Circuit Thoughts: Own your mistakes, seek forgiveness

I owe all of you an apology. Last week I made an erroneous statement and I wish to clear that up. It had to do with Jesus taking a nap in the fishing boat. The Bible tells us that he went to the stern of the boat. I stated that he went to the front of the boat. I have since been informed that the bow is the front of the boat, and the stern is the back of the boat. Yes, I don’t know one end of the boat from another. I apologize if that misstatement caused any hardship or suffering.
That being said, let’s talk about mistakes. Humans goof up. That is what makes us so frustrating and so adorable at the same time. The trick about being human is to recognize our mistakes and own up to them. I can’t help but wonder if some of the problems in our society isn’t due to not owning up to our goofs and poor judgement.
I know we don’t like being berated, and I know we don’t like being wrong. But, let’s face it, we have more respect for someone who owns up to their mistake than we do for someone who will pass the buck and blame others.
Psalm 51 is probably the ultimate in owning up to wrongdoing. David really messed up. He caused Bathsheba to go to bed with him. When she pops up pregnant, he tries to hide it by sending her husband to her bed. That doesn’t work, so David has him killed, hoping to hide it in battle. When he gets called out on it, he immediately goes to his knees. The baby dies and David’s family life is in shambles from that time on. (You’ll find the story starting on 2 Samuel chapter 11)
But, in Psalm 51 we see a king, who can be above the law, own up to his sin. He places blame on himself and owns his sins. He even points out that the sins were against God. He begs forgiveness and that no one else pay for his transgression. He knows he is worthy of death, and that God would be blameless in passing even the death sentence as punishment.
David wasn’t perfect, but he did take responsibility for his sin. This sin was calculated and not a whim, and he owned it.
I wonder what would happen if our church leaders and national leaders would own up to their part in the problem. What would life be like if we owned up to our part in the problems of this world?
Personally, I think that if everyone would take responsibility for their own actions, and not blame others, we would get along a lot better. I know I make more than my fair share of mistakes, and I try to own them. I don’t always get it right, but I try.
And what if we could just forgive? What would it look like if we could stop holding whole peoples or even generations responsible for the ills of our time? The world would probably look a bit different than it does now.
Look, we are all going to mess up. We are going to do stupid things and say inappropriate things. Instead of making excuses and passing blame, just own it and seek forgiveness. Instead of seeking justification for our actions, maybe we just need to build a better community and world.
Just an opinion folks.
See you in church.
Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.