Allen Jackson - Living Faith - Part 1
The topic is "Living Faith," and to be completely candid, I had prepared an outline, at least sketched out the outline that I intended for this evening, and when I did the Bible reading this morning, I felt like I got a whole different perspective just kinda dropped in almost in total, so I'm gonna start. I hope you're doing the daily Bible reading with us. We're in the Book of Jeremiah, which is not the happiest book of the Bible, but it certainly feels like it could have been peeled from the headlines. And this was the beginning this morning. It's Jeremiah 26: "Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah the king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord's house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord..."
I wanna start by pulling your attention to who this message is for. This is the message given to the people who come to the temple to worship, and I think it's a reasonable assumption that the people who came to worship would not be unlike the people who come to worship today, which means everybody didn't come to worship. We have room for a few more, and I'm not casting stones. I want you to understand who this message is directed to. Whatever is coming after, this is directed to the people who were faithful enough to make the effort to go to the temple to worship. And God says, "I have something I want to say to you". And we can read on, verse 3, "Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way," the assumption is that the people coming to worship need to turn.
We make the opposite assumption. I mean, without calling names or raising hands, we typically feel pretty good about ourselves, particularly if it's a midweek service and we came to church. I mean, we get extra square feet in the mansion in heaven if you come to midweek service, right? I mean, there's some joke about Wednesday nights don't count. I don't remember exactly, but. And this is a message given to the people who are coming to worship, and God's expectation is that they will need to turn from their evil way, "And then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done," God intends disaster on people that go to worship him, "Say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I've set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I've sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh...'"
Shiloh was the location where, when they first occupied the Promised Land, it's where they landed. It's where the Tabernacle was put up. And after the Tabernacle was destroyed, Shiloh became desolate. It was empty and abandoned. It became pasture for goats. "I'll make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth". That was our introduction to our daily reading today. What a happy little passage. God said, "If you will listen and turn from evil," these are the people coming to worship, "then I will relent and not bring disaster, but if you do not listen," and he says that three times. Three times, he says, "You don't listen".
Hebrew's an ancient language. It's simple in some respects, and the emphasis is added by repetition. Sometimes you'll read in English, he says, "Listen listening". That's an old language saying, "Listen carefully". And in this case, when he repeats it three times, you don't listen. He said, "Then you're gonna be left desolate, empty, abandoned, and you'll be an object of cursing among all the nations". Well, I'm of the opinion, and this would be my opinion, so you could disagree and we could both go to heaven, that there's a political change underway in our nation. My opinion, I think God showed great mercy to us. And I shared with you in an earlier session that I felt like the response of the heartland of America was the most overwhelming part to me of what we've been watching these last several days.
It seemed to me that people who had been less engaged, or disengaged, or disinterested, or for whatever reason in flyover country, blue-collar people, people who more sophisticated people often want to call names, I'm delighted to stand in the midst of those people, but it seemed to me they raised their hands and said, "We don't wanna go this way," and that gives me hope because it takes God to stir that in our hearts. We've been on a wrong path for a long time that transcends politicians and parties. We've been making bad decisions for a long time, and we had an unprecedented number of people stand up.
So to think about this in terms of politicians, or candidates, or even parties I believe is a, is a very narrow understanding of what we're witnessing. I think it's God's mercy that awakens us enough, 'cause we still live with a bit of a representative form of government. We get to choose our leaders. And I don't know of anything but the mercy of God that would allow a political change to perhaps be underway, a political change, yes. I think what's still in question is if a policy change will be enacted, and I say that because we're still in the point, it's like the introductions before the an athletic event. It's like the introductions before a big football game or a big basketball game. You know, they turn all the lights off, and they turn on the spotlights, and they introduce the players, and there's smoke and sparks. If it's your team, you're screaming, "This is awesome! We're wonderful. We're gonna crush the enemy," right?
Everybody looks good when you introduce the teams. We're all heroes. We're all filled with optimism. We're betting on our team, I mean, not really, you're just. But everybody's, you know, excited when you introduce the team. But then when they actually, when the competition begins, and there's adversaries, and there's opposition, and you need referees 'cause everybody didn't play fair and people are looking for advantages, we haven't gotten to that part yet, and it isn't clear whether there will actually be policy changes enacted. Well, the question that I think is most germane, and it's really where this lesson comes from, is will there be a spiritual change of equal or greater magnitude? I've been saying to you for months, years now, that I don't think our problems are fundamentally political.
I believe the fundamental challenge we have is a spiritual problem. And many people I know have been rather excited about the political realignment and the potential of policy changes. They think it's wonderful, and I'm okay with that. But I'm telling you, if we don't make the underlying spiritual changes, there's no policy change that will be enacted that will be held. The current president elect has been president before, and I don't think his policies are dramatically different. And the last time when he left office, within 30 days, a significant majority of his policies were completely undone because we didn't have the heart change. And you say, "Well, wait a minute, I'm not the person that needs to change".
Well, I hear you, but God's message was to the people who came to the temple, not to the pagans who didn't. He didn't say, "Go home and tell all the backsliders that stayed home and washed their car," he didn't say, "Go home and talk to all your friends that were hungover from Saturday night at the ball game," he said, "Tell the people that come to worship, 'If you don't change,'" and so, I wanna submit to you that while we're watching with some interest all of these attempts at significant policy changes that we think will make our futures better that the greatest need is gonna be a change in our hearts. I'll give you a real practical example. They selected a candidate for the secretary of defense yesterday from Middle Tennessee.
Yeah, okay. And I don't know what he said in that office, but I've heard statements from him in the past that he said he didn't believe women should be included in forward combat positions, that for many reasons it's a challenge. And somebody said that to me today, and they said, "Boy, that's a wonderful policy". And I thought to myself, wow, you know, we're gonna ask somebody to put their career on the line to stand up for something when, within the church, we have been mostly for the most part unwilling to talk about gender roles. Don't everybody shout "amen" at once. It could distract our guests and visitors. In the broader church, we just don't wanna have that discussion.
Surely, there's some, you know, there's some way we can understand it culturally, where it doesn't mean what it says, and, you know, we can get around it. And I'm telling you that it is illegitimate to imagine that we can ask people to enact policies on our behalf if we're not willing to engage the biblical principles around our kitchen table and our holiday table. If we want a more moral government, we're gonna have to have more moral table conversations. That's the reality. And my great concern as I read Jeremiah is this pleading that God is doing with his people. He's saying, "Go tell them if they will listen, things will be really good, but if they don't listen, if they don't listen, if they don't listen," he says it over and over, it isn't subtle, "it will be awful, and I will be the one that makes it awful".
I believe we have received mercy, not political mercy, I believe the mercy of God. I look forward to the day when we can choose between political parties that both reflect biblical worldviews. There's just nuance, and subtlety, and difference in how it's applied. We have lived that way at one time. But we have received mercy, but now I believe that the real difference has to come from the hearts of God's people. Because when we're done with the introductions, and the sparklers, and the spotlights swirling around the stadium, we're left with the hard work of initiating change, and we all understand that change faces great resistance. Change in the church faces great resistance. If I told you you could not sit in your favorite seat, many of you would contemplate a new church 'cause you're quite confident the Holy Spirit only visits about three seats in the entire complex. Change is not easy for us! Imagine doing it on a broader level.
Let's go back to that passage, the very first verse: "Early in the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah the king of Judah," Josiah is one of the good kings. His son is reigning in Judah now. His son will watch the destruction of Jerusalem. He'll be taken captive. But I wanted to go back to Josiah's life, because Josiah's choices brought a season of opportunity to the entire nation. And my prayer for us is that we will make decisions in the months ahead of us that would enable the blessings of God to be extended, because I'm very confident that if we receive the mercy of God, and the kindness of God, and the grace of God and we return to our familiar patterns that we will face the judgment of God.
Now, I understand we don't think we're the problem, which is the root of the problem. We're convinced we're born again, and spirit-filled, and water baptized, and church attending, and Bible carrying. How could we contribute to the problem? And yet God said to the people that were coming to the temple, "Tell them everything I command. You don't omit a word. If they will, each one". He didn't say "some of them". He said, "Each one of them needs to turn". So here's the simple little prayer. If you don't hear anything else I say, and I'm probably not gonna finish all those Scriptures, but they're all about Josiah, here's the simple prayer: "God, help me see the places where I need to turn".
And imagine that it's as important as whatever your favorite policy transformation will be. If you think closing the border is important, ask the Lord where you've left an open border. Ask the Lord where you're allowing things into your life, your heart, your thoughts, your family system that are making you vulnerable or diminishing your potential in the kingdom of God. If you think it's fiscal policy that needs to be changed and you're waiting for that one to break through, ask the Lord, "Lord, is there any way that I manage my resources, my time, my money, my," you understand? Give God permission. Let's decide we're going to be the people who are transformed. It doesn't have to be the majority. There is an authority in truth. And if the people of God will take seriously this expression of mercy, it's very seldom, if ever the majority.
When God delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, they only got three days out of Egypt before the whole crowd was grumbling and wanted new leadership, three days. I'm thinking plague-stirring, water-parting. That's not bad for a beginning leadership class. And they said, "We should have just stayed where we were". And it persists all the way through the journey. I mean, one day the earth opens up and swallows thousands and thousands of them, and the next morning, there's a new complaint line. I mean, they're not only grumpy, they're not the brightest bulbs in the box. So this is not about the majority. I'm asking you if you're willing to be different. We've been in camouflage for too long. We've blended in for too long. We've been too far in the world with too little fear of God. He has given us an opportunity. He has given us an opportunity, and how we respond is more important than what our elected officials do.
Because God will raise up additional people. He will create opportunities for the truth. He will bring down strongholds, and principalities, and powers in response to his people, or he will make us desolate. And I know I'm preaching to the choir, but it's the choir that has to sing. If you preach to the people in the pews and you expect them to be the choir, it's not gonna go well. The best chance is to take the people who have the abilities, and the gifts, and the desires, and have presented, and if prepared, if we get the message right, God will use whatever he chooses to bring forth.
So Josiah, it's really a little window into the people of God and how God brings change. It's in 2 Kings 22, but it's really all driven out of what you read in Jeremiah, because the people that Jeremiah is speaking to, they know who Josiah is the same way you know who Joe Biden is or Donald Trump. They're as familiar with their legacies, and their stories, and the events surrounding their lives as you would be with modern-day politicians. I smile when people say the Bible isn't about leadership. Which Bible? Not the holy one.
In 2 Kings 22, it says, "Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of somebody; and she was from somewhere," excuse me, "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and he walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left". Verse 2, that's the money line: "Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord". This is the $64,000 question for every one of us: are we willing to do what's right in the eyes of the Lord? I mean, I know we're in church and the answers go, "Well, absolutely, pastor". But how much, how much infiltration of culture do we have? How far are we from the eyes of the Lord?
See, this is not like a, this isn't a 21st century problem, or a problem of the Democrats, or the problem of the Progressives, or a problem of the woke, or a problem of the Methodist if you're a Baptist, or a problem of the Church of Christ if you're a Methodist. This is a problem of the people of God. By the time we get to the gospels and Jesus is ministering, they say, "You healed on the wrong day of the week". And he said, "You're confused about Sabbath rules". And they weren't particularly interested in doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. They wanted to do what they thought was right, the people of God, the people offering sacrifices, keeping holidays, managing kosher.
So my question again, I'm gonna say it repeatedly over these for a while because I think we have a little window of opportunity not to be angry at others, or to point accusing fingers, or to puff out our chest and imagine we've done something. I think we have been granted an opportunity. Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. "Lord, I wanna do what's right in your eyes. Holy Spirit, help me see any place where I'm not walking before you that I should be". And I mean, you be as serious about implementing that change as you want the people that are going to build new policies are. Don't be an obstructionist. Don't excuse it. Don't tell me you're born again. The New Testament equivalent of that is we're children of Abraham. And Jesus said, "You know, I can make those out of rocks".
I want to do what's right in your sight. Same chapter, verse 3: "In the eighteenth year of his reign," he started when he's eight, he's 18 years in now, "King Josiah sent the secretary, son of somebody who was the son of somebody else, to the temple. Then the secretary informed the king that 'the priest has given me a book.' And he read it in the presence of the king". The temple had fallen in disrepair. Their interest in the things of the Lord was so low that the temple had fallen into ill repair.
You know, there's a time in our history where the most beautiful buildings in most of our cities were the churches. We're decades and decades away from that now. And I'm not arguing that the elaborate nature of our buildings is a reflection of our spiritual condition, but it is a reflection of where we invest our resources. And I just offer it as kind of a cultural note. Most of us would be offended. Most of us who fill churches today would be offended if the most elaborate buildings in our communities were the churches.
The temple has fallen into grave disrepair, and Josiah sets apart some resources and sends the people to do it. And when they're repairing the temple, they find in one of the walls that they're demolishing a book, and they bring it to read. "When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. And he gave these orders to the priest and all the people who were with him: 'Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all of Judah about what is written in this book that's been found. Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us because our fathers haven't obeyed the words of this book; and they haven't acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.'"
Now, another time in history, folks, there is no printing press yet. The only written material they have is handcopied. There were very precious few of those. The books are not in practice. They use a scroll. And they found hidden in the wall a scroll with the Books of Moses on it, the law. They lost their Bible, and nobody noticed. Gee, that sounds a lot like us! I did an interview with George Barna, and he said less than 10% of the youth pastors in American churches have a biblical worldview, not the pagans, not the... we've lost our Bibles too.
I think it's such an amazing revelation that God knows what's happening in our lives. If he knows when a sparrow falls to the ground or how many hairs we have on our head, he knows the details of our lives. That's not a threat. That's a promise. What a wonderful thing. Let's pray.
Father, I thank you that we're not alone, or isolated, or separated from you, that you know the details of our days. We trust you with that. We trust you with our future. Help us. We need your help, in Jesus's name, amen.