We live here in the mountains and I frequently get up on top
of mountains with the possibility of seeing long distances and when I do I think
about Moses on top of Pisgah, seeing the land that will be the nation's
inheritance. I can't imagine what it
would have felt like to have spent forty years tending my father-in-law's
sheep, another forty trying to lead the people and being maligned and
challenged all along the way and then seeing what might have been but for the
bad report of the spies and my own sin. In
death the people mourn the loss of this leader of whom it is written, " there
has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to
do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his
land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses
did in the sight of all Israel."
Moses may have spent all those years struggling to lead them and they
spent forty years kicking against the goads, but they revered him in the end.
The wise servant is the one who is simply doing what he was
told to do. He wasn't interested in the details
of the return of the master, he had a job to do and was engaged in that work. During
its history the church has sometimes been so preoccupied with the end times and
looking for the signs of the end that it loses its focus on ministry. I have probably had more requests to study
the book of the Revelation than all the other books of the Bible combined and
yet only here at the last of His life does Jesus mention much about these
things and then only in relatively vague but reassuring terms. The reassurance is that you aren't going to
miss seeing these things, it is as obvious as the fig tree sprouting leaves, or
in our case the dogwoods, when you see the signs you will absolutely know what
you're seeing. The only thing to do is
keep spreading the Gospel, not concern ourselves with signs of the end.
Is it enough simply to pray for our friends, neighbors and
relatives? At some point being nice
isn't enough either, we have to preach the Gospel, they need to hear the word
of Christ. The preaching of the Gospel
is an important thing but we tend to leave it to preachers and those who have
they mythical "gift of evangelism."
We are all called to be preachers of the Gospel, not just those who have
been to seminary. Seminary has a place
and purpose but all of us who have Christ Jesus as our Savior also have the ability
to preach the Gospel. The liturgical
churches, especially, should have people who are well-equipped to share, we say
each week the Nicene Creed, the outline of the faith of the church. The preaching is simply a matter of fleshing
out the outline. We need not fear, it is
the work He has given us to do and He has also given us the Holy Spirit to help
us. Ask Him today for the one thing
lacking, opportunity.
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