First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

- Matthew 5:21-26

On Saturday, Jesus spoke about the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He taught that the commandments He is giving are those for a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes -- and that this is the way to the kingdom of heaven that He offers. We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount. We began with the Beatitudes, then Jesus taught His disciples that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In our last reading on Saturday, Jesus also taught: Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Here Jesus gives us an illustration of what it is to "exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and the scribes." The law is one thing, to conform to an outward ideal or prescription. But the inner life is another. My study bible points out that the words "but I say to you" is an indication of Jesus' authority. As the author of the old Law -- in His divine reality as Son together with the Father -- Christ also created human nature. It says, "As the Old Law is fulfilled in the New Law, so human nature is healed by Christ." Jesus qualifies what He means when He says "angry without a cause." This is not righteous indignation, but sinful anger -- that which destroys. Jesus identifies it as akin to murder.

And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. "Raca" means literally "empty head." It is calling someone else stupid, without sense, a slur upon a person -- not a form of rebuke that edifies or builds up or corrects. Again, we understand the difference in the anger. The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews. And "hell" here (Gehenna in the Greek) is, in the words of my study bible, "the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace." What we are talking about then is an anger that wishes to destroy, to do harm. A correction or a rebuke for the good is quite another thing: this is about the will to harm others, to stir up trouble, to do the opposite of creation of reconciliation or peace.

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. My study bible points out that "peace with other believers takes primacy over duties of worship." It notes, "In early Christian worship the liturgical 'kiss of peace' at the beginning of the Communion prayers -- not after -- was a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, preparing the Church to offer and receive the Eucharist." Christ here makes it clear that outward show of faith isn't good enough when there is something missing, an inward sign or attempt of reconciliation. This is the great thing: we become peacemakers. And note clearly the power of conscience, the "authority" we have, if you will, or responsibility, to know what we are doing and where we may have gone wrong. Reconciliation is possible -- we have the power to remedy what we may have done wrong. We're not responsible for what others do or how they respond, but we do have the choice to remedy what we have done and to create reconciliation in this way. This reconciliation then becomes a kind of offer to the Lord that we make in a sense linked with the gift on the altar. Indeed, our Lord places one before the other. One should not be done without the other.

"Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny." My study bible says, "Luke 12:57-59 places this teaching in a context dealing with the end of the age; here it is in the context of reconciliation. In both cases it is clear that quarrels must be settled quickly, not allowed to continue. Delaying reconciliation and good works gives room for the working of more evil." What we can understand from this teaching, however, is the great importance of the consequences of failing to do what we can to reconcile. It is we who will pay for our lack of concern and effort. Again, the emphasis is on personal duty or responsibility and effort. The sooner we make the effort, the less painful the consequences. Again, there is a sense of a "gift" to the Lord: we can render our quarrels up to God -- or we suffer the often painful and deepening consequences. This is evident not only as Christ puts it here, in terms of God's justice, but also in our daily lives in this world.

Let us consider then today's teaching in terms of reconciliation. What does it mean to be reconciled with God? Jesus terms our gift on the altar as that which takes second place to the prior condition of our gift of reconciliation with a brother or sister. In other words, we make attempts to "make good" where we have failed. If we have caused harm ("anger without a cause," above) then we have a job to try to reconcile. In this sense, we can see the giving up of quarrels and strife to God as a sort of sacramental act, akin to a gift on the altar. We try to see it God's way, we ask for God's help to do what we can at least to reconcile on our part of the equation. Jesus puts it, to "remember that your brother has something against you." The notions of forgiveness follow similar language: to forgive is to "give up" or "let go" - as in taking a debt off the books. So if we "owe" something in this sense because we've acted without a cause, and caused harm, we go and do what we can to reconcile -- just like paying a debt. We can't really know how a brother will take it or respond, but we do know what our part in the equation is. And from Jesus' example and words about payment, it is also something we give up and settle in our reconciliation to Our Father. If we consider reconciliation with both -- Our Father and our brother -- as part of this act, then it takes the sting of the personal or merely individual out of it, to some extent. It helps us to give up, to offer our lives to God, and to do what we must in order to serve something much better, in love. It becomes, with God's help and grace, something much easier to do, more blessed to experience. Let us consider then our gifts to God, and all that we may truly "give up" in our experience of our faith and relationship to the Lord -- including the embrace of our relationships in the world. A wise friend always reminds me that when we can do nothing else, we can always pray for others. There also is an attempt at reconciliation, before the altar of the Lord. We can also pray for reconciliation, or the words to help us to do so well, for the Lord to show us the way.