Obey Jesus

Good Morning,

Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV)
"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 (MSG)
"This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God."

Now, I know that I'm probably addressing a very small number of us with this message today. You know, those who might have done something that would cause a brother or sister to have some grudge or grievance against us in some way. Um, that wouldn't be you, would it? Possibly me? Maybe, just perhaps, more than a couple of us? I think that if we will all take a good, hard, close look at our lives, almost all of us will come up with something that we've said or done that has caused harm to someone in some way. After all, we ARE human...aren't we? If so, then, without a doubt, we aren't perfect. And, if we aren't perfect, then we've probably hurt someone and have caused some gulf between that person and us.

Jesus is pretty clear in His message that we read today. I find it astounding that in over 2,000 years not much has changed about human behavior...both our thought processes and our actions. Jesus knew that He was speaking to almost ever person within the sound of His voice on the day He spoke these words. Now, remember that He is also God, so He knew that His words would be written down and remembered...for all time. Just as He voiced these words for the people of His physical time, He was also proclaiming them to every one who would ever have the opportunity to read them...including you and me.

So, did you go to church over the weekend and have the honor of leaving your gift at the alter? Didn't we all? So, the question is: Did we do this knowing that we had caused some grievance with a brother or sister that still exists?

The answer, I believe, for almost all of us would be, "Yes." Almost all of us can dig into our hearts and minds and find the memory of something that we've done that we know wasn't exactly a good, Christian thing to do to someone. We can think, most of us, of a time when we've said something that was less than uplifting to someone, even something very hurtful. These, I belive, words and actions, are what Jesus was speaking of. He was telling us that we need to do all we can to heal those wounds that we've caused, before we leave our gifts at the alter. We should be obedient in this as much as is in our power to be. Yes, I know, there will be some of us who simply cannot...for whatever reasons...physically go to that grieved person and do our best to make amends for the wrong we've done. We might not be able to financially give what we should to someone that we may owe in some way. Of course, there are a myriad of reasons that we can't actually carry out our obedience to Jesus' words in this matter.

Here's the rub, though...: Don't let excuses for not being obedient take the place of well founded reasons! We are an "excuses" kind of society in today's world. Well, I suppose that could be said for the societies of all people in all of history, couldn't it? That's kind of the difficult part for many of us. We will, as we've been taught all our lives, make some excuse for not obeying God's words to us in this. Let's be careful about that. Excuses are NOT reasons. We should be wise enough and smart enough to understand the difference.

I guess what we're supposed to get from this today is to search ourselves deeply, in heart and mind, to find out where we've caused harm. Then, once we discover what might be even a very hidden memory, we need to do all we can to make things right. In Jesus' words, "Go and be reconciled to your brother." The Message translation says it this way, "Go to this friend and make things right." It can be, will probably be, difficult. It will be harder for some than for others. I may seem an impossible task to a few. I suggest that we go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to help us in this; have the Holy Spirit come and guide us to do what we know we must.

Okay. Now........

If, for any reason, I've ever harmed anyone who reads these words the Lord has given me, PLEASE let me know so I CAN BE OBEDIENT as I'm suggesting for you. (I'll be in touch with a few of you soon.)

Point being on that is the fact that NONE of us is exempt and NONE of us can claim perfection about this. Let us obey Jesus.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David