‘’So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.’” Matthew 5:23-24 ESV
While very different movies, 21 Bridges and Frozen II have a similar theme in common: making things right. (Don’t worry, there will be no spoilers!) Specifically, the main characters in each movie are trying to right a wrong.
This struck me as particularly interesting during the Thanksgiving holiday week because this holiday is often known for gratitude. Yet if we consider the origins and the ultimate relationship between the natives and the colonizers, some could say making things right is a Thanksgiving theme too. Jesus reminds us of the importance of making things right during His Sermon on The Mount.
Before any gift, offering, or sacrifice is made to the Lord, we are to repair our broken relationships (Matt 5:23-24). Many of us can read this passage and easily think “well I have something against them too, so they need to come to me first.” Or we might adopt the world’s motto of “if they’re not serving me, they don’t need to be in my life.” Biblically we know that “love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:4).
As a Christian, being a good person who does good deeds, attends worship service, provides offerings or tithes, isn’t the end goal. The end goal is to be Christlike, which Paul outlines in Philippians 2, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (v. 3-4)
When we look beyond our own interests, and to the interests of others, it makes it easier to lay down our rights and seek reconciliation. As we approach this holiday season and the homestretch of 2019, I encourage you to seek God and ask Him in prayer who might have something against you, and what steps you can take to make things right.
Restoration and reconciliation in our human relationships is so important to God that He would rather we “leave [y]our gift there before the altar and go.” (Matt 5:24a) This text conveys more urgency than our human actions often display. I can envision someone approaching the altar, remembering that someone has something against them, dropping their gift and legitimately running to make things right with that person before engaging in service to the Lord. A modern day translation of the text could read “before making a gift of service or money in My Name because you think it is what I desire and looks good, slow your roll on the rituals, and run like a bat out of heck to do the right thing.” Yikes, looks like I need a pair of running shoes!! What about you?
Reflection
Are there broken relationships in my life? Has God prompted me or nudged me in any way to seek reconciliation? What’s keeping me from seeking unity? How do I need God’s help in order to make things right?
Prayer
Lord, thank you for leaving a blueprint for life in the Bible. Forgive me for taking Your Word for granted. I want to be Christlike. Help me to seek unity and honor You in my earthly relationships. Give me all that I need, whether strength, wisdom, courage, humility or something else, to reconcile the broken relationships in my life according to Your Will. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Photo by Dana Vollenweider on Unsplash
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