We Are Called. We Should Call Others

Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

and the scant measure that is accursed?

Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales

and with a bag of deceitful weights?

Your rich men are full of violence;

your inhabitants speak lies,

and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

Micah 6:10-12

We are called by God to do the right thing.

We are called by God to do the right thing when we are at work, dealing with customers, clients, and coworkers. We are called by God to do the right thing when dealing with our neighbors. We are called by God to do the right thing when raising our children.

We are called by God to do the right thing—and all too often we do not do that right thing.

We only need to turn on the evening news to see the poverty, war, suffering, and injustice that abound in the world. If we are honest with ourselves we must admit we have been called by God to rise above such evils, to make decent provision for the poor among us, to make peace and not war, and to end injustice by treating those who are suffering with mercy and compassion.

That such evils persist in the world is the measure of our failure to do the right thing.

As people, as communities, and as nations, humanity has failed to do the right thing.

I have failed to do the right thing. You have failed to do the right thing.

This is the fundamental reality of the human condition. This was pointed out by the Apostle Paul in Chapter 3 verse 9 of his Letter to the Romans, that humans are flawed, that humans are imperfect, that humans make mistakes.

We want to think of ourselves as good people living good lives, but if we step back and look at our lives honestly and unsparingly, how many mistakes might we find?

How many moments of anger have we had, where we have said something cruel or unkind to another person? If we accept Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount such moments expose us to judgement and the “hell of fire.”

How many moments of lust have we had, where we have looked desiringly on another human being, reducing their humanity to the bits with which we might find our own physical gratification? Again, Jesus taught that was no different from actual literal adultery.

How many moments of greed have we had, where we have served Mammon rather than God?

We are imperfect. We are flawed. We are fallen.

This is what it means to be human.

We also live in a world where desire begets choice, where choice begets action, where action begets reaction, and where reaction begets consequence.

There are consequences which arise from doing the right thing. There are consequences which arise from not doing the right thing.

Jesus gives us some idea of those consequences in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, in which He describes the judgment to come down upon all nations. Those people and those communities who have cared for their poor, tended to their sick, and had mercy to those who were suffering, will be received joyously into the Kingdom of Heaven. Those people and those communities who have ignored the poor, abandoned their sick, and had no mercy for those who were suffering, will be cast out, tossed into the lake of fire for all eternity.

Consequences come for us all, whether we have acted righteously or unrighteously, whether we have chosen wisely or unwisely.

There should be no surprise about this. When we fail to do the right thing, God is hardly likely to be pleased by our failure. Just as we are not pleased when our children are disobedient, God is not pleased when we are disobedient.

Nor is God likely to be pleased if we permit disobedience to exist in our midst. As we are called to do the right thing, we are called to not stand silent when others do the wrong thing. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians Chapter 8, if we are tolerant and permissive towards the sins of others, our forbearance becomes a passive validation of those sins, and thus an encouragement for such sins to continue.

God does not want sin to continue, and we should likewise not want sin to continue. We should not only desire an end to our own sinful choices, but should encourage others to make an end to their sinful choices.

We are called to do the right thing, we are called to seek out a path of righteousness, and so we are called to encourage all around us to join us on that same path. Righteousness should beget righteousness.

As God will not overlook the merchant with wicked scales and deceitful weights, so we should not overlook that same merchant, but should call out his wickedness, and put ourselves apart from his wickedness. While there must always be grace for those who repent of their wickedness and aspire to rise above it, there must never be tolerance for those who are hardened in their hearts and persist in their wickedness.

Whether we are righteous or unrighteous, saintly or sinful, one reality will always persist: our communities will always be a reflection of who we are as individuals, and what manner of people we keep around us. If we tolerate bad behavior, our communities will be rife with bad behavior. If we insist on good behavior, we will on balance obtain good behavior.

We are called by God to do the right thing. We are called by God to call on others to do the right thing.

My prayer this day is that I will not only hear God’s call to do the right thing, but that I will inspire others to do the right thing as well. My prayer this day is that I will, in all righteousness, guide people onto their own path of righteousness. My prayer this day is that I will not only rise above my own sins, but that I will succeed in encouraging others to rise above theirs.

My prayer for you this day is that you also will not only hear God’s call to do the right thing, but that you will inspire others to do the right thing as well. My prayer for you this day is that you also will, in all righteousness, guide people onto their own path of righteousness. My prayer for you this day is that you also will not only rise above your sins, but that you will succeed in encouraging others to rise above theirs.

God does not want sin to continue, and we should likewise not want sin to continue. We should not only desire an end to our own sinful choices, but should encourage others to make an end to their sinful choices.

We are called to do the right thing, we are called to seek out a path of righteousness, and so we are called to encourage all around us to join us on that same path. Righteousness should beget righteousness.

We are called by God to do the right thing. We are called by God to call on others to do the right thing.