Today, Chambers returns to a topic he has covered before. But this passage gives it interesting meaning, more substantial than others he has used. The ministry model in Scripture with which I have most often identified is the Prophet Jeremiah. My identification with him is usually due to self-pity, but it was comforting to know that a preacher had to deal with a less compliant flock than I was leading. And the end of Jeremiah is a sad one, just as mine was traumatic and depressing. But really, my experiences were of my own making, whereas Jeremiah was truly a victim of his devotion to our Master. I still like to read his story.
In this part, Jeremiah 45:5, or actually Jeremiah 45, Yahweh has given Jeremiah a word for his scribe, Baruch. Baruch is writing of the demise of his people and is concerned for himself, so Yahweh assures him that he will be given his life in any place he travels, but he is also asked a good question. “Do you seek great things for yourself?” It could also be written as a statement, “you seek greatness for yourself” since there is no interrogative particle used in the Hebrew. But either way, the correction is, “Don’t!” Yahweh is about to bring evil on all flesh and that is not a situation in which to seek greatness. But it is a situation where being given ones life is a nice parting gift.
The statement or question is where Chambers focuses. He states that to seek great things from God instead of seeking God misses the point and really seeks for ourselves. In that situation, I become focused on the gift my Master gives instead of my Master. I can see this as a danger. I have learned a lot from Job and from Jeremiah. I have gained insight into the character of my Master enough to know that He does in fact bring evil on the flesh He has created. It sounds contradictory, but again, this is due to my limited understanding of evil, and not a contradictory character quality of my Master (think of “evil” in this sense as the English word “bad” and it makes better sense).
So, am I a mercenary? Or, since my Master is not necessarily about to bring “badness” on all flesh, is this an ok time to seek great things for myself? Is it ever an ok time to seek great things for myself? I doubt it. The search for great things for myself is never applauded in Scripture. It is not esteemed in Proverbs or Psalms. It is not in line with the teachings of my Master in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. I do not find such a goal in the letters of Paul or Peter or John. Such seeking does not characterize the apostles in the book of Acts. No, such a quest has no support in Scripture, at least not a positive one.
The truth is that my Master has already given more than I have any right to expect. I have not earned what I already have, so what possible justification do I have to seek more? What temporal luxury is in anyway comparable to the luxury to be lavished upon me in the Kingdom of my Master. I have eternity, what else matters? The reality that my Master has given Himself and suffered unimaginably on my behalf should so weigh me down and impress me that I would not even think to ask for anything else. To ask for more would be to lessen what He has already given. As if what He has done is nice, but what have You done for me lately? Where do I get off asking such a question of the Creator of this universe? How can I even entertain such a thought toward my Savior, my Master, the One condescending to live within me, the One loving me more than I can imagine? How can such thoughts even be possible if I really believe these things about my Master?
This is why gratitude should be my first position of each day, of every moment, forming the cornerstone of every response to every situation. The pain and misery of this world is still not equal to the suffering of my Master on my behalf, and on behalf of every other rebel in this world. Japan is slowly recovering from the shocking earthquake, and they are not out of the woods yet. Many still suffer, and much of the world has moved on (a particularly unique quality of Americans). But the Spirit of my Master still hovers over the waters of the Pacific, the Islands of Japan, and people suffering on them. He seeks to draw them to Himself and be their comfort. He has people there right now working as His hands and His feet to meet needs, heal wounds, and share a word about Him. Again, what right do I have to focus on something other than my Master when what I have been given already more than satisfies my need?
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, he quotes Jesus, my Master as saying, “So, do not worry about what you shall wear, what you shall eat, and where you shall live, for the pagans run after these things and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.” He concludes with a charge to seek first the Kingdom of Jesus and His righteousness, and promises that all these things will be added to you as well. I must wrap my mind around the truth that living in a cardboard box while seeking the Kingdom of my Master here on earth is preferable to living in a mansion here on earth and a cardboard box in my Master’s Kingdom in Heaven.
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