Revival and Renewal

My Dear Flock, 

On Saturday, July 13^th we were faced with the deep violence, anger, and hopelessness that grips our country. “Wars and rumors of wars” are far easier to digest when they are across oceans. The drift away from God that infects our culture has turned into a whirlpool, pulling everything into its wake. 

Make no mistake, beloved: violence is the last hope of the hopeless. It is the last refuge of the despairing. And we live in a culture sick with despair. Wracked with guilt it knows not how to expunge. Pressed by moral outrage in a godless world. Confused and confusing. 

What, then, do we do? I’ve already encouraged you to read and meditate on the beatitudes, those elements of the blessed life as Jesus envisions it.  To be “blessed” in Scripture means to be filled with God’s fullness. It means to be filled with God’s hope. And if you look at each of the beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-12) each is rooted in hope. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” 

Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He’s showing us that His way of life is rooted not in despair but in hope. It is rooted in a future that is filled with hope in the old sense of the word, a sure confidence, a rock of refuge and mighty fortress. To walk with Jesus—poor in spirit, meek, peacemaking, merciful, pure in heart, hungering for righteousness—is to be hopeful for a world made right, a world in which righteousness dwells, a satisfaction that comes only as our souls find rest in their Creator. 

Therefore, we walk in that hope. The answer to our calamities is not more policies; the answer to our despair is not violence, but the Way of Jesus. Only as we point people to Him, not just as a ticket to heaven but also as the path to the blessed life, can we have any hope of seeing revival in this land. Today, I choose the path of the poor in spirit. I choose to hunger for the kingdom’s coming. I choose to be merciful, to make peace, to love when hated, bless when cursed, and plead with fellow beggars to come and taste the Bread of Life. Come what may, my hope is rooted in heaven’s reward. 

May you choose that hope today, dear ones, whom I love in the Lord. There is someone in your life who needs mercy. There are places where peace can be made. There are infinite chances to remind yourself of our spiritual poverty without Jesus (just look at the mess we’ve made!) and to mourn. Opportunities abound to point people to Jesus, who instead of taking, gives. Instead of wounding, heals. Instead of striking us dead, offers us his life. In His name we refuse to give into the haunting despair of this world and its senseless violence.