Fight or Reconcile?

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Matthew 5:21-26 

We have entered into yet another Lenten Season. Lent represents the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing to begin His ministry and resisting Satan’s temptations and also the Passion Week which is the journey towards the cross and the victory over death.

Traditionally Lent was set aside to focus on our relationship with God, examine ourselves and repent. Lamentations 3.40 says Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD.

We all “give up” something for Lent. Few popular options are to stop eating Non vegetarian foods, stop eating chocolate or sign off from Facebook and other social networking sites for 50 days. Offering a sacrifice that is difficult or uncomfortable is intended to serve as a reminder of the suffering Jesus endured for our Salvation. All these are well and good but we also need to develop a higher standard with regard to God’s Standards.

I am happy to journey with you all once again this Lenten Season. We continue with the same title Cross in Jesus Style. Last year we meditated on the Sermon on the Mount. This year I am thinking of meditating on those things which if we give up we will be able to reach the standard God has set in our life.

For all the Eastern churches the service of reconciliation or Shubkono stands at the 'threshold of Great Lent.' The service marks the actual doorway into Lent. Another important service related to reconciliation takes place in every communion service except on Maundy Thursday is the ‘The Kiss of Peace. The Kiss of Peace is important in the Holy Communion service, since we are getting ready to communicate with God through His Body and in doing so, we cannot be, divided in ourselves and in with each other.

For our brief meditation let us turn our Bible to the Gospel according to St. Mathew 5.21-26

Ernest Hemingway in his short story, The Capital of the World grasped some of the difficulty that characterizes relationships between fathers and sons. The story revolves around a father and his teenage son Paco, set in Spain. Paco was an extremely common name in the Spain of that time. With desires to become a matador and to escape his father’s control, Paco runs away to the capital (from which the title is derived) of Spain, Madrid.  His father, desperate to reconcile with his son, follows him to Madrid and puts an ad in a local newspaper with a simple phrase:

“Dear Paco, meet me in front of the Madrid newspaper office tomorrow at noon. All is forgiven. I love you.”

Hemingway then writes, “the next day at noon in front of the newspaper office there were 800 “Pacos” all seeking forgiveness.”

The world is full of people in need of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Is there a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation?

Someone has explained it this way: “Forgiveness means letting go of the past, but reconciliation is about committing to a future.  It means returning to some degree of friendliness, and for that to happen, trust has to be re-established.”

I would put it this way: Forgiveness is letting go of the past but reconciliation is about restoring the relationship in the future

Sometimes it is not possible to restore the relationship we once had. Reconciliation involves trust.  Trust may not be present, or it may take a while for it to develop once it is broken.

The word "be reconciled" here in verse 24 is a Greek word diallasso. This is a very interesting word.  The word has its roots in the moneychangers. The root is "to exchange" meaning, "You give me one currency, and I will give you the other currency of an equal amount." So, it would change from one to the other.  And the word diallasso came to mean "to change, or to alter." Specifically, to alter the outlook of another person.

Three things are necessary for us to reconcile with our fellow beings.

1.      Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading

v.23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you

When we are in God’s temple the Holy Spirit always speaks to us. When we hear a sermon or a Bible portion being read or listen/sing a song and participate in the worship through the liturgy also God’s Spirit speaks to us. Our heart goes on saying that we have committed wrong.

The question we need to ask is Are we sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading today?

2.      Beware of what is at stake

v.25,26 – Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus says that the presence of the Lord will convict us of our wrongs and when that happens if we are not heeding to the call the punishment which we are going to bear will have great consequences.

3.      Be mature enough to act

v.24 – leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Jesus says, "Leave your gift there before the altar." This is kind of code for us to continue to do our duty to God. The ironic part of what Jesus says is that He won't accept it until we have been reconciled with your brother. That's what He goes on to say. In the Model Prayer it says that, if you don't forgive others, then God will not forgive you. It's the same sort of thing.

Dear Friends we have offered God many things – money, resource, time, talents but Jesus says all is still lying there because we have not been reconciled with our fellow beings.

As we enter this year’s Lenten Season May the good Lord help us to forgive and reconcile.

God bless you