Cleaning out the closet of our lives

I hear about a lot of people cleaning out closets during this time of sheltering in place. Our closets stay pretty much in order so I can’t relate. I also hear about how these same closet cleaning people are planning the world’s largest garage sale. I’m not a fan of those so I don’t really relate to that either.

All of that does make me think about how we are spending our time while we are home alone. I shared with some the other day that we watched the final episode of the sit-com Three’s Company, Janet got married and I almost cried which makes me realize I have been in quarantine too long.

What if we decided to do something serious and clean out the closet of life during this time? What I mean by that is found in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies …” Then in Romans 12:20, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink;” Again in Luke 6:27, “do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,”

What if we sought to repair broken relationships while we don’t have anything to do but watch reruns and get fat? What if we finally decided to clean up some past messes?

Jesus told us that we can’t really worship the Lord if we have unsolved conflict or relationships that are in disrepair. He said if we are not right with some people we need to leave church, go get things right and then we can come back to church and worship properly (Matthew 5:23-26). How many violate this precept week after week. God has given us time hasn’t He to think about this and to seek reconciliation with these people.

I’m not saying every relationship can be fixed but we can at least get to the point where we can pass the Walmart Test. The Walmart Test is when we see someone in Walmart we can say, “Hello” and ask them how they are doing with out getting sick. How many times have you seen an enemy and turned your shopping cart and went the other way so you did not have to engage them. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

Colossians 3:13 tells us to, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Ouch!

I’m reminded of the time the Apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times do we have to forgive someone? Jesus told Peter we forgive an infinite number times, as often as needed (Matthew 18:21 & 22). Hey, Christianity is real and it’s fun but nobody said it was real fun, right?!

What we are thinking together about is what we call the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12).” You know what? If someone that I had a jacked up relationship with called me today and said, “Ken, I’m sorry things have been messed up, I’d like for things to start to get right between us so we can at least pass the Walmart Test.” I would be so thankful. Life is too short to be a hater, to be bitter, to carry the burden of unforgiveness and to be anxious about seeing someone I don’t care to see because I have a past with them and I have not made some attempt to be okay with them even if it’s not okay.

So go ahead, make a call, send a text, write a note, clean out that closet.

He told me to tell you that.