Scripture
Isaiah 58:11-12
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1
Isaiah: The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
2Corinthians: ASo we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he make him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, A At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.@ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
Matthew : ABeware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
May the Lord bless the reading of His Holy Word. AMEN.
We all make mistakes. But there are mistakes and there are mistakes. If a barber makes a
mistake, he calls it a new hairstyle.
If the person you are working for makes a mistake, it=s not her mistake,Cit=s your mistake.
If a driver makes a mistake, it=s probably an accident. But if a doctor makes a mistakeCit could cost a life. Things happen. A heart cauterization is performed on the wrong person. The right leg is amputated instead of the left one. Your heart problem is misdiagnosed or the wrong medication is prescribed.
By and large our doctors visits are positive and they are assuring people but mistakes happen, and if a mistake happened to you, what would you expect to hear from your doctor.
A) No explanation or comment whatsoever?
B) Statements of defense and denial?
C) Full disclosure of the error and a complete apology?
C would probably be the last one we would choose or expect. Lately doctors who have made some medical blunders have really selected to do C. They have gone to the patient, or patient=s family, owned up to their mistakes and said they were sorry.
Now this is a really big deal. I have not heard of many doctors apologizing to patients. Usually if a mistake occurs then a suit usually follows, doesn=t it? Doctors malpractice insurance can be as much as 200,000 dollars a year. That=s a lot, so if apologizing can reduce that then doctors are being encouraged to do just that. But is it a real apology. I guess it revolves around the situation. There will always be some patients who see a medical error as an opportunity for financial gain, and others who, while glad the physician took responsibility for the mishap, still have a legitimated need for financial compensation. But among those injured parties who have chosen either not to sue or to settle out of court for a lesser amount, some have explained that the practitioner=s apology Ahonored me as a human being@ or treated me Alike a real person.@
Does repentance count if there is a big payoff? In any field of endeavor, mistakes will be made, but if apologizing gets you off the hook for some of the penalty, can the contrition be considered sincere? Are you really remorseful or is the apology just a tactic to ward off unpleasant consequences? If the apology is not genuine, does it count in the higher scheme of things?
As we have read through the Scripture today, God often seems more interested in intentions and how that will result in changed behavior.
In Matthew today Jesus says, ABeware of practicing you piety before others in order to be seen by them for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and the streets, so that they may be praised by others...........But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.@
God looks into our hearts, he grabs a hold because he knows our intentions. Sweet people if God doesn=t see changed behavior your not doing something right. If you are just going through the motions then God will know it and he will not like it. In Isaiah it say=s, AWhy do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice? Then God answers: ALook, you serve your own interests on your fast day.@ In other words the people might fast but at the same time they were oppressing others. God says the kind of fasting that is acceptable to him is the kind that is filled with true repentance, the king in which the penitent not only asks for forgiveness but also moves to correct his or her sins and wrongdoing.
Right intentions without results is empty. Results without right intentions is conniving. But right intentions with appropriate results are what repentance is all about. It=s the way to live a holy life. It=s God way. Come repent and receive your ashes. And my God hear us and may respond to us. God looks for our intentions and the follow through that our intentions yield.
And all God=s people say, AMEN.
Prayer: We are dust, and to dust we shall return. Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your mercy; blot out our trangressions. Breathe life into our lungs of clay; let us sing your heavenly praise. We are wounded. Broken and battered, guilty, spoiled, veiled by the shadows of sin. Wash our wounds, cleanse our hearts, bind up our brokenness. Make us radiant with your love, confident in your goodness. We are hands and feet for a lonely world. We are voice and song for a silent world. We are heart and gift for a needy world. Amen

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