LIVING IN EXILE

Psalm 6:3

My soul is in anguish.

How long, O Lord, how long?

                Because of the current pandemic, it has been months since we have been able to regularly meet with others in corporate worship. We have been taking advantage of on-line worship services, but it is not the same as gathering with others in person. Within the past few days, the Governor of California reinstituted a ban on all large, corporate gatherings, including churches. Although we are still able to go out in public, duly masked, it feels a little like we are living in exile. We are living in a strange, foreign land that does not seem at all like home.

                Because of their sin and rebellion, God allowed the Babylonians to overrun Judah and to take her people away in exile. They remained in exile for a very long time. The people of Judah were discouraged and demoralized. They were forced to live in a strange, foreign land. Their hearts broke as they thought of what they had lost. The Psalmist captured their mood in Psalm 137.

Psalm 137:1-4

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars

   we hung our harps,

for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

 How can we sing the songs of the Lord

        while in a foreign land?

                There are many believers and non-believers who could echo those words today. Many people feel like their joy has been robbed from them. They long to go back to the way things were before the pandemic. Unfortunately, everything we are hearing suggests that we will have to adjust to a new normal; we will continue to live in a foreign land for some time to come.

                As believers in Christ, the question we have to ask is how will we live in this foreign land, this new normal. What does God expect of us as we live in this social exile? I think the answer can be found in Jeremiah 29.

  This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.

Jeremiah 29:4-8

                God has more in mind for this exile than for us to just grit our teeth and endure it. God has allowed us to go into exile to refine us and to draw us to Himself. Instead of withdrawing from the world around us, God wants us to be agents of hope and transformation. He is calling us to actively seek the peace and prosperity of our communities, for our good and His glory. Instead of hanging our harps in the branches of the trees and living in doom and gloom, we need to be singing the praises of Him who calls us out of the darkness into His marvelous light.

                We may be in this pandemic for a long time to come. We can choose discouragement or even rebellion, but that will only make our situation worse. Or we can choose to take positive steps to make the most of this opportunity. We can begin by encouraging one another through letters, emails, phone calls or personal conversations (at an appropriate social distance). We can also lead the way in our communities by supporting the efforts of our leaders to stop the spread of this virus that is having such a devastating effect on our world. Instead of rebelling against the guidelines that have been put in place, let us fully embrace them and be an active part of the solution.

                God had a reason for sending the people of Judah into exile. God has a reason for allowing this pandemic to continue. I don’t presume to know God’s reasons, but I do know that God wants to use this to refine us and to advance His Kingdom. We may feel like we are living in exile, but we are not a defeated people. We are the people of God and we can still make a difference in our world.

Ephesians 5:15-20

    Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.