New Thoughts (8/27/03-9/2/03)
What an amazing thing to recognize that I have been made for a mission that my Maker made for me. I have purpose in life. I was designed for something far better than wandering the face of this earth aimlessly for a few decades before passing from memory. Indeed, it's easy to lose sight of this as I go about the issues of daily life. It's easy to forget what I'm about, to settle for working with no particular point in mind beyond getting the next paycheck to pay the next bill so I can come back and do it again. But God has more in mind, even in the vocations He has sovereignly appointed us to. There, too, is an awesome realization: He has appointed this job for me, for this time and for so long as He sees fit for me to continue in it. It's not about earning a check, it's about doing all I do as unto my Lord and King, to do all my labors for Him, whoever He may have appointed as my supervisor in the present task.
In Paul's day, the governing powers may have been a bit more evident in the daily lives of those in the church. There are areas of the world today where this is still quite true. America is more the exception than the rule in matters of faith. For us, the fact that we cannot keep a monument on public display counts as oppression and tribulation. The thought of being put to death for our faith is something that is so far out of our realm of experience as to be almost inconceivable. Yet around the world, there are many doing just that - dying for their faith. In spite of the danger, though, they don't lose sight of their purpose, they don't lose hold of the clear doctrine of the Gospel. They persevere as Paul persevered, as John persevered, as countless unknown Christians have persevered down through the centuries. They had a mission, given by God specifically for them to fulfill, and they gave their utmost to its fulfillment.
For us, then, it may not be so hard to submit to the authority of the government as it was for the Christian in Rome's empire. What, though, of the workplace? Here, too, we are a people under authority. Here, too, we are called to arrange ourselves in orderly fashion under those appointed to direct our efforts. We are to do so willingly, gladly even. Only so far as it is part of our job to do so are we to expound our opinions of how things ought to be done. Our job is to do our job. How often do I manage to walk this line? How often do I hold my peace when I disagree with the methods laid out for me to accomplish the task at hand? Not as often as I ought, I know. In my present trade, I am largely paid to think. For the most part, the task is given and I am expected to figure out for myself how best to get it done. It is an environment rich in mental competitiveness. Surrounded by smart people, intelligent people, it's easy to get caught up in the games of mental combat. Much like those who brawl to show the superiority of their physical prowess, engineers are often keen to show the superiority of their mental prowess.
It's the same problem. Whether physical or mental, the combativeness is a sign of pride, a sign of humility's absence. As a Christian in such an environment, I am called to stand above the fray, to be in that workplace, part of that workforce, but not a participant in these destructive activities. Competition is fine, but the sort of competition that is in view here is a destructive competition, a promoting of self at the expense of others, and I cannot, as a man of God, allow myself to play that game. "They must not speak evil of anyone, nor quarrel." Try that in the typical engineering meeting! Yet, try we must. God has a mission for us. In this place, in this labor, He has a mission for me. If I am to succeed in His mission, I must succeed in suppressing, killing the pride that is native to my nature, and pursue these earthly tasks with all humility. I must, as I do the job before me, remember that it is for Him I do it, not for whatever corporation has its logo above the doors today.
This, too, is the doing of good works. The NASB tells us to be ready for every good deed. In this instance, I rather like the rendering given by the TLB: be "ready for any honest work." Certainly, if our employer is requiring us to take an immoral course of action, we must reject that order, though it cost us our job. That is the boundary. Much as there is a clear scriptural line at which our obedience to government must end, it is so in the more local government of the workplace. Both are matters of covenant relationship, and God places great value on the idea of covenant. Employers have covenanted with us to pay us according to the terms we have agreed to for the duration of our employment. They have covenanted to provide certain other benefits and privileges for that same period. We, in turn, have covenanted to labor well, to provide a predetermined term of earnest labor at the tasks assigned to us. So long as the labor they assign to us remains honest work, so long as they uphold their end of the covenant agreement, we have no just cause to be slack in performing our own covenanted task.
This is the practical lesson of this current bit of doctrine. Shame on us if we have understood the theory of this religion we practice, and yet failed to apply it to ourselves! Yet, how often we do exactly that! Oh, we all know that good works are a good thing, that these are things we ought to pursue joyfully, for love of God. Yet, we seem to restrict our view of what constitutes a good work. "Who is my neighbor?" We have learned to compartmentalize our lives. Good works become those special missions we do on God's behalf, evangelizing the neighborhood, giving aid to the poor, helping in a disaster, or some such glorious thing. What of our jobs? What of our chores about the house? Too often, we look at those as something different, of less consequence. This is only because we have failed to look at it in the right light.
These things, too, are good works, honest labors. These things, too, we ought to be pursuing with our best efforts for love of God. Indeed, not only should we be joyful in the doing of such chores and work as we cannot avoid, or such things as rather force themselves upon us; we ought to be seeking out good things to do. It is the sluggard who is satisfied to get through his required labors as quickly and easily as possible so he can take his rest. The godly will seek to complete his required labors as well as possible, and then seek what else he can do to help.
For myself, I know there is still an issue of compartmentalizing. I have learned, for the most part at least, to give my best effort to the things I do at work. I have worked to train myself to hold in view the lordship of my God over my workplace. I have sought to apply the admonition to do all things as unto Him. It's a great reminder to give oneself when things aren't going smoothly. (Lord, help me to remember that today better than I did yesterday!) Yet, I can easily forget the whole thing when I get home. Home is all about rest! Somebody else can do what needs doing around here. I am entirely willing to wait until somebody comes to express their need for my help in this matter or that, to more or less force me into my duty before I will get up and do it. This thing ought not to be! These are as much good works and honest labor as anything I am doing at work! If I am truly heeding the message of this passage, I won't stop at doing what is put before me without complaint. To be ready for every good deed, is to be on the lookout for such opportunities, to be actively seeking out something good to be doing.
If only we can keep ourselves aware of that simple fact: that God has prepared these things specifically for our doing, how can we keep from seeking them out with all eagerness! These works we must do are no curse! They are a gift of God to us, as much a matter of His grace and love as our salvation. It is a great privilege for us to be allowed such intimate involvement with our Creator. He is entrusting us with these tasks. He could far more easily do it Himself. He's more than able. Yet, He is willing, indeed pleased, to leave the task to us, to allow our participation in His great work. What an honor! Why should it require coaxing for us to accept what our God offers us? If we know Him to be a good God, who cares for us, provides for us, loves and protects us, what hesitation can we have towards doing what He asks of us?
Lord God, I know that all too often I have despised the gift of works You place before me. I know that I have failed to keep in mind that You are Lord of all, not just the church part, not just the work part, but all. I have become lax in pursuing the good I can do at home, refusing the labors in large part, and I must ask Your forgiveness. Holy Spirit, You have done so much to help me correct this in my work habits, though I still have far to go there, as well. Would You, then, work with me on this frontier as well? Help me to break off this habit of laziness which seems to take hold of me as I walk through the doors of my house. Help me to look upon the things I can do to help my wife, my child, my neighbor, as a work prepared for my doing by You, my loving Savior. Remind me of Your assignments for me, my King. Keep me mindful of Your purpose behind the mundane things of the day.
And, Holy Trinity, I ask that You be with me through this day. I know the stresses that are likely to come, and I know how my flesh is inclined to react. There will be many opportunities to display pride, many opportunities to be critical, angry, and offensive. Help me, Lord, to hold my peace, the peace You have given me, in the midst of these trials. Help me to do all that is needful today as unto You. Be manifest in me, Holy One, let me be the calm amidst the storm, the peace amidst turmoil, that You might be pleased in me today. God, it's been a weakness in me of late, and I've neglected to seek my Helper to come to my side. I'm sorry. I know You've been waiting to come help, and I ask that You do so this day. Come help, Lord. Be my Peace today, my Strength, and my Wisdom. Empower me, Lord, to keep my words and my actions becoming to one who serves in Your courts. Let my actions today show as fruits of the root of grace by which You have planted me. Let me stand up as a sapling in Your groves, a fruitful branch upon the vine of Your holiness.
If we are set on pursuing this course God has set us, we must understand the vile power of the tongue. James saw it. Here was the primary tool by which we praise our God, and declare His holiness; yet at the same time, almost in the same breath, we turn that tool towards the task of tearing at our fellows. This simply is not right for the Christian. We are not to be on the attack towards any man. Period. This concerns far more than simply keeping our hands under control, it involves keeping our tongue under control. Further, understanding that what the tongue speaks is but a reflection of the heart, we must learn to have our hearts under control, filled by the Spirit, and emptied of our former ways. Verbal sniping, talking down the abilities of another, dismissing his accomplishments as trivial, any way in which we might express ourselves in regard to another that are targeted at diminishing or damaging his reputation, have no place with us. We cannot participate in that game any longer.
In refraining from such behaviors, we do no more than reflect God's own treatment of us. Here is One who, when looking upon our lives and our accomplishments, has every right and reason to dismiss them as meaningless. Here is One who, when looking at our righteousness, our attempted holiness, has every reason to laugh with derision. But He does not do these things He looks at us as upon His own children, calls us His own children, and praises our efforts, such as they are, as any parent will praise the works of their children. More than this, He lays out other tasks for us to put our hands to, tasks He knows we can handle and handle well. By these, He builds our confidence, both in ourselves and in Him. By these, He trains us.
The other issue with this game of verbal assault is that it so often leads to presumption. We presume the knowledge that is God's alone, the knowledge of a man's heart, his inner motivations. I watched this play out at a luncheon at work recently. The character and worth of one who was not at the luncheon, but familiar to all there, was under the communal microscope. Funny how this kind of examination in absentia seems to be reserved for those who are disliked for one reason or another. At any rate, the discussion turned to whether this person knew how he came across, cared how he came across, had any intention of changing his ways. There were discussions of how he could be so proud of a particular joke he had made at his own expense. There were discussions of how his wife could put up with such a one as himself. Probings. Assumptions of knowing the inner working of this man who was seen but for short periods by any person there. Assumptions of knowing the motive behind his joke, the man behind the face he happened to show his corporate colleagues.
This is common in the world. It is not to be found among us. We are called to a better way, to love our neighbor, to do every possible good to our neighbor. We are called to be a help to him materially, and a support to his good name and reputation. We may have succeeded in not participating in the tearing down of his name. I was able to do this much at the luncheon of which I write. Yet, we are called to more than this. It is not enough to remain silent. Ours is the task of seeing the best in our acquaintances that can possibly seen. We already know all men are sinners, ourselves included. We already know that there is none good, ourselves included. While this is not an excuse for us to behave in the same fashion as those around us devoid of Christ's light, it is sufficient reason for us to seek the best in them, to speak the best we can of them; even as our beloved Brother speaks of us to our Father in heaven. Love for our neighbors requires that we 'accentuate the positive,' as the old song used to say. In this, we do no more than follow the example of our Teacher, show ourselves to be true sons of our Father.
Our Teacher, our Christ, was always doing good. Wherever He went, whomever had a need, whenever the occasion presented itself, if there was a good to be done for God's glory, He would do it. In a word, He was prepared. The call for His followers is to be likewise prepared to do the good works. This is a key matter. Only if we keep ourselves prepared will we actually do them. How often have we faced a situation and only in retrospect realized what we ought to have done? 'Oh! I should have said this. Oh! I should have done that. Oh! I remember the answer to that test question, now.' These are not the sounds of preparedness, these are the sounds of regret; all the moreso when the regrets are a response to our labors in the kingdom of God.
How, then, do we hold ourselves in this state of preparedness? How can we be ready 'in season and out' to not only preach the Gospel, but to live the Gospel, to do the Gospel? To be prepared for the doing of those good things God prepares for us to do, we must be prepared for holiness, prepared for life in His presence; for we can do no good without Him, and He will not abide in a temple that has not been consecrated for His use. That consecration is holiness, and within the thoughts of this passage, as well as among the commentaries upon this passage, I find three issues that address this preparation for holiness.
First on the list is the humility of which this passage speaks. Another way to describe this condition is having no pridefulness. Here, I must say that it is not an issue of pride. We ought to act in such ways as we can be proud of, we ought to perform our labors in a way that shows we take pride in what we do. That is good and acceptable. What is wrong is being prideful. What is wrong is being filled with the wonder of ourselves. It's not us. There is no good in us, and there is nothing good we can do unless He works within us to do it. This is every reason to take pride in what good we do do, because those good works give evidence of He who indwells us, who has chosen to work through us! At the same time, it leaves us with absolutely no cause for being prideful. It is no longer we who live and do, but Christ who lives in us, God who is at work within us both to will and to do those good works He prepared beforehand for us to do.
It is a sad comment on the depth of our corruption that this pridefulness is still found in the Christian, and not only is it found there, it is found related to the very gifts of God in the Christian! "There is nothing," Calvin writes, "to which the disposition of every man is more prone than to despise others in comparison of himself." We want to be better than others in some regard, we are a people forever caught up in showing ourselves to be the best at whatever the thing at hand is. We are capable of going to ridiculous extremes to show this primacy of self. Indeed, as Calvin has pointed out, it often becomes a matter of downplaying the abilities of everybody else until ours begin to at least look good by comparison. This is the poison of pride.
This is the poison of the modern tendency to promote self esteem and image over honesty and reality. It's all about feeling good about yourself. Sadly, in many cases the only way to feel good about ourselves is to make everybody else look worse than we are. This forces a downward spiral of morality, in the end, as each of us seeks to lower the standard of excellence to something slightly lower than our own level. It's a limbo-bar morality: how low can you go?
The same issue hits us in the church today, especially where it is a church active in the gifts of the Spirit. How easy it is for God's children to fall into the foolishness of comparing gifts one with another. It was an issue in Corinth. It remains an issue today. Sure, you may speak in tongues, but I prophesy, clearly that's more important! Oh, you may read your Word and study, but I spend hours a day praying. Oh, I know you pray, too, but this is intercessory prayer we're talking about! This is praying unceasing for hours on end, can't you see that what I'm doing in that is far better than what you do? WAKE UP! This isn't gifting, this is pridefulness - pridefulness in the gifts of God! Go back and read what Paul was saying to the church in Corinth, to the church of today. We are not all called to the same task, nor ought we to be. We are not all given the same talents, nor ought we to be. The foot serves the body as fully as the nose. The little toe is as critical to the overall health of this human organism as is the eye. Is there cause for the eye to take pride in doing what it was designed to do? Is there cause for the toe to lord it over the rest of the body and demand that everybody else should do what it does?
Pride is evidence of passions that remain unbridled. It is evidence that the self-control to which Paul exhorted us in the previous chapter has not yet come into being within us. It is a sign that we still not prepared, either for holiness, or for the doing of the good works God has set for us to do. Self-control: The passions regulated by reason, and reason regulated by the Spirit. This is where we are called to be, what we are called to display towards our fellow man. Unbridled passions lead to a severity in our treatment of others.
Truth be told, it is a matter I still battle with constantly. I saw it rise up just yesterday, as I worked amidst many engineers laboring to bring a new chip to 'life.' Oh! How those feelings of superiority rise up! Oh, how easy it is to begin dismissing others whose understanding of the issue appears to be lacking! Oh, how easy it is to insist that we are right, only to find one whose knowledge is greater than ours knows that our brilliant deduction is absolutely wrong. Oh! How pride is humbled by these circumstances. See it go off to a corner to lick its wounds! How much better, how much better, oh my soul, had we held ourselves prepared for holiness. How much better, had we recalled our duty and our God. How much better if we, like our Teacher, had walked through in humility, given each person the respectful hearing that is their due, and allowed wisdom to show itself before speaking our own ignorance!
Oh, God! Forgive me for my foolishness. You know how long this battle has raged You know how quickly I forget the war, how often I slip back into this self confidence above and beyond what is justified. Why, Lord? Why do I continue to be so frustrated by certain folks, so upset by what appear to be displays of ignorance? Why do I still hold on to this acerbic nature, this tongue that speaks in caustic humor, cynicism, and criticisms? This is nothing but a lack of self-control in me, a raging to be recognized for my greatness. Yet I am nothing. There is no greatness in me, there is nothing of worth except what You have renewed in me, and what is that of me? It's all been You.
Father, I return to that scene of failure today, that place of intellectual exercise in the extreme. I return to an environment of bright men under pressure. Keep me mindful, oh God, that each man there is just as sharp as myself, if not sharper. Keep me respectful, Lord, in my dealings with every man. Guard my tongue today, Father, that all I say may be to the encouragement of those working with me, that all I do would show respect for those working with me. Let the words of my mouth be pleasing to You today, Lord, as I walk through the trial. Walk with me, remind me that You are beside me. Be God my Peace, today.
Another side of humility lies in our reaction to being wronged, whether that wrong is real or only perceived. We can look at David for a good picture of what our reaction ought to be. Though he was hunted by Saul, chased from house and home, having done nothing to deserve such treatment, yet he refused to take his revenge on Saul when opportunity presented itself. He left it where it belonged, it God's capable hands. He recognized that vengeance was God's concern, even as he was God's concern. In his behavior towards Absalom, he showed this same understanding of what humility before the Lord means. It means seeking to be like the One we worship. It means that we must be as slow to anger and as prepared to forgive as God is. In spite of Absalom's attempt to take over the kingdom, David was ready to forgive him, willing to let him have the kingdom rather than bring about his death. He wisely left it to God to determine the outcome, and great was his sorrow when his son was killed.
What is our reaction to the petty wrongs of our daily lives? Do we forgive and forget? Do we allow these things to steal our peace? Do we seek ways to get even? The path of the holy is clear. Turn the other cheek, give him also your shirt, forgive seventy times seven, seven times in the same day, if necessary. Don't be a doormat, but don't leave your passions in control either. Trust that God will avenge what truly needs avenging, and know that He often works on the hearts of the bitterest enemies to bring about the strongest friendships. I've seen it happen. May I never forget the power of God in a life, the wisdom of God in His dealings with His children!
Along with humility comes the characteristic of obedience. Insistence on our own way is just another shade of pridefulness. It's passion uncontrolled, desire leading the show. This is not for us. We are to be obedient, and obedient in a heartfelt way. It should be our lifeblood to seek the proper fulfillment of our proper place in the organizations of our life. In matters of government, be submitted. In matters of the Church, be submitted. In matters of the house, be submitted. In matters of society, be submitted. Joyfully fulfill your purpose in each of these situations by knowing your place in the ranks, knowing your purpose in that place, and doing it with a cheerful heart.
If this seems hard - when this seems hard - we have a word of encouragement. Recall that one of our commentators pointed out that grace is the root of holiness, and good works are the roots. Let us, then, add to that image. A submitted spirit is the thing that brings the sustenance of grace up from the roots into the fruit. It is out of a submitted spirit that spiritual fruits grow. Only through a submitted spirit can grace find a pipeline to bring health and growth to this new creation. If we do not walk in this orderly obedience, it is not unlike having a clogged artery in the spirit. We are asking for a spiritual coronary if we continue on such a path. But, there is a simple surgery of the spirit which will clear out the arteries and allow the lifeblood of grace to flow once more. Its called submission, humbling ourselves before the Lord our God, and accepting His commands, doing His commands, living as He requires. How else can we expect to be holy as He is holy?
We are also called, in this passage, to avoid quarreling or, as the JFB points it out, not to insist on our rights above all other things. Adam Clarke allows that civil rights are indeed a thing to be jealously guarded, but never should this guard action be used as reason for violence. One wonders if he had the newly formed United States in mind as he wrote of this. The war for independence in America had at least a part of its roots in religion, in deeply held and recently exercised religion. That war came on the heels of what became known as the Great Awakening, a period when the rigidity of church polity was being challenged, when the emotional experience was finding its place alongside the well reasoned rhetoric of tradition. Finding themselves possessed of this new liberty in the spirit, men began to hunger for a nation whose political realities matched this spiritual reality more closely. The groundwork was laid for revolution.
Yet, Mr. Clarke, if indeed he is considering events in the colonies, is not far off the mark, here. It's is a questionable thing whether America was morally justified in revolting against the king of England. The situation may well have been oppressive, yet was there anything being demanded that went against the dictates of holy Scripture? The message of this passage is clear: submit to authorities, don't be the inciters of rebellion. Elsewhere, in looking at passages in Romans which speak to the issue of civil authority, it was noted that the point at which we can cease to obey with a clear conscience before God is when obedience can not be given with a clear conscience. There is no middle ground, here. It is right to adhere to the dictates of government so long as those dictates do not require us to disobey our highest Authority.
We are, as was noted in that study, participants in a covenant relationship with our governing bodies. So long as they uphold the terms of that covenant, we ought to consider ourselves bound by oath - an oath given before God - to comply with the very same covenant. God takes covenant seriously, even when we do not. In His estimation, all covenant relationships are a reflection on His glory, for all oaths are taken in sight of His witness, whether they choose to acknowledge His witness or not. As a people in covenant relationship with our God, we should understand this better than any, we should reflect this understanding better than any. It is, after all, part of our preparations for holiness. In the day of His return, such obedience, such submission of personal will to His perfect will, will be required of all who would enter into His kingdom. It will be required, yet it will be the willing act of each who so submits, the fulfillment of their joy and happiness, to be so submitted to the King of kings. Others will also submit, we are told, but not so willingly. It's not going to be a question of submitting, that will be beyond question when He comes. The question will be how was that submission given, with joy and gladness, or with grudging acknowledgement of the impossibility of doing otherwise?
So, Mr. Clarke allows us the right to guard our civil rights, so long as it is done in peaceable fashion. Mr. Henry puts it thusly, "Natural desire of liberty must be guided and bounded by reason and scripture." I suspect that if we were to truly allow our desire for liberty to be bounded by Scripture, we would find ourselves almost thoroughly unconcerned about these matters of civil rights. So much of what has been fought for under this banner has nothing to do with honest 'rights' any more, it's about entitlements, payments for sufferings so far past that they have nothing to do with either the payer or the payee any longer. We are told about our right to health care, our right to unemployment compensation should we find ourselves out of work, our right to reasonable prices on the goods and services we require. Shoot, we are insistent upon our right to drive large, uneconomical vehicles at whatever speed we desire. We insist on our right to every possible luxury, the filling of every desire of our heart.
None of these are issues of rights, they are an insisting on sharing in certain privileges. They are lust and desire screaming a tantrum, insisting on being satiated. Society, at this stage in the game, has grown used to having their tantrums answered by the government giving in. What governing parent of this great nation would dare to stand up and refuse an entitlement to their constituents? It would end their careers! Never mind that their constituents are being bled to death by the leeches of entitlement. They'll be fat, dumb, and happy so long as they get some portion of the proceeds back, however much less it may be than what they paid in.
What of the Church in general? We have had decades of the Church voicing its concerns over abortion. Assuredly, it is quite right of the Church to voice concerns over the same sin for which Canaan was destroyed. However, I would have to agree with Mr. Clarke that this cannot be allowed to become cover for violent rebellion. Assuredly, this is a heinous crime, that such inhumanity against humanity is made legal, even promoted. But, does it require us to walk contrary to God's word? That's a little more uncertain to me. Certainly, if we were required by law to have an abortion ourselves, such as occurs in China, I would see firm grounds for disobedience. That would be insisting that we act contrary to the law of God. If we are required to pay into funds used to promote such matters, are we truly on solid footing to refuse? What was the government like when Jesus instructed Israel to give unto Caesar what was his? Did he say to do it only if you happen to agree with all of Caesar's programs? Not as I read it.
If there is a place in the present day for Christian activism against the government, it is more appropriate that they concern themselves with a judiciary which consistently declares that freedom of religious expression is a breech of the constitution that guarantees that very freedom. Over and over, they allow the removal of displays of Christian faith on the grounds that they must maintain the separation of church and state. Look, the only separation of church and state which the constitution ever established was that there must not be an official national church requiring that all who would participate in government have membership in that church. It was a rejection of the model then current in the church of England, as well as in most European nations, where any church other than the denomination of government choice was illegal. Nowhere is there the suggestion that our political leaders, our judges, our schools, or any other institution of government must be as devoid of religious expression as the Soviet system established in Russia. A quick look at the older buildings of our capitol city should make that fairly clear.
The nation was founded as a Christian nation, regardless of what historians seek to propound today. It was founded as Christian, but by the time of its nationhood, this had become a more inclusive Christianity than was known in most corners of the west. The nation was founded to allow the coexistence of Presbyterian and Congregationalist, Puritan and Quaker, Catholic and Protestant. In whatever form the conscience pursued its faith in God, it was welcome. Even when heretical views denying the triune nature of our God were brought into the church, the nation and the church allowed it, to the church's detriment. Under the same protection which was intended to allow our choice of denomination, man religions which would have been intolerable to the founders have found acceptance on these shores.
Yet, over the course of years, definitions have been allowed to change. We have created a judicial which happily interprets the 'living document' of the constitution for us, apparently on the assumption that we can't understand English well enough ourselves. In this, they have truly made breech in their covenant, declaring constitutional whatever fits the mood of the court at a particular point in time. It is no longer a question of what the constitution declares, but solely a question of what the majority of judges wish it would declare. So, we find lower court judges being reprimanded for daring to display their faith. We find atheists succeeding in having mention of God struck from the Pledge of Allegiance. We find ourselves in a nation where it is acceptable for national figures to express their faith, so long as it isn't Christian faith, where it's acceptable to teach kids any religion you like in the government funded schools, so long as it isn't Christian religion.
Here is government displayed in breech of its covenant terms, yet so few are concerned over it. Here is the one place where Christians clearly have reason to stand up and insist that we will speak the word of God, that we will obey the clear word of God, rather than man. Here is the precedent of Peter in Jerusalem applied to the present day. Then, it was the official state church of Israel. Today, it is an American government that would establish itself as the official state church of the United States by deciding whose voice can be heard when. When will we rise up and reclaim the truth? When will we begin to reject the erosion of faith, the teaching of falsehood, the inculcation of atheism that hides itself behind the veil of constitutional separations?
One more thing should be explored before leaving these verses, a matter brought up by Matthew Henry. This whole book, it seems, focuses on the preaching role of the pastor. It's all about doctrine and order. What is the pastor's role in this? To remind the people of what God has declared, to bring God to remembrance. That's it. Nothing more is required in teaching. There is no need for fancy inventions of the intellect, no need for reviews of current events, just the simple and straightforward proclaiming of our very present God and the words He has given us to guide us.
However, preaching is not the sole task of the pastor, nor is it the sole occasion for bringing things to remembrance. A large portion of the pastor's time ought to be devoted to prayer, far and away more than is likely to be spent in teaching. In all that time, the pastor's role is to reverse the mission of preaching. He has brought God to the people's remembrance, now, in the time of prayer, he brings the people to God's remembrance. How thankful we should be to have pastors such as Paul! Here was a man whose letters are filled with notes that He was praying daily for the people of this church, praying always for the people of that church, praying without ceasing for those in yet another church. As many churches as may have been established by his labors, I doubt not that he daily prayed for all who were in each of those churches, constantly bringing them before the throne of God, reminding God of their presence in the family and of their needs. It's a wonder he had time to write, with all the matters of prayer he covered each day! Yet, by having his attention on the kingdom of God first and foremost, he was enabled to do all that needed doing and more.
What a comfort, as I said, to know yourself to be under a pastor of similar care. What a comfort to know that your shepherd prays daily for your concerns. Surely, we ought also to pray daily for his. Surely, if we would have the security of fellowship and the communion of saints, our prayers ought to be the more unceasing on behalf of our shepherds. Let us, one and all, devote ourselves to prayer as the early church was devoted to prayer, each taking up this pastoral role on behalf of one another and on behalf of our leadership. After all, we are called to be a chosen nation of priests. Isn't it time we performed the tasks of our priestly position?
Father, indeed I do bring my pastors before You today. Consider them, my God, the labors they pursue for Your glory, the challenges they face. Consider them, my God, and surround them with Your strong tower, fill them with Your peace and grace, that they may deal with us sheep in godly fashion. Bless them with wisdom to teach only Your word, to preach and admonish and exhort us until we together come to full maturity.
Lord God, I pray also for those others who serve in the leadership of our congregation. Give them a heart to devote themselves to seeking Your face, to hearing Your voice. Fill them with Your wisdom, that their counsel will be sound. Keep them by Your strong arm, that they may walk in Your ways, and stand up as examples for all to follow. I pray for all who are serving in the ministries of this church, that their service will not end with the end of service, but will truly be a lifestyle. In this, I include myself, Holy One, for I know how easily I slip and fail. I pray for those in the worship ministry, that worship will truly become our lifestyle. I pray for those in the ministries of dance and drama, that they will be free from the taint of performer's pride, that they will hold the talents with which You bless them in all purity and devotion to Your purpose. I pray for all who teach, be it in the home or in the training of our youth, that You will keep their teaching true and sound, that You will give them the words which they are to speak to make Your ways clear to those who listen. Help them, Holy Spirit, to tune their message to their hearers, as Paul did, as Jesus did. I pray for those actively evangelizing in the streets and parks of the city, that You will bless the fruit of their labors. Guide them and protect them, my King, as they serve on the front lines. Give them cause to rejoice with shouts of great joy to know themselves used as vessels of Your great power. Let the walls resound with the sounds of rejoicing to see those they have reached coming out of the darkness and into Your marvelous light. I pray also for those who have taken on the challenges of discipling. Let them be steadfast in establishing those new to Your ways in the new life You have brought them into. Give them hearts of compassion for the challenges of guiding these young converts into a greater fullness. Finally, my Lord, I pray that You bring us to unity of purpose in Your service. Let all be knit together in this body You have called the Church, that each member may do its part, and do it with the excellence that Your gifts empower. Oh! Truly, we shall do great things in Your name as You bring us to that place of kingdom focus! May Your name be praised among the nations!
