Habakkuk, Jesus and God's work

A Grace and Truth column

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A Sunday school lesson and messages from three different ministries based on the book of Habakkuk brought to mind words from that book. Those words are as follows: “Write the vision and make it plain” (2:2 NKJV).



“Vision” is linked to thoughts of two different ways—based on Christ-conformed principles and wisdom—for counteraction to or mitigation of the woes and painful consequences listed in Habakkuk’s prophesy.

Habakkuk’s prayer (3:2) addresses counteraction and mitigation: “O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”

For years I wondered what “your work” meant. This year, however, the meaning became linked to the words of the Lord Jesus in John 6:29: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent.” The context shows Jesus was referring to belief in himself as a work of God.

With the above in mind and in light of the violent, unrighteous and unjust activities in national and world history that are similar to those in Habakkuk’s time, a needed prayer today could well be for the Lord God to revive or highlight belief in the Lord Jesus and his teachings as sources for ways to counteract and mitigate woes and painful consequences included in Habakkuk. Praying is one such way. A vision based on the Golden Rule as a practical expression of equity, justice and love for neighbor, including enemies, is another way.

In the vision a majority of governed and governing people affirm and seek to apply principles associated with the Golden Rule, life-enhancing practices and the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. The Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) is recognized by many, as a desirable principle to live by. All who have finished elementary school or been naturalized in the United States have been exposed to the Preamble to the Constitution. Life-enhancing practices, however, can mean different things to different people.
In the Golden Rule Affirming Promoter of Peaceful Life-Enhancing Relationships (GRAPPLER) vision, life-enhancing practices are practices associated with principles consistent with or extensions of the life-enhancing teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The mission associated with the vision includes seven core affirmations and values that support life enhancement:
(1) the Golden Rule, as the basic standard for interpersonal and intergroup actions and communications;
(2) the sanctity of life with the pursuit of holistic well-being for all people from conception to death;
(3) compassionate economic justice for all people within the United States, its territories and protectorates;
(4) the peaceful resolution of intergroup and international conflicts without preemptive death-dealing action;
(5) the need for government officials and citizens to seek to live in accordance with standards that embrace personal righteousness and social justice as equally important for society’s well-being;
(6) the right of citizens to have freedom of choice and expression in regard to a full range of information associated with the potential benefits and consequences related to behavior in a society with the goals stated in the Constitution’s Preamble, and
(7) the enactment and equitable enforcement of laws that are compatible with the preceding points.

With unified prayer and promotion of the GRAPPLER vision, the Lord’s instruction to teach all nations (ethnic groups) what he commanded will be carried out, and many more will be able to experience the “abundant life” he came for us to have.

Elaine Bryant is prayer network coordinator for Illinois Mennonite Conference.

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Elaine Bryant is prayer network coordinator for Illinois Mennonite Conference.