In this week’s continuing series of sermons, Dr. Evans addressed the benefits emerging from a growing, relational knowledge of God by discussing the benefit of “spiritual purpose.” Dr. Evans observed that many of our lives resemble the Sunday afternoon car rides of his youth--slow, meandering drives headed in no particular direction without a set destination. Eventually, everyone in the car would tire of the journey so the driver would turn the car around and head back home. Many of us trudge through our days with no “roadmap” to give a clear direction for our lives; this gnawing sense of purposelessness can lead us into the depths of despair. By studying the prophet Jeremiah’s instructions to a “directionless” group of exiled people in Babylon, Dr. Evans suggested three important steps that lead to recovering God’s map for living our lives with “spiritual purpose.”
1. Knowing God leads us into a deeper recognition of our spiritual identity. In last week’s sermon, Dr. Evans proposed that a deeper knowledge of God leads us to a deeper understanding of ourselves as God’s sons and daughters. In today’s text, the prophet Jeremiah was addressing a group of exiled Israelites who were tempted to lose hope. They understood that they had been defeated by the Babylonians and exiled from their homeland because of their sin, but what were they to do now? How should they live out their lives in this foreign land? These were the same people who “…by the rivers of Babylon sat down and wept…” and asked, “How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). The Israelites had forgotten that even though they were exiled from their land, they were not exiled from their God. They were still God’s chosen people, and He still beckoned them in the midst of their difficult circumstances to seek after Him and come to know Him in a deeper way: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:13-14a). When we are overwhelmed with a sense that our lives are directionless, we must remember that our first priority as God’s people should always be to seek to know God more intimately.
2. A deeper recognition of our spiritual identity aids us in discerning our spiritual purpose. Jeremiah’s challenge to the exiled Israelites was not to seek their purpose but, as God’s chosen people, to first seek God in the midst of their circumstances. However, it was in the seeking and searching after God with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29:13) that God’s purposes and plans for His people became clear: “I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you…and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:14). Dr. Evans suggested that a similar pattern was at work in the calling of Saul and Barnabas to be missionaries in the book of Acts: “While they (the church at Antioch) were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2). It was only as the church at Antioch sought after God and learned more of His heart that the Holy Spirit granted discernment concerning the calling of Saul and Barnabas to the mission that God had set for His church. Dr. Evans warned that many of our lives lack direction because we are pursuing a purpose that is inconsistent with who God is and what He has created us to be. Like a parent correcting a child who is misusing a kitchen utensil, God is saying to many of us concerning the direction of our lives, “that’s not what that is made for!”
3. Discernment of our spiritual purpose gives us hope in the midst of the trials we face. Jeremiah’s word of encouragement to the Israelites on the brink of despair was that God was at work in the midst of their mess. Jeremiah comforted the people with these words: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). The Israelites could settle down, build houses, and seek the welfare of the city where God had sent them into exile (Jeremiah 29:7) because they knew God’s ultimate plans to restore their fortunes and gather them from all the nations and from all the places where He had driven them….(Jeremiah 29:14). When we understand our spiritual purpose rooted in who God is and who He created us to be, we can look back, like Joseph, over the trials and messy spots in life, knowing that God has always been with us (Genesis 39:3, 21). We can say confidently, as Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
In conclusion, Dr. Evans recalled a scene from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. When the bad guys had stolen the map to find the treasure, the “Holy Grail,” from Indiana Jones and his father, Indiana was perplexed at what to do next. His father, however, reminded his son not to worry, because: “I wrote the map!” When our own lives seem directionless, we need to remember that our Heavenly Father has already meticulously drawn out the maps of our lives (Psalm 139:13-16). As we seek God and come to know Him more intimately, He will give direction to our directionless lives, granting us the benefit of spiritual purpose.
