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Often as I simply observe people in everyday life, I think to myself “We haven’t learned a blessed thing, have we?” Sure, most of us stand against “the biggies,” i.e. murder, torture, physical violence, most illegal activities and such, but go to Wal-Mart or a shopping mall any store, during the weeks leading up to Christmas, or even approaching Easter for that matter, and wow, it’s truly horrifying just how inconsiderate, rude and obnoxious we can be – to anyone – the extremely young, the very old, even those with physical or mental challenges. It never ceases to boggle the mind.Those of us who think we don’t behave this way, well, we think we’re just above all that don’t we? Come on. Be honest. To some degree, we think we’re “better than that.” But just for a moment, just think of someone that you’re not that thrilled with, someone who just irritates you. How do you treat them? Do you avoid them? Would you go out of your way to help them, check on them, see if they’re okay? Is it becoming a little harder to say “I’m better than that”?
Ok, I’ll go first. There are a few women who live on my street (even in my building) who irritate me. They’re whiners. (I don’t much like whiners.) They seem to complain about everything. Others patronize me. They say: “Ohhh my!!! Are YOU out by yourself? Where is your care giver? (I despise that term all by itself.) Are YOU allowed out by yourself???” My grrrrrrrrrrrr factor skyrockets whenever I even lay eyes on any one of them! Honestly, when I see them, I’ll often do my utmost to avoid them. If I can’t completely avoid them, I’ll give a very polite: “Hi. How are you….. I’m sorry, I gotta catch the bus…..” or “I’ve got an appointment…..” True, often I do have those things, but I also have a few friends who live on my street. If I run into any of them, you can bet on it that I’ll take a few minutes to talk to them, even if I do miss my bus. It’s not right. I know it’s not right and each time I do it, I become disappointed with myself and I pray that God will forgive me and will give me a bigger heart – more like Jesus has.
At such times as these I’ll remind myself that Jesus loves these “annoying & irritating people” too and I’ll try to consider why these folks are the way they are. I consider that there’s a good chance that they’ve been hurt by something or someone. Perhaps they’re scared, frustrated, or lonely. Perhaps they feel that they’re on the fringe of being accepted by others, or maybe they don’t feel accepted or wanted at all.
Then I’ll also remind myself that just about the very last earthly words that Jesus ever spoke were: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34 ESV). Jesus, even after all that He endured, still had compassion and empathy for all those who had treated Him so horribly. If Jesus himself, can so selflessly understand and show such compassion towards His persecutors, then who I am to withhold my compassion and empathy from those who may be in much need of those very things? Things that, yes, I can provide – and should provide.
Yet if it all ended there – with Jesus’ death, we’d still be in big trouble; for as human beings, most of us have a deep desire to somehow make things right. We often want to hit the rewind button and try one more time.
Still, we would almost certainly say that redos are impossible. – “Ya can’t go back. There are no redos in this life.” And while “With man it is impossible, but not with God.” (Mark 10:27(a) ESV), with Christ’s Resurrection we realize that now nothing is impossible, and indeed God has granted us the chance to try again. Our errors are never held against us as far as God is concerned, and we can try again, and again, and again….. God knows that we are almost bound to never get it absolutely right; but in His Son’s resurrection, we are assured of a new beginning – a clean slate – a new life – a new eternal life, in Christ and a new chance to do better.
We are shown that through Christ “(b)all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27 KJV) and that hope never dies. We can always become better people, if we strive to follow Jesus’ leadership. He set plenty of examples of how we should treat others and each other. God also gave us a brain to put to good use. It certainly isn’t rocket science. “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself…” (Leviticious 19:18 KJV) – even the ones that we ain’t thrilled with.
Each day, each hour, each minute and second we are given the grace and mercy to try again. So never ever stop trying to make things right, and as my minister said once in a Bible Study: “And when you think you’re there – when you think you’ve finally made it – keep going!” If we do so, you know, it just may have been all worth it.
May God bless us all in our never ending efforts to follow Jesus.
