There is much dichotomy in our treatment between the clergy and the laity. The Christian who takes up the call into “full-time” ministry is hailed as couragous, obedient and God-fearing. As often as he shares his challenges in ministry life, there will be people who huddle around to offer comfort and prayer because he had ‘answered God’s call’.
In contrast, the lay person is often the “forgotten” brother. He may clock a 10 hr day in a fast-paced and demanding job, rush off to church meetings at after work, and returns home to be a good husband and father to his kids in whatever spare capacity he has; yet all these are seen as “part and parcel” of the Christian life in the eyes of many. Nevermind that he is a committed disciple of Jesus, nevermind that he has obeyed God’s call to take up leadership in some capacity, nevermind even if he is so moved by the Holy Spirit to be trained in theology so that he may be a better minister of God’s Word; The Christian is still a secular employee of some secular organisation. Surely the the bible talks about the priesthood of all believers! Surely the “sacrifice” by the laity, the people who forms the vast majority of God’s servants in His kingdom, deserves much more than this!
As I was pondering upon this “unfair” practices that exist the church today, I was led to the passage in Luke 23:42-43. This is the passage where the dying thief pleaded with Jesus to remember him, a convicted and undeserving thief, when Jesus comes again in His glory. Interestingly, this account of the dying thieves were only recorded in the gospel of Luke. No other gospel writer picked it up (for whatsoever reasons!). But what we do know is, without this Lukan account, this simple faith of this thief could have been forgotten or erased from history.
It struck me that all of our lives could be easily forgotten and erased from history. We (clergy and laity) are like the pleading thief. We are undeserving of his mercy and glory. Yes we may serve, sacrifice and give our all, in response to God’s love on the cross, but what we owe to our Lord is far greater than what we can ever do. We are like the dying thief who can only plead, “remember me, dear Lord, remember me, that’ll suffice.” We are like the dying thief, easily forgotten, unless and except for Christ who will remember us in His glory.
To all the dying thieves out there, remember Jesus’s assurance to the Lukan thief “Truely I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise”. Amen!
a life xtraordinary 