3 - Restoring Right Relationships Matt. 5:23-24 / Mark 11:25

Transcription

1 1 3 - Restoring Right Relationships Matt. 5:23-24 / Mark 11:25 We are just a couple of weeks away from celebrating the Lord s Supper. Holy Spirit is using these weeks prior to lead us in preparation for coming to the Table. Now hear me clearly on this matter: Jesus wants you at His Table! I want to say that again. Please hear me. Jesus Christ wants you to be present at His table to celebrate His death and resurrection! These messages about preparation are not designed to drive you away or get you to pass on partaking. Absolutely NOT! Rather, they are filled with hope and direction on how we can come boldly and in a worthy manner to the Table of our Lord. Indeed, it is a serious thing to partake of the Lord s Supper. We must come to the Table humbly and filled with thanksgiving. We must prepare our hearts so that we can come in what the Apostle Paul called a worthy manner. But Jesus wants you to come. Have you noticed that we are good at putting things off that might be unpleasant? Is that true about you? It is about most of us. If we have reason to believe that an experience will be unpleasant, we will procrastinate as long as we can. What often presses us to get on with the matter is a date. If there is a time frame that we are operating under, we tend to get the unpleasant job done. That is one role the Lord s Supper plays in the life of a church. We know when that worship service is coming. If we know there are matters that we really need to deal with before we come to partake of communion, that time frame gives us the kick in the seat of the pants we need to settle those matters. We have to be ready to come to the Table. We are looking carefully at how the Bible tells us to prepare to approach the Table of Christ. The first week He called us to remembrance. We are to remember the sacrifice of Jesus that enables us to come worthily to the Table of the Lord. The table is a place of remembrance. See the words on the front of the communion table? Do this in remembrance of me. Those were Jesus words. So we took a careful look at what all Jesus has done to bring us to Himself. We have been reminded that the brokenness and pain and abandonment He bore were really ours! Last week Holy Spirit called us to examine ourselves. The Apostle Paul made it clear that we have a choice to either judge ourselves or God will judge us. We took a self-examination as to (1) whether or not we were in the faith, and (2) whether there was sin in our hearts and lives. We ended the message with a forecast of today s topic. We asked Holy Spirit to reveal to us whether or not we were out of fellowship with anyone else. That last examination leads us into the message for today. It has to do with restoring relationships that are broken or strained. Disunity in the Body of Christ is a serious matter. Churches that are divided and quarreling look more like the world than like followers of Christ. The night before Jesus was betrayed He prayed for unity among His followers. Unity is the most convincing evidence to the lost world that Jesus is the Savior sent from God. That also means our disunity is probably the greatest hindrance to leading others to faith in Christ. If there are broken relationships with brothers or sisters in Christ, they must be reconciled! We have been focusing primarily on Paul s letter to the church at Corinth in this preparation time. This was a church riddled with divisiveness. Paul wrote, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1:10) This divisiveness carried over onto the celebration of the Lord s Supper. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. (11:18) Such a spirit grieves Holy Spirit and casts the Church of Jesus Christ in a very bad light before this lost world. Please listen to this passage from Proverbs. Solomon, the wisest man, wrote these words thousands of years before the church was born, but his wisdom is as powerful today as it was then. These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. (Prov. 6:16-19)

2 This is strong language. These are things God HATES! On this list is the person who sows discord among the brethren. Did I mention that these are things that God HATES? Divisiveness and discord are no small things to Holy Spirit. The church is the Body of Christ, and Jesus will not hold guiltless anyone who seeks to divide His Body! The matter of unity in the Body of Christ is so important to Jesus, it was the topic of His last recorded prayer. I mentioned this earlier. He prayed to the Father, May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me (John 17:23) In that prayer Jesus magnified the fact that He and the Father were one in perfect unity, and He longed for that to be true about those who chose to follow Him. I want us to seek Holy Spirit to lead us further in examining our hearts and lives today. We need Him to lead us to look very carefully at our relationships, especially those relationships here at church. Being rightly related to one another was so significant to Jesus that He spoke directly about how to deal with those matters. Once again, Jesus wants you to join Him at His table and take communion with your brothers and sisters in Christ. So He has provided a way that you can remember Him, be cleansed of all known sin, and be rightly related to your brothers and sisters in Christ. First I want us to look at Matthew 5: 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. In this situation, Jesus sees you in worship you are about to give your gift (whatever that might be) to the Lord on the altar and then Holy Spirit brings to your mind the fact that you have a brother in Christ that has something against you. What are you to do? Surprisingly, Jesus tells us to leave the gift on the altar! It is not ready to be presented yet! Why? Your heart is not right with a brother in Christ. If your heart is not right, your gift is not worthy to be presented to the Lord. If your heart is not right, your gift cannot be right! We have to come to the point of understanding that our worship is hindered when we are out of fellowship with someone in the Body of Christ. We cannot afford to ignore this command and hope our worship or service is acceptable to the Lord. We most assuredly cannot expect to come to the Table that is known for fellowship when we are out of fellowship with someone else at the Table! Once again, this is not mentioned to keep you from taking communion, but to call you to make your relationship right with your brother or sister so you can come to the Lord s Supper in a worthy manner. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. That is pretty clear, isn t it? In this situation, you are the offender. You have done something that has hurt a fellow member of the Body of Christ. But what if you are the one who has been offended? Jesus has a word for you as well. Mark 11:25 is for you. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. The setting is once again worship. In this passage, Jesus sees you at prayer, in worship, standing in fellowship with the Lord, and Holy Spirit brings to your mind someone who has offended you, hurt you, or slighted you. What does the Lord command? Immediately you are to focus your praying on forgiving that person who has hurt you. Interestingly, here and in other passages, the Lord tells us that our personal forgiveness is somehow linked to our forgivingness. Our willingness to forgive is a governor on how much we will be forgiven. I don t know about you, but I stand in need of a LOT of forgiveness. I cannot afford to limit the supply of divine forgiveness one little bit! So, if I want an unending stream of forgiveness to flow into my heart, I must likewise be quick to offer forgiveness to those who have offended me. 2

3 I am reminded of something John Wesley, founder of Methodism, once said. He was visiting Georgia on a preaching tour and had occasion to discuss a matter with General Oglethorpe regarding someone who had offended him. General Oglethorpe stated categorically, I will never forgive him. John Wesley replied, Then sir, I indeed hope you never sin and stand in need of forgiveness yourself. If you and I find we are in need of God forgiving us of our sin, we need to be just as forgiving of those who have offended us. So, let s just take a quick quiz and find out what we have learned so far. Whether I am the offender or the one offended, which action should I take? This is multiple choice. Listen to the choices and choose one or more that applies to you. If I am the offender or the offended A I should ignore the problem and hope it goes away. It isn t that big a deal anyway. B I should wait until that person takes the first step by coming to me to set things right. C I should immediately forgive the offense, even if my brother has not asked for it. D I should not go to worship at all. Better to be absent that to have to deal with this stuff. E I should go to my brother and be reconciled that my worship can be acceptable. I sincerely hope you chose C and E! If you are not here for the Lord s Supper in a couple of weeks, I will conclude you chose D to skip out on this whole business because it is too unpleasant. Let s take this matter a bit farther. If we are going to be prepared to come to the Table together, we have to settle some matters, or our worship will not be acceptable. We will be coming in what the Apostle Paul called an unworthy manner and thus inviting God s judgment on our heads. We want to have Holy Spirit lead us to examine our relationships and right what is wrong before we come to the Table. Jesus knows the importance of right relationships in His Body. He commands us to respond in a way that is directly opposite to what our human nature suggests. If I am the offender, my worship isn t acceptable until I have been reconciled. If my brother is the offender, I should forgive him even if he has not asked for forgiveness. Otherwise my worship is not acceptable. That is radical stuff! But unity in the Body of Christ is that important to the Lord and it should be to us as well! If what Jesus said is true (and we believe that everything He says is true) then unity in the church is a powerful testimony to a watching world. Why? Because the rest of the world doesn t act that way! Let s get specific for a moment. I am going to present you with a list of possible ways that you may have offended someone. You listen carefully, first to me and then to Holy Spirit, and see if He brings something to mind you need to act upon. - Have I mistreated anyone by my actions of words? - Have I stolen from anyone? - Do I hold a grudge or bitterness in my heart toward anyone here today? - Have I gossiped about or slandered another person? - Have I borrowed anything I have failed to return? - Has God impressed me to do something to meet someone s need, and I have not done it? - Have I done anything illegal or immoral I need to confess? - Have I lied to anyone or falsified any information? - Am I currently in a relationship that the Lord cannot and will not bless? - Have I allowed jealously, envy, or resentment to have a negative impact on how I feel about someone in God s family? - Has Holy Spirit shown me how I have sinned against someone here today? If Holy Spirit has brought to your mind any relationship that is broken or ways you have contributed to disunity in the Body of Christ, decide now to make those relationships right! Make up your mind right now. Pledge to Jesus that you will do this immediately! Remember Jesus words First go 3

4 and be reconciled with your brother. And by all means, remember that one of the things God HATES is one who sows dissention in the body. Here are some biblical guidelines to reconcile with those you have offended. - Pray and ask Holy Spirit for help in this process. - Make things right first with God. Confess, repent and ask His forgiveness. - Go in person if at all possible. If that is not possible, use the telephone. - Admit what you did or said was wrong. Ask for his/her forgiveness. Don t deal with any part they may have played in the offense. You are just talking about you and your part. Their actions or attitudes are for them to deal with before God. You deal with your part. - Make restitution when appropriate. - Don t expect to receive positive responses every time. Some folks are not ready or willing to be reconciled. if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (Rom. 12:18) You just be sure to do your part and leave the other person to the Lord. Going to someone to ask forgiveness is hard, but sometimes the more difficult job is forgiving those who have offended you. What do you do if you have not offended someone, but there is someone here who has hurt you? Maybe you have been hurt deeply. Maybe your life has drastically changed because of that abuse. What do you do? The Words of Jesus continue to instruct us from Mark 11:25. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. Once again the setting is worship and Holy Spirit brings someone to our mind that has hurt us. We find that being out of fellowship with a brother inhibits our worship unto the Lord. Remember that this is a command not a suggestion! Hear the words of Jesus. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matt. 6:15) Talking about harsh and to the point! Paul made it abundantly clear. bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Col. 3:13) You might complain, I just can t do that! I do not have it in my heart to forgive that person. Two thoughts. First, understand that you are severely limiting the amount of forgiveness you will receive from the Lord. That is serious! Second, remember when I was telling you about Truths that Transform? Remember that God never requires what He does not also provide. Forgiving someone who has deeply hurt you is not something you can do in your own strength and ability. Holy Spirit living and doing His great work in your heart can enable you to do in His strength what you cannot do in your own. Here are some statements that you may need to hear or truths you need to learn about forgiving. - Forgiveness is fully releasing another from the debt of the offense. - The person who forgives is the one who has to pay the price of forgiveness, just like Jesus did. - You are never more like Christ than when you forgive someone who has hurt you. - Forgiveness does not mean that the offense was not wrong. - Forgiveness is not permission for the offender to do it again. - Forgiveness does not mean that you will fully forget the hurt. - How often must I forgive? Jesus answered that. The number is unlimited. - Forgiveness is not dependent on the offender acknowledging their sin, repenting, or changing their ways. Still we must forgive. Jesus is our model. On the Cross He prayed, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34) - Forgiveness is a choice. It is an act of your mind and will. It is not dependent on feelings at all. It s time to pray and ask Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart who it is that has offended you. It is time to seek His power and love to so grow in your heart that you will obey the Lord s command to forgive that person. 4

5 It s time to pray and ask Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart who it is that you have offended. It is time you go to that person, confess your wrong, and ask their forgiveness. What hinders us from being reconciled with a fellow believer? Most often it is pride. Sometimes it is fear. But what is required for God to restore unity is humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you in due time. (1 Peter 5:5-6) Will you ask God to do whatever He must do in your heart in order to prepare you for reconciliation with your fellow believer? Jesus is calling us to His Table. It is just a couple of weeks away. He wants you to be here. He is inviting you to join Him at His Table. We have a lot to do in order to prepare so we can come worthily. Have you remembered what it cost Jesus to buy you a place at this table? Have you examined yourself to be sure you are in the faith? Have you asked Holy Spirit to reveal to you any sin that separates you from Him as you prepare for the table? Today have you asked Him what relationships are in need of mending so that you can partake of communion in a worthy manner? Let s do business with God! 5