You Have Heard It Said...
February 2, 2021
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder…’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:21-24 NLT
Years back we were playing a speed round of Scripture memory in youth group. When it was your turn, you were to say a Bible verse from memory. You received one point for the verse and one point if you also knew the reference. One young guy was rather flustered when it came around to about his third time. Just before the buzzer sounded, he blurted out, “The early bird gets the worm!” We all busted up in laughter, and he tried to explain, “I was sure I had heard that.”
We all hear many things that sound true, and perhaps ARE true, but they aren’t the point. In Jesus’ day, people thought they knew all sorts of things, but Jesus said they were no longer the point. He was there making everything new, and it was all about relationships. It didn’t take murder to mess up a relationship—simple anger could do it. And here’s the big point: To mess up our relationship with a person made in God’s image is to mess up our relationship with Him.
I have a dear friend who is in a period of bleakness in her relationship with God. She said she doesn’t understand it, but for some time after her deepened commitment to be a true Jesus-follower, there was nothing but joy. But now God seems distant and inaccessible. I know her well—her relationship with her mother has been estranged for more than a decade because of very ill treatment she received from her mother. Mom wrote her out of her will and life. Now she has dementia and is in a nursing home. There is no one to manage her affairs except my friend, so she does it, from a distance and only through designated executors. I felt nudged to ask her, “How’s your mom?” She said, “How would I know? I don’t hear anything about her unless the home calls.”
When I responded, “You mean you never call to talk to her or check on her?” She was very frustrated. “Why would you even ask that? You know what she did to me. She has never and will never ask for forgiveness.” As kindly as I knew how I suggested to her that she might check in with God and see if her attitude, lack of forgiveness, and treatment of her mother had anything to do with the sense of God’s absence from her life.
That was the last thing she wanted to hear, but I have found it to be true in my own life. When God seems to be distant, most often I can find the beginning of my struggle back in a pile of resentment, disappointment, or anger in a relationship. I don’t notice it readily because I disguise it with worship and sacrifices and services I choose. Jesus said I can’t be in a great place with Him if I am unwilling to love with ready forgiveness, and accept the apology I will likely never get.
- Is there a broken relationship you refuse to address? God cares deeply about that.