Exiles

 "Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept, as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our lyres, hanging them on the branches of the willow trees. For there our captors demanded a song of us. Our tormentors requested a joyful hymn. 'Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!' How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land." Psalm 137:1-4

This Psalm was written during the great Babylonian exile of the Jewish people. Their sin and disobedience had led to their being conquered by the Babylonian empire, and carried away as slaves to that empire. That 70 year period has always been referred to by Jewish historians as "The Exile." They were captives, living in a foreign land, exiled from their home. Exiled, they felt, from their identity as the children of the Father. They were exiles. To what degree might we be, and why?

Someone once said that the church oftentimes looks more like a Prisoner of War camp, held in enemy territory, than it does like a conquering, triumphant people. Certainly, the enemy of our soul has had a lot of success in making us feel that way. To see ourselves in that way.

During WW2, there were, in the horrible concentration camps of the Nazi's, several rebellions. During these rebellions, many of the prisoners did not participate, and passively stood by during these attempts at securing freedom. These ones had been so broken down by the cruel treatment of their captors, that they lacked any motivating spirit to be free. They had resigned themselves to their captivity. That can happen to a human mind and spirit, so abused by a powerful captor. It had happened to the Jews in Babylon. Has it happened to you...to me? Has the enemy convinced us that we are nothing more than prisoners of war, kept in our camps, our churches, allowed to sing our songs, preach our sermons, but never live out the truth found in both? Have we lost the desire to be truly free.....in Christ? Are we living as exiles, far from the life He has given us in Christ? Are we too unable to sing the Lord's song in the place we now find ourselves?

I think that any place where a believer and follower of Christ stands becomes holy ground. It is made holy by His presence. For the Jews, Jerusalem signified the presence of God. For them to be removed and far from it meant that so too were they removed and far from Him. They could not envision being able to sing songs to Him when they felt He wasn't there. How often have we felt the same way. They didn't realize that God could never be confined to one place. They didn't realize that even in their captivity, a captivity brought on by their own rebellion against Him, that His presence was there. Even in their exile, He was with them.

In what way might you be living as an exile today? Maybe you, like the Jews, have brought this spiritual exile upon yourself by your rebellion against Him, or your running from Him. If so, you haven't succeeded in running Him off. He pursues you where you are. As you run from Him, He runs after you. His burning desire is to bring you home, to His land. To His heart....Maybe your exile comes as the result of the enemy convincing you that you can never live in the fullness of His promise. That those promises may be true for others, but they're never true for you. Somehow, the enemy has herded you into his prisoner of war camp, and secured it with his spiritual barbed wire and iron gates. He's made you a captive in your own land. An exile in your own land. You too, He longs to bring home.

For the Jews, the exile did end. He had promised its end even before it began. Isn't it time for yours to end as well? Isn't it time to walk about as free men and women in Christ. It's our birthright in Christ. We are not meant for captivity to any but Him, and as Paul wrote, captivity to Christ means freedom in Him as well. It makes no sense to the world, but it is so. He who is free in Christ is free indeed......Let us end our spiritual exile. Let us live in the land He has given us. Let us sing the Lord's song wherever we are today, for the ground we stand on, in and with Him, is holy ground. His ground.....and ours as well.

Blessings,

Pastor O