10-16-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 16, 2024
Saturday night, after a wonderfully busy day, I opened my computer to look at my sermon. I knew it still needed a little work, but what happened next caused me to freak out. Somehow the file was corrupted, and I could not open it. In that moment, I might have said a bad word. I lost a lot of good time as the panic set in, and I literally could not remember even one part of the sermon. Finally, I thought that I might be able to recover an earlier version. A quick search, and yes, I was able to pull up a version from the day before. As I looked through it, I began to remember things I had changed, a story I totally cut out because of time, and some phrases I had revamped. Sadly, I could not remember exactly what I had done, but after an hour or so, I had the outline for Sunday morning ready to go. It was definitely not the sermon I originally had, but it was close. 

How nice would it be when something in life goes completely off the rails for us to simply pause and do a recovery. Oh sure, we might need to make a few adjustments, but in the end, it would be wonderful if most everything was back to where it needed to be. How about that time when your choice of words was hurtful? Or how about that time you really screwed up at work? Or maybe that time you made a costly financial mistake? How I wish I had the capacity to recover back to a place prior to the mistake or failure, and then to rebuild from there. Confession, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation are sort of like that, but real-life situations tend to be more complicated. I do believe that in the aftermath of some major boo-boo or outright and hurtful blunder, God is there to help us do a recovery. It probably won't’ be quick or easy, but God will assist in the needed work, helping us fill in those places where something was lost and even accompanying us in the rebuilding of relationships we might have fractured. 

For always being there for me, Merciful God of Heaven, I want to express my gratitude. You are there on the good days and the not so good days. And on those when I really mess up, I pray for the strength to own it and begin the hard work of true and healthy recovery. Amen.