Cultivating Cultural Awareness: Staying Present in a Willy Nilly World, Part One
Over the past six months or so I’ve been urging us to cultivate rhythms of remembering and anticipation as a way to find courage and hope in the midst of the everyday craziness of life. Before we Cultivate Cultural Awareness and Stay Present in A Willy Nilly World, I want to remind us of the important of cultivating these rhythms. I guess this is because sometimes I’m hesitant to step out in faith, a lot of the time my hope wanes. Does this ever happen to you?
I usually feel this way when I’ve convinced myself that this time God will somehow forget to show up or purpose to let me down. So, it helps me to look back and recount his consistent provision, his mysteriously real presence, his sometimes crystal clear answers to my half-hearted prayers. I’ve found it stabilizing to anticipate the return of Jesus Christ and comforting to remember his promise to make all things new.
In the Old Testament book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah languishes as he describes the devastation of Jerusalem after it was captured and plundered by the Babylonians. Jeremiah weeps in distress and groans in pain as he describes his grim surroundings. His stomach churns and he vomits as he recalls God’s pitiless wrath and scorn. And somehow, right in the middle of this gruesome lament, Jeremiah calls out in hope to God,
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:19–24
Jeremiah’s harrowing experience provides us with an example of faith anchored in God. Even though his hope, it seems, hangs in the balance, he prays to God in desperation and reaches out and lays hold of God—our God—who reigns forever. He recognizes that God is at once steadfast in his love and mercy and holy and just in his anger toward Israel and the Babylonians—a familiar paradox.
We could look back at Jeremiah’s dirge in horror—we naturally recoil at the thought of having everything stripped away and the prospect of being forgotten by God…
We might be tempted to describe Jeremiah’s grasp of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness as overly “spiritualizing” these horrific events. I have found this short book as oddly comforting—even the the worst of circumstances we can call out to God. The Scriptures tell us over and over again that God bends down, cups his ear, and listens to our cries right now and the Scriptures also remind us that one day…
God himself will dwell with us and will be our God. He will wipe away every tear, death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. Everything sad will come untrue. Revelation 21:3-4
Before we can cultivate cultural awareness in this willy nilly world, we need to remind ourselves and each other that we are all part of a much bigger story—the true story of the whole world. We follow God who created the universe and is on mission to make his name known. He is not a god who is far off and unknowable, but a God who has come near in the person of Jesus, Immanuel, the God of the Universe who is with us. Jeremiah’s bitter lament urges us to look beyond the here and now into the future we all long for.
Over the next few days, take a few minutes to remember ways that you have experienced God’s presence in your life in the past week, month, or year. Maybe he answered a specific prayer, maybe he has guided you to your job or provided for you a home. Thank God for being with you in those places.
Next, take a few minutes to consider, what is it about following God that gives me hope? Maybe you’re in the throes of confusion and chaos, your marriage is on the rocks or your kids are struggling, perhaps you’re without clean drinking water or without a safe place to live. How might Jeremiah’s example of expressing hope in the midst of horror encourage you today?
Lord God, thank You for Jeremiah’s vivid picture of lament in the face of indescribable devastation and loss. Jeremiah’s moments of faith and hope are mind boggling considering his circumstances…yet, we thank you for using this prophet’s words to help us see the devastation, hear the sounds of his wailing and groaning, to witness his bold, confident declaration of faith while sitting in agony and bitterness. Give us fresh eyes to see and hearts to recognize your steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness in our lives this morning and tomorrow morning.
