By Robert Halsey Pine
“Now 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, make 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.” (Hebrews 13:17-25 NRSV).
What a “pen pal” this St. Paul is. What a mentor and coach he is. This man is focused. He follows his brothers and sisters to the grave tryng to inject them with the good news in Christ Jesus. He never gives up his ministry to others in Christ. He’s at the grinding wheel day and night. He goes until he is himself ground up. He has seen the Lord and he will not let us go another step without sharing his joy and prodding us in the right direction.
What a friend we have in Paul that he keeps reminding us of our truest friend, Christ Jesus. Paul connected villages, towns, cities, countries and continents without a phone or e-mail, or regular mail, for that matter. And he did much of his communicating while he was in jail. If you don’t think that God wants His message out, take a look at St. Paul’s life. We are all called to sainthood. We are all called to be Christian leaders. Why do we sell ourselves short?
We have an eternal blood covenant with the Lord. There are no better deals than that. The natural world can’t duplicate it, although some would like you to believe that they can. If we haven’t really sought the Lord, how can we know the blessing that we are missing? There must be an act of faith on our part. We take risks in our natural world lives. What do we have to lose in stepping out in Christ Jesus? Like St. Paul, we must first see the Lord and then we must tell every human that we touch about His love and grace.
St. Matthew tells us of Christ’s great commissioning of us (28:18-20 NRSV). Jesus tells the disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” St. Paul is our model, but we must each seek the Lord and pass on His love and promise in our own unique way. As we have been instructed: “Find a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ.” Paul culled no one in his mission for the Lord, and he was at it every day of his new life.
Robert Halsey Pine was born at Newark, Ohio in 1943. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and completed the program of Theological Education by Extension: Education for Ministry, School of Theology, the University of the South.