Exaudi Monday - Devotion in Exile

Lection for Monday of Exaudi 
Numbers 14:26-45      Luke 18:35-19:10

I remember an article written for pastors which I somehow I received (without my desiring to receive it), which was informing us as pastors that if we want our congregations to grow, what we need to do is go into the surrounding neighborhood and ask the unchurched about what they’d like to see happen in church. This idea was based upon the supposition that there should be a “seeker service.”

What does Jesus proclaim in our text? Talking about Zaccheus, the chief tax collector, one who was an Israelite by birth, but who was not exactly seen as faithful, Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk. 19:9-10)

Who are the lost? All people! There are none who are not lost – according to the flesh. We are brought forth in iniquity, and conceived in sin. (Psalm 51:5) All dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).  Have you ever seen a dead person do anything? Ever seen those who are dead seek anything?

Paul, considered the greatest apostle, had this to say about himself.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Rom. 7:14-25)

If this is how Paul, as a believer talks about how his flesh struggles against the the new man in him, imagine how those struggle who have not yet had the Spirit at work?

This is why Jesus came to seek and to save the lost – why He came to see and to save you (and me).

It is the Word of Christ which works a change in hearts as the Spirit works in that Word. It is why Scripture talks about the seed being sown, or the rain coming down from heaven. It is the task of believers to take that message of the Gospel, the Word of Christ, to their neighbors. We bring the Gospel into the lives of those who need it – in whatever situation we find them.

How do you do that? I like to call it real-life evangelism. In the most simple terms, it asking the Holy Spirit to guide you, that He might lead you to look-for-the-hook, that is, look for the unique situation which will allow you to bring Christ into the conversation. There is more to unpack there than we have space in this devotion, but speak to your pastor about this. I am sure he’d gladly give you guidance.

Suffice it to say, you are here today and reading this because someone first brought the Word of Christ to you. It was probably baptism, and probably as an infant, you made no choice, but the Word of Christ and water worked a miracle. It is a miracle of God that continues to work faith in you, just as in me. Faith to trust the work of Christ, for were it left to me, I’d be like Paul – stuck in a body (flesh) of death!

Thanks be to God, in Christ, who sought us and found us.

Let us pray:     Lord God, heavenly Father, on this day in our land, we give you thanks for those who have served our country fighting for the freedoms we are able to enjoy, and now rest for them labors - for them we give you thanks. For Your Son, who gave His life that we have freedom from sin, death, and Satan - we give you thanks; that He sought us out, found us, called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified us with the Gospel - we give  you thanks. Continue to send Your Spirit wherever the Word of Christ is proclaimed that hearts may be made new in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.