Turning Your Back

It was in a Texas airport. My wife Jessica was having a wonderful conversation with a woman as they sat waiting for their plane to board. The conversation was cut short, however, when the woman asked her what she did for a living. When the words "I'm a Lutheran pastor" came out of Jess' mouth, the other woman frowned, turned a bit sideways in her seat to turn her back on Jess, and the conversation was over. It turns out that woman was raised in a tradition that didn't agree women should be ordained ministers, and turning her back on Jessica was her way of expressing her disapproval.

This is one of the ways we express our disapproval...we literally turn our backs on things we don't want to see, don't want to deal with, and don't want to have to face. For that reason, the phrase "to turn one's back" has become an idiom in English...meaning "to abandon or ignore someone or something."

Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness. 2 Timothy 2:19

Now, let me be quick to say: we always get ourselves into trouble when we identify people as "wicked" and turn our backs on them. The mistake the woman in the airport made was that she took an issue she disagreed with and turned her back on a whole person. This is always a mistake. Good for us to remember 24 hours before Election Day.

But I do think there is value in this simple thought from Second Timothy. From what do I need to turn away today? Are there forms of wickedness either outside or inside me that I am allowing to affect me? Is the media I choose to view like an echo chamber that only reinforces my disdain for others? Maybe that's a wickedness I can turn away from today. Are there any resentments I am holding? Maybe that's a wickedness I can turn away from today. Are there any bad habits I know are not good for me or others? Maybe that's a wickedness I can turn away from today.

God's grace is free, indeed. I don't need to correct all the errors in my life to receive it. However, like a driver heading north when they need to head south, do I need to do a U-turn to be able to see the grace? Don't forget that the word "repent" was originally a sailing term for when you needed to turn your boat around.

May we all prayerfully consider if there is something we need to turn away from today...something that is keeping us from seeing the grace either in ourselves, or in others.

PRAYER:
God, clear our minds of things that distract us from the love you show, and call us to show others. Clear our schedules of things that do us or others harm. Clear our eyes so we can see each other as you see us all. Amen.