On March 6th we gathered as church family for our annual Vision Sunday. Each year we share a verse from the bible to help frame our year. It’s not about the programs we run but more about gathering around God’s word to be ready for all the Lord has for our church over the coming year.
In 2011 a Tsunami hit the Tohoku region (just north of Tokyo) of Japan causing destruction over a whole region. Around 18,000 people lost their lives during the Tsunami. As the clean up began people found stone markers dotted along the coastline. Inscribed on the stones were warnings saying, “Don’t build below these markers because the big wave will destroy it.”
These were ancient markers that generations before had put in place to inform the future generations about what could happen.
In Psalm 25:4-5 (ESV) it says:
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
I love this verse. It talks about knowing the ways and paths of God. For us to know them we have to be prepared to be taught them by God and to wait on him.
But the key verse our church will be focussing on is this:
Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV) says this:
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Ask for the ancient path. [Selah]
Post pandemic, there is the sense that we are all at a crossroads. Do we try and get back to the way things were before or have we had enough time to slow down, maybe realise there are some things that could be different.
A cross road represents a place of danger and opportunity.
God says through Jeremiah, ask for the ancient paths. (Some translations even say the ETERNAL paths.)
Notice that the ancient way is the good way, on it you find rest for your soul. (Who doesn’t want that?)
Now Jeremiah is 100% referring to the Mosaic covenant which includes the 10 commandments spelled out in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 20:16 (ESV) says:
If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
By following God’s ways we are ready to step into the promised land.
Jesus himself takes this one step further when he says in Matthew 5:17 (ESV):
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
He didn’t abolish the law he fulfilled it. So the challenge for us is it’s more than just following the rules, it’s about right relationship and heart that leads to right action.
When it comes to the things of God sometimes we don’t need a new idea, we need a deeper revelation.
There are many ‘buzz’ words around the moment like “re-think it” or “reimagine”, and they may have their place, but when it comes to the things of God and which way we should go spiritually I think the call is to stay on the ancient path.
The same path our forefathers in the faith have walked.
The same path Noah walked and he found grace and favour with God.
The same path David walked where he was called in scripture a man after God’s own heart.
The same path Abraham walked and believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
The same path Moses walked when he led God’s people from bondage to the promised land.
This list could go on and on. Hebrews 11:32-34 (ESV) gives us more but not the whole list:
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
The exciting news is that the ancient path leads directly to God.
The prophecy of Zechariah echoes the words that appear so frequently throughout scripture, in Zechariah 1:3 (ESV):
Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.
The first step to the ancient path is to return to the Lord.
We as a church are at a crossroads, like we all are, and this year we are asking for the ancient path, the path that leads to God. We are choosing in our modern world full of choice and option to seek God and ask him for the ancient path, the path that leads to rest for our souls.
The good thing about the ancient path is there is joy at the end AND there is joy on the journey.
As we walk the ancient path we are ready for all that God has for us individually and as a church for this year and beyond.
I hope this blog has encouraged you at the crossroads of life to stop and ask for the ancient path, and in doing so find God, and in-turn rest for your soul.
All our Love,
John and Stef
Watch the full message on the Citywest Church Sydney Youtube channel.