“Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth, think of the
Lord in goodness and seek him with sincerity of heart; because he is found by
those who do not put him to the test, and manifests himself to those who do not
distrust him.” When you think of the
encounters Jesus had with various people in the Gospels, you see the truth of
this statement. Those who came in faith
went away whole and filled with faith while those who, like the scribes,
Sadducees and Pharisees, came with doubts, attempting to test Him, went away
with nothing, just as Mary had said in her prayer, “he has filled the hungry
with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” When we approach the Lord, we should do so
with humility and faith, with a desire to know Him on His terms, not our own. Too many scholars today go on a quest of
their own devising, bringing their skepticism and preconceptions to their work
rather than an honest and earnest desire to believe and know.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” That is a frightening idea because we have
told people, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”, exactly what
Paul wrote in Romans 10. Jesus, however,
adds a condition to the speaking, doing the will of the Father. Paul would say exactly the same thing and in
exactly the same order. Confession leads
to action. You are saved by faith but
faith necessarily brings forth fruit in keeping with faith. There are those who are workers of
lawlessness while simultaneously using the Name of Jesus as a mantra to build
up themselves. Humility and a desire to
please and exalt Jesus are the hallmarks of faith.
Leaders, shepherds, are to exercise their offices not as
ones under compulsion, doing the work simply because it is their job. They are not to do so for shameful gain, in
order to get something, money or prestige in the community. They are also not to do so in a domineering
fashion, as authorities who care not for others except as factors of production
or those who increase their numbers. All
are to be clothed with humility towards one another and towards God. Too often in our day we see haughty and
arrogant leadership who care little for those under their care and it sometimes
goes the other way around, the shepherds are treated with scorn as employees of
the church rather than servants of the Lord who are accountable first to Him
for their leadership.
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