9-14-2015

Good Morning All!!

         3 John 1:8; “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.”

     This morning while waiting for church to start, my 3½ year old grandson was standing by two of his uncles.  They were standing with their hands in their pockets talking.  Soon, my grandson was standing there with his hands in his pockets trying to stand in the same position.  He loves to act like his uncles.  He told his grandma that his uncle “knows everything.”  Grandma and I smile but we also warn the uncles and mom and dad that little ears have great memory and a willingness to repeat what they hear.  Sometimes, that repetition can be extremely embarrassing.  That too, is a lesson often best learned the hard way.

    It is true that imitation is the greatest form of flattery but it is also how we learn.  We imitate our teachers.  Our teachers are our parents, other family members, teachers, coaches, pastors, or any other adult that has a strong impact or influence on us.  We tend to imitate those people in our speech and our actions but also in our attitudes.  Even as Christians, we tend to imitate others.  The Apostle John recognized this and offered the advice that he did; do not imitate evil but imitate what is good.

    This is an extension and continuation of John’s theme of good things comes from God and evil things do not.  Light comes from God darkness is of the world.  Good is from God so to emulate what is good is from God.  For “good” is to show love to one another.  “Good” is to show praise and honor and to worship God.  God shows us good.  We see it in the person of Jesus.  We see the One sent by God to bring healing and reconciliation to this world.  We see how to treat those whom we meet; we treat them with compassion and love.  We bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the wounded and comfort to the suffering. 

    This is what is good.  Not vain speeches or self-promoting actions but to show mercy to those around us.  We are to make sure that the needs of all our brothers and sisters are met.  We are to see to it that God’s message of salvation is spoken to all.  All are to know of Jesus.  This is why we remain in this world to bring the good news of redemption through Jesus.

    So we go through our life, traveling on the path that God has laid out for us.  Bringing his love to those who we meet; imitating those who do good; imitating Jesus.  This is our calling until Jesus returns.  Let us joyfully seek after our Lord, doing good to those that we meet.

Father, teach me to imitate Jesus.  Teach me to love and not seek after worldly goods.  Teach me to seek mercy and not glory.  Teach me to bring comfort and hope.   Lead me to be your willing servant.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret