Tag: Romans

Laboring for the King

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
Romans 1:1 (ESV)

Any menial task, when given by the king of heaven, becomes a heavenly trust.

Paul opens his most significant letter with a most insignificant title: servant. In any circumstance, most of us would be hesitant to proudly proclaim such a title. It is of the humblest of positions. The lowliest of all posts. To be the servant is to have the least agency, the least freedom, the least opportunity for creativity, the least honor, the least recognition, the least chance of promotion, the least, the least, the least.

It is curious, that in a society such as Rome, a society that placed such value on position and honor, that Paul would begin his letter by taking on a title of shame. He is immediately subverting the cultural mores.

Why? Because for Paul, to be a servant of Christ Jesus supersedes any earthly title or post. Later, he makes it explicit: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel,” he says (Romans 1:16). In Paul’s mind, even the lowest place in Christ’s kingdom eclipses the highest throne on earth (compare to Psalm 84:10).

What are your tasks today? What is your obligation? Whatever your job, Jesus calls you not to just do it on behalf of you or your organization, but to do it on behalf of his kingdom. In any and every position, our ultimate work is to be done unto the Lord and in his service. To do it with excellence and to do it for his glory (Colossians 3:23).

This trust is a sweet gift in a world of tiring toil. Our labor is not for ourselves, but for the King. What could be better than that?

God’s Tender Walk with David’s Conflicted Heart

A few observations on the following text of David’s apparent impersonation of Harrison Ford in The Fugitive:

[Saul] pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.  And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. -1 Samuel 23:25b-29

1.  David is remarkably merciful by his insistence on not harming Saul.

By my estimation, David would be totally justified in wrenching the kingdom from Saul.  David’s been anointed king by Samuel, and his predecessor Saul has been told that he’s been sacked (though, in denial, he continues to show up at the “office.”)

Why would David refrain from taking what is rightfully his?  To some degree, his conscience can’t bear it.  He ninja-style tears a corner off of Saul’s robe to show that he means him no harm (yes, when Saul is still trying to kill him), and the realization that he ruined the man’s North Face overwhelms him (1 Sam 24:5-7).  Should he be this sensitive though?  

I’m not sure.  To me it’s David’s duty to take the throne, but it seems that, as surprising as it is to us,

2.  God is willing to work within David’s conscience.

When Saul comes up in this passage with his army against David, God could have allowed the fight to break and routed Saul and company.  To me, that would make sense.  Hubris sends the fellow into working against God and God turns it back on his head.  BOOM.  That makes for a quick, clean story.  Moral: served.  

But it didn’t go down that way.  God is tenderly raising up David, and when David feels like his conscience forbids him, God respects it and brings in the Philistines to redirect Saul away.  (Again, God can work through sin and, in fact, uses it to accomplish his purposes [Gen 50:20]).  This shows me that…

3.  Our consciences are important and should be respected.

David has a right moral (I must not harm the Lord’s anointed!), but his information is just a bit off: he’s actually the anointed one now.  But while David is still deriving the the right data and compiling, God is not going to lead David into betraying David’s conscience.  

Similar situations happen with us.  We can feel that something might be wrong, even when it is ambiguous or even totally acceptable. But when we do feel like we are breaking conscience, we should honor that feeling.  Crossing over and disobeying one’s conscience only begets more and more disobedience.  We unfortunately get used to feeling bad, and then stop feeling anything altogether.  The end result is a deadened or severely weakened conscience that we need for things like life.  That’s why Paul encourages the church members to respect one another’s arbitrary opinions:

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. – Romans 14:5

We must obey the silent murmurs and even silly apprehensions of our hearts.  They are there for a reason.  Maybe we have the wrong data, and that will work itself out eventually.  But let us be fully convinced in our own minds.

You may feel like your conscience has been so maligned by you that it is deadened beyond recovery.  Take heart.  It is not.  You, or your heart, are never beyond recovery.  Our God’s arms are never too short to reach you, nor are His healing hands ever too unskilled to restore you.