Devotion by: Antonia Siebert
Matthew 5:20-26
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
I smiled to myself as I read these verses, because I recognized a pattern of behavior that I witnessed many times in my years as a legal assistant in large, corporate law firms in Washington, DC. Person A is angry with Person B (vs. 22) and instead of resolving the matter directly with Person B (vs. 24b), Person A decides to publicly profess the dispute (“be liable to judgment”) and invoke the power of the law to resolve the matter. Then Person A inflames the dispute even further with ad hominem attacks (“insult”) and slander (“[y]ou fool”). Person B must of course mount a defense and again, instead of resolving the matter directly with Person A, responds in kind and with a vengeance. Faced with Person B’s vigorous response, Person A begins to negotiate (“on the way to court”) realizing that the judge will not take kindly to the conduct of the case and he is likely to lose. And of course, all of this legal maneuvering costs a lot of money (“you will never get out until you have paid the last penny”).
And what is gained by all this litigation? Nothing but acrimony on all sides. I worked on a lot of cases where I thought that a plaintiff was simply blaming someone else for their misfortune and / or outright stupidity. So many times the cases weren’t really a dispute over the law; they were really about someone who was angry or grieving, or felt insulted and unimportant, and who wanted someone else to hurt just as much – or who just wanted to receive a sincere apology. Hiding behind litigation is easy, and face-to-face confrontation is hard. But the personal approach, not litigation, is what Jesus advocates (vs. 24). The personal approach is the “narrow gate” of today’s title that we must pass through. (See Matthew 7:13-14).
Several years ago I had a simple, outpatient laparoscopic procedure that went horribly wrong. The surgeon made a mistake and I nearly died. In the two weeks that I spent in the hospital, I lost count of how many times someone said “You should sue!”. But I knew I would not. The surgeon was not overly-tired, drunk, or otherwise incapacitated or unfit. She was skilled at this procedure and had done it many times without any problems. She exercised reasonable care and caution. She did not injure me out of malice. She simply made a mistake – as any human can do (vs. 20: “ Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”).
She came to see me in the hospital, clearly apprehensive of how I might receive her. But I welcomed her in and we talked about what happened. I told her that I was aware of the risks of surgery, that mistakes are made, that I forgave her for her mistake – and that I wasn’t going to sue her for it. She was visibly relieved and, I think, surprised. I didn’t need to punish her for her mistake and I didn’t need to be compensated for my injury.
I did need to forgive her and to rid myself of any resentment. Bitterness and strife that you carry around with you gets in the way of your relationship with God. You can’t carry your grudges and your offerings too. You have to reconcile your disputes (whether you are the disputer or the disputee!), and then you can approach God in the proper frame of mind (vs. 24). Any effort or energy you expend on an argument is that much less effort or energy (i.e., “offerings”) you have to spend on God.
PRAYER: Dear God, help us to squeeze through the narrow gates on the path of life. Give us strength for the journey so that we may carry our offerings to you with a clean heart and a right spirit. Amen.
Matthew 5:20-26
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
I smiled to myself as I read these verses, because I recognized a pattern of behavior that I witnessed many times in my years as a legal assistant in large, corporate law firms in Washington, DC. Person A is angry with Person B (vs. 22) and instead of resolving the matter directly with Person B (vs. 24b), Person A decides to publicly profess the dispute (“be liable to judgment”) and invoke the power of the law to resolve the matter. Then Person A inflames the dispute even further with ad hominem attacks (“insult”) and slander (“[y]ou fool”). Person B must of course mount a defense and again, instead of resolving the matter directly with Person A, responds in kind and with a vengeance. Faced with Person B’s vigorous response, Person A begins to negotiate (“on the way to court”) realizing that the judge will not take kindly to the conduct of the case and he is likely to lose. And of course, all of this legal maneuvering costs a lot of money (“you will never get out until you have paid the last penny”).And what is gained by all this litigation? Nothing but acrimony on all sides. I worked on a lot of cases where I thought that a plaintiff was simply blaming someone else for their misfortune and / or outright stupidity. So many times the cases weren’t really a dispute over the law; they were really about someone who was angry or grieving, or felt insulted and unimportant, and who wanted someone else to hurt just as much – or who just wanted to receive a sincere apology. Hiding behind litigation is easy, and face-to-face confrontation is hard. But the personal approach, not litigation, is what Jesus advocates (vs. 24). The personal approach is the “narrow gate” of today’s title that we must pass through. (See Matthew 7:13-14).
Several years ago I had a simple, outpatient laparoscopic procedure that went horribly wrong. The surgeon made a mistake and I nearly died. In the two weeks that I spent in the hospital, I lost count of how many times someone said “You should sue!”. But I knew I would not. The surgeon was not overly-tired, drunk, or otherwise incapacitated or unfit. She was skilled at this procedure and had done it many times without any problems. She exercised reasonable care and caution. She did not injure me out of malice. She simply made a mistake – as any human can do (vs. 20: “ Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”).
She came to see me in the hospital, clearly apprehensive of how I might receive her. But I welcomed her in and we talked about what happened. I told her that I was aware of the risks of surgery, that mistakes are made, that I forgave her for her mistake – and that I wasn’t going to sue her for it. She was visibly relieved and, I think, surprised. I didn’t need to punish her for her mistake and I didn’t need to be compensated for my injury.
I did need to forgive her and to rid myself of any resentment. Bitterness and strife that you carry around with you gets in the way of your relationship with God. You can’t carry your grudges and your offerings too. You have to reconcile your disputes (whether you are the disputer or the disputee!), and then you can approach God in the proper frame of mind (vs. 24). Any effort or energy you expend on an argument is that much less effort or energy (i.e., “offerings”) you have to spend on God.
PRAYER: Dear God, help us to squeeze through the narrow gates on the path of life. Give us strength for the journey so that we may carry our offerings to you with a clean heart and a right spirit. Amen.
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