One of the commentators yesterday asked me why I divert everywhere and not stick to my knitting.
Well, part of reformed thinking is that we should be influencing the world around us. This originally was not a lectionary blog. It was a quite political blog, during the fading years of the last Labour government. Then I worked out that at church they were using the revised common lectionary. I started reading that, then started blogging comments on that. For anyone new: I don’t have a theological training, I’m not a leader in my church, I am laos. As Jack Kirby would say ‘nuff said.
However, at the moment, it is easier to surf around and write about general problems in NZ than think about the illnesses in the family. That is called distraction. There is less in the week, because of something called work.
However, we live in a time of trouble. This morning, the news was discussing openly a Greek default. The PM of Australia is under pressure, and I need not deviate onto what is happening in the US, or Israel, or Iran. There are many troubles in this world.
And our leaders cannot rescue us.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
This, however, does not mean that we do not have duties to our leaders: we need to obey the laws of this world whenever possible and support the leaders in our church.
17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing — for that would be harmful to you.
18Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon.
20Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
22I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you. 24Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25Grace be with all of you.
Now, we are of Christ. There is but one level of salvation, before Christ we are all equally unworthy. But there are different roles. For those of us who are laity (laos) these come down to:
Intelligent obedience. The Princes and Bishops and Pastors of the church are human and flawed. They are given a position of great responsibility. They are accountable for us: they have to watch for our souls: their job is to preach the word of the LORD, whether we want to hear it or not. We have to listen to their teaching, and live it — testing their words against scripture, yes, but doing what we are asked to do.
Prayer. The church is no democracy: truth is not a matter of votes. The ministers and elders have taken a great burden. Their wives will be put under pressure. Their children have greater temptations, for the same reason that snipers shoot the officers first. If the leadership fails, the people of God scatter, and are lost. In the world, in our natural state, this would lead to a lust for power and control, where rank has privileges. We need our leaders to be faithful. And to do this we have to be faithful in prayer.
In the end, the church is Christ’s it is not ours, and it is definitely not owned by the leaders. Christ preserves us. We stumble, like drinks, from one error into another, and Christ raises men and women who bear witness to the truth and preach correction and repentance. It is our job to live the truth, read the truth, and pray.
We may be sheep with a shepherd, who is Christ… but we are not credulous. We are not sheeple.