“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 5:23-24

Our church is going through a Sermon on the Mount series on Sunday mornings. I have read it all before but each time it takes on new life for me as the Word often does. As we were covering these words in Matthew 5, I was struck again at how important our relationships are to Jesus. Because He loves each one of us ardently, He expects us to do the same for each other. In Mark 12, Jesus is asked what the most important commandments are, and His response is to love God and to love others. He displayed this in His own life, often spending time with the Father and living in community, serving, healing, and loving the unlovable.

God, in His great love, gave us the law as a guide for us to do well, knowing that we would fail daily. Then, He sent Jesus to not only fulfill the Law for us but to expand on it. As we read the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is reinforcing the importance of obedience while also pulling back the curtain on how it had become their god. It would not save them. He is shining a light on the condition of their hearts as they lived in relationship with Him and others.

He is far less interested in our outward gifts of service, sacrifice, fancy prayers, and checklist obedience and far more interested in our heart posture. He is uninterested in and possibly unwilling to accept our gifts if we have any conflict with our brother or sister in Christ. He commands us to make it right first.

But He takes it even further later in the sermon in verses 43-48.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! This was a radical concept in Jesus’s time, and it’s radical now, challenging us to extend love and forgiveness beyond the bare minimum. This is a call to be unnaturally holy, righteous, and set apart as one of His disciples. Others will know us by our love.

Not many days after this sermon, He had the opportunity to display this radical concept as He forgave His enemies as they were crucifying Him. No one is outside of His forgiveness, and as He commissioned, no one should be outside of ours either.

Who is your enemy today? Who is persecuting you? Who is preying on your downfall? Maybe it is someone who hurt you deeply in your past. A friend who betrayed you? A family member who abused you? Someone you share children with?

Or maybe it is someone who you have built up resentment towards because they are different than you, support a different political party than you, or have differing opinions about religion.

Each of us can think of someone who falls into one of these categories, whether it be a small disagreement or a deep violation.

I have experience with both, and Jesus has commanded me to make it right. I am called to forgive others with the same forgiveness He has shown me over and over again. I have gone to each of those people to forgive, apologize for my part no matter how large or small, and bless them. Their response is not my responsibility, and it isn’t yours either. Forgiveness is my responsibility.

Forgiveness does not mean that you are excusing what happened; forgiveness is to sanctify our hearts and glorify God. It allows us to serve, worship, and abide in freedom.

I know forgiveness is not always easy. But instead of feeling burdened by the task of forgiving, remember that because Jesus wants that for you, He will walk alongside you as you do the hard work of making it right. You are never alone.

Ardently His,

Jenifer

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