is prepared in our hearts is by raising up the valleys. Valleys are raised up when you relax in Jesus and understand you are more loved and accepted than you could ever dare hope. This opens us up to expect more from God and what He is able to do.

John the Baptist is the hype man for Jesus.  His message in Luke 3:1-18 serves to make way for Jesus the coming King by smoothing and straightening the path, similarly to how roads would be prepared for kings of their day. For us to be prepared for the arrival of the King today, we need to treat Jesus as King in our hearts through reliance and obedience.

Instead of James going for his typical punch in the gut approach, James ends his letter with a push—a push to pray. In James 5:13-20, James lists out a variety of scenarios in that we should labor in prayer: when we are suffering, sick, and in sin. We should labor in prayer in a similar way to a woman in labor so that we can birth whatever it is that God has for us in the same way Elijah did.

James 4:13-5:6 contains some of the harshest words in the book, addressing wealth, pride, greed, and self-interest. As Americans - the generally wealthy in today's world - we must keep our pride in check and acknowledge that we do not control our financial futures. We should use our positions to advocate for fair payment of others, and pay attention to how we engage with our money and systems that oppress people.

We all have a choice to make. James 4:1-10 points out that you can choose to be a friend of the world or a friend of God. Both options talk a good game, but one is empty and one is full of life. Friendship with God requires us to turn away from friendship with the world toward humility and repentance, trusting that God will lift us up.

What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? James 2:14-26 asked this question and others like it to make sure we look under the hood and search the engine of our faith because faith without works is dead. As we search for what drives our faith, it is critical to find that it is fueled by our head, heart, and hands. All three of these create the synergy to make our faith complete.