Come, Lord Jesus, into this weary world
by Kimberley Pfeiffer
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Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field until there is no more room and you are made to dwell in the midst of the land (Isaiah 5:8).
In yesterday’s devotion, we remembered that sometimes we cannot fully know how bad our sinful situation is without it being pointed out to us. In today’s reading, God’s prophet, Isaiah, shows God’s people how utterly helpless they are and how hopeless their situation is because they have turned away from God.
Isaiah does this through a poetic series of ‘woes’. They caused me to stop and think about the challenges the church faces in the modern western world. Consider the shrinking number of faithful members, the few baptisms, confirmations and weddings in our churches, and even the slowing funerals. Consider the desperate situations that congregations find themselves in that lead them to join their churches with neighbouring parishes because they can no longer afford a pastor – or the growing isolation between congregations in rural and remote areas. Think about the limited number of workers we have for the harvest and the few willing servants entering Christ’s ministry compared with the many who are leaving. Surely we can relate to the list of woes Isaiah presented to God’s people in his day.
Yesterday we were reminded of repentance and being restored to God. One of the gifts of this restoration is that we have full access to our Heavenly Father in prayer, so what is better than to pray for help in these times of need? Let us pray for the future of our church and that God will lead his faithful people by his word of truth. Let us pray that God will raise up workers for the harvest to serve his people in this vast land of scattered and diverse people. Let us pray for young people to enter Christ’s ministry as pastors, church workers, volunteers and teachers in Australia and New Zealand to keep the lifeblood of Christ flowing in our churches. And let us thank God for Christ, who entered our troubled world to die for us to make his glory known on the cross. Let us ask him again to come, Lord Jesus, come. To remain with us as our strength and shield as we face the challenges facing his church in these days.
Gracious Father, thank you for sending Jesus to give us access to you. Thank you for giving us repentance to give us a clear path to you. Now, Lord, hear our prayer, have mercy on your church on earth and send us workers to labour in your harvest. Encourage and strengthen our pastors to proclaim your word of grace and truth in love to a world that does not know its need for you. Through your Son, Jesus, we pray, Amen.
Kimberley Pfeiffer is married to Pastor Joshua, and they have four children. Kimberley served in various capacities in the LCA Churchwide Office before moving to the USA at the beginning of 2022 for Joshua to complete his PhD studies. In God’s provision, Kimberley has been given the opportunity to study a Master of Arts (Theology) degree at Concordia Theological Seminary, St Louis, which she says she is enjoying very much.
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