Covenant for Life

THANKSGIVING SUNDAY

2 Chronicles 7:14

On a Friday morning, April 21, 1747, to be exact, John Wesley rode his horse into the village of Thirsk, about 25 miles north of York, in beautiful north Yorkshire, England. John Wesley came intending to preach and conduct religious services. But if the countryside there is beautiful, the spirit of the town, as, indeed, the spirit of much of the entire nation, was ugly.

Wesley wrote in his Journal that night: "I called at Thirsk; but finding the town full of holiday folks, drinking, cursing, swearing, and cockfighting, I did not stop at all, but rode on to Boroughbridge, and in the afternoon to Leeds."

In Thirsk, as well as in all of Britain, Wesley and his Christian contemporaries faced a sea of evil. The people were scripturally ignorant and illiterate. The living was hard. The character of the average man in the street was coarse. What could one man, or a few people, or even a few hundred people do to stem such a degenerate tide?

WHAT COULD GOD'S PEOPLE DO?

And a relatively small number of people set out to do exactly that. They had no delusions of grandeur, but they knew that they served a great God. And they determined to live to please Him. AND GOD, THROUGH THOSE RELATIVELY FEW PEOPLE, BROUGHT ABOUT A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING!

Perhaps it is not possible to make parallels between our modern culture and early 18th century England, and draw spiritual and moral conclusions. But I feel challenged by what I perceive to be almost identical spiritual confrontations. I have no way of knowing whether our pornography and abortion and political corruption are worse or better than the brutality and prejudices and class discrimination which Wesley faced. BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE ARE IN DANGER OF SIMPLY ACCOMMODATING THE WAY WE LIVE TO THE TENOR OF THE TIMES.

We go home from our worship service, where we all agree that sin is bad and God is good— and we tell ourselves that we are on God's side with all we have. And maybe we are. But I also do perceive that UNLESS MORE HAPPENS TO STEM THE FLOODTIDES OF EVIL IN OUR DAY THAN IS HAPPENING NOW, THEN WE SHALL SINK QUICKLY and quietly into a post-Christian, hedonist, Godless society that will swallow up our children and our own faith as well!

I believe I sense some of the same frustration that Wesley may have felt as he rode his horse into Thirsk that spring morning. I believe that he was at least tempted to say, "What can one person do against such emboldened evil!" I know that I am tempted! But WE KNOW AS CHRISTIANS WE MUST TO DO SOMETHING!

[Transition:]

I'm sure that it is natural to think first of all about doing; and particularly about acting politically. It seems natural to see the sinful conditions of society and begin by attacking those evils, wherever and however we are able. It might do us well, instead, TO LOOK TO Wesley for a working model, and beyond Wesley, to THE SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES WESLEY USED in the spiritual awakening which came during his lifetime.

These principles come into sharp focus in the words of our text: (2 Chron. 7:14)

THIS IS A COVENANT STATEMENT.

It is not "contractual;" it does not give service rendered for value received, and in no way can a spiritual awakening ever be earned, merited, deserved, or "prayed down." But it is a covenant statement.

GOD SAYS "I'LL BE RESPONSIBLE AND DO CERTAIN THINGS, IF YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE AND FOR YOUR PART, YOU WILL DO CERTAIN THINGS!"

I. THE PART WHICH FALLS TO GOD'S PEOPLE IS CLEARLY OUTLINED:

  1. IF MY PEOPLE, which are called by MY name

    I have made this phrase a separate "condition" even though it isn't something to "do;" but it DOES tell WHO is called to be the agent of God's healing. The call of God is not first of all to militancy against the evils of society, but to the people called by His name, that they will come to Him. The call is not to reform the terrible conditions we see on the outside (although we must do what we can when and where we can.)

    GOD'S CALL IS TO SEEK HIS FACE, and His promise is that if HIS people will hear and believe Him, then HE will heal the land. This task of land healing is too big for any of us, and it is too big for all of us put together! But it is NOT too big for God!

    [Somehow I see Abraham standing on the edge of the mesa overlooking the valley of the Dead Sea below. I hear him interceding to God for Sodom and Gomorrah, and hear God saying, "If there are 40 righteous, I will spare the city! If there are 30 righteous, I will not destroy the people!"]

    [And somehow I wonder who is holding back the fire and brimstone of God's wrath on a society that has absolutely no time for any god but pleasure and convenience and comfort?]

  2. SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES

    This means putting ourselves into the "servant role." We see ourselves as the agents of God's work; 'any great awakening depends on US!' BUT GOD SAYS HUMBLE YOURSELVES!

    Recognize the helplessness of all flesh apart from God! Cry out in desperation to God! WE'RE so "cool!" WE know so "much!" Just a few more seminars— a few more hard prayers— a little more sweat and busy-ness— and we'll bring in the New Jerusalem all by ourselves! WE THINK!

    God says: Either I do it— or it won't get done!

  3. "Humble yourselves . . . AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE"

    This means giving God TIME and giving Him ATTENTION for AS LONG AS IT TAKES, until we get ourselves lined up with His good, and acceptable, and perfect will.

    It isn't a matter of praying to change God's mind. God is not reluctant to help us against the forces of evil. He is ready and able right now to move in and change our world under our feet. But our problem is praying, without mixture, "I delight to do YOUR will, O God!" Your kingdom come! In YOUR way!

    God says: "Pray and seek my face until your whole being is on the stretch for more of ME!"

  4. AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS

    And how will we know when we are coming near to praying and seeking God's face enough? The answer is: WHEN WE ARE WILLING PUT THE WAY WE LIVE ON THE LINE, WHATEVER IT COSTS US TO OBEY GOD'S WILL! We think of "wickedness" as violence and impurity and flagrant greed and denial of God. But GOD SAYS WHEN HIS PEOPLE STOP PUTTING OTHER THINGS FIRST AHEAD OF HIM— WHEN THEY ARE WILLING TO PUT COMFORT AND SECURITY AND LEGITIMATE PLEASURES WAY DOWN THE LIST OF THEIR LIFE PRIORITIES, and absolutely put God FIRST— THEN GOD'S PEOPLE WILL BE LEAVING THEIR WICKED WAYS!

[This is 'our' side of the covenant. But God Himself has made a promise of what He will do for His part of the covenant!] And WHEN IT IS GOD THAT MOVES IN, then the dynamic, and the wisdom, and all the glory are HIS!]

II. AND THE COVENANT PROMISE OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS CLEAR: THEN WILL I:

  1. HEAR FROM HEAVEN

    YOUR PRAYERS WILL "CONNECT!" Did you ever have a prayer "connect?" I'm not sure how to describe "praying through." And I know that we are called upon to pray in faith no matter how we "feel," and I am also sure that some of our most effective prayers are "embattled prayers." We are to "be instant in season and out of season." (2 Timothy) BUT IT IS GREAT WHEN PRAYERS "CONNECT!" It makes all the difference when, beyond mere emotional feeling, there is the assurance, the certitude that God is not just "aware" of what you have prayed, but that God has heard!

  2. WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN

    WHOSE SIN? The sins of the abortionists and drug pushers? Not yet— THE SINS OF HIS OWN PEOPLE! The sins of NEGLECT— of BROKEN ALTARS and NEGLECTED BIBLES and UNKIND ATTITUDES and PRAYERLESS DAYS and WEEKS. THIS FORGIVENESS IS KEY!

    WHAT SIN? Once again— THE SIN OF BEING "DISCONNECTED" from the Source of Goodness and Life and Light. The connection once again will be established. God will have a voice in the land. God's Word will be heard in its glory!

  3. HEAL THEIR LAND

    If the job is too great for us— and the sickness too profound, it is not for the great God we serve. This is a covenant statement! AND ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, GOD WILL HEAL THE LAND OF THE PEOPLE WHO KEEP COVENANT WITH HIM! And make no mistake, we will have a part, and an important part to DO. For THERE DOES COME A TIME FOR "DOING!" GOD WILL ASK US TO PUT OUR LIVES ON THE LINE! But it begins with HUMBLING, and continues in PRAYER, and SEEKING GOD'S FACE, and TURNING FROM SELFISH WAYS!

    Because God does the healing does NOT mean that we will not have any part in the healing process. John Wesley was certainly an instrument in the awakening of His day. GOD WILL USE HUMAN INSTRUMENTS IN THE AWAKENING WE SEE. But remember: THIS COVENANT PROMISE CLEARLY DOES MEAN THAT THE HEALING WILL COME FROM GOD.

Conclusion:

Wesley was dismayed and temporarily dismissed in Thirsk and a number of other places because of the prevailing spirit of lawlessness and sin in his times. But Wesley went back to Thirsk another day... and another and another! There are 14 entries in his Journal that record visits to Thirsk. After 1747 there are entries like June, 1755:

And Wesley kept on recording visits to Thirsk until 1788, a year before his death! And if you go to Thirsk today there stands what to Americans is a very old, substantial chapel built of brick, built by the people called Methodists. Indeed, in just about every hamlet and village in Britain there is a Methodist chapel that testifies to the truth of our text, that: "if God's people . . ."!

It is past time for another awakening in our world! And we are frustrated— we are helpless. We cannot begin by starting out to tilt against the windmills of evil in our own righteousness and our own strength and power.

WHAT CAN WE DO AGAINST THE CURRENT OF DEGENERATE TIMES?

Prayer: Lord God, The task is too large! And we are so very small! But we are NOT alone! Together with Your people today all over this world we pray! Heal our land! Your kingdom come! In US as it is in heaven! Amen.