Hope Lutheran Church in Warren, Michigan

 One of my pet peeves is the course, callous, rudeness of daily life.  People (that may include you and me many times), seem to thrive on being rude. In fact, a rude one-up-man-ship seems to rule the day.   Note the story below by Ken Klaus of the Lutheran Hour:

Traffic can be a problem  in a big city. This is true especially when a pedestrian encounters a rude automobile driver.

That happened to me last week.

The light turned red and a great big car rolled into the crosswalk before coming to a stop. Those who were on foot, like me, were forced to go in front of the car or behind it to get across the road.

It wasn't a long detour, but it was an unnecessary one. It was a detour compounded by the driver of the car who kept laughing at us.

That was when a young lady, a lady whom I have never seen before, did something I wish I'd thought of. She opened the back door on the driver's side, scooted all the way across the back seat, and got out on the other side.

She left both doors open -- a gesture that amused the other pedestrians and frustrated the car's driver.

We encounter rudeness every day.

We keep running into people who think only of themselves without any regard for others. Most of the time we ignore such folk, but sometimes -- like the young lady -- we want to get even right there on the spot. It's pretty satisfying. And it's pretty sad, too.

After all, we're not little children who have to keep escalating things. Name calling becomes pushing; pushing becomes hitting; hitting becomes, well, you get the idea.

Where does it stop?

The Lord knows it has to stop with forgiveness. The forgiveness we receive from the crucified and risen Savior is the same forgiveness we need to share with others. Even if -- especially if -- it's satisfying to get revenge, it's still better to forgive.

In Ephesians 4:32, Jesusencourages us to bring an end to the rudeness cycle:

"Be kind to oneanother, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgives you."

With revenge such a powerful force in our hearts, what is our motivation to forgive?  "Just as God in Christ forgives you."  No matter how rude we are to God, He never gets even.  No, He forgives!  Now, end the rudeness, and go forgive someone in Jesus' name!

 Don't forget there's Homework:

+Watch your heart and determine how rudeness and revenge shape your day.

+Make a concerted effort to meet rudeness with forgiveness  - "Just as God in Christ forgives you!"

Prayer Requests:

+Pray for a rude world that thrives on revenge that they may come to know a forgiving Savior.

+Remember all who are recovering from surgery and receiving treatments for health.

Jesus is our Hope!

+ Pastor John+