10/18/2019 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 31:27-32:44, 1 Timothy 3:1-16, Psalms 88:1-18, Proverbs 25:20-22

Today is October 18th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we continue our journey through this week and month and year, of course. And, so, here we are around the global campfire and I hope morning or your afternoon or your evening is going well. And we have this time that no matter where we are in the world that we can come together out of the dark and be warmed by the campfire as we listen to God’s word speak to us. And that’s gonna…that’s gonna put us back into the book of Jeremiah. We have been reading from the New Living Translation this week, which is what we’ll do today. Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 27 through 32 verse 44.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we mentioned when we started first Timothy, this is one of Paul’s personal letters that are found in the Scriptures, and it’s also known as a pastoral letter because…well…it was written from the apostle Paul to his son in the faith who had been raised up in the church and had become a pastor. And, so, in today’s reading Paul sort of gave this template for church leadership and the template is also found in a similar fashion in the pastoral letter to Titus, and it’s…these templates have been used ever since. Many of the Christian denominations have their…have their own process of discernment for ordination, like their own way of doing things, but the guidelines that we read today in first Timothy are almost always a part of that process because the guidelines that Paul wrote down, some of these characteristics, some of these morals and temperaments, there in there because they’re necessary, like they’re…they’re necessary to successfully shepherd and care for God’s people. So, Paul mentions two different offices of leadership today and in our reading and the first one being pastor or priest or presbyter and the second, the diaconate or the office of the deacons. And pretty much in all cases, there’s at least an appointment, like you’re being appointed to this particular function. And in a lot of cases a person is actually ordained and commissioned to perform this office in the church. Its ordained ministry. So, the office of the pastor, which is also called a priest or presbyter or bishop or an overseer or for that matter even a president in ancient writings, is certainly one of the most worthy callings in the church, one of the most difficult callings maybe be in the world, but it's…it’s also a very unique, very complicated, complex, difficult job at times. So, a certain criteria, certain baseline temperamental and moral criteria was written down by the apostle Paul because it’s required to do this job honorably. A pastor has to watch over and care for the spiritual needs of a community but before God, answering to God. So, according to first Timothy 3, this is what a pastor is supposed to…this…this is what is essential for a pastor. “A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home. He must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle and not quarrelsome and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. And he must not be a new believer because he might become proud and the devil would cause him to fall. And people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.” Now there was another office, the office of deacon that was also talked about today. And the deacons…we saw their formation in the book of Acts, right, when the apostles were preaching, and everybody was kind of having a common…a common life together. And, so, food was being distributed, right? And, so, certain Gentiles and certain Hebrews they were like complaining that, “my crowd didn’t get as much is their crowd, my table didn’t get as much is their table.” So, deacons were formed to help in the service of God’s people. And that’s the purpose, to care for the…basically the earthbound well-being of a congregation and the different functions that community life brings. Deacons were commissioned to assist the pastor in fulfilling this calling locally. So, deacons, according to Paul, must be well respected and have integrity and they must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money and they must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. And they’re supposed to be…before they’re appointed, they’re supposed to be closely examined and if they’re affirmed then they can serve and be appointed or ordained as deacons. And their wives have to be respected and must not slander others, and they must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do, we faithful to their wives, manage their children and household well. And those who serve in this capacity will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus. So, a lot of words and a lot of criteria there in our reading today, but if you like…if you have ever wondered or sensed or felt pulled toward some type of calling and that’s leading or has led or may lead you toward ordained ministry then…well then the discernment process starts way before you ever say that out loud, way before you ever bring it forward or become what’s called an aspirant, somebody who aspires to ordained ministry. So, if…if you’re feeling pulled in that direction you should look at this criteria and look in the mirror and examine your own life because I can pretty much guarantee you that it will be examined in-depth as you go through the process. And maybe if you’ve been at a certain church or you’ve been in different churches over the years and you’ve seen people be trained and raised up into ministry…well…first Timothy three’s gonna very likely be one of the reasons that it’s done the way that it’s done. And the thing is, looking at this list, looking at what’s required, and for that matter, knowing what the job requires, these criteria, this is what you would…this is what you should expect from your spiritual leader or leaders, but also seeing what’s required here should give us a sense of honor, of course, but also a real desire to pray for our pastors and deacons. They have to live what they teach, and they have to model what that looks like in front of everybody. But the thing is, like when they were ordained or when they went through this…like…there’s nothing that makes them superhuman, like there’s nothing that changes their humanity into something else like they get something special so that they can carry out these criteria other than the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It’s no easier for them to live out their Christian faith than it is for you except for they have too…except for they have to you while they’re trying to do this, right? So, they can’t just take this criteria and try to live into it in a vacuum all by themselves. They have to do it while serving God’s people, and God’s people can be messy at times. And ordinations doesn’t lift somebody up above somebody else. And…man…I say this every year because it was so deeply pounded into me through the process that I went through myself. It's…you’re not being elevated; you’re actually signing up to become the slave of God’s people. It’s actually a step down. It’s actually a humble posture. It’s what Jesus modeled. So, it’s not like, “ooh…I get to be several steps above everybody looking down upon them because I’m standing on the platform.” It’s actually a person maybe maybe being on that platform saying I got nothing that you don’t have and I’m standing here the best I can to be an example and I can’t do it alone. And I realize that’s not always how things work. I get it, right? I mean…I have met hundreds and hundreds, maybe even…well…maybe not thousands, but many, many, many pastors along the way and I know that our culture really looks for certain things and that can definitely bring pride and arrogance. And some of the things that happen in church can really make a pastor cynical over the years. So, I get it. But what we need to do is pray for our pastors, not devour our pastors, right? Pray for those whom God has put in our lives to actually shield and protect and shepherd us. We should be praying, interceding for those people, holding their arms up, like being behind them because it’s a pretty hard, hard job. It’s a pretty difficult calling and we see people shepherding other people in the Scriptures, we see that those leaders always struggle, it’s a difficult thing to do.

Prayer:

Father, that’s where were at right now. We pray for our pastors. We pray for our priests or presbyters or whatever they’re called in the tradition and the denomination or in the church that we’re a part of. We acknowledge that they’ve been given a worthy job, a very, very important job in Your kingdom, but we don’t always realize that it’s a very, very difficult job. Often, we’re thinking, “must be nice to just be able to study the Bible all day and get paid”, when they don’t realize just how always on and never off the calling is. And, so, we pray for those in ordained ministry. Today we pray that the presence of Your Holy Spirit would be felt throughout the earth among them with a sense of encouragement and purpose and calling. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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