23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:23-26 - I put these verses together because I thought they may be related.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
- What is the modern day equivalent to offering your gift at the altar.
- I think vs 25-26 tell us to be humble enough to talk with people who have a problem with us to diffuse their anger against us. Is there anything more to it than this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_5:23%E2%80%9324 says:
ReplyDelete"Nolland notes that common worshipers would not themselves ever place a gift on the altar, this was reserved for priests. . . This is often linked to Matthew's continued theme of attacking the overly ritualized religion of the Pharisees, who, according to Schweizer, taught that a sacrifice should not be interrupted.
http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/getting-right-with-god-and-each-other says:
ReplyDelete"Here is a key question: When coming to give, are we responsible for all the grudges and anger and enmity that people may feel against us?
Go back 14 verses to verse 9. There Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Yes, and that is what this text is about too... But then notice what comes next in Matthew 5:10–12 . . .What Jesus says is that sometimes people will hold something against you when they shouldn't—insulting you, persecuting you, saying all kinds of evil against you falsely. What do you do in such circumstances? Do you stop worshiping as long as someone feels like this about you?
If so, Jesus would never have been able to worship in the latter years of his life. He was constantly opposed.. . .. someone has something against you because you have wronged them, then as much as it depends on you, try to be reconciled.
We are only responsible for what others hold against us when it is owing to real sin or blundering on our part.
We are responsible to pursue reconciliation, but live with the pain if it does not succeed. In other words, we are not responsible to make reconciliation happen.
If someone has something against me, is it owing to something I should not have done or should not have said? Is it owing to something I should have done or should have said, but didn't? In other words, have I wronged someone?
If I am to blame, have I taken sufficient steps to be reconciled?
If not, am I willing to humble myself and make the contact before I make my pledge
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0222-wjd.html says:
ReplyDeleteHow dare we try to worship him and receive this forgiveness, mercy, and grace when we are not in a good place with others in our Kingdom family! There is an incredible consistency throughout Scripture about God's wanting us to be right with each other if we are going to be right with him. . . . He even says that we will be judged by the same standard by which we judge others. No matter how moving, how inspiring, how "spiritual" our worship may seem, if we harbor evil against each other or have harmed another in our Kingdom family and not tried to reconcile, God will not accept our worship.
I believe that the modern day application of this has to do with our attempting to enter the presence of God in prayer, worship, singing, giving, etc. If there is unfinished business between us and another person - something we need yet to do - we need to do that. This is one thing in the category of immediate obedience to God. Obedience is what God requires of us.
ReplyDeleteWe all get to the point in our walk with God where we know we need to do something, but are unwilling (and sometimes unable) to obey. Tim Mohns gave a talk once about having a word picture of God asking him to jump down a hole. But he couldn't fit because he was carrying too much baggage.
I think this scenario comes up over and over in our lives. God is commanding us to do something and we know it. It could be that we need to do something, or need to stop doing something. It's best and gratifying when we can obey immediately. But each of us comes up across something that, whatever the reason, we seem to be unable (and/or unwilling) to obey. In those times, God becomes distant to us. Once we justify away the need to obey, we become confused. We forget the command and wonder why we feel so far from God.
If we are living in disobedience (which in my opinion is the natural state for most Christ followers - especially ones that have been for a long time), we will have a difficult time connecting with God. The converse is not true, though. If we feel we are not connecting with God, that doesn't mean that we are disobedient. There are other reasons we feel far from God. However, using our disobedience to build our faith - I think is a convenient way for God to teach us.
Is there an area of disobedience in your life? Have you forgotten about it because you long ago rationalized it? Good news! God expects this and is working with us to bring us to obedience and the next level of faith. Bad news: We aren't going anywhere until we address the issue.
Addressing the matter of the court:
ReplyDeleteOne article said that there is a purpose in going to court. If people are not angry with each other and the disagreement is about some matter of the law, it is appropriate to go to court.
This "parable" that Jesus is referring to probably is probably practical advice and has no "spiritual" meaning (and least none of the articles I read could fathom one). It probably refers to if you owe money, or if you have legally wronged someone - probably a non-believer. Go to them and see if there is some way you can work out a private deal.
So why would Jesus talk about this specifically. Is He just trying to keep us untangled so that we can do the work of the Kingdom? Is He making reference to reconciling here before we have to face the Judge at the final Day - who may judge against us? Unfortunately, I don't know.