That in these gray and latter days / There may be those whose life is praise
Each life a high doxology / To Father, Son, and unto Thee.
Martin Franzmann describes our common life today, “gray and latter days,” but they also prescribe how followers of Jesus live, “each life a high doxology.” Taking a cue from the word “high,” we want to think vertically as much or more than horizontally. We tend to think of God as up, vertical, and human relations as straight ahead, horizontal. That’s natural; we’re space and time bound creatures. I, for one, need to discipline myself to think more vertically all through the day. A medieval writer, Brother Lawrence, called it “The Practice of the Presence of God.”
Farther back in history, Origen was a church father (about 185 to 253). In one sermon, he comments on Leviticus 5:5. “It is necessary for everything to be revealed, for everything to be confessed. Indeed, it is to be confessed by that one who is the accuser and inciter of sin. For now, this one urges us to sin and also accuses us when we do sin. If, therefore, in this life we anticipate him and are ourselves our own accusers, we escape the wickedness of the devil, our enemy and accuser.” This is more than Sunday morning’s general confession. This is vertical every moment, bowing my heart before the Most High and listing my sins. Do it now or wait for the devil to accuse you on Judgment Day.
In Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant, Matthew 18:21-35, a man was threatened with slavery because he couldn’t pay off a big debt. He begged the king for mercy and was forgiven, but then the blockhead went and imprisoned someone who couldn’t pay off a much smaller debt. End of the story: blockhead put in jail. Jesus is obviously teaching that the vertical, living in confession and forgiveness, impacts our horizontal relationships. That prescribes the “high doxology” of the Church “in these gray and latter days” (Lutheran Service Book, 834:4). Christians are not hesitant to say there is right and wrong, but constant awareness of our sins and forgiveness tempers our judgment about others. “Beloved, let us cleans ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
If you want a great vision of Satan accusing us, read Zechariah chapter 3.
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