“It would be nice” to wake up every morning and KNOW that whatever we put our hands to today will be filled with the certainty of success. But for a Christ Follower and particularly a committed Templar, the “odds” can be heavily stacked in our favor. Then the words “it would be nice” shifts dramatically to “success is promised me today”, for if we leave home after committing our day and the work He has given to us before God in prayer, then we have this sure promise from God’s Word:
“I know that there is nothing better for them (Christ Followers) than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
Yet, without that precious moment in God’s Word and in prayer each morning, as a modern Templar, it is easy to get sidetracked in any of life’s many most important duties: relationship with God, marriage, family or job. The enemy of focus and discipline for the Templar is distraction and temptation. For we live in a world that is pressurized to the bursting point with way too many distractions and a virtual hurricane of temptations causing us to lose our focus by skipping our time with God in commitment, humility and service.
Yet, despite all this flurry of interruptions, what does God require of us each and every day? “But to do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with our Lord.” (Micha 6:8) And how do we please Him by doing justice to and to whom do we direct the focus of our kindness, besides to our family and friends? The scripture replies, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27) Said God to the Prophet Isaiah, “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16b-17)
God has also pointed out that this level of commitment is rare among men. He remarked in anger and with sorrow to the Prophet Ezekiel when He said, “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:29-30)
As modern Templars we repeat our solemn oath several times a year and swear to God and man that we will “…grow in generous Christian charity, assist Christians at risk in the Holy Land and throughout the world…” These 17 words reflect God’s commands in scripture as we pledge together to care for the needs, the downtrodden, the unfortunate and the members of our Christian family who need us with a quiet desperation.
Remember – our oath defines us as Templars. And there can be no growth without the oath that drives us to the spiritual battlefield each day. Growth and the oath defines our success.
The passage from Ezekiel is a sobering reminder to every child of God that our Creator expects far more from us than holing up inside the four walls of our churches, Templar get-togethers and C&I’s. As extravagantly wealthy Christ-followers (by any measure) we must humbly kneel before God each day and repent of any rote religious practices that are without arms and hands. For He expects and commands us to extend those appendages to whom our Templar oath and Christian character calls. And this, our humble daily offering of duty compelled by obedience and love, is precisely how we are enabled by His Power that lives within us to care for the weak and powerless outside.
Let us therefore petition our Lord Master for the knowledge, power, grace, and sincere love that we need to let go and offer the greatest kindness out of our excess to the ones who need it most. And let us therefore love others as He loves us – with a burning, unquenchable fire that flows from the heart of the Spirit of Grace within us into an often spiritually empty, dying and desperate world to which He calls each of us to each day.
How do we do that? After our daily service to our Lord in prayer, we can begin by paying our oblations which keep our Templar community alive day by day. Just as none of us can survive without income, neither can our sacred Order. After that duty is complete, then we can meet together frequently at our Priory and Preceptory gatherings and C&I’s. Together we grow stronger. Apart we whither on the vine. Together we become far more able to bless them whom God has sent us to come alongside and minister to their needs, which are many and profound.
God has given us our marching orders in the Old Covenant. And in the New Covenant Jesus has made it clear which ones take priority. Our Lord and Master summarized the most important of God’s commands from the entire Old Covenant in just 51 words:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.
The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
When we get these pair of commands right, only then He will enable us to grow in generous Christian charity, assist Christians at risk in the Holy Land, in our own communities and throughout the world.
Living the Templar focus is synonymous with living the commands of Jesus. For the Templar life is all about Christ – just as it has always been for over nine centuries. And as our Master modeled for all of us, it begins on our knees daily before departing for the sacred battlefield onto which we are each given the blessing to serve with our very lives someOne greater than ourselves!