2019-09-27
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Let me begin by writing out MT 6: 9-15, the Lord’s Prayer. This is to allow us to think about the attitude and behavior that God hopes we will exhibit. “Our Father, Who is in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your Kingdom come it will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” Now, it’s necessary, according to the Holy Spirit, for us to examine the issues of meanness, intolerance, and refusing to forgive (grudge-holding). You may remember that COL 3: 13 reminds us to forgive, as the Father has forgiven you. The same thing was said in MT 6: 14-15, “If you forgive others for the wrong they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.” The refusal to forgive another person is sometimes met with the hypocrisy of thinking you are worthy to receive God’s forgiveness, even when in your place of prayer. This same notion is dealt with in MT 5: 23-24, “If you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there remember the your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar and go at once to make peace with your brother. Then, return and offer your gift to God.” Not doing this is a problem of your heart-attitude; it is a form of hypocrisy. It is also not being wise enough to know that nothing is hidden from God; He sees all [HE 4: 13]. Those who think and behave righteously toward their fellow man won’t have this concern.
Realistically from my own observations, every family (including my own) has someone who either behaves badly or in some way causes trouble. Sometimes, such trouble stays just under the surface for a long time, or it is caused to fester like an untreated sore for years on end. As in the case of one of my close family members, who had an argument with his first cousin when the two of them were young children. Refusal on both sides to work out their differences and offer forgiveness, kept them apart for 30 years. It was only toward the end of his life that the parties involved attempted to mend their differences. When they finally got to it, each had forgotten the original reason for the beef in the first place! It was a good thing that they spent some time together. Neither knew that such time, as pleasant as it turned out to be, would be short, as one of the former combatants suddenly passed away. Obviously, the waste of all this time when they could have enjoyed being each other’s friend is the real tragedy.
MT 18: 21-35, the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, should be a part of this discussion, because it shows what happens to people who act meanly. Please review it, if you don’t remember it. Basically, a servant owned the king a lot of money. The king threatens to enslave him and his family, when it comes to light that the servant couldn’t pay back his debt. However, the king relents and forgives the debt. Later, the original servant has a servant of his own who gets into the same situation. Only the original servant forces his servant to be jailed. The king notes this meanness and lack of forgiveness, and Jesus concludes, in verse 39, “That is how My Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brothers from your heart.” From my understanding of the Bible, God takes premeditation or the lack of it into account when deciding the punishment for wrongdoing that will be applied in each case. This is evident from as far back as in NU 35 when He established the cities of refuge. As for my experience, the most difficult people I’ve had to forgive are those who appear friendly and cooperative to one’s face but due to a grudge, they stab you in the back. Meanness and/or stupidity are at the heart of this kind of premeditation.
Intolerance and prejudice are carefully taught by small-minded people to their families. As a Messianic Jew, I come from a group of ancestors who have been forced from their homes in central and eastern Europe in the pogroms of the 1880’s and some of them murdered cruelly by the Nazis in the Holocaust. At the basis of this evil behavior is ignorance, fear of those with different cultural beliefs and practices, and outright evil thought/motives. Anti-Semitism is by far not the only form of this behavior. It can be exhibited by many groups of people against others. Anti-Semitism serves as a glaring example of a history that shows itself as persistent over time and demonstrates just how evil mankind is capable of being. It not only involved extermination of 6 million Jews in the gas chambers described as “showers,” but also vicious human experimentation done by evil doctors, like Josef Mengela (1911-1979) in the Auschwitz concentration camp. and the making of lampshades out of human skin. Dr. Mengela, known as the “angel of death,” was particularly interested in twins, and did painful tests on pregnant women who were later sent after much suffering to the gas chambers. It’s tough emotionally for me to write about such evil, but the lessons learned here should never be forgotten. Sadly, hatred, ignorance, and evil are real and active even in today’s world.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne to express our faith in You. We believe in Your own perfect time, You will end evil and that those who are righteous, just, and place their trust in You will gain eternal life. We believe in Your power, that Christ’s Atonement on the cross will grant us who believe in Him salvation, justification, and eternal forgiveness. We are sinners deeply in need of a close, reverent, and trusting relationship with You. For it is through Your Son, Jesus Christ, that eternal blessings can come to us. There are lessons to be learned from the fates of those who are evildoers. You are not only showing us what to do, but also what not to do. We place our trust in You, we beseech You to continue sharing Your wisdom with us, and we pledge our faith to You as a Trinitarian Being Who has only our best eternal interests in mind. These prayers and this acclimation we offer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.