12-16-2014

Good Morning All,

        Matthew 7:3; “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

    I remember a time in college when my roommate and I were not getting along very well.  I didn’t really know what was going on.  All of a sudden he was real grumpy.  Every morning I would get up and get ready for class.  Now it was an 8:00 am class but I would roll out of bed and down the hall to the showers.  I would take my clothes and dress there and only return to the room to get my books and coat and leave my towel.  I had done the same thing the semester before and it didn’t faze him but now, he was grumpy.  I remember going to class and wondering what his problem was.  I thought maybe he was spending too much time downtown at the local establishments, getting in too late and maybe this was his problem.

    I kept wondering how I would deal with this issue.  I liked the guy I had for a roommate.  He was funny and friendly.  He didn’t demand anything; he was a “live and let live” kind of guy.  All of a sudden, he wasn’t.  Maybe he had some disease or was going through some traumatic life altering event.  Whatever the problem was, it had to be his; I couldn’t think of anything that was different this semester from the last semester.  I can remember praying that God would fix him so everything would be right.

   One day, I was doing some reading so I decided to make some coffee.  I filled and plugged in my percolator.  It soon started doing its thing.  GURGLE, GURGLE, SWOOSH!!  GURGLE, GURGLE, SWOOSH!  My roommate walked in just as it was going.  I said, “Man that thing is sure noisy.”  He said, “yeah, every morning.”  I then realized I would often start the coffee maker, go to the shower and then come back and take a cup of coffee to class.  It perked while I was gone but he was trying to sleep.  He didn’t need to change; I did. 

    There are many times when we seem to be at odds with our spouse, family, friends or co-workers.  We are quick to ask God to “change them and fix their mistakes so things can get back to normal.”  We may even think that they may be beyond hope.  Yet how often do we try and see it from their point of view?  We are quick to place the blame on someone, anyone, but on our own actions.   Yet deep down, we know that we are all sinful and that we probably play a part in the friction.

  So God invites us to pray and to repent.  He then calls us to go to our brother and to fix the problem.  Even before we worship him at his holy altar, God calls us to reconcile with our brother.  To God, healing this relationship is that important; that God would have us wait in our worship until we have healed the rupture. 

Father of grace; lead me to see that failures in relationships can only be healed by your love and grace.  Guide me to apply your grace to those around me especially to those whom I have offended and hurt.  Lead us to forgive those hurts and to let them go.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret