Relationships and Worship

Relationships and Worship Matthew 5:21-37 DR Lloyd Jones said this about the Sermon on the Mount: " Discipline in the Christian life is a good and essential thing. But if your main object and intent is to conform to the discipline that you have set for yourself it may very well be the greatest danger to your soul. Fasting and prayer are good things; but if you fast twice a week or pray at a particular hour every day merely in order to carry out your discipline, then you have missed the whole object of fasting and praying. There is no point in either of them, or in observing Lent, or in anything else that is meant to be an aid to the spiritual life, unless they bring us into a deeper relationship to God. I may stop smoking . I may stop drinking or gambling during these six weeks or at any other period. But if during that time my poverty of spirit is not greater, my sense of weakness is not deepened , my hunger and thirst after God and righteousness is not greatly increased, then I might just as well not have done it at all. Indeed I would sa it would be very much better for me if I had not done it. All this is the fatal danger of making these things ends in themselves. We can be guilty of the same thing with public worship. If public worship becomes an end in itself, if my sole object in a pulpit is to preach a sermon and not try to explain the blessed gospel of God that you and I , and all of us , may come to know and love Him better, my preaching is vain and it may be thing that will damn my soul. These things are meant to be aids to help us, and illustrations of the Word. God forbid that we should turn them into a religion. ' The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.' " Today I would like to take these vss, only a part in the Sermon on the Mount, and think about them in the area of relationships. 5:23-24 " If you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has aught against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." None of us can always do this perfectly, and that is the whole point of the Sermon the Mount as well. Who is always pure in heart? Who always a peacemaker? Who is always meek? Yet we seek to be like Christ and yet we fail so often in our lives and in our relationships. How can we hope? 1. The very inability to do the things we should illustrates our need of God's help in our situations and relationships. That is the whole point of the sermon on the mount. Yes we are to do His Will and forgive and repair as we try but we must let God help us do it. This reminds me of the story I read in Swindoll's book on Matthew 5, Simple Faith ; It shows that not all is at seems....." A Church called a new pastor, ...who preached with real zeal...the church grew..( Two brothers in the church were wealthy) Suddenly one of the brothers died, and ...the day before the funeral, the surviving brother pulled the minister aside and handed him an envelope ' There is a check that is large enough to pay the entire amount you need for the new sanctuary...all I ask is one favor: Tell the people at the funeral that he was a saint.' The minister gave the brother his word, he would do precisely what was asked....He said with conviction at the funeral service,' This man was an ungodly sinner, wicked to the core...hot tempered ...ruthless in his business, and a hypocrite in the church..but compared to his brother, he was a saint.' " Not everything is as it should be is it? We are unable without the Holy Spirit to live the law of God at all , and that even partially. 2." Conduct is more important than formal worship" Matthew, by Tasker. Jesus clearly is asking us all to take a look at what is happening with people we interact with. I attended a pastor's meeting periodically where I lived in Texas--- they talk about the texts for the week and ask for input and we get a lot out of the discussion. I brought this text up and somehow I had overlooked the point as I was thinking about it that the one making the gift remembers that your brother has aught against you. My first reading was the other way around ."23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. " We all have people we are fed up with to some degree at some time or another. ( I imagine God has this issue as well if you read the Old Testament and see His attitudes and actions toward Israel) But to remember the one who may have the same issue and do nothing about---- it is time to go and fix as we can. As we can. We cannot force people to do certain things. We may say, " I forgive you." But we must not say that lightly. It is not a flippant way to fix a problem. We must pray, fast and ruminate over it and chat with the other about it , and tell them our feelings and difficulties. So the other way around as well, if they say, " I forgive you"...without taking time to go through the process of forgiveness. Again, just saying something does not fix the problem. I saw a tow truck at the WED prayer meeting . I did not need a tow truck, but it was there because that is how the person driving it got to the prayer meeting. But to tow someone is a lot different than saying , " I will tow you.." ( without showing up to do anything except to admire the beautiful tow truck!) 3. Then the part I was going to talk about for the message but here it is for the last: The word reconciled is a little greek word ---thoroughly have change. None of us as we said are capable of making complete change but we can make a step. ( certainly not without the assistance and intervention of the Holy Spirit)Perhaps this of all things is needed in our relationships, our schools, our churches, and in our nation . The word reconcile does not mean we agree with what has happened. It may mean we are changed in how we see what has happened. " Be reconciled" Only possible through God in Christ and the Holy Ghost. May I suggest that we assume what others think and do not know unless we hear what they really think? So today, go and before we offer the gift, be reconciled to the one who has something against us. Worship can wait. It must wait because we cannot give God all if we have not given Him what He asks. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.