Where Are We?

Where are we? Now, I don’t mean simply where you and I are – as we read this.
     I mean, where are we? Where are we as a country? As a community? Where are we as the church, as the community of believers? Where are we as the individual members of the Body of Christ?
     When I asked several people that question, one of them said: “Oh, we’re OK, we’re doing fine.” Someone else said: “Wow, we’re doing a lot better then we were.” Yet another person said: “Well, I’m doing great, but I know a lot who aren’t.”
     Then there was the person who asked if I wanted an honest answer, or just one to make me feel good cause I’m a preacher. I said an honest one. They said: “Our country is going to hell in a hand basket because the people of God have lost their zeal, and God has lost His place.”
     Quite frankly, I happen to agree. We are in trouble. Just as Israel was in the time of Jeremiah, I see our country, and the church, headed in the same direction, if we are not already there.
     There are many parallels between Moses leading Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and the Pilgrims leaving England for the New World. The primary one being religious freedom. The right and freedom to worship God without government interference or the threat of persecution.
     Once in the Promised Land, and the New World, the Israelites and the Puritans rejoiced and gave their whole heart to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving. They focused their lives on the Word and ways of God, and exercised great diligence in observing the Commandments of the Lord.
     Their numbers grew. Houses of worship sprung up everywhere, and were filled to capacity with people wanting to praise and worship God. People wanting and yearning to hear the Word of God, to experience His presence, and to build a bond of kinship with one another. And, God blessed them.
     But, as time passed, we are told, that the zeal and desire to follow the Lord faded. The Lord tells Jeremiah of several areas where the Israelites were in contempt of the ways of God. He said they had followed idols and become idolaters. He said: “those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, principal male god of the Phoenicians, and they walked after things that do not profit.”
     The Lord told Jeremiah: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”
     As I watch the news and read the papers, I can’t help but believe – history is in the process of repeating itself!  I believe we as a country and as the Body of Christ have, like the Israelites, become cocky, comfortable, and careless.
     Oh sure, we love to hear the touchy, feel-good messages that tell us of God’s goodness and how much He is going to bless us. We want to hear about the glory and the goodies – but we don’t like hearing about our responsibilities. We love the conferment’s and candy, but when it comes to the commandments, well, the news and the pews speak for themselves.
     I’ve heard many of you tell of how this church used to be full. You have told stories about when the Lord and matters of faith were held in high regard, and folks came hand in foot to praise and worship God.
     How many of you remember when the morals and ethics taught by God’s Word were respected, honored – and followed? When God was given His rightful place – in our country, our church, and in our lives?
     God sent the prophets to Israel, He sent Disciples to the multitudes , and He sent Jesus to the us. In Luke 12:54-56 Jesus asks: “When you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but you can't interpret these present times.”
     I believe we need to be asking our selves, ‘Where are we?’ Are we cocky, full of pride and other little gods, or just full of ourselves and don’t think we need God? Is it all about me and what I want?
     Are we comfortable. You know, I’m set so I don’t need to go any further in my faith. Everything is OK just as it is. I get a little preachin’ from the radio or TV and I’m fine.
     Are we careless? Do we just accept any ol thing that comes down the pike in the name of religion. As long as it sounds good, it must be good, right? Have we lost our care for the Lord and His Word and ways to the point where we will let the naysayers, the agnostics, atheists and everyone else who doesn’t care about the Lord, control how, where and when we may pray and worship? How long do we allow them to set the legal, moral and ethical codes of our society?
     Where are we? I know this is a tough question, and this is a tough message. But sometimes we need to ask tough questions, especially now as we see the spiritual backbone of our country and the church deteriorate and disintegrate right before our very eyes.
     To put it another way, how we answer the question, “Where are we?” not only effects how we live in the Lord, it also has a direct effect on the lives of other people, and – and where they may be, now and forever.
     Where are we? Are we merely complacent Christians coasting along till the end of the ride? Or, are we going to answer the call of the Lord to Jeremiah to: “Go and shout this in the city streets: The Lord says, I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago and how you loved me and followed me even through the barren deserts.”
     Let us remember also the call of Christ to: To love the Lord and to love one another, to obey His commandments, and to walk in His ways – now and forever.
     Where we are, as a country and as the church – begins right here. Where we are, and where we will be – begins with you. May you know where you are in the Lord, and apply it unto His Kingdom. Amen.
Pastor Eldon