God’s Best
Hal
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A couple of weeks ago a young man (elementary age) came up to me and said, “Pastor Hal, can I talk with you a moment”. He was very somber and I could tell also very distressed. He said, “I did something bad this week and I don’t think God will forgive me”. I am thinking, I know this little guy- what could he have done that would make him look so somber? I asked him, “Can you tell me more”? He began telling me his story, “this week I said something real bad to my Mom and I know I really hurt her. I felt bad and I asked God to forgive me- but I don’t think he did”. I asked him if he apologized to his Mom, “yes”, he replied. I asked him if he thought his Mom forgave him, “yes”, he replied again. So we talked a little bit about forgiveness and how when we confess to God and make restitution that is Godly repentance and God forgives us. He smiled and said, “Thanks”. Here is what I love about his story. He saw not only that he had said something wrong, he was also aware that he had wounded his Mom. Think about that with our confession to God. Real confession is not because we got caught or we are afraid of God. It is because we understand we have sinned and wounded God with our carelessness. Real confession understands the cost of forgiveness (the precious life of God’s son, Jesus Christ). When we prepare for the Lord’s Supper we need to take some time and ask God to search us and reveal any un-confessed sin. At that point we agree with God about what we have done and confess that we are responsible. 1John 1:9 is the Christ-Follower’s bar of soap:
Let’s continue the evening dinner metaphor. In my home, It was not unusual for there to be something served at dinner that one of the 4 kids did not care for. My Dad made it very clear that my Mom had put a lot of time and preparation into our meals and any complaints would be severely dealt with. He believed that we ought to be grateful for the meal Mom prepared to meet our nutritional needs. Only 1 time did I say I didn’t like what Mom made. My Dad promptly corrected me, made me apologize to my Mom and then he doubled my portion of that item. I had to eat all of it before I went to bed. Bottom line: my Dad wanted us to learn to be grateful. I understood His “gratefulness obsession” much better when I had children of my own.
Think about gratefulness and how you respond to your heavenly Father because of the circumstances in your life. I am often less than grateful for my circumstances in life.
I find myself bemoaning them to my heavenly Father in prayer and then it hits me- because of my narrow situational focus I not only miss my joy as a Christ-Follower, I also come across as an ungrateful son. I have developed this habit in response. I begin to list everything I have because of God’s Grace (you know, relationships, stuff, health, etc.). After only a few minutes, my attitude begins to change.Why not take a moment now and begin a list of all the things you are grateful for. Try it out with your family at meal time. I would love to hear how it goes… My next BLOG entry will discuss the preparation of confession of sin.
As a kid- dinner time was a big deal. Mom always cooked (well at least 99.9% of the time) and everyone was expected to be there
I can remember Mom looking at me and saying, “Harold Mayer” (my formal name which meant she was not playing), have you washed your hands? Early on I would say yes, even though I had not. My Mom might have been like yours- she had eyes in the back of her head- and she always demanded, “let me see them”. Busted, I would be sent to the bathroom after a brief lecture to scrub off at least 1 layer of skin. Coming to my Mom’s table without clean hands never worked. She expected, demanded and inspected my preparation.
We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper this weekend at The Bay. The supper of our Lord requires preparation as well. The Apostle Paul gave these clear instructions to the Church in Corinth about their preparation for the Supper:
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 1 Corinthians 11:26-30 (NLT)
I believe there are a couple of areas that will require our preparation that are similar to my evening meals as a child. Confession of sin and a grateful attitude are two that spring to mind. Tune in Tuesday as we continue this discussion.
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