Thursday, July 1

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

I have to be honest here. I have often thought that Jesus should have put this the other way around. Shouldn’t he have said that if you remember that you have something against someone else, then you should go and deal with whatever your issue is? Wouldn’t that make more sense? He just told us not to harbor bitterness or anger or resentment in our hearts, so of course it would only make sense that we should deal with that before we come to worship.

But Jesus doesn’t put it that way. He seems to be telling us that we have to go and seek reconciliation even if we are not the ones with the problem! Does this mean we are responsible for somebody else’s issue? It is easy to justify this to ourselves with thoughts like – “Wait a minute here, I am maybe only 5% to blame here and he/she is 95% wrong. Why should I have to be the one to go to him/her?”

Romans 12:18 puts it like this: If it possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Practically speaking, this means that it really doesn’t matter who started it or who is mostly to blame for the conflict. If you are only 5% wrong (and we are almost always more at fault than we think) then the Bible is clear – go and deal with your 5%!

I have a friend who told me about how he tried for many years to wipe away the pain of a badly broken relationship with his children through going to church, and giving and serving as much as he could. He thought that if he just did enough good for God, then he could somehow atone for the wrongs he had done and erase the wrongs done to him. He said it took years for him to realize that God was not interested in all that he was doing for him if wasn’t willing to do the one thing necessary to be reconciled to his own kids. I am happy to say that he has taken some important steps and God is at work in those relationships and they are on the road to healing.

Jesus is teaching us that we cannot come to worship God while being unwilling to be reconciled to our brother or sister. Simply put, we are unfit for worship if we are unwilling to be reconciled. Just think about it for a minute…How can you come to worship the God who was willing to reconcile you to himself through the Cross if you will not even go and seek peace with your brother or sister?

The Cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of the relentless pursuit of the offender by the offended! We have all broke God’s laws and turned our backs on him in countless ways, yet he is the one who pursues reconciliation with us! In fact, he pursues us all the way to the cross! He gave his only Son so that we might be reconciled to him!

So…how seriously are you willing to take Jesus on this issue?
Are you willing to live at peace with everyone, as far as it depends on you?

Who do you need to be reconciled to?

Where are the broken relationships in your life?

Who needs your forgiveness? Who do you need forgiveness from?
What will you do about it??

Prayer:
God grant us the grace to forgive and the courage to seek it. Remind us everyday that you have reconciled us to yourself through Jesus Christ – Amen.

Jeff Frazier