The Church is weeping. No, not for lost souls but for the loss of something that we hold dear.
And, as I thought of this, these familiar words came into my mind
“By the Rivers of Babylon there we sat down
Ye-eah we wept when we remember Zion”
And the more I thought about it the more likeness I could see between the Church today and the Jews back then as they wept in Babylon; captured, defeated and taken from their beloved country God had provided for them.
Something God has set in place for us to treasure has been stolen from us.
Yes, we’re sad; we grieve; we weep at what we’ve lost while, like the Jews of old, we’ve had so much warning.
Time and time again God spoke to his people through the prophets. He warned Kings but they didn’t listen. He warned them of what would happen but still they didn’t repent. Occasionally a King would come along who loved God and honoured his word but all that was quickly forgotten when another evil king came to the throne.
Like the Jews, the Church has had its warnings. Unfaithfulness began to be looked at as minor discrepancies. A few tears and it was all forgotten as the word love began to be replaced by the words tolerance and acceptance. We’ve had our warnings but we, the Church, didn’t listen. We may well weep at the loss of our country’s Godly heritage but let’s not deceive ourselves. This has been coming for a long time…creeping up on us.
But that’s not where the story finished for the Jews and it’s not where our story finishes today!
Yes, we may well weep and grieve but, oh, the glorious truth! There’s one thing that can’t be stolen from us and that is our hope! Such a small word but with such vast significance. No, no-one can steal from us the hope we have through Jesus Christ!
So, God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. Hebrews 6:18 (NLT)