Sunday Worship Service September 29, 2024

Prelude
Call to Worship Joel 2:12~13a
Hymn JBC # 125 All Creatures of our God and King
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 40 O Thou, in whose presence
Offering
Scripture Matthew 5:21～26
Prayer
Sermon “Reconciliation with brothers”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 628 All to Jesus I surrender
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude


To the people of his (Jesus’) time, it seemed that our Lord Jesus Christ was not upholding the laws of the scriptures that had been observed since ancient times but was breaking them.
For example, Jesus would heal people who were suffering from illnesses even if it was the Sabbath (for the Jews, the Sabbath was on Saturdays).
Since this was seen as the work of healing, which went against the ban on conducting any kind of work on the Sabbath, these actions were criticized severely by the Jewish religious leaders (called the Pharisees and the teachers of the law).
However, Jesus said that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”, and taught people about the real meaning for why God created the Sabbath (to protect human life and dignity and to preserve people’s rest).

Since Jesus did those things that seemed to break (or ignore) the laws of the time, it seems that there were some people who saw Jesus’s actions and thought “We don’t need to observe the old laws anymore”.
Yet, if we listen to the words of Jesus in today’s passage in Matthew chapter 5, we see that Jesus certainly was not dismissing or ignoring the law.
In the section before today’s passage in Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, Jesus clearly says this.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus came into the world to fulfill the Law that is God’s commandments. Jesus came into the world to show us the real meaning of God’s laws.
In today’s Bible passage, it talks about how being provoked to “anger (losing your temper)”, which is one of our emotions, as being against the Law. Let’s look at the words of Jesus.
For us as humans, we have a lot of different emotions. If something good or joyful happens, we feel joy.
During fun times, we feel enjoyment and happiness. If bad things happen or in times of suffering, we feel anxiety or sadness.
One of these emotions we have is “anger”. When is it that we feel anger? When things don’t go the right way, we might feel anger due to our sense of justice.
We hold the belief that morally and ethically, things should be a certain way, and when something happens contrary to this view, we feel indignation and anger.

　The news often tells us about scams where the elderly are taken advantage of for their weaknesses. When we hear about crimes where people take advantage of their weak points to steal assets and property, we get angry.
However, in today’s passage, Jesus is saying that this anger or indignation may lead us in the wrong direction and cause us to commit a major sin.

Jesus says this in Verse 21.

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

In the Ten Commandments given to Moses, the sixth Commandment is “You shall not murder”. (Exodus 20:13)
The main principle that you shall not take a life is made clear to the Israelites through the Ten Commandments, and even now to us through the Bible.
“Anyone who murders will be subject to judgement” refers to a trial at human hands.
For example, the following is written about a trial of a murder suspect in ‘Numbers’ chapter 25 verse 30.
“‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

In this way, it was decreed that when holding trials (particularly in the case of serious cases such as suspected murders), the testimony of multiple witnesses must be heard, and trials must proceed cautiously.
Jesus himself clearly said that He did not come to abolish or ignore the Law, but to fulfill it.
And in today’s passage, Jesus shows us the real meaning of the law “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.”
Let’s look at the words of Jesus in verse 22.

22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[“You idiot”] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement, and anyone who says things like “Raca” (“You idiot”) or “You fool” will be thrown in the fire of hell.
In other words, Jesus is saying that when in your heart you are angry with your brother or sister (which probably includes your own family and those closest to you), and when you say “You idiot” or “You fool” (including when you just think it to yourself), it is the same as murder.
This is the first meaning of when Jesus talks about “fulfilling the Law”. That is to say, the Law is not such that if we appear to follow it and don’t do anything bad, we are not sinning.

God sees into the hearts (the depths of our hearts) of us as we get angry with our brother or sister, and judges us on our bad thoughts.
　We might think “Jesus is being too strict. No one can meet such a high standard.”
But, there are cases in Bible where being angry with a brother or sister led to actual cases of murder, and even in our society there are cases of this happening.
In ‘Genesis’ chapter 4 in the Old Testament, it tells the tragedy of what happened between Adam and Eve’s first children Cain and Abel.
Cain brought “fruits of the soil” (grain) as an offering to God, however God did not look on this offering with favor. On the other hand, Abel brought lamb (the firstborn of his flock) as an offering, which God did look on with favor.
Cain got extremely angry at this. He was angry that God did not look on his offering with favor, and Cain must have been full of feelings of anger and envy of Abel.
Because of this, in the end Cain killed Abel. These feelings of anger and envy towards his brother brought about the great tragedy of murder between brothers.
When we think about the fact that we have felt envious or angry towards others, we realize that what happened between Cain and Abel is something that could happen to any one of us.

One reason we might feel anger towards a brother or sister (others) is that they think differently or have a different position than us, and we cannot agree with such a person (with their view or position).
Generally in these situations, we must be thinking “I’m in the right”. Because of this, there are times we feel anger and indignation (or suspicion) when faced with opinions or positions different from our own.

Our anger is awoken because of these differences of opinion or position between ourselves and others, and this can develop into a serious sin.
So, what should we do to avoid this? Are the Bible and Jesus telling us to abandon all thoughts and desires of our own, and just agree with other people’s wishes, to keep the peace?

Let’s read today’s verses 23 to 24.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Offering a gift at the altar is an important act of service to God. It is also a faithful duty that must be fulfilled. For us now, this would include worshipping God at church, serving, and giving offerings.
However, although these are all important, in today’s passage Jesus is saying that if there is someone we need to reconcile with, we should first go and make peace with that brother or sister.
Go and be reconciled to them – this is easier said than done. I think being the one to make the first move can be very difficult. (I often think, if only that person would compromise a little more...).

Also when the roots of the problem run deep, making peace or reconciling isn’t something that can be done simply in a short amount of time. We shouldn’t hold on to the fantasy that we can easily reconcile with anyone.
Even so, Jesus says “first go (you make the first move) and be reconciled to them (make peace), then come and offer your gift.
Because of this, let us pray that we follow Jesus’ teachings and that when the occasion arises, we are able to take the first step towards reconciliation.
Reconciliation is not an easy thing to do, and sometimes it takes time. However, let us not give up, but through prayer and communication, let us build a community of faith that has consideration for each other and has a mutual understanding of each other’s viewpoints.
I think if we pray. use our words to communicate, and listen to each other’s hearts, our eyes will be opened to the thoughts and hearts of others that we hadn’t realized before.

In verse 25 of today’s passage, it says that if we do not reconcile, our adversary may turn us over to a judge, the judge may turn us over to the officer, and we may be thrown into prison.

And finally in verse 26, it says the following.

26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

　It is our duty (our responsibility) to reconcile with others, and to reconcile with God. Since this is our debt, it is one that we have to repay.
Yet due to our sin of self-centeredness, there is no way that we can repay this debt in full.
However, the Bible tells us that this debt we owe has been paid in full by Jesus.
In giving his life for us on the Cross, Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for us, so that we can first be reconciled with God.
Through Jesus, we are able to go to God and be reconciled with Him.
Also, at the same time as Jesus became the offering for our reconciliation with God, He also gave His life for us so that we may be reconciled with our brothers and sisters.
Let us remember that Jesus did not cling to His status as the Son of God, but gave His life in atonement for our sins.
Let us also follow the words of Jesus daily and, with the joy of a restored relationship with God, and let us take whatever small first steps we can towards restoring our relationships with others, our brothers and sisters.