March 9, 2022 – “Leave the Past Behind”

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:1-11

So we have been talking about the phrase “OK, Boomer”, and digging deeper into the reasons for why people from different generations do not always agree with one another. At first we were looking at why people resist change – and one of the reasons we were examining revolved around trust. Trust in necessary in all relationships – our trust in G-d – our trust in each other. And, so we are examining different aspects of trust. So we are on reasons five and six you can follow to help you choose to trust again after a painful experience.

Fifth and Sixth Tip: Don’t Continue To Label Yourself The Victim – and Leave the Past Behind You: It is really easy to feel bad for yourself after being hurt – after being accused by others for something you may or may not have done. It is ok to feel bad about yourselves but continuing to wallow in your sorrow and guilt will not help you get over the pain. Yes, there are always people who will seek to hurt you and break your trust, but that’s all on them – not you. This is why we seek forgiveness – so we can let go and not continue to be the victim – because the victim mentality can pervade all areas of your life. It can rob you of your self-confidence and self-worth. When you allow people to rob you of your self-confidence, you give the other person power over you.

The woman caught in adultery was forgiven by Jesus – and Jesus would not allow her to be victimized. In fact his words have real power: “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.”

Jesus gives us our identity – not others – not their words, their actions, or their accusations. When we are living in Christ, then Christ is in us, and we are children of G-d. Once there is no one left to accuse the woman, Jesus asks her: “Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I.” Jesus did not condemn her, and he tells her to move forward and live a new life. Jesus always left the people he encountered feeling different and better about themselves. When we lose trust in others and in ourselves, we can always turn to Jesus – who loves us beyond all measure – and forgives us all our sins.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, you have the words of eternal life. You love us beyond all measure. Help us to forgive the past, forget the past, and live into new life in you. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 8, 2022 – “Grief”

“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” John 11:32-37

So we have been talking about the phrase “OK, Boomer”, and digging deeper into the reasons for why people from different generations do not always agree with one another. At first we were looking at why people resist change – and one of the reasons we were examining revolved around trust. Trust in necessary in all relationships – our trust in G-d – our trust in each other. And, so we are examining different aspects of trust. So we are on reason four you can follow to help you choose to trust again after a painful experience.

Fourth Tip: Allow Time To Grieve: There are reasons we lose our ability to trust – we are hurt by someone, we are taken advantage of, or we are lied to. Loss of trust can also involve loss of relationships. So not only are we grieving a loss, we are grieving our ability to trust our intuition in understanding people. The person you thought you knew turned out to be someone different – or you are grieving the life you had and the life you thought you would have forever. We know that grief involves stages like denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. It may take going through some or all of these stages before we might find ourselves being able to trust again.

Jesus came to Bethany, and his friend Lazarus had been dead four days. Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha had trusted that Jesus would be there to save their brother. But Jesus was delayed – and the sisters had lost hope, and trust. We can hear it in their words: “If you had been here, our brother would not have died.” And Jesus wept – I believe because of the loss of his friend, the lack of trust from the sisters, and, of course, his own grief. But Jesus did not remain in his grief – he turned to his Father for support and understanding.

Grief is important – but we must learn to use that grief to grow stronger in our faith, and in our trust. We are always losing something in life – but we never lose Jesus’ love and grace.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, it is so easy to lose our focus once in a while – but you are always waiting for us to return, give our troubles to you, and continue to grow in a relationship with your love and grace. Amen.

Pastor Dave