Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Joel 2:12-13
“Abstain not from any good works, but do them. Hear, said he, what the virtue of those good works is which thou must do, that thou mayest be saved. The first of all is faith; the fear of the Lord; charity; concord; equity; truth; patience; chastity.
There is nothing better than these things in the life of man; who shall keep and do these things in their life. Hear next what follow these. To minister to the widows; not to despise the fatherless and poor; to redeem the servants of God from necessity; to be hospitable; (for in hospitality there is sometimes great fruit) not to be contentious, but be quiet. To be humble above all men; to reverence the aged; to labor to be righteous; to respect the brotherhood; to bear affronts; to be long-suffering; not to cast away those that have fallen from the faith, but to convert them, and make them be of good cheer: to admonish sinners; not to oppress those that are our debtors; and all other things of a like kind.
Do these things seem to thee to be good or not? And, I said, What can be better than these words? Live then, said he, in these commandments, and do not depart from them. For if thou shalt keep all these commandments, thou shalt live unto God. And, all they that shall keep these commandments shall live unto God.”
Shepherd of Hermas (c. 100-160) in Commands (His Second Book) Chapter VIII. 8-12.
Safely home from Australia. Yeah! Learned of the moral failure of a friend yesterday. Deeply saddened! I am clueless of the details. I neither condone the sin nor condemn the sinner. That said, it’s a reminder to myself and all readers that we must live unto God with every ounce of strength we have. Our generous living unto God includes admonishing sinners and laboring in righteousness.
The Shepherd of Hermas was one amazing pastor. How would he admonish my fallen friend? He would likely urge him to turn around, to abstain not from any good works, and live unto God. When we do, it keeps us out of trouble, and most of the time we find ourselves doing tasks that are ordinary and humble, but the collective impact is “charity, concord, equity, truth, patience, and chastity.”