Revival, by Daniel Montgomery

The 930 is nearly empty today as Sojourn closes its offices for the week. The constant activity that usually marks Tuesdays around here is pretty much gone. Having down time to reflect and rest is truly a blessing. One thing that’s been occupying my thoughts is the concept of revival.

A lot of you probably immediately think of a bunch of people packing into a tent on a summer evening to sweat it out while an impassioned guest preacher begs people to get saved. The idea of revival has taken on the air of an extended altar call in American culture, or that of a three-ring circus with snakes being passed around alongside the collection plate.

This summer, the big picture of Sojourn’s preaching is going to highlight revival under different leaders in ancient Israel. We’re going to ask the question of what revival looked like in the Bible (and therefore what revival probably ought to look like now).

We’ve already looked at Elijah in I Kings 18. Revival started with God (spoiler alert: that’s going to happen a lot this summer). Through Elijah, God called out the prophets of Baal, set up a showdown, and pretty much humiliated them and completely discredited their ‘god’. And the people of Israel responded. I love the arc of this story: God sends fire, God’s people respond by tearing down their idols and returning to him in true worship.

This coming week, our trek through the Old Testament will arrive at the life of Josiah – 8 year old king turned 26 year old idol destroyer. His men are looking through the temple, which is in an awful state of disrepair, and they come across a dusty old book. It’s what we now know as the book of Deuteronomy. Josiah reads this book and very literally the fear of God strikes his heart. Israel is a mess. Josiah’s response is a thing to admire and long for in our own lives – he picks up a hammer and gets to work. Again, God initiates (this time with is written word) and God’s man responds and leads the people to true worship. Even if only for a brief time, Israel is renewed.

In the coming weeks and months, leading up to and beyond the launch of Sojourn’s St. Matthews site and the ‘re-launch’ of our Germantown gathering, we’re going to be looking intently into the idea of revival, of renewal in our midst. It’s what our 40 days of prayer is all about. It’s what the Midwives training is all about. It’s what God’s word – the gospel – is all about. So the question is, what are you about?

To quote author Howard Zinn, you can’t be neutral on a moving train. He was talking about history and politics, but the same idea applies to the Christian life. There isn’t a status quo, there is either constant renewal or there is decay. Being lukewarm is just as bad, if not worse that downright unbelief. I pray that God would have mercy on Sojourn, that he would reveal himself to us in his word, in the stories of revival we will study this summer, and that he would initiate a work of renewal in our hearts as individuals and in the life of our church body and sustain it by his grace. It’s my prayer that we would be reminded of the mission we came into Germantown with. It’s my prayer that our hearts would be renewed within us as we look forward to the next phase of Sojourn’s history and mission in Louisville. Let’s come to God’s word on revival this summer and say, ‘didn’t our hearts burn within us?’