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MEDITATION:

Written by H. Wayne Ballard, Jr., a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from his book “The Exile and Beyond.”

2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36 are perhaps two of the saddest chapters in the entirety of the Old Testament…The stories of hope and inspiration found in the tales of the patriarchs, the conquest, and the establishment of the monarchy must have seemed so far away at this moment in history to the people of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians have wiped out the city of Jerusalem, the temple, and the hopes and dreams of an entire nation. With this simple act, the exile has begun—an age where the elite of Judah who survived the atrocities described in the book of Lamentations were driven from the land of promise to a foreign land where they lived as political prisoners of the great Babylonian Empire. Many of the leaders of Judah were simply killed. Those left behind had no one to lead them, to encourage them, or to show them a way out of their newfound predicament. There was little or no hope. Sometimes in our world, there are many who find themselves in a similar situation. The loss of a job, the breakup of a relationship or marriage, terrible news of a newly discovered illness, or a host of other maladies can invade our lives. We, too, live among people who are enduring their own personal ‘exiles” every day…Though life brings periods of trial at various points in our lives, we are also challenged with how we respond to the obstacles that lay before us. Will we choose to live the remainder of our days in the land of exile, or will we return to our ancestral homelands and take up the challenge of rebuilding our lives into something new and fresh?

PRAYER:

Written by Debbie McDaniel, a contemporary Christian writer.

Dear God, in this season of Lent, we’re reminded of our own difficulties and struggles. Sometimes the way seems too dark. Sometimes we feel like our lives have been marked by such grief and pain, we don’t see how our circumstances can ever change. But in the midst of our weakness, we ask that you would be strong on our behalf. Lord, rise up within us, let your Spirit shine out of every broken place we’ve walked through. Allow your power to be manifest through our own weakness, so that others will recognize it is You who is at work on our behalf. We ask that you would trade the ashes of our lives for the beauty of your Presence. Trade our mourning and grief for the oil of joy and gladness from your Spirit. Trade our despair for hope and praise. We choose to give you thanks today and believe that this season of darkness will fade away. Thank you that you are with us in whatever we face and that you are greater than this trial. We know and recognize that you are Sovereign, we thank you for the victory that is ours because of Christ Jesus, and we are confident that you have good still in store for our future. We thank you that you are at work right now, trading our ashes for greater beauty. We praise you for you make all things new. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Nina Pope from the Village Church.

Exile is a lonely place—to me, the image that the word evokes is enduring sadness, isolation, helplessness, and hopelessness. It is the place that most everyone has been at one time or another and the place no one wants to be. Exile can be self-inflicted or circumstantial, and either way it is painful. Although not fully understood then, the grace of God hauled me out of a time of exile many years ago. I entered college with expectations that were fully unmet; I was taken by surprise that the experience I was having did not in any way resemble the vision I expected – for the first time in my life, I was the proverbial fish out of water and was stunned. Eventually, I connected with a few others who shared some common interests and thus began emerging from the overpowering exile that had overtaken me. Years later when I read the story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, who was stranded by his brothers in that pit hoping for rescue, I could identify.

Joseph waited, and God’s mercy and grace removed him from the pit and eventually lifted him to unexpected heights of glory and reconciliation with his family. Like Joseph’s, my own release from exile had a great impact on my future years. In retrospect, I realize God’s hand has always been on me. In good times and harder times, God has always escorted me, and I stake my very existence on that fact. All Fall, Jack immersed us in the notion that we build our lives on a foundation of infallible rock, so that no matter what comes our way, and the chips are down, there is no exile for us because we cling to the embrace of a caring, powerful, and triumphant God.

PRAYER:

Today’s Prayer is written by Christina Fox, a contemporary counselor, writer, speaker, and author.

Father in heaven, you are my rock. My shelter and place of safety. You are my firm foundation. You do not change. Nothing can move you. I thank you that in Christ, I am safe. He is my refuge and my fortress. Nothing and no one can snatch me from him. May these truths be my comfort and strength in these uncertain times. In Jesus’s name, amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Rebecca Madden, a contemporary director of Women’s Ministry.

Almost twenty years ago, Jay and I packed our four-year-old son, seven-year-old daughter, dog, and personal belongings in a Honda van with forty years worth of memories from a life in South Carolina in tow. We left our families, our friends, our church, and everything we had ever known for Jay’s adventure into full‑time ministry in Chicago. We also left our dream home with “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs in the yard. When we arrived in Chicago, we didn’t know a soul who lived there. I honestly felt like I had been carried into exile—especially when I was faced with shoveling a driveway full of snow while Jay was away at seminary. Don’t people know you don’t have to live like that?  In his book Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson defines exile as “we are where we don’t want to be.” I think for the past eighteen months we have all been living in exile. Our freedom to go and do whatever and whenever was halted. Our paradigms completely shifted. According to Peterson, while the Hebrews were in exile, they thrived. They prayed more deeply. They were more creative. They discovered purpose, love, and meaning. Though they lost everything they thought was important, more importantly, they found God. The goal of our lives is not to live as comfortably as possible but to live as deeply as possible right where God has planted us—even while in exile.

PRAYER:

Today’s Prayer is written by Rebecca Madden, author of today’s meditation.

Dear Heavenly Father, I have been restless during this season and am ready for this exile to be over. Help me to find my rest in You. Help me to create, love, laugh, and dig down deep right where I am today. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Today’s meditation is an excerpt from “The Message Devotional Bible.”

Exile is traumatic and terrifying. Our sense of who we are is very much determined by the place we’re in and the people we’re with. When those things change violently and abruptly, we wonder who we are. The accustomed ways we have of finding our worth and sensing our significance vanish. When the first wave of emotion recedes, we’re left like a broken shell on a vast expanse of beach, in a suddenly foreign place, feeling that we are worthless and that our lives are meaningless…Israel’s exile was a violent and extreme form of what all of us experience from time to time. Inner experiences of exile can take place even if we never move from the street where we were brought up. We are exiled from the womb and begin life in strange and harsh surroundings. We are exiled from our homes at an early age and find ourselves in the demanding world of school. We are exiled from school and have to make our way the best we can in the uncertain and sometimes unsettling world of work. We are exiled from our hometowns and have to find our way through the disorientation of new states and unfamiliar cities. The essential meaning of exile is that we find ourselves separated from home. Exile is an experience of dislocation—everything is out of joint; nothing fits together.

One day two men from Jerusalem—Elijah and Gemariah—appeared unannounced in Babylon. They had come on official business, carrying a message to the king. On their way to the palace, they visited the Hebrew community in exile. They came bearing a message from Jeremiah, who had received the message from God. “Build houses and make yourselves at home,” Jeremiah told the exiles (Jeremiah 29:5). You aren’t camping. This is your home. This may not be your favorite place, but it is a place. Dig foundations; build houses; develop the best environment for living that you can. If all you do is sit around and pine for Jerusalem, your present lives will be squalid and empty. “Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country,” he told them. Enter into the rhythm of the seasons. Become a productive part of the economy of the place. “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare. Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you” (verse 7). The Hebrew word for “welfare” is shalom, which means “wholeness”—the dynamic, vibrant health of a society that pulses with divinely directed purpose and surges with life-transforming love. Jeremiah essentially told the people, “Seek shalom. Throw yourself into the place you find yourselves. Not on its terms but on God’s terms. Pray. Search for that center in which God’s will is being worked out, and work from that center.” Jeremiah’s letter was a rebuke and a challenge to the Babylonian exiles: “Quit sitting around feeling sorry for yourselves. The aim of people of faith isn’t to be as comfortable as possible but to live as fully as possible. You will be in Babylon for a long time. You had better make the best of it. Don’t just survive—thrive. The only place you have to be human is where you are right now. The only opportunity you have to live by faith is in the circumstances you’re experiencing this very day—in this house you live in, in this family you find yourself in, and in this job you’ve been given to do.”

PRAYER:

Today’s Prayer is from “The Message Devotional Bible.”

Dear Lord, help me not to feel sorry for myself because of where you’ve called me to live my life. Whether I’m living in Jerusalem or Babylon, you’ve called me to yourself, to love you, to trust you, to obey you. Help me to see that you’ve also called me to more than that. You’ve called me to make the best of whatever exile I find myself in, to bless those around me, however foreign they may seem to me.  Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Vickie Stone from the Village Church.

A few years ago, a story in the Daily Word by Leslie Koh made me recall as a Human Resources professional the times I saw employees and supervisors be impatient with the pace of the climb up their career ladders.) Leslie told of a young employee, Benjamin, who was frustrated when his colleagues were promoted ahead of him.  Some of his family and friends would ask him “how come you’re not yet a manager? You deserve it.” But Benjamin decided to leave his career in God’s hands and figured if he learned all he could and did his job well, God’s plan for him would become evident. After a few years, Benjamin was indeed promoted and by then, his additional experience gave him the skills he needed to be confident in his job, but more importantly, won him the respect of his subordinates. In the meantime, several who were promoted ahead of Benjamin were struggling with their supervisory responsibilities, as they were promoted before they had the experience and skills to be effective. Benjamin realized God had taken him “the long way around” so he would be best prepared for his role.

Like the Israelites being led by God out of Egypt. God chose a longer way because the “shortcut” to Canaan was filled with perils. Bible scholars have observed that this gave the Israelites more time to build themselves up physically, mentally, and spiritually for subsequent battles. The shortest way isn’t always the best. Sometimes God lets us take the longer route in life, whether it’s in a career path or other endeavors, so that we’ll be better prepared for the journey ahead. When things don’t seem to happen quickly enough, we should trust always, in God, the One who leads and guides us. Ask God to help you trust in His sovereign plan and purpose for your life.

PRAYER:

Written by Lori Freeland, a contemporary author.

Lord, I’m stuck in a place I don’t want to be. It seems everyone else is speeding forward. It’s so hard to watch sometimes. What if my life always looks and feels this way? Things have to change. I must move on. I need something new right now.  But that’s not your way. You want me to grow when I want to run away. Soothe my anxiety. Take away my desperation. Stretch my perseverance. Thank you for knowing what’s best for me. Thank you for helping me let go and giving me the patience to wait on your timing not mine.   Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Kurt Selles, a contemporary ministry director.

A jeremiad is a long, mournful complaint, a list of woes. This word came into use as a description of long, woe-filled passages in the book of Jeremiah. Indeed, the prophet rails repeatedly against the people of God in his day. The tone of Jeremiah’s entire book is lament because the sins of the people are truly depressing: idolatry, adultery, mistreatment of the poor and widows and orphans. God’s people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful spouse and rebellious children. God’s judgment on such unfaithfulness will inevitably come, Jeremiah declares. And it does. God’s people lose the promised land and are exiled to Babylon. Jeremiah asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” Literally, the balm of Gilead was a topical medicine made from a local tree. But that’s not the treatment or the doctor Jeremiah is alluding to. He’s talking about a physician who can salve the eternal wound of rebellion and separation from God himself. He’s talking about salvation. Thankfully, God doesn’t leave his grieving people captive and far from home. Though the people suffer exile, God in his faithfulness heals and restores them. But the greater, eternal healing comes with the Great Physician, Jesus, who restores our souls.

PRAYER:

Written by Kurt Selles, the author of today’s meditation.

O Jesus, Great Physician, you alone are the balm we need to heal our sin-sick souls. We beg your forgiveness for our sins. Heal us, we pray. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Leo Beach, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from his book “The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom.”

Exile tends to infuse communities with new creative energy that rises to meet the challenges of new circumstances. Accordingly, the responses to exile that are offered by communities depicted in Scripture provide resources to the contemporary church and its own formation as an exilic people.  That is, exile is an appropriate motif for the Western church’s understanding of itself and its mission in its current setting; a robust biblical and practical theology rooted in both the Old Testament and New Testament visions of exile can inform the contemporary church’s self-understanding and mission…As exile was for Israel a time for self-evaluation and reorientation, so it can be for the church. The way forward is to look around and understand our context, to look back and gather the resources that our Christian faith offers us, and then to look forward with a clear vision of how the church ought to and can function as God’s people in contemporary exile…While exile was devastating for Israelite life and faith, and life for the early church was a continual challenge, their circumstances proved to be a time of development that generated a better future for both. As Ephraim Radner eloquently states regarding Israel’s exile, “Exile is also a movement by which our Lord delineated deliverance. As such, it can hardly be a cause for fear.” This can also be the case for the Western church in the twenty-first century if we are willing to learn from the wisdom of our ancestors in the faith.

PRAYER:

Today’s prayer is from Psalm 3, David’s prayer for deliverance.

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Ruth Grendell from the Village Church.

My friend, Betty Simm, gave me her book of poems “Windows to My Soul”. Several years ago, Betty and her daughter, Kathy, moved to Utah to be with the family.  Now, our conversations are via phone calls and letters.  Every Christmas she sends the gift of a new poem to add to my collection.  During the Advent Season, the new poem is a reference for the time of looking forward to all the activities related to Christ’s birth. “It is our beginning, a spiritual birth. Jesus in human form proclaiming God with us”. However, during the six weeks of the Lenten season the gift of the poem encourages me to reflect on the life of Jesus—to acknowledge the purpose of His life; the impact on my life, my heart, and my mind.  I plan to select special times each day to reflect on the poem, to pray, to read the Scriptures as I acknowledge the true purpose of Christ’s life; to teach me, to be humble—to hope for the future, and to acknowledge his sacrifice for all of us. (If you see me wave my hand to the back of the sanctuary after the service, it’s to indicate that Betty, Kathy and I are still worshipping together as they are watching the service online).

PRAYER:

Today’s prayer is from the Roman Breviary, a liturgical book first published in 1482.  It is also known as “the Liturgy of the Hours.”

O Lord,

be our Sanctifier and the Shepherd.

Strengthen and help us,

that in our daily life walk with you,

we serve you in all quietness of spirit,

through Jesus Christ our Master. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by J. Andrew Dearman, a contemporary professor of Old Testament studies. This is an excerpt from his work “Exile and New Life.”

The topic of exile and new life intersect with several pertinent matters today. The Assyrian and Babylonian exiles (or as some historians now describe it, “forced migrations”) are the primary example of corporate failure in the Old Testament. These events, moreover, play a major role in the shaping of the Old Testament canon. One of our most influential biblical theologians, N.T. Wright, has proposed that a continuing sense of exile in the post-exilic period among Jews is the matrix in which Jesus announced the advent of the anticipated Kingdom of God… Some of our contemporaries have suggested that the Babylonian exile is particularly worthy of study as a way to think about the broader phenomenon of post-Christendom and minority status in western societies. One American Christian has said recently, “Let’s stop the pity party and instead say, ‘We’re in exile and this is not the first time God’s people have been in exile”… Speaking personally, I want to cling to the prophetic model, whereby a historic moment of failure ushers in dramatic new ways of presenting the divine-human relationship, ways that are surely congenial with the paradigm of cross and resurrection in the New Testament. Good Friday’s death leads through Saturday’s deathly exile to the resurrection of Easter morning. I can hold also to the Torah’s proclamation that when my tribe and I are in exile, God can perform a miracle on our collective heart. But there is something both foreboding and formative about looking systemic failure squarely in the eye and admitting that I am complicit and feel helpless. 

PRAYER:

Written by Christopher McCluskey, a contemporary Christian coach and author.

Heavenly Father, we know we’re in a fallen world. We know that we’re to be cooperating with You and the ongoing redemption of this world until all things are made new. But Lord God, we find ourselves in a very unique and extremely painful and shameful state now, as we see ourselves sliding into a time of barbarism again, and anger and destruction on a scale that we’re not used to seeing present-day. Lord, we know that this grieves You even more than it grieves us, and we’re overwhelmed by it every day in the media. Heavenly Father, by your Holy Spirit, hear the prayers and petitions of your children. Heal our land. Heal our culture. Lead us into a greater capacity for listening in your Holy Spirit, by your Holy Spirit. Grant us the ears to hear as You hear and to hear what You’re wanting to say to us, and then and only then, use us as those mouthpieces, those vessels that You have in this broken world to bring healing. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Rev. Dr. Donald Owens, Associate Director, Christ Ministry Center/Safe Harbors Network, a mission partner of the Village Church.

Last year, during Lent, Safe Harbors Network was working to meet the needs of Asylum Seekers and immigrants showing up on the doorsteps of Christ Ministry Center. This Lent, we are still working to provide food, clothing, and temporary shelter. This Devotional reminds us that we do not pass through this season alone. In this community, we are surrounded by others with hopes, fears, faith, courage, and doubts. During this season, our goal is to recruit sponsor families who will provide shelter and support, so we can continue to make a difference in the lives of more refugees fleeing disasters, famine, droughts, criminal activity, violence, wars, poverty, or other unbearable circumstances. In this season of Lent, I reflect on a family that was found sleeping on the steps of Christ Ministry Center on a Sunday Morning at 1:30 a.m. I was called and asked what he should do; this family consisted of a husband, wife, and two tiny toddlers sleeping on the portal under a blanket in 40-degree weather. The family was brought inside the building and given additional blankets and food. Later that Sunday morning, I went to the church to meet the family and decided for the family to stay in a hotel. This family only wanted to get to New York to cross into Canada, where they had family. They needed money for a bus ticket to New York. The Staff of Safe Harbors Network purchased tickets and gave money for food for them to travel to New York. Our hearts are happy because the family made it to New York and crossed the border into Canada to unite with other family members. The family called to thank us for providing humanitarian aid. They call monthly to give us an update on their progress while making a living in Canada. To God be the glory for those who cross our pathway; as we continue to make a difference in the lives of more refugees fleeing disasters, famine, droughts, criminal activity, violence, wars, poverty, or other unbearable circumstances.  ‘ I pray that this Devotional will steadily touch the hearts of those who read it to provide humanitarian assistance to our brothers and sisters seeking asylum.

PRAYER:

Written by Catherine Gorman, a contemporary writer.

Father of all, there are many among us who go hungry. Help us to listen and respond as one family, so that, as we break bread together, we may glimpse your Kingdom here on earth – a Kingdom of welcome and plenty for all. Amen.

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