Troubles

 

But what sort of shepherds are they who for fear of giving offense not only fail to prepare the sheep for the temptations that threaten, but even promise them worldly happiness? God himself made no such promise to this world. On the contrary, God foretold hardship upon hardship in this world until the end of time. And you want the Christian to be exempt from these troubles? Precisely because he is a Christian, he is destined to suffer more in this world.

For the Apostle says, All who desire to live a holy life in Christ will suffer persecution. But you, shepherd, seek what is yours and not what is Christ’s, you disregard what the Apostle says: All who want to live a holy life in Christ will suffer persecution. You say instead: “If you live a holy life in Christ, all good things will be yours in abundance. If you do not have children, you will embrace and nourish all men, and none of them shall die.” Is this the way you build up the believer? Take note of what you are doing and where you are placing him. You have built him on sand. The rains will come, the river will overflow and rush in, the winds will blow, and the elements will dash against that house of yours. It will fall, and its ruin will be great.  Source revealed beneath the break

Except for the slightly off-kilter sentence structure and the long paragraphs that don't cater to the attention-deficit, this piece could have been written last week.

As leaders, as people who have lived long enough to have seen the tumult and vicissitudes of time, it is up to us to point at the river-bed and read to the landscape.

"That sand-bar is just barely above the water-level during the dry months of summer", "The barren rocky shore on the outside of the curve was scrubbed to the bedrock by logs carried in the floods", The branches wedged between the forks in the trees were put there by high-waters", "The corrugations in the ground are ox-bows and channels cut when the water over-flowed the banks" and on, and on, and on.

The river is not a puzzle that can be twisted into submission with logic or with clever words. It is a history lesson waiting to be read by the humble.

Don't go looking for trouble. Those who do usually find it in much larger quantities than they are prepared for.

Deflect trouble when possible. The reed bends and survives the storm while the oak topples.

If trouble knocks on your door and refuses to go away. Be prepared to make trouble suffer but also be prepared for the aftermath of standing up to trouble.

Hat-tip to Coyote Ken for calling my attention to this sermon.

St Augustine of Hippo circa 400 A.D.

Full sermon HERE