SHARING BREAD
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at
the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar.
First go and be reconciled to your
brother; 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 with him on the way, or he 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 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he 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 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Matt
5:23-26 (NIV)
In our verses for today, Jesus tells us - when we find
ourselves faced with troubles and conflict concerning fellow believers or even
our foes and adversaries – it is part of our high calling and privilege to do
our best to make things right. Harmony
with others may not always be achievable yet as Christians we should not be the
culprits – the ones responsible for the lack of relationship or peace. Paul tells us in Romans 12:
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live
at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
(NIV)
As Christians we are to bring peace, love and forgiveness
into all our relationships with fellow believers in spite of all of our
differences – no matter how ornery or difficult they (or we) may be! It is simply not about us! This is part of the dying to self. It behooves
us to remember that forgiveness is for the forgiver. When we harbor ill will for another it does
nothing but poison us. Forgiveness on
the other hand, breathes life into our souls.
Sin always destroys while obedience brings life in abundance.
“Forgiveness
saves us the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” Hannah
More
“Peacemakers are people who breathe
grace. They draw continually on the
goodness and power of Jesus Christ, and then they bring His love, mercy,
forgiveness, strength and wisdom to the conflicts of daily life. God delights to breathe His grace through
peacemakers and use them to dissipate anger, improve understanding, promote
justice and encourage repentance and restoration.” Ken Sande
We are to labor for reconciliation whenever a breach has
occurred in any relationship but particularly with fellow believers. I cannot believe God applauds the splits in
His Body, the Church. In our verses for
today Jesus states we are unfit for communion with God when we harbor ill will against
our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love
and forgiveness is better than burnt offerings – our humble attempts at
reconciliation will always be a sweet smelling sacrifice to the Father. It is His desire for us to be a quickly
forgiving people – those who are slow to become angry and quick to forgive and
forget. We are not to be a people who
harbor, smolder and seethe seeking revenge rather than forgiveness. It is the Way our Lord demonstrated – even as
He hung on the cross:
34 Jesus said, "Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they
divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:33-34 (NIV)
“Consider
Christ. He was of a meek and quiet spirit, and of a most long-suffering
behavior…He was very much the object of bitter contempt and reproach, and
slights and despised as of but little account. Though he as the Lord of glory,
yet he was set at naught, and rejected…He was the object of the spit and malice
and bitter reviling of the very ones he came to save…He was called a deceiver
of people, and oftentimes he was said to be mad, and possessed with the
devil…He was charged with being a wicked blasphemer, and one that deserved
death on that account. They hated him with morbid hatred, and wished he was
dead, and from time to time tried to murder him…His life was an annoyance to
them, and they hated him so they could not bear that he should live… Yet Christ
meekly bored all these injuries without resentment or one word of reproach, and
with heavenly quietness of spirit pass through them all…On the contrary, he
prayed for his murderers, that they might be forgiven, even when they were
nailing him to the cross; and not only prayed for them, but pleaded in their
behalf with His Father, that they knew not what they were doing.” Jonathan
Edwards
Do we find ourselves in the unenviable position whereby we
are being crucified by Christians? It is both the teaching and example of
Scripture that we are to forgive – difficult as that may seem. Yet with God, nothing is impossible and He
never calls us to obedience without equipping us for the task. He is the ever ready supply of grace
sufficient to meet our need. Jesus
addresses forgiveness later in Matthew stating no limits should be set on how
often we are to be merciful forgivers:
21 Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you,
not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Matt 18:21-22 (NIV)
“Make me into a rock which swallows up the waves of wrong in its great caverns and never throws them back to swell the commotion of the angry sea from whence they came. Ah! To annihilate wrong in this way – to say, ‘It shall not be wrong against me, so utterly do I forgive it!’” George MacDonald
“You
never touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your
enemies.” Corrie ten Boom
What I glean form this:
·
As a
believer it is my high calling and privilege to forgive. “The glory of Christianity is to
conquer by forgiveness.” William Blake
·
Jesus
forgave me and I am to forgive others. “The man who is truly forgiven and knows it is a man who
forgives.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones
·
Jesus
does not limit forgiveness.
