“Love Covers” – FBC Morning Light (9/20/23)

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you. Hope your week is going well. Today in our Bible reading, we're reading in Isaiah chapters 47 and 48, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and Proverbs 17. I'm going to focus on a verse in Proverbs 17 in just a moment, but first let me kind of set the stage for it in this little anecdote from my past.

A Personal Story About a Missed Babysitting Arrangement

About 31 years ago, I think it was, our children were quite young and my wife and I were playing to go to a conference together, and it was just a couple's conference, no kids obviously. So as we were looking forward to that conference, we set up the possibility, we set up a babysitter to take care of the children, and it was a lady in the church.

And just before we were to leave on that conference, I think it was the day before, one of the kids came down with a fever, and we thought, this might not be a good thing to do to leave and leave the kids with a babysitter.

So my wife called the babysitter and explained the situation, said one of our kids is sick with some kind of a flu bug or whatever, and we're just going to cancel the trip, we're not going to go, so we won't need your help.

And she said something like, if something happens in the next couple of hours, the fever breaks and the child seems to be fine, I'll call you back and let you know. But for now, we're just not going to go, we're not planning to go.

And that was it. And that was the end of it. And we never heard any more about it. I mean, the daughter, I think it was our daughter who was sick, I don't remember which one. But anyway, yeah, our children ended up both getting sick, we didn't go to this conference, we stayed home, and I mean, that was it.

Months later, several months later, I was in a deacon's meeting, and one of the deacons had something in his craw, he was kind of cantankerous and ornery, and he had a list of grievances against me. And he started going down this list of grievances that he had heard from people in the church.

Don't you hate that? And it was one of those things where I said, well, and they were all in error, or misunderstandings or something. And I kept trying to find out, well, who is this? Who said this? And he wouldn't tell me.

Well, I can't tell you, I've got to keep my confidence, yeah, kind of thing, it was silly. But anyway, one of the things that he brought up in that list of grievances was, he said, you had arranged for so-and-so to babysit your kids, and at the last minute, you didn't go, and you didn't even call her and let her know that you weren't going.

She was waiting around for you to bring your kids, and you never brought them, and, you know, I'm like, whoa, what are you talking about? And this was months later, and I thought it was kind of strange, because that lady was, yeah, she wasn't mean or anything like that, but she was just distant, and I thought it was a little odd, and wondered why.

Well, now I knew why. Now, I tell you that story because of what we read in Proverbs 17, verse 9. What I understood was, what I came to realize is that that woman, who we thought was a friend and someone in the church we could trust, and was one we loved, we thought she loved us and loved our kids, but really, she didn't, how do I know?

Proverbs 17, verse 9, says, Friends. Catch that? He who covers a transgression seeks love. Apparently, something happened in a breakdown in communication, or misunderstanding, or whatever, between the babysitter and my wife in that phone conversation.

My wife thought she was very clear in explaining that we were not going to go on the trip. If that changed in the next couple hours, she would call back and let the lady know. Thought she was very clear in that, but somehow the lady didn't get that, didn't get that understanding, didn't get that message.

Well, and so, then when it was time for us to drop the kids off at her place, we didn't do it, and she took great offense. This was a transgression against her, the way she took it. And rather than seek love by covering the transgression, even reaching out with a phone call, no, rather than doing that, she repeated that matter to others, and the result was separated friends.

Love Covers Minor Offenses Among Believers

I'm sitting in this deacons meeting with a couple of the deacons against me, because they think that we treated this woman wrong because of what she said. So listen, listen. If you're a follower of Jesus, one thing you should be marked by is a love for the brethren.

And one of the ways that you show love for your brothers and sisters in Christ is covering minor transgressions like this. Now again, I'm not talking about covering up sin, I'm not talking about covering up abuse, I'm not telling you if you're a wife that you need to cover for your husband if he's beating you or unfaithful to you or anything like that.

I'm not talking about those kinds of egregious sins. I'm talking about these kinds of personal interrelationship transgressions that can so easily balloon into a big deal when really, you know, love should cover it.

You know, 1 Peter brings this up again as well. Peter mentions this in 1 Peter chapter 4, where he says, Above all things, have fervent love for one another.

Why?

Because love will cover a multitude of sins. Listen, don't allow the petty little, thoughtless, perhaps inconsiderate things that people do, don't let these things get under your skin and cause you to turn around and badmouth other, you know, this brother or sister in Christ.

No, listen, seek love. Let love cover these minor things and don't allow them to separate and divide others, divide God's people, divide friends. Don't let that happen. Don't let that happen. Let love cover it.

A Prayer for a More Loving Response to Offense

All right, our Father, we do thank you today for this very, very practical, helpful advice. How easy it is in this day of wearing our feelings on our shirt sleeves to get offended and get upset over every little offense, every little grievance.

May we walk a different path. May we show a different way, the way of love that covers a multitude of these minor transgressions. And this we pray in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen.

All right, well, listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday. Trust the Lord to bless you in it.

Good day.