Meditations with Pastor Tom (3/26/20)

"And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth." ~ Jonah 3:4-5

            So, here's the thing about the Ninevites that perplexes me.  I know I am supposed to admire their quick decision to change, but their experience and my experience just aren't the same.  In my life, I have tried to make fast changes in my life as if I could erase years of life programming with a quick stroke of the delete button.  But, generally speaking, most of the important changes in my life have developed slowly, with no sackcloth anywhere in sight. So, I'm not sure their example is realistic for me or for most of us.

            The bible makes it abundantly clear that we must change some things in our lives.  Transformation is at the very heart of the gospel message.  That is what repentance is all about - change.  Repentance is not much about feeling bad about our shortcomings; it's all about becoming a new creature, becoming something more like our role model, the Christ.

            With all the talk of the Coronavirus, many of us have nearly forgotten we are still in Lent, the time set aside particularly to think about the places in our lives where repentance is needed.  So, right now it's very appropriate to think about the changes we need in our lives.  But, it's also important to have healthy perspective on repentance and transformation.

            It's frightfully easy to get so caught up in our sins and our need to change that we become overly burdened with feelings of guilt and worthlessness.  Sometimes when we try to make the necessary changes in our lives, we keep relapsing into the very behavior we are trying to change.  The change is not only not coming fast, it doesn't seem as if it's coming at all.  It's like we suffer from an addiction.  So, we end up beating ourselves up.  Or, we just give up.  Or, we decide we're not worthy of God's love and grace.

            God does want all of us to repent and change, for our own good.  Transformation brings all the good things we really want.  It is the key to receiving the abundant life Jesus promises.  But you don't have to change everything tomorrow.  In the meantime, God loves us all just the way we are.  We are always good enough for God.  God understands better than we do how we came to be the people we are in this moment.  We will have a tougher time convincing ourselves that we are good enough than convincing God.  God is already convinced.

The Sermon this Sunday

What does Ezekiel's ancient vision of dry bones have to do with us today?