Instrument

How often to we wish that someone else would recieve that judgement of God? How many times are we so self righteous that we think that other people deserve God's anger and wrath. We do not want to show others love when we feel this way, we want to show judgement and tell them how wrong they are. We tell ourselves that we need to tell them this to save them, but really it is just to make us feel better about ourselves. We feel like we are to be an instrument of God letting others know that God's judgement is coming and look forward to this judgement coming so we can be proven right. Jonah felt this way when he was asked to go and preach to Nineveh.

Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, "God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!
"So, God, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!"
God said, "What do you have to be angry about?" Jonah 4:1-4

God said, "What's this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" Jonah 4:10-11

Jonah wanted judgement to visit these people and he ran from God because he knew God would forgive if they repented. Sometimes we do this as a Christian or as a church. We really do not want to get to know others and care about them. We need to keep others "different" from us to protect our own ego, to tell ourselves that we are better than. We do not become love and peace to the world. The church and Christians are known as judgemental, angry, and uncaring. All because we want to judge when God does not. All because we want to feel good by protecting ourselves rather than loving as Christ. We do what Jonah did, we become angry when God forgives those who we feel should be judged. We sit in our righteous rage and justify our name calling and hatred of others using religion. God always understands that we, and others, just don't know what we are doing sometimes. If we can recognize this ourselves, God easily forgives because God is love.

Don't run from others today. Get to know them, love them. Practice the way of Jesus who said:

Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. Matthew 5:38-42

Show love to those around you, even those that have hurt you and see what God can do. Do not return anger for anger or evil for evil. Take the anger and respond with kindness. Understand that this person is just like you. Be an instrument of God and allow God to show up. Be an instrument of God's love. We are all sinful, angry, ego driven, thankless people at times. Give them the chance to be loved just as you were given the same chance -

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:6-8

What music will you play?

Namaste'