Luke 19:41-42 “And when he drew near and saw the city, he
wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day
the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
My wife and I spent a week in the San Francisco Bay area
while I was co-teaching a class at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. We
spent a Sunday afternoon exploring the city. Part of our explorations took us to
Twin Peaks, which overlook the city. After driving up a road filled with
hairpin turns, we were rewarded with amazing views of the city. We took some
great pictures of the various neighborhoods from all over the metro area that
could be seen from that vantage point.
In some ways San Francisco is a blessed area. The scenery is
lovely. The economy is booming. The food choices are great (thought quite
expensive). The city glitters at night and draws young people from around the
world. But all that glitters is not gold. While we were there an innocent women
was killed in a very public section of the city that is normally safe for
tourists. We saw homeless people and beggars in many street corners. Churches
are few, and often small. Property is so expensive that even middle class
families with good jobs struggle to buy a home or rent something in a safe
neighborhood. The disparity between rich and poor is unbelievable.
The greater San Francisco metro area has over 8 million
people and only a small percentage of them attend an evangelical church on a
regular basis. The same thing could be said about most of the larger cities
across North America. When one considers the vast spiritual lostness in our
cities, it is hard not to think about Jesus weeping over another city, in a faraway
place, the city of Jerusalem. Jesus wept for Jerusalem because for all its
greatness, it did not know peace. Though 2,000 years have passed, Jerusalem
does still not know peace. Jesus spent a lot of time in Jerusalem trying to
point people to the path of peace and proclaiming a gospel that brings peace to
the soul. Few listened, but the ones that did changed the world.
Cities like San Francisco need peace that only Christ can
offer. As we proclaim the Gospel in the great cities of our land, we may not
get the quantity of responses that we would like, but if we find the few, like
Jesus did, who respond with all their hearts, our world can once again by
changed by the gospel of peace.
Lord, help us reach the cities with the life changing Gospel
of Christ. Amen.
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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter,
denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20
years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather.
He is a cancer survivor and believes that God
works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively
and you can find all of his books at:
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