Tuesday Reflection July 06,2021

A Good Principle to Live By

Today’s Watchword is part of a letter that Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the Israelites who had been taken into Babylonian exile. Rampant among the exiles were claims by false prophets that their condition would be for a short time. In Jeremiah 29: 10 the prophet points out (in the letter) that the captives would spend seventy years in Babylon before God returned them to the Promised Land. What should they do in that period? How would they live? What would be their relationship with this place of captivity and the people who captured them? Today’s Watchword is part of the advice that Jeremiah gave to those in captivity. Seek the welfare of the city, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29: 7.

Jeremiah told the captives to do the complete opposite of what I imagine they expected to hear. I imagine they expected to hear that they should put up resistance, that they should sabotage every opportunity they got, that they should work slowly with no intention to make their captors wealth increase. That was not what they heard. In fact, they were to build houses, marry and have children. They were to work to make the city in which they lived wealthy, and they were to pray for it. The reason is not only practical but also Godly. I consider this solid advice for us to follow. Very often we find ourselves in places and positions that we are not sure that this is where we should be, we know we shouldn’t be or don’t want to be. The prophet speaks to us from this letter to the Babylonian captives. Do your best work where you are and be fervent in prayer for your situation and for yourself. God will do the rest. As Jeremiah said to the captives, the prosperity of the city in which you live will lead to your prosperity. Work for it’s good, for when all is good there, all will be good with you. It’s a good principle to live by.

Today marks 606 years since the martyrdom of John Hus. Although we as Moravians refer to him as the founder of the Moravian Church, what Hus actually did was try to reform the church of which he was a part. Born in Husinec, in the Bohemian Province of what we know today as the Czech Republic, Hus grew up in a humble family and became a priest in the Catholic Church (known today as the Roman Catholic Church). Recognizing the shortcomings and failures of the church he was a part of, Hus made a call for change. What Hus sought was the welfare of the church, knowing that if the church was spiritually well then her members, including himself, would be spiritually enriched. Hus was burnt at the stake for his effort but his death began a ripple of influence that led to the birth of the Moravian church and one hundred years later the Reformation led by Luther, Calvin and Zwingli. Today we pause to thank God for leaders like Jeremiah and Hus who did not follow the popular thinking, but listened to and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, thus impacting the lives of not only those they serve but countless others throughout the ages. Jeremiah was sure of what he was advising the people to do. Huss too was sure even as we are today that nothing he faced was enough to turn him away from the God to whom he had pledged his first love. It is because of this that we can serve in the midst of uncertainties and even in the face of death. It is the knowledge that God plans only the very best for those who live for him. We learn from Jeremiah’s advice and from Hus’ sacrifice that its not the moment that matters most but the message being shared, that its not the place we are that counts the most but our faithfulness to God. We learn that when we work for the building up and blessing of others, even those who have wronged us, we are blessed through their being blessed. It calls us therefore to be different, to be, as the doctrinal text says, the salt of the earth, setting the perfect example of godliness in an ungodly world. It calls us to live for others even more than we live for ourselves for in so doing we will be blessed. Finally, it calls us to be the windows through which others may get a glimpse of godliness and so know the beauty and character of the God we serve. This friends, is a good Christian principle to live by. Amen