First it was a furnace that defied all diagnostic testing until the coldest week of the year when it simply stopped working. The part, of course, had to be ordered from a warehouse in Nebraska. After several tension filled days, it finally arrived . . . along with a very large price tag! By that time we were beyond the point of caring. All we wanted was to have the opportunity to once again enjoy the luxury of central heat!
It wasn't long before the toilet in the main bath began to malfunction. What should have been an easy fix led into two weeks of mysterious symptoms and allusive solutions! Just when we thought everything was finally fixed, a killer virus managed to attack the computer. This was despite the fact our anti-virus program was current and our firewall was functioning! To make matters worse, it was Sunday morning and the final draft of my sermon was still in the computer.
Despite the fact that Micheal was sick, he volunteered to take it into the store while I attended my afternoon meetings. After standing in line two hours with others whose computers had also been attacked by the same virus, he called and asked if I wanted to meet him and pick out a new laptop. It seemed as though my hard drive was mush and, given the age of the machine, they didn't recommend spending the money to fix it.
After being upset about having to incur yet another unplanned expense, I began to reflect upon the entire experience. Why would anyone want to spend time developing a program to destroy the property of people he or she does not even know? What satisfaction . . . what joy . . . can possibly come from such behavior? And why is it that such behavior seems to encourage others to "go and do likewise"?
During the season of Lent, we are encouraged to face our personal "dark side." While it is highly doubtful that any of us would develop a malicious virus aimed at destroying the personal computers of total strangers, the truth is we have all done things that are much worse. We have attacked people we know and love with thoughtless words, malicious gossip, and acts of total indifference. Likewise, we have gotten so "caught up in the moment" that we have done things we knew were wrong simply because it seemed as though everyone else around us was doing them. And, yes, we have been more than willing to spread the bad news while ignoring all the good that is around us.
Yet unlike the viruses that strike computers, we can never be so malicious - so damaged and so damaging - that we are beyond the reach of God's grace. If we accept the forgiveness that is ours through Christ - if we repent and ask for his guidance - we receive the guarantee of a new life. All we have to do is ask and believe.
