“What does the thing about you that annoys me
say about me?”
I heard a
sermon the other day and the pastor asked that question. Profound, don’t you think?
It is so
easy to be annoyed with what other people do and then think badly of them, even
go so far as to tell others what annoys us about them. We are really saying ‘Don’t you agree?’ ‘Wouldn’t
this drive you crazy too?’ ‘I’m right, aren’t I right?’ ‘That is so annoying?’ We want others to agree to see our view but
really, and I think this is true, although I don’t like to realize it; what
actually happens is how we are seen.
These kinds of discussions usually end up showing what kind of person we
are. Easily annoyed, quick to judge,
heartless, puffed up with pride, altogether righteous, without grace and without
mercy. Regardless of what the thing
really is...it ends up being about us.
Yikes, I
have been easily annoyed by some people, maybe not easily annoyed so much as
being rubbed the wrong way, well, it’s all the same. But the truth is there are some people I do
not fit well with. This is all well and
good, how could we possibly get along with everyone, see eye to eye with
everyone, be on the same playing field with everyone, be compatible with everyone? Right?
This same
pastor said another thing, ‘righteousness is about ‘right relationship’ ‘right relatedness’. Yes, with Christ but also with one another,
showing the right kind of righteousness.
I get that, I do. I want to be
that kind of person, showing the right kind of relatedness.
I don’t know
about you but I want to be less annoyed.
I am really going to try hard to not let anyone see that I am annoyed. I want to show grace and mercy and not tell
anyone that I am annoyed. Not tell anyone
that I have been annoyed or that I am prone to feel that way. I want to try hard to be 'right related'. I want to try not to point out the annoyances of others
because it will come back to me; it will end up being about me. Like the old saying ‘what goes around comes
around.’
In this past
week’s study, a particular fact stood out to me. Jesus washed the feet of the
disciples. He washed the feet of all the
disciples. He washed the feet of Judas, his
betrayer. Judas, the one who was easily
annoyed, quick to judge, heartless, puffed up with pride, altogether righteous,
without grace and without mercy. Jesus
washed his feet.
What does that say about Jesus?
"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."
John 13:15
