Word to the Wise
Friday, February 23, 2024 - 1st Week of Lent - Fri
[Ezek 18:21-28 and Matt 5:20-26]"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool," will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." [Matthew]
These words of Jesus come from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew. What Jesus does is to go beyond surface behavior toward others [scribes and Pharisees] to the very way we FEEL about others. Forgiveness has to come from the INSIDE.
Jesus' startling statement about reconciliation before worship is just the first mention of it. The Lord's Prayer, which we say thousands of times in our life, asks Our Father to forgive us as we forgive others, and is followed immediately with the warning that if we do not forgive others, we cannot expect forgiveness from God. Later on in Matthew, Jesus even provides a process for reconciliation! [Matt. 18:15-20] which is followed by the admonition to forgive "not seven times but seventy-seven times" and the parable of the Unforgiving Servant."
What if the other person isn't open to reconciliation? The process in 18:15-20 speaks to this. But we are not exempt from making the attempt. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, which aims first at our relationship to God, is just the first step. The relationship with our neighbor remains for action!! I have heard more than once a person, after mentioning an injury, asking "Do I HAVE TO forgive the person who caused the injury? The answer from Jesus is YES. This does not settle the need for justice and restoration for the damage when this can be done. But forgiveness cannot be conditioned on that, nor can anyone prevent us from forgiving. That is totally in our control.
If we are tempted to say to any of the Sermon on the Mount, "That's easier said than done!", we might ponder Jesus' own merciful behavior all the way to the cross and beyond. That is our challenge as Christians. Lent is a good time to ask ourselves how we respond to that challenge. AMEN