“20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time 17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”” (Mt 20:1–19 ESV)

Responsibility to the Crown is an old adage or logic that Sees and that Knows: the most painstakingly pure-of-heart and missional-in-deed Soldier is always in the Glare of Day, and really needs our vote. Our Vote of confidence. Our vote that measly Eons of Time, Vermin-Infested reaches of Time, Compromised Stretches of Time, will Mock the Brightest in the room, and will Call for sincere Reflection to assert: God is Here, God is with this one, God is in the room; God. 

Our Brand… as Christians our Brand has been coopted and our own Decisive Refusal even to Discuss the motives of the shrill Enemy, in hindsight may be Too Precious, Too Hopeful, Too Responsible: we are Above this charge or that, as a missional Family called Church. We will grant their Wishes, as a love-infested Family or Church; we will not Belabor our days with silly nonsense, but rather Toe the Line and sally forth in a different direction This Day, Tomorrow, the Week After.

Healthy self-confidence also Knows: that God has placed certain folks in our lives whom we actually struggle quite to “get going”, “get along” with. More, we have Learned through said confidence, to Value and Cherish anyone nominally in our Camp. To value and cherish even a passing Acquaintance, as rooted in yes personal Style as Recognized, rooted in personal Caprice non-issue, personal Savoir Faire as Illuminating, as Grandstanding, as Halo-Inducing, as Calm Reflective Assertion that we’ve found a good one, after all, haven’t we.

The War as Staged, as Declared, as Hurried-Up by our own chutzpah, means a Line in the Sand around said false friends. It means more, that we Cease to blame ourselves: “I could have done a better job”; “It really is embarrassing, all things told”; “I am to blame, since the enemy used my good name and where was I to counter this falsity?”. 

The airy Room as Host to, as Dwelt-In by us, lambasts and mocks all sin with the Vicious and Presenting Calm of Holiness. It wiles up and stretches out all Chagrin, Caprice, Compromise with the High Call to be a Saint and, yes, more than a Saint, to be an Agent most Illustrious for Christ. We are called to be analysts and team-builders, in some way most heavily weighted with Foreknowledge, with Intent, with Rubrics of a Higher Purpose, a Name called Holy, a Calling Card called Death-to-Sin. 

The soldier and agent of the Crown as worn, as owned by our thorn-laden Friend in high places, our Christ and the Savior of our souls, is completely Remade in the Nouveau Fashion of a worker, a soldier, an analyst, of This Century’s newness, of This Year’s fancy-footing, of New Modicums and Modalities of War. Yes, we can be mildly pleased in ourselves at the notion of a Movement that has started to spread, to take some meek wings, to Spread like Lichen and like the Sharp Idea of growth on a rock. More, we count it all Pleasantries, all Goodness-for-the-Day, to wake and to gestate and to Begin the dance, of Humanities Valuation like silver or gold is valued, Valuation as Christ’s own.