He asked the Lord…

A pilgrim set out on a journey to find the congregation of God.  He asked, “Lord, where are your people?  Where are those who hold truth in high esteem, skilled in widsom and knowledge of your Word and ways?”  The Lord led him to a fortress where men of great intellect, surrounded by books from many centuries, expounded to each other the truths they understood.  But he found them proud and cold.  He wondered, “Where is the passion and the zeal that is found in the pages they study?”  So he asked, “Lord, where are your people who are zealous and passionate about the truth in your Word?”

The Lord led him to a small band of warriors who were bold to loudly proclaim the truth, and vanquish evil.  Yet they were a cruel, hard people.  They resisted those who wished to join their ranks and often ousted those who fought side by side with them.   They did not have compassion or a heart to advocate for the poor and downtrodden.  The pilgrim asked, “Lord, where are those who do the works You had done when you walked this earth?  Where are those who follow your steps to set the captives free?”

The Lord led him to see scattered servants with great love and heavy burdens on their backs.  Yet they trusted in their own arm to save, the strength of their own might.  They sought the favor and prosperity of other men to carry out the work.  The small empires within their grasp became their lords.   They worked tirelessly with little success, as a drop of rain is lost in a raging river.

“Lord,” he asked, “I know all these love you, and they are your people, but why is my heart still hungry to praise you in the congregation of the redeemed? Where are the people who see You as You are, in all your beauty, strength, faithfulness, mercy, and justice?”

The Lord took the pilgrim by the hand and kindly said, “Son, I told you the Way was narrow, and few would find it.  Now that you have known the question you needed to ask, you are ready for the answer.”  He led him to a room full of light so bright he could barely see.  Gradually his eyes focused and he could see an assembly of people so diverse that it seemed strange to find them all in one place.  Men, women, children of every race and class; rich and poor, slave and free, wise and simple.  Pilgrim asked, “What do all these have that binds them together?”

The Lord said, “They  have been refined in the fires of suffering, humbled in their weakness, yet sustained in their trust of their King.  They have loved Me above all, and each other to the death.”  As Pilgrim looked, he recognized some he had seen in his travels.. a scholar from the fortress with tears streaming down his face, a zealous woman who had taken off her armor, and an old couple who had found true rest in the works of God.  Their faces reflected His peace.

Then the Lord asked the Pilgrim, “Do you desire to join them?”  Pilgrim hung his head in shame.  ”I am not worthy to join them.  They are pure and beautiful, as You are.  Why did I think that once I found them, I could join them?”   The King answered, “They are worthy because I am worthy.  If you trust Me as they have, you will love as they love.  You have belonged here from the first moment you began to walk with Me.”

Pilgrim went back out into the land, but no longer a pilgrim, but rather an ambassador in humble service of his King, testifying of the great Love of the King, and the far country where men and angels dwell.  The congregation of the righteous in Jesus Christ.

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