My Dear Shepherds,
We work as subcontractors, you might say, at a construction site. Maybe that would be clearer if someone stretched a chain-link fence around the church property and required everyone arriving on Sundays to wear yellow hard hats.
“As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. (Luke 6:4-48)
Jesus’ sermon, recorded by Luke, was hardly seeker friendly. “Blessed are you when people hate you…. Love your enemies…. You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye….” Hear those words and put them into practice! Of course, Jesus spoke welcoming words too, like “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” He fulfilled all of Scripture, and he himself was The Word, embodying all that the gospel offers. All of these, put into practice, prepare us for the flood.
Ever since Pentecost, the Lord has called and positioned subcontractors like us to help listeners both hear and do his Word. As Jesus’ disciples ourselves, we lay our own foundation, of course, but we also live in the trenches with his followers helping them to dig down deep to put his words into practice.
We are in league with Paul, who told the Ephesian elders, “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” Like him, we are “servants of Christ… entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.” Week after week, in sermons, classes, counseling, leadership meetings, and coffee conversations, we are his Wordworkers. We help our brothers and sisters see how profoundly essential Scripture is “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Through our teaching, prayer, and example, we also help them excavate their own hearts through the humbling honesty of repentance. We help them discover their deep hunger for God and his grace. We help them uncover the gift of faith the Holy Spirit has given them as well as the desire he has implanted within their hearts to love and obey the Lord.
We give ourselves to this work because we know that these beloved people live on a flood plain. Sooner or later, their lives will be tested by the torrent. Temptations certainly. Trials surely. Doubts undoubtedly. And death absolutely.
Perhaps you minister to people who want “deep preaching,” by which they mean deep dives into exegetical, theological details. Fine. But what is crucial is that they themselves have “dug down deep” to embed unshakeable love, trust, and obedience to God in their hearts, sufficient to withstand the torrent.
I’m humbled when I hear fellow believers talking about their consistent Bible reading and about devotional books they love, how they love their church and pastor, and how they pray. On Sundays when I’m not preaching, I love to watch them listen to our pastor’s message. I see them nodding and taking notes. I hear them singing truth deep into their hearts.
Recently, as I preached from Rev. 7 about the white-robed multitude around the throne of God and the Lamb, I saw believers moved like homesick pilgrims. I saw children learning of their homeland and those whose lives have been hard, wiping tears from their eyes. And I was grateful again to be called to help them lay their foundations.
Be ye glad!
