1-20-2024

Good Morning All,

        Exodus 20:16; “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

         The South Dakota District of the LC-MS sponsors a television program called “Main Street Living.”  In order to help keep the costs down, the pastors of the district volunteer to preach.  It works out to about once a year.  It is an interesting process.  The recording crew will adjust the lighting and then the shutter opening on the cameras.  They do all this so that the preacher will look as good as possible.  They eliminate shadows or dark spots; they try to eliminate too much light that makes you look pale and washed out.  If, as you are preaching, you misspeak or make a mistake; they just edit it out and the broadcast can go on flawlessly.  If only we could do that in real life.

    When Martin Luther wrote his explanation to this commandment, he added the phrase “put the best construction on everything.”  In other words, try to see the best in another person.  This becomes essential when we are looking at forgiving others.  When we try to see the best in others, forgiveness comes easier than when we look for the worst in a person.  When we look for the best, we are looking through the eyes of love.  When we look for the worst, we are looking through the eyes of selfishness.

    One example that can happen easily would be if you called your favorite pastor at 10:30 in the morning and got him out of bed.  What would you think?  Would you think that he must have stayed up late with a member who was in a crisis, or would you think “that lazy bum?”  How we view things, how we think events occur serve a huge part of our reaction and response.  So, if your spouse promised to do something for you and he forgot, how do you respond?  Do we think, “my spouse is so busy that it slipped their mind” or is it more like, “they would forget their head if it wasn’t attached?”  Because, if we go the negative route, we make it more difficult for us to forgive because we see it as a deliberate, or at least a careless, attack on us.  When we put the best view on it, it becomes easier to forgive because we look at it with love.  This is true of spouses, children, siblings, parents or whoever you deal with. 

    God encourages us to see the best in everyone.  He empowers us to do this by forgiving us. 

His love covers our sins and reminds us to forgive others.  By seeing things in the best light possible, forgiveness can be made a little easier.  God gives us ways to work through the struggles of life.  We need to use them in order to live a life that is both pleasing to him and beneficial to us.

Father of all goodness and righteousness, we look to you for our salvation and our hope.  Guide us by your hand to see others in their best light.  Let us listen to them with an open heart.  Help us to love as you love.  Protect us from the pain that the world would have us live in. Help us to forgive as you forgive and to live in peace with our brothers.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret