Bear With One Another

A truck driver pulled into an all-night restaurant in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Walked in, sat down, ordered something to eat, the waitress brought it to him. And just after he had begun, in walked three guys from a well-known motorcycle gang, and you could tell by their leather and by the insignia's on them that they were pretty rough bunch. They were evidently looking for a fight. They walked over to this truck driver, one of them grabbed his hamburger and started eating it. Another grabbed a handful of french fries, and the third grabbed his coffee and started drinking it. The truck driver did not respond, as you might expect. He quietly got up, walked to the register, asked for his bill, calmly paid it, walked out of the restaurant. The waitress watched him as he walked out into the night and into the parking lot, and then went back to those three who were now seated, finishing up his meal to see if they wanted something else to eat. They laughed and said, the hurry's not much of a man is he? She said, well, I don't know about that, but he sure isn't much of a driver. He just flattened three motorcycles out in the parking lot on his way out. Wouldn't you just love to be able to be in that position to be able to really guess somebody what they deserve? Oh, how that really excites us to be able to do that and do it so well. And yet when it comes to relationships in the body of Christ, what that truck driver did was exactly the opposite of what the Bible commands us to do. It was against everything the Bible teaches about our relationships with one another. In recent weeks, we've been talking about the one and others of the New Testament, and we've been seeing there are 12, 13, 14 of them, depending on how you group them, of one another statements in the Bible. This morning, we turn our attention to the statement bear with one another. If you locate Ephesians chapter 4 in your Bible, that phrase is found on two occasions in two of Paul's letters, we'll begin with Ephesians 4. But I know that probably what you're thinking is John that the trip got to you, you're repeating the sermon from three weeks ago. Actually, it's a little different. If you were here three weeks ago, if you remember, as I'm sure all of you do, what was preached on three weeks ago. I preached on the subject bear one another's burdens from Galatians 6. We saw that that has to do with helping people be restored when they have fallen and recovering under the weight of a burden that they are bearing, bearing that with them, bear one another's burdens. This is a little different. We're talking today about a different subject, bear with one another. Sounds a little different? It is very different. Ephesians chapter 4, Paul says this in verse 2, be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. If you hold your place there and flip over a few pages to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3 where Paul says very much the same thing in verse 12, Colossians 3, 12, therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Bearing with one another, all of us probably have people in our lives that are a little bit unlikeable that we really have difficulty getting along with. You're not that way to anyone else, I know, but there are people in your life that are like that for you, right? Just kind of hard to get along with. They have quirks, personality, idiosyncrasies and differences and weaknesses in their lives that just make it difficult for you to get along with them. Difficult maybe to relate well to them. But the body of Christ is composed of many people, all of whom know Jesus as their Savior, many are different, come from different backgrounds with different likes and dislikes and tastes and personality differences. And Paul is talking about how we are to get along with each other, even though at times we may rub each other the wrong way, even though at times it may be hard to like that other believer, we are to bear with that other person. To bear with someone means that we are able to tolerate weaknesses, that we are able to be gracious and patiently endure differences in temperament, idiosyncrasies, quirks that another person may have to bear with that person means that we have a forgiving spirit toward people when they fail us. That's all involved in bearing with one another. But what Paul does in these two passages is to give us some idea of what that looks like and how it can be lived out and practiced. The two passages are so similar in what they say, almost identical because they are written at the same time. Paul was in prison in Rome in his first Roman imprisonment when he wrote four letters from that Roman prison, the letter to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, and a personal letter to a good friend named Philemon. So he writes all four of these letters at about the same time and in Ephesians and Colossians he deals with much of the same subject matter. In fact the last half of each of those books, the practical section, is almost identical in its content and so we would expect that Paul would be addressing many of the same topics which he does. When he talks about bearing with one another, Paul explains for us five attitudes necessary to bearing with one another. What are they? What does it look like to bear with one another, to tolerate others' weaknesses, to be patient with their shortcomings? Trusting they will also do the same for us. What does that look like? The first attitude that Paul says is essential is necessary for bearing with one another is an attitude of humility. You see it there in verse two in Ephesians four, Paul says, be completely humble. In order to get across the idea that Paul is communicating here, he actually had to come up with a whole new word. There was no word in the Greek language, nor in the Latin language that communicated this concept. And so Paul took two words, a word which means to think or to evaluate and coupled it with a word which means lowliness and put them together to form a word that was completely foreign to the minds and hearts of the Greeks and Romans of his day. It's a word which literally means not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, to put others before yourself, to think of others and honor them above yourself. That's what humility means. It was a foreign concept. In fact, the idea was absolutely abhorrent to the Greeks and the Romans. The Roman world and the Greek mindset championed the idea of pride and self assertiveness and promoting yourself and being recognized. That was the way the world operated in Paul's day. Guess what? It's the way it operates today, too, isn't it? Wall Street Journal article described the intense negotiations that go into Hollywood stars and the building for their movies. It was an interesting, interesting article that talks about who receives top billing if there are several star actors or actresses in a movie who gets the top billing. I want to quote that or read from that article. Months of delicate negotiation are sometimes required to deal with what one writer calls a conceit of the industry. To satisfy two superstars, one studio created two sets of screen titles and two sets of ads with one star named first in each. Then they had to run each ad 50% of the time. This was the contract that was negotiated for these superstar movie stars. Another studio placed one star's name on the left, which is the normal spot for top billing, while the other star's name on the right appeared a half line higher to kind of equal things out. When pictures of both stars were used in ads, again, one was placed on the left while the other on the right was placed slightly higher. These are contract negotiations that are made with these superstars to satisfy their egos. That's just a picture of our culture because we and our culture today, just like the Roman world of Paul's Day, are more into honor for ourselves than we are honor for others. The humility was a very foreign concept in Paul's Day and it is quite foreign in our day as well. Legendary football coach Don Schule who guided the Miami Doffins through the decade of the 70s to a stellar record on several occasions, one unbeaten season Super Bowl in 1972. Don Schule was well recognized as one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL. He was a very humble and self-effacing man. He writes though of an instance where he learned a lesson in humility. He talks about one time taking his wife to kind of an out of the way town, little town in Maine for vacation. They hope to get away from the crowds and people who would recognize him. So one night, kind of rainy messy night, they decided to go to a movie and they walked into the movie theater just a few scattered people there. But when he walked in, everybody started applauding. And as they sat down, he turned to his wife and said, I guess there is really no place we can go where people don't recognize me. And notice the guy over to his left and he turned to him and said, I'm surprised that you would recognize me. And the guy looked at him kind of quizzically and said, recognize you. I have no clue who you are. The manager of the theater said he wouldn't show the movie unless 10 people showed up. You talk about a lesson in humility that will teach you humility real quick. In order for us to practice and live out humility in such a way that enables us to bear with others, to understand, tolerate weaknesses, personality differences. In order to have that kind of humility, we must renounce self-centeredness and do exactly what Doug is saying about. Less of me, more of Christ. You see God's work is not about us. The church is not about us. It's not about recognition for us. It's not about honor for us. It's not about top building and whether your name is on the left or the right, who gets the most recognition in the name and all that. That's not what God's work is about. God's work is about a God who loved this world so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. And God's work is about getting that message out to as many people as possible and reaching them with the gospel of Christ so that they come to know Jesus as their Savior and exalt and lift him up and come together as a body in Christ to honor him and to live out his word and to honor one another in so doing. That's what the work of God is about. Not about me, not about you, not about anybody, but God and God alone, his son Jesus Christ. It is a recognition and all out a sawp on self-seeking in the body of Christ. And when we do that, then we are able to bear with one another. It makes us more gracious people when we recognize that it's not about us, it's about God and his work. An attitude of humility, absolutely essential to developing this quality of bearing with one another. It goes on to give us a second quality. Did you see it there in verse 2? Be completely humble and gentle. The word gentle is the word I'm interested in now. I'm going to call it meekness. Some translations translate this word by the word meekness. An attitude of meekness is required. Now if you thought humility is kind of strange, meekness is really going to sound foreign to us, especially in the culture in which we live. In fact, if you look up the word meekness in a dictionary, this is what you'll find. I know because I did it. The dictionary says meekness is being timid, deficient, encouraged or spirit. Did you catch that? Meekness in the world's eyes is being deficient, encouraged, deficient in spirit. But someone who in the world's eyes is weak doesn't have courage, not really able to stand up for himself or herself. It's exactly the opposite of the biblical meaning of the word. The word gentleness or meekness in the scriptures has to do with being mild-spirited and self-control. It is the opposite of a harsh, self-assurative, vindictive spirit. It's the opposite of the kind of spirit that promotes itself, that is harsh in doing it, and is vindictive when anybody gets in the way. The word in New Testament times was often used of tamed animals, wild animals like wild horses or wild lions, even that were tamed. There's power there, there's strength there under the surface, but it is under control. It is tamed. It does not vindictively, harshly lash out at others. That's gentleness, that's meekness. The best example of that in the scriptures is Jesus Christ Himself when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. There are 600 Roman soldiers from the temple guard that come to arrest this one man who has 11 followers with him. As they come with their glowing torches, their swords ready at their side to put down any resistance by the disciples, Jesus approaches them, steps out of the darkness, and says, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus response was, I am, not I am He, but I am equating Himself with the I am, the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, Jehovah, I am the great I am who sent Moses to Egypt to the liveries people, Jesus, with words of power and boldness claims to be the Jehovah of the Old Testament. And when He says that, those words have such power that the Bible says all of the 600 Roman soldiers and chief priests who had come with them and Judas who had led them to that place, fell backwards. Who is in control of that situation? Who is showing ultimate authority and power? It is Jesus Christ, not the Roman army, not the one who will betray Him. It is Jesus who has the power and authority, but as they are scrambling to get up off of their backs, Jesus asks again whom do you seek? And when they once again replied, this time I am sure a little bit more tentatively, Jesus of Nazareth, He willingly gives Himself up. That is meat-ness. That is gentleness. Jesus has the power and authority, He has already demonstrated it. He has the power and authority with one more word, He could demolish them all. But He willingly gives that up to fall in line with the Father's will and purpose for His life and hours for Him to go to the cross. In order for us to have the kind of strength and power that is tamed, brought under control does not vindictively lash out at other people in the Christian life. We must renounce harshness. To be meek and gentle, we must renounce harshness and thus be able to bear with one another. You see some of us are harsh, brittle, forceful, threatening by nature and when we are right we are disgustingly right. We let everybody know it. The Bible says we have to renounce that, give that up. Gentleness is a sensitivity to what the other person is feeling. It is saying and acting in such a way that you will not unnecessarily offend or hurt that other person. Gentleness, that's meekness, Jesus had it. It's not weakness, it's not a deficiency and courage. It is when you know you have the power to obliterate someone and you don't do it. You restrain. You're not harsh, but you're gentle. Then Metama is a Christian musician who is blind. His parents when they were bringing him up tried to give him as normal a childhood as possible. They taught him to water ski. They taught him to do a number of other things that typically would not be thought of by a blind person. So he grew up with a very normal childhood. When he was in college he was walking across campus one day with his walking stick. He bumped into another student. It was so happened that other student was also blind. And when he bumped into that other student the other student said, hey man, watch out. Don't you realize I'm blind? Well, if I had been in Ken Metama's shoes I know what I would have liked to have said. I would have made my case as to why I bumped into him. I would have stated, well you don't understand I'm also blind. Metama never said a word about that. He apologized that sir I'm sorry I didn't see you. That's meekness. That's gentleness. When you have the ability, the opportunity to really sh- right back at a person and you don't do it. That's meekness. And that's what it takes to bear with one another. To be gracious, tolerant of others, differences in personality and weaknesses and so forth. It requires an attitude of meekness. Thirdly Paul said it requires not only an attitude of humility, not only an attitude of meekness, thirdly an attitude of patience. Verse two, there it is. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient. Again, all of these words are packed with such meaning. It's worth our time to spend a little bit of time unwrapping them and understanding what they mean. The word translated patient here literally means to be long tempered. It means you go a long time before your anger is aroused. It means you are patient. It means you can endure annoyances in life and difficulties that arise without getting upset. And in the context is talking about difficulties and annoyances that come from other people without getting upset. The comedian Fred Allen used to say, I love long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me. Well, that's not patience. The desire to get rid of someone who annoys me is not patience. Patience is the ability to put up with annoyances and difficulties from others without getting upset. And pull up to a traffic signal. Her car died. And regardless of what she tried, it would not start. And meanwhile the guy behind her, the car behind her, just laying on his horn. You know, come on, come on, get out of there, move, get the car off the road or something. And she patiently got out of her car, walked back to his window and said, sir, my car will not start. Would you please get out and try to start it? And I'll get in your car and lay on the horn. That's patience, at least a little bit of patience. God taught me some, because I'm not always a patient person. God taught me some lessons about patience just on this recent trip. I know some of you had heard and some of you were praying and I appreciate it. I, two and a half weeks ago, got to the Charlotte airport early in the morning and found out that during the night, I had had a lot of connections to make as those of you who've been to PNG and know, during the night, my flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia had been canceled, which threw everything into turmoil. And my first response was not a patient smile at the ticket agent. My first response was, you don't understand, I've got connections, I've got to make to get to PNG and I know there are limited flights, I'm going to miss those flights in Sydney. The ticket agent assured me that everything would be okay, didn't give me any indication of how it would be okay, but just assured me I would be able to make those flights okay. Well, I had three hours on my flight to Dallas to figure out, they don't know what they're talking about. That's not going to be okay, I'm going to miss that flight in Sydney and I'm not going to get to PNG. And so I'm wondering how is this all going to work out. I called the travel agent who had set up the trip and I said, here's the situation, what can you do to help me? And she said, I'll work on it while you're on your next flight. So by the time I got to Los Angeles, she had it all worked out and it was kind of a crunch to get it all done, but I had to wait on the flight to Sydney till the next day, till Friday, rather than flying overnight, Thursday. So there was no other way to change that, had to go to Sydney, but she got me a connecting flight to Brisbane late at night after I got to Sydney. And from Brisbane, there are daily flights in the PNG. And so it meant that I would fly into Sydney late Saturday night, hop a plane to Brisbane. They would put me up overnight and then I would catch the flights on Sunday, just get there a day late and it worked out fine. But the more time I had to think about it, the more I could see God's hand and how merciful he was, even though it was not easy making adjustments in the trip on the run and trying to get taxis and so forth where I had not planned on staying, I could see God's hand in it. The airline, if they're expense, put me up in a very nice hotel in Los Angeles, fed me a prime rib dinner. I didn't expect that on the airplane, so that was kind of nice. The next night, again, another overnight, I didn't plan to spend any overnight, but overnight again in Brisbane, nice hotel, nice meal again. And so I could just see God's mercy as it unfolded and what I thought was a terrible change in schedule. God mercifully gave me a couple of nights of rest before I got there, so I'd be ready to hit the ground with the ministry of speaking twice a day. But it was also a merciful thing for Dan and Amy, because I got a shower the morning I flew into to Garoka, some of you have been and didn't have that opportunity. So God was gracious and God was merciful and he taught me once again, John, when your agenda doesn't work out, when the time schedule you've so carefully planned doesn't happen, are you willing to be patient with me? Are you willing to trust? Because you see what we have to renounce in order to develop patients is our own agenda, our own agenda. We all have agendas about timing of how things must happen in our lives. And when that runs contrary to what somebody else needs or what somebody else is asking us for, or when those events don't happen, just like we would like them to happen, we have a tendency to lose our cool and become impatient and even angry. God is seeking to teach us, are you willing to trust me with those interruptions, with the changes in your schedule? Are you willing to wait on someone else? Or is it got to be done your way right now, your timetable? Are you willing to learn patience? God wants to teach us with others how to be patient, to bear with them. When their needs interrupt our time schedule and our agenda to be patient, patience is required if we're going to bear with one another. But Paul gives us a fourth attitude that is necessary for bearing with one another, so the attitude of love. Again, you see it there in Ephesians 4, verse 3, verse 2, be completely humbled and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love, in love. As we bear with one another, as we tolerate others' quirks and personality differences and even weaknesses, as we bear with those rather than getting upset and pulling away, as we bear with them, the thing that will help us to do that, as Paul says, is to bear with them in love. You know this, the word love is a word which means to put the needs of another person first, to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the good of another person. That's what this word love really means. So in order to love that other person, I have to renounce my rights. But wait a second, I have a right to this, I have a right to this time slot, I have a right to this room, I have a right to this possession, I have a right to this time. Do we really? Did Jesus operate that way? When the plan and eternity past was made for our salvation, did Jesus say, I have a right to stay in heaven and He did, He did. I have a right to be recognized as God, He did have that right, He was God. Philippians 2 tells us that He laid aside all those outward signs, His rights, to take on human flesh. Being made in the likeness of human flesh, He became a servant, He gave up His rights. Why did He do that? Because He loved you and He loved me, He bore with us, gave up His rights because of His love for us, and we are called upon to do the same thing, to give up our rights, to put the needs of the other person first, and minister servants to them, and thus bear with one another. Paul mentions one last quality, it is not here in Ephesians, it is in Colossians. Let's look at Colossians chapter 3. It is the attitude of forgiveness that Paul mentions there that is essential in being able to bear with one another. Colossians chapter 3, look at it again, verse 12. Therefore, as God has chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with, and we see the same list that we have already seen in Ephesians with one addition. Compassion, there is love, kindness, that is the addition. Humility, gentleness, and patience, and then notice the one Paul adds in verse 13, bear with each other, and forgive one another, if any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Paul says that in order to bear with one another, we must be willing to forgive one another, forgive that other person. And notice he says, if any of you have a grievance, he is assuming there will be some of those, even in the body of Christ, there will be legitimate grievances, there will be wrongs that happen, there will be failures that occur. No church is perfect because no person is perfect, no believer is perfect, and so there will be things that go wrong sometimes, there will be grievances that happen. Nobody wants that, nobody likes that, but it will happen. And Paul says, when that happens, we have to have the attitude of forgiveness. And notice he describes what that is like when he says, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Now there are several things that that could mean, maybe all of them. But when we think about how Jesus forgave us, and how God forgives us, it enables us to see how we are to forgive others. He forgave us fully. When God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, He offers full forgiveness. Do you realize when you come to know Jesus is your Savior, all of your sins are forgiven? Past, present, future, it's complete forgiveness. All forgiven. The slate is white, clean, and the righteousness of Christ is placed on your account. That's full forgiveness. And that's what He's saying we should do. Forgive each other fully. All how easy it is for us to forgive halfway, three quarters, maybe 80%. Like the old saying is, sometimes when we bury the hatchet, we leave the handles sticking up out of the ground so we can get it if we need it. We'd like just a little bit of leverage in case we get failed again. In case someone does something wrong again. And what God is saying is in order to bear with one another because we all have weaknesses and we all fail. To bear with one another we have to learn to forgive. Forgive fully, freely, forgive. No conditions attached. When God forgives you, He does not say to you. I will forgive you if you boom, boom, boom, boom, down the list of God forgives you freely. It's grace, grace that forgives us and saves us. But you know there are two stages in God's forgiveness. You realize that don't you two stages in God's forgiveness. When God set out to make possible the plan of salvation, He did it in a couple of stages. The first is reconciliation. Second Corinthians 5 talks about that where God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Reconciliation means you break down any barriers between two parties to make it possible for those two parties to be reunited. That's reconciliation. And when Jesus died on the cross, He broke down the barriers between God and man so that it is possible for us to be forgiven. It doesn't mean the whole world is going to experience that. It doesn't mean every person is going to be saved. But the provision is made for every person. Jesus died for everybody. And the provision is made. Second Corinthians 5 is clear about that. Reconciliation is clear for everybody. The barriers broken down. God has turned His face of grace toward everyone so that anyone who responds in faith can be saved. But no one is saved. And forgiven of their sins. Unless the second step happens. Reconciliation available for all. The way is made possible for anyone to be right with God. But the second step is justification. And that's where you as a sinner must place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Realizing that He died to pay the penalty for your sins. And when you do that, the Bible says God wipes the record of sin off your account in heaven and places the righteousness of Christ on your account. And you are declared righteous in His eyes. That's justification. That's the moment at which you are saved. Now the provision is there for everybody. But only those who turn in faith to Christ will be justified and saved. God has offered forgiveness. He has turned toward us in forgiveness. But the full reconciliation and the relationship being restored with Him through justification is only possible for those who turn in faith to God. Now, where to forgive as He forgave us. Which means you cannot harbor bitterness in your heart toward another person. Even if they do not come and ask your forgiveness, you have to do like God did in reconciliation. You have to open the door for that to happen. You have to turn with a face of grace and a heart of love toward that person. And in your actions and even your words offer the opportunity for the relationship to be restored. That's the reconciliation side. Now, full restoration of the relationship, even though you have a forgiving spirit, you're not harboring any bitterness in your heart. From your heart, you've forgiven them. You've offered that full restoration of the relationship depends on whether or not they accept that. Just like your salvation does. So full restoration of the relationship may not be possible even though you've offered forgiveness. But the key thing is that from your heart, you hold no bitterness. You have a heart of love and you're reaching out to offer the way for the relationship to be restored. That is the spirit of forgiveness. And that's essential in the body of Christ to bear with one another. The story is told that when Leonardo da Vinci was painting his famous masterpiece, the last supper, that when he came to paint the face of Judas, he couldn't escape a controversial argument he had going on with another artist. He was very bitter and angry against that other artist. And so he decided to paint Judas' face with the face of that other artist, which he did. He hadn't quite finished the painting yet, but he had some of his friends in to view the work he was doing and how he progressed on it. They immediately noticed who Judas was. It was really this other artist. Da Vinci went back to his work and tried to finish up the painting and he could not bring himself to paint the face of Christ. He just couldn't get it done. He tried, it just wouldn't come. And he finally recognized the barrier was in his own heart. As long as he held that spirit of bitterness and anger and vindictiveness against his fellow artist, he would never be able to paint the face of Christ. So he blotted out the face of Judas, repainted it in a generic form so it was unrecognizable as any particular person. And only then was his spirit free to paint the face of Christ. Do you realize that your relationship, your fellowship with Christ, your effectiveness for him, your ability to portray him to this world, to glorify him so other people see him can be muted and haunted by an unforgiving spirit toward another believer? And it is only as you deal with that that you'll be able to then portray the face of Christ others. Spirit of forgiveness is essential and attitude of forgiveness is essential if we are to bear with one another. The result of bearing with one another in these ways is biblical unity. It's interesting to me. We won't take the time to develop it, but it's interesting to me that in both passages and Ephesians and Colossians, the very next thing Paul talks about after he talks about bearing with one another is unity. In verse 3 and Ephesians, work diligently to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, he says. In Colossians 3 verses 14 and 15 he talks about having the peace of Christ because as members of one body you're called the peace unity in the body. Unity comes when we are willing with a humble attitude, a meek attitude, a patient attitude, a loving attitude and a forgiving attitude we are able to bear with one another. In all of our differences of taste and background and personalities and so forth, we're willing to bear with one another. John Erlichman and Chuck Colson were co-conspirators in the Watergate scandal back in the early 70s. The scandal that brought down the presidency of President Nixon caused a humiliating resignation in August of 1974. Erlichman and Colson were both implicated in that cover up and spent time in prison, both of them. As many of you are aware, Chuck Colson, while he was in prison, came to know Christ as he saved you and later became a great writer defending the Christian faith and articulating its principles and leading prison fellowship ministry. John Erlichman, however, took another turn. He became very bitter from his experience in prison and his anger and bitterness turned against Chuck Colson. In fact, for 20 years after he got out of prison, for 20 years he wrote defamatory articles about Chuck Colson publicly ridiculing him, sarcastically mocking his jailhouse religion, his supposed conversion to Christ. In Christ, for 20 years he mocked Colson publicly. Colson made several attempts to reach out to him to know of ale. And then finally, in 1999, Colson received word that Erlichman was dying in a nursing home. So he decided, I'm not going to wait for an invitation. I'm just going to go. And he went to visit Erlichman there. Erlichman was dying of renal failure. Everybody had turned their back on him. His third wife had divorced him. His children were against him and had no contact with him. He was all alone, dying in a nursing home. And Colson went to visit him and began to visit him regularly, witnessing to him at every opportunity. Erlichman was absolutely shocked. After what had happened over the past 20 years and the way he invented his bitterness against Colson, he was absolutely shocked that Colson would come see him, would try to befriend him again, and would tell him about God and his son, Jesus Christ. Just a few days before Erlichman died, he called Chuck Colson. He said, the doctors tell me, I don't have much time. Could you come? Colson was very ill at the time and could not get out, but he sent a friend who also knew Erlichman and who also was a believer. And that friend led John Erlichman to Christ just days before he died. Is there a John Erlichman in your life? Is there someone who has hurt you, someone who maybe has said or done something to harm you? Is there someone who has been bitter and angry at you? Is there someone even in the body of Christ that you just don't get along with very well? Is there a John Erlichman in your life? If so, will you be a Chuck Colson? Will you demonstrate a spirit of humility? Will you demonstrate a spirit of meateness, of patience, of love? Will you demonstrate a spirit of forgiveness that enables you to bear with whatever you've suffered from that person bear with? Forgive and reach out to them, bearing with one another. Let's pray together. Father, our hearts are challenged by your word because we realize how often we fail in the very attitudes that you command us to have so that we might bear with one another in a way that will be able to bear with you. We will have another in a way that will help us to function in unity as a body. I pray, Father, that we will re-evaluate where we are, the way we're responding to the John Erlichmans of our lives, to those who may have hurt us, to those we may disagree with, to those whose personality may rub us the wrong way. We are the Lord to bear with one another with the kind of spirit that you demonstrate toward us. We thank you for your love, for your patience with us, for your son humbling himself in love and meekly offering us salvation. May we in turn live like him as we experience life with one another in the body of Christ. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.