Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
We are often called by Jesus to ensure that our righteousness is not just a matter of appearance. The reason we have to be on guard is because actual righteousness isn't often glamorous. It is not having a big ministry with one's name in lights. It is not a matter of being renowned for knowledge, mighty deeds, or miracles. It is so invisible even as to be impossible to compare with others. It is often even difficult to recognize in ourselves.
When Paul instructed the Thessalonians in righteousness according to the tradition he passed on it didn't sound very flashy at all. It involved avoiding disordered ways and those who follow them. It involved simply doing what one ought to do day in and day out.
On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked,
so as not to burden any of you.
The simply work of day to day life, done for God, in fidelity to his commands, is the basis of righteousness. Anything special or extra must be layered on top of this base level. It is this persistence and commitment, already only possible by grace, that make us stable enough for anything further to which we are called.
May the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.
Even in the minutiae of our daily lives we must have the LORD's peace as our basis. The only alternative is a disorderly way. Peace of God will assure us that we don't need to be special to be valuable. And so we won't try to leap over others, demand special treatment, or to ignore the basics so that we can stand out and shine. The peace of the LORD is what can prepare us for those moments when we are in fact called to stand out and shine. We can then offer a stable light to others, one by which they can actually walk, not one that sparks briefly and then disappears, leaving them in darkness.
The LORD wants to cleanse the dead men's bones that fill us, the hypocrisy and evildoing. He wants to sweep them away with the living water of his peace. Imagine the freedom this gives. Rather than being so worried that what is within remains concealed, at needing to keep up an act to keep others from seeing inside, we can be whole, integrated, inside and out. We won't be perfect, of course. But we won't be protecting a teetering facade of falsehood. The LORD's peace gives us great confidence in dealing with our own flaws. But it does not avail us when we try to protect our egos.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
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