The Compass

A Daily Personal Reflection & Small Group Discussion Guide

by John Hay, Jr.
Senior Pastor, West Morris Street Free Methodist Church

Series: Embrace Jesus' Passion for the City
Week's focus: Why Is Jesus Passionate About the City?
Scriptures: Luke 19:41-48
Week of: February 25, 2007

TRACKING THE WORD IN WORSHIP
Note these principles from the Word for later recall, reflection & application

WHY IS JESUS PASSIONATE ABOUT THE CITY? - 1st in the series "Embrace Jesus' Passion for the City"

A PERSON OF PASSION Surely, Jesus wept on more occasions, but only two are recorded in the Scriptures. He weeps over the death of his beloved friend Lazarus (John 11:35). And, on Palm Sunday, he weeps over the city (Luke 19:41). Each of these stories deserves individual study. However, both point to Jesus as a three-dimensional person--one who feels deeply and expresses his feelings transparently. Together, the stories hallmark Jesus as a person of passion, a real human being.

HEARTBROKEN FOR THE CITY It intrigues me that the Gospels highlight one of Jesus' most passionate moments as looking out over a city. As an urban advocate and pastor, I find this a compelling scene, one that deserves to be unpacked, understood, and engaged. Jesus is not only a passionate person; he is passionate about the city. He loves the city. He cares for its people. His heart is breaking over its conditions. He longs for its renewal and vitality. He grieves its impending demise--a result of its near-sighted politics, religious arrogance, and spiritual malaise.

FOUR REASONS Why is Jesus passionate about the city? Why is he moved to tears at the sight of it? What's behind this eruption of emotion? Let me suggest four reasons (there are many more):

GOD'S FOCUS IN SALVATION HISTORY (1) In salvation history, God has made the city a particular focus of concern. From the beginnings of its faith, city was to be the heart of the expression of Israel's covenant living in the shalom of God. Prophets like Isaiah call the people back to covenant to rebuild and restore the city (Isa. 58:9-12) as a place of grace. Jeremiah declared that even in exile, the people should seek the shalom of the city in which they are resident aliens (Jer. 29:4-9). The Bible repeats this focus again and again. God's vision is an urban vision; the Bible ends in a vision of a new Jerusalem.

SOURCE OF IMPACTS--BAD & GOOD (2) The priorities and decisions that impact daily living for good or harm are shaped in the city. Even as Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, he laments the misplaced values and bad decisions that are to be made in Jerusalem (Luke 19:42-45, 47-48). On the other hand, good decisions can be made in and by cities, like Nineveh (cf Jonah). The values, decisions, and policies made in a city influence daily life for millions of people. A metropolitan area does things in a large, collective way. If the city is--like Indianapolis--a center of regional and state government, the impacts for good or harm are magnified, rippling outward into towns, villages, and rural areas.

SACRED SPACE (3) The city is a sacred space-a place in which God's presence dwells and through which God's Word is revealed. Jesus goes to the temple--a sacred place--that has been turned into a mere marketplace--"a den of robbers." Not just holy sites, but entire cities are sacred places. God's Spirit is at work in myriad ways in a city. God hasn't left, regardless of how many churches have abandoned the city or retreated to its edges. As his core saving mission intensified, Jesus moved right into the heart of the city and grappled with fallen principalities and powers that prevented God's shalom from being accessible. The city is no less a holy place because it may be controlled by unholy people and fallen powers; it is to redeem and restore that Messiah comes. And it is to reconcile and renew that Messiah's followers are sent into the city.

LOST IN THE CITY Jesus is passionate about the city because (4) the people He loves and came to redeem dwell in the city. Jesus weeps for people who are lost--lost in the city. I think this is the paramount reason God is passionate about the city. It's about people: we who are created in the image of God, who have turned to our own ways, who God yet longs to redeem and restore and through whom God desires to be glorified and accessible for all. I believe God's care for people is not just a care for their final, eternal destiny. Salvation--as it is described in the pages of the New Testament--is not just about an end game. It is about daily realities; it is about a quality of life--here and now. It is about a way of regarding people, measuring value, making decisions, expressing giftedeness, distributing goods, delivering services, encouraging community, fulfilling purpose, achieving outcomes, and crediting sources.

IS JESUS' PASSION OUR PASSION? Do I passionately embrace Jesus? Is Jesus' passion our passion? Do I weep over what Jesus weeps? Am I walking with him into the heart of the city to love and serve and share and spend and give--that God may be glorified THROUGH the city? This is my prayer for us; this is my burden for WEMO. Wherever we reside in this metropolitan area, we are a vital part of what God wants next to do in Indianapolis and Central Indiana. Each of us has an invitation to embrace Jesus' passion for the city. When we do, I believe God's redeeming, reconciling love will become known in God-glorifying ways.

GUIDED JOURNALING / DISCUSSION
Explore these questions in personal devotions or group discussion

1. Read Luke 19:41-48. Why do you think Jesus wept over the city? List your reasons. Now, discuss or write regarding your thinking or feeling behind each one. What things/people/concerns that you care about can, at times, move you to tears? In such cases, is weeping good for the soul? Why or why not? Discuss or journal your response.

2. Read Isaiah 58. Why did God not hear the prayer of those who were fasting? What kind of "fast" does God want to see? What would be the impact or result of such authentic "fasting?" Why do you think the focus is on the city?

3. Read Jeremiah 29:4-7. This prophecy comes to the people of God who have been taken as captives to a foreign city-Babylon. Instead of acting like aliens and waiting for better days, what is God's instruction to them? What would happen when they sought the prosperity (or peace or shalom) of the city? How do you think God wants us to live in relationship to our city today? How can we seek it's shalom?

4. Explore your passion for the city: List all the things that you really appreciate or like about our city. List the things that, if they could be addressed or changed, could make this city more a reflection of God's promise? List the things about our city for which you will pray with thanksgiving and for change. Now, begin to pray this list frequently.

MARKINGS LEFT BY PREVIOUS TRAVELERS
Consider what other believers have shared about the city

MISSION OF A CITY. "The mission of a city is to put the highest concerns of human beings at the center of all its activities: to unite the scattered fragments of the human personality, turning artificially dismembered people…into complete human beings, repairing the damage that has been done by vocational separation, by social segregation, by the over-cultivation of a favored function, by tribalisms and nationalisms, by the absence of organic partnerships and ideal purposes." - Lewis Mumford, The City in History

HOW DO YOU LOVE A CITY? "If we would love others with the love of God, we will continue to love and serve through joy and disappointment, success and failure, when people appreciate our efforts and when they don't. When our Life Skills Lab ended for lack of funding, I was discouraged. I had poured my heart, mind, time and money into the project. We had helped over seventy families gain the skills to be self-sufficient. We had done it for Jesus. We had done it for people who needed it. We had done it out of love for our city, and because God first loved us. And we continue to serve in different ways for the same reasons. How do you love a city? One person at a time--creatively, generously, broadly, courageously and consistently." - Billie Silvey in God's Child in the City

RESPONSES & OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE
Want to explore The Compass with others? Have questions?

If you'd like to connect with others who are working weekly with The Compass, e-mail me or call the church office (317.632.8311)

If you have questions about Scriptures or some of the questions, or just want to share what your are discovering through The Compass, you are welcome to e-mail me.

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