A Shepherd's Hope for His People (Lamentations 5)
- Kraig Smith
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
What is going on?!
As a Christian pastor, I worry for the Christian Church in America, especially the Evangelical Right. Too often in the past 5+ years have I heard:
the U.S. Government should be torn down;
those in federal service should be imprisoned (and yes, I've heard they should be killed!);
immigrants have all been termed "illegals," and must be kicked out of the country, if necessary, with extreme prejudice--it seems that many have forgotten our own roots as a nation;
liberals should be jailed or even harmed;
America must 'return' to a very narrow definition of Christianity;
Civil war is imminent and even desired ...!
These are just a few of the ideas and statements percolating across the Evangelical Right, and anyone who dares to challenge these thoughts is often threatened with being fired, harmed, or otherwise cancelled.
Words and actions have consequences!
These thoughts and actions are shortsighted and far away from the true justice and community that the Judeo-Christian God calls for. Actually, these shortsighted prayers remind me of the congregational prayers in Mark Twain's short story, The War Prayer. God's messenger comes in to point out the blessings and curses connected to their prayers. 'Tis true--as humans, we often only imagine one result, failing to see the complete picture! It is easy to imagine only ourselves on the path to righteousness while ignoring God's call to repent and return.
The ancient Judeans also failed to see the consequences of their actions. Considering themselves to be inviolable due to the Covenant and the Temple, they participated in "sinful acts" (see Hosea 4:2 and Isaiah 1:21), expecting their status as a Chosen People to cover their sins. The book of Lamentations graphically demonstrates the results of this errant thinking:
a. Chapter 1 shows a people who have forgotten what it means to walk with God (A Shepherd's Concern for the Future of the Flock);
b. Chapter 2 serves as a reminder that God will not be mocked forever by His people and may, in fact, withdraw His mercy (A Shepherd's Concern for the Future, Part 2);
c. Chapter 3 portrays God's judgment (A Shepherd's Concern for the Future, Part 3);
d. In chapter 4, God's main concern seems to revolve around the idea that His people should be a community of likeminded believers who follow Him ("Something is rotten in Denmark");
e. Chapter 5 wraps up the book with a summary of the consequences of past, unrepented sin, but also a glimmer of hope.
Where's the hope?
5:1 asks the Lord to "reflect ... and consider" the people's disgrace--
Unreflected and unconsidered sin results in loss of agency, death, being hunted, and slavery (v. 1-6);
Society is turned upside down; women are disgraced, authority is torn down, and the people enslaved. The children and grandchildren are held to account for the 1st gen's sin (v. 7-13);
Sin in the past has consequences (like joylessness, unhealthiness, sorrow, sickness, sadness, and desolation) in the future (v. 14-18).
The irony, however, is this--had the people reflected and considered their own sin from the first, this disgrace would not be. Paul reminds us of this in 1 Corinthians 11:31, when he tells partakers of the Lord's Supper that "if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged." The American Church must, likewise, examine herself and consider her ways, lest she be similarly disgraced. In this sense, Lamentations is a warning of a future that doesn't have to happen. If the Church will stop to consider and reflect and turn back to her one, true love, this kind of disgrace will never happen.
THERE it is!
And then comes the final four verses of Lamentations .... After all of the vivid imagery of destruction, after the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, after the calls for repentance, the author writes the following:
19 You, Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?
Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure (NIV).
The author begins with the eternality of God and ends with a call for restoration and renewal. While verse 22 seems to offer the possibility that God has completely given up on His people, the author must bank on God's promises.
His promises are sure and He is faithful to keep them (Numbers 23:19);
God's faithfulness is for ALL generations (Psalms 119:90);
The author's own words--"Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed ..." (Lamentations 3:22-24);
God forgives (Exodus 34:6-7);
God's love will not allow everlasting rebuke (Zephaniah 3:17);
Finally, God promises restoration upon repentance (2 Chronicles 7:14)
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The Prayer
Our Father, who is in heaven, holy ... holy ... holy is Your Name. We know that You cannot abide unholiness and unrighteousness among Your People! We confess to You that we have too easily loved power and influence; we have too readily presented You as WRATHFUL and UNLOVING, casting aside Your love for humanity. We remember that we have willingly broken community, oppressed the poor, and sought to imprison the innocent. Our Lord, we--while reminded that perfect love casts out fear--have nevertheless readily fostered both hatred and fear!
Oh God, we confess our rebellion... we grieve for our sins ... we humble ourselves ... we seek Your face and turn from our evil ways. Restore us to Yourself! Renew our days as of old! Hear from heaven, forgive the sin of Your people, and heal our land! Let us be known as a people who love, as a people who care, as a people who build, seek justice with mercy, and restore the innocent.
In the Name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
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