Restoration, Rebuilding, and Replanting
Sermon Notes From A Sermon I Recorded For This Weekend
We are living in a season when we are calling on the name of the Lord to bring heaven to earth. We need more of heaven now than ever before. And I believe God has called us into this point in time to bring healing to his land.
I have been thinking so much about the restoration of the land. Now, when it first came to me, I was thinking the immediate land around me, but more recently, it is more than simply Spokane, the Inland Northwest, or even the United States.
As I have been meditating about what God is calling us into for this particular season, I believe there is a final push to be praying for our nation closest to home and then outwardly.
In someways today, we will be looking at some scriptures that we have been seeing a lot in this season. Yet, I want to encourage you to go deeper for yourself before we start thinking outward.
Ultimately, in this season with elections and changes going on our families, I see us being called into a greater sense of connection to God and into a faith that can move mountains.
And the first place I see us entering into this is believing for the healing of land.
Heal the Land (2 Chronicles 7:14)
'…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Before we dig into three key parts of this verse, I also want to highlight 2 Chronicles 7:3:
'When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord , saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.”
Before we can truly sit in the weight of verse 14, we need to remember that God is good and his love endures forever. And the fact that in this chapter, Israel is dedicating the Temple of God. It isn’t the cry of a people wanting a new ruler (or president). It isn’t seated out of a deep need.
This section scripture is set on a stage of praise and worship and dedication to God and inviting him into the Temple, inviting him to rest and walk among his people. Knowing that, allows us to understand a few more things about verse 14.
Humility, Seeking, and Repentance
God is calling his people to humility, seeking, and repentance. This is familiar to us in this season. But what does it actually mean to live and walk in humility, seeking, and repentance. Considering humility in this instance is understanding the deep reliance we need in Jesus.
'Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.’ - James 4:10.
God is calling his people to bring ourselves before him as we are. He wants the full picture, the good and the bad. He wants us to lay it ALL on the line before him. It is in this position and understanding that we can step into seeking God fully.
It is a vulnerable place to be completely humbled before God. And when we step into that place, we can earnestly seek his goodness and his love.
'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’
- Jeremiah 29:13
In humbling ourselves and truly seeking God with our full being, we will find him. And we find God in Jesus. And Jesus steps right into every part of our lives if we invite him into those places. And that is where repentance comes into the picture for the people of God.
I believe we have been in a season of repentance. We have been seeing God move around the world bring people to confession and repentance for the lives they and their countries have lived.
When we confess our sins, come to God with honest sorrow for those sins, invite Jesus into these places where he opens us up to new beginnings, and then walk those beginnings out we experience forgiveness and healing.
The Fruit of Humility, Seeking, and Repentance
When we step into humility, seeking, and repentance in our lives and for our cities, nations, and the world something unlocks in heaven on earth. There is a forgiveness of sins and a healing of the land. But what does that mean?
There are two main fruits of humility, seeking, and repentance: forgiveness of sins and healing of the land.
These are promises.
The first is forgiveness of sins. And while that is part of what we do when we repent, think of it in broader terms, as Psalm 103:11-12 says:
'For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.'
His forgiveness is all-encompassing.
Now, the second part is healing the land, which is about renewing the land. This is bringing all of creation back into its rightful place.
Healing the Land = Restoration
We need to understand what it means to heal the land. And the basis of that is that healing the land is restoration. Ezekiel 36:33-36 says:
“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’
Rebuilt and Replanted
I want to propose to you that when healing to the land occurs it is a trust in God that he is good, that his love endures, and that he will do what he says. And in that, when we humble ourselves, seek him, and repent, we will see rebuilding and replanting.
Rebuilding is a deeper topic than I thought when I first started into understanding it. But to sum it up as best I can without adding another hour to this message, it is this:
It’s the restoring of hearts and spirits, re-establishing relationships and community, building the physical world around us, renewing purpose and identity, and lasting growth and abundance. The rebuilding that happens starts from within, reaches out to our immediate surroundings, and creates a corporate rebuilding project for the world.
Replanting is something that comes close to home for me. I come from a long line of farmers, growing up as the fifth generation to have lived in our family home. And replanting as God sees it is another deep, deep topic. But, it look like this for our context:
It is the reminder of new beginnings and of growing deeper roots. It’s the re-establishing of a place of blessing and good fruit. And it is bringing back home and legacy. This is the faith groundwork for the building and it is important for it to be deeply planted in our hearts.
Where do we start on the eve of this important time for our nation and culture?
Restoration, Rebuilding, and Replanting
Almost 2,500 years ago, there was man who was an exile from his land. He worked for a king of a people who had conquered the Israelites. His job was to lay his life down for this king every day. But he deeply loved his own people and his own land. He longed for the restoration of his people.
He had family come to visit him and he asked for an update of how his people were doing. And that update was not good. He was grieved. Their home was in ruins and a disgrace to all the peoples around it. The things that had once made their home great were now gone.
He wept bitterly. He fasted and prayed. And we have one of Nehemiah’s prayers recorded for us in Nehemiah 1:5-11:
“Lord , the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.
I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this the king.”
Before anything else happened, Nehemiah pleaded before the Lord. He humbled himself. He sought the Lord. And he repented for himself, his family, and the entirety of his people.
We all know the story, he goes on to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in record time. Israel is restored, rebuilt, and replanted. And then Jesus comes, and does all again, but to usher in the Kingdom of God.
For church this week, I want to encourage you to walk through prayer in this manner. Pray in humility, seeking, and repentance. And then, expectantly declare restoration, rebuilding, and replanting.
My hope is that we you will have time this week to stop and pray like Nehemiah and expect restoration. If God has done it before, he will do it again.
Spend time praying for yourself, your family, the church as a whole, your city and state, the nation, and the world. Because that is what God is calling us too.
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