We Plead With You

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

-- 2 Corinthians 6:1

Paul packed a huge amount of information in that one short sentence. It contains an overall plea not take lightly the wonderful gift God has given us, but also several other messages of equal importance. Let's take this apart and try to get all the goodness out of it we can.

Although this verse comes to us from Second Corinthians, many Bible scholars consider this to actually be Paul's third letter to the church in Corinth, the second being long since lost and not included in the scriptures. Remember that Paul started the church in Corinth and stayed there for nearly two years, eventually turning it over to the young disciple Timothy. The first letter addressed issues Paul saw arise in the church after he left it. The second is suspected to be a scathing reply to the church as they failed to heed Paul's cautionary message in the first letter. Perhaps this message carried a little too much emotion or fire, or maybe it was too narrowly focused so as not to be suited for the universal audience that the Bible was intended, and that is why it has been lost to us. Whatever the reason, the text of Second Corinthians seems to indicate a previous letter was delivered, received, and acted upon by the church members and that they now were following Paul's instructions. This third letter was then to let them know they were doing the right thing but that they should now forgive the offender that caused so much trouble before and allow him back into the church.

In this verse, when Paul uses the word "we", he could be directly referring to himself and Timothy, and possibly including Titus, another disciple who served as messenger in carrying these letters, or he could be implying all of us, the entire body of Christ left on earth, His whole church. In either case, it is clear he considers this message important enough that he shows that others are in agreement with the plea, that others share the concern of the message. We plead with you, not just myself but my friends and colleagues also, and maybe the entire church. We all care about you and want you to be pleasing to God.

And who are we? We are workers, together, with Him. Those four words, workers together with Him, should make everyone who tries to follow Christ's example fall humbled to their knees and swell up with pride both at the same time! We are workers. We don't simply sit on the sidelines watching, we don't lean on a shovel while others toil, we don't sit at the table waiting to be fed while others toil in the field. We are workers. We work together. Two can accomplish more together than they could ever effect alone, and many working together, united as one, with one common goal, can show truly wondrous results from their efforts. We not only work together, friends side by side, but we also work with Him, with Christ, with God. We don't work _for_ Christ, we work _with_ Him. He toils right alongside us. Doesn't that fill you with pride, that the God of all creation would be willing to work right beside you in the fields of humanity to harvest souls? But doesn't that also humble you, to know that our risen Savior would so lower Himself to labor with you?

Paul cared so much about the church in Corinth that it was important to him that they not think he was trying to tell them what to do, even though he was. Too much was at stake for them to turn a deaf ear. Too great was his love for the people, the congregation, that they ignore advice. So what could he do but beg them to listen? When we pray, we should always remember to thank God for all He gives us, but we also almost always ask for something we or our loved ones need. We plead with Him, please Father help us in this trial. It was in this manner that Paul addressed the church in his letter: he wanted them to understand he was praying, that he was pleading with them. By extension, he and the other disciples and all of the church of our Lord are pleading with all of us to heed this message, to pay attention to these words.

And that message is to caution us not to receive the grace of God in vain. How can we receive God's grace in vain? Everyone who has ever given a gift to an unappreciative recipient can answer this. Have you known someone who takes the gift and squanders or wastes it to where they get little or nothing from it in the end? They have received that gift in vain, for it did them no good. God's grace is the most wonderful, beautiful gift anyone could ever receive. It is given freely to everyone, yet deserved by none. Nothing we could possibly do would ever merit such a gift, no amount of gold could ever equal its worth. The price of the gift has already been paid, at horrendous cost: the blood of our pure and living Savior. This is a gift not to be taken lightly, a treasure not to be squandered wastefully, but one to be savored and rejoiced over, one to be shared with everyone we come across, one made perfect on the cross. That gift is our salvation, our freedom from death, a life of eternity spent at the foot of our Lord.

Thank Paul for his insistent warning. Thank God for His grace and faithfulness. Amen.

Your Servant Hears

Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

-- 1 Samuel 3:10

When Samuel was a young man, he studied under Eli, an established prophet and teacher among the Israelites. God seldom spoke directly to people in this period. In fact, the third chapter of First Samuel starts out by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation." (1 Samuel 3:1b) So when God called out to Samuel in the night, he mistook the voice as being that of his teacher Eli summoning him. So he got up and ran to Eli, eagerly saying "Here I am, for you called me." (1 Samuel 3:5b) Of course it was not Eli that called, and he told Samuel so. After repeating this little performance three times, Eli finally realized that it was God calling Samuel, so he instructed the boy in what to say if he should hear the voice again. Sure enough, God called Samuel yet again, and more insistently. This time Samuel knew it was the Lord thanks to Eli and answered "Speak, for Your servant hears." (1 Samuel 3:10c)

We again find ourselves in a period in history where God seldom speaks directly to His people. Since God came down to earth to walk among us as Jesus Christ then ascended once again into heaven, we have little written record of authority of anyone hearing God's voice after the Apostles. Saul clearly heard God when struck blind on the road to Damascus. And John was "in the Spirit" on the Lord's Day while in exile on the island of Patmos when he heard a loud voice that related to him the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But generally we tend to question the sanity of anyone who claims that God had spoken to them, especially if they accompany that claim with some act they were instructed to carry out.

Yet how many of us have not felt as if God indeed talked to us? This sensation comes not necessarily in a voice one can hear with their ears, with sound waves compressing the air and carrying their message to and through our eardrums. Do we not have a fairly common saying in our culture about "our calling", often as regards "fulfilling our calling" or "practicing our calling" or the like? Do we not talk to God each time we pray?

But talking is not quite the same as communicating. Good communication requires that we talk and then listen for a response. When we pray, do we really expect an answer? We should, but we must listen for God's reply. We should remain still and silent so we can sense God's voice, His call. When God speaks to us, He waits for our response, for our answer.

God may not shout our names out loud in the middle of the night (although He certainly might). He may simply whisper to us in the rustle of leaves, the soft murmur of a baby, the constant beat of waves upon the shore. Whenever the time, whatever the purpose, whichever the means, our God and Master will call out to us. Will we ignore His pleadings for our attention, or will we humbly respond as Eli instructed Samuel?

Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.

Amen.

Give Unto the Lord

"Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength."

-- Psalm 29:1 (NKJV)

David first came onto the Biblical scene as a young lad who looked after the family's sheep. God looked into his heart and commanded Samuel to anoint him as a chosen of God. Shortly afterwards, God used David and the skill with a sling he learned while watching over the sheep to slay the giant Goliath and free the Israelites from a great threat. David grew, learned many things, increased in power and influence, strayed from the Lord's side, eventually found his way back to God, and eventually became the greatest king of the descendants of Abraham and a direct ancestor of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Warrior, poet, king. When he penned this chapter in his book of Psalms, none were more mighty than he.

Perhaps it was through his trials and travails, because of his straying from God before realizing his great mistake and returning to bow at our Father's feet, that he came to understand that even the mightiest man is still just that: a man. No matter what he could accomplish, no matter how many armies he could defeat, no matter how eloquent the words he could pass down for the ages, he could never come close to matching the power of God, and he knew this with certainty. He had fallen and only God's wonderful grace and mercy had picked him up and allowed him to stand once again.

David is accustomed to having his commands obeyed without question, but here you can almost hear him beseeching us to listen to his words, to follow his advice. He pleads with us to give to God all glory.

But who does David address this command, this plea? He says it clearly: "O you mighty ones". The meek, the humble, those who are used to having little voice in the matters of the world tend to already heed this call. They understand that God is the greatest power and they readily bow down to Him. They know how good and gracious He is, for without His mercy they would perish. But the mighty ones, the powerful rulers of the earth, too often forget just where their power originates. They credit themselves and their own efforts with their successes. They feel that the might of their arms give them the right of rule. Who should they bow before? No one! David cautions them to think otherwise. His words shout, "Look at me, the mightiest king you have ever known! Yet even I sing praises to our Lord on high. Even I bow before God."

David also tells us to give not only all glory to God, but our strength as well. Again, he directs this primarily to the mighty ones, for the weak of his day, and ours as well, have little strength to share. But the mighty have much strength that they can bring to bear in any given situation. David admonishes them to use that strength in service to our Lord. Rather than use their might in gaining dominion over men, they should turn that power they wield into service to God.

What great things could be accomplished today if the mighty were simply to follow David's command? What if the political and economic rulers all gave God the glory and used their strengths to serve Him? It is easy for us to sit back and think these powerful and rich men should do more. But today, and especially in the free world, many of us have more power and wealth than our counterparts in David's time could have even imagined. How do we use our influence, where do we pour our dollars, on what do we exert our efforts, how do we share our talents?

David assures us that even if we fail to give God what is due Him, he will not fail us. He finishes this Psalm with a promise: "The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." (Psalm 29:11) God is ever faithful to us no matter what we do, because His love for us is deep and abiding.

To God be all glory and all strength. Amen.