Reconciliation Part 1 Pastor Kent Munsey | 10:00am Service 

  

  Main Scripture: Matthew 5:21­26”“You have heard that it was said to  those of old, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is   angry with his brother without a cause[b] 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. 23 Therefore if you bring your   gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your   gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 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. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by   no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.” 

  Introduction: Pastor Kent begins by explaining that in Matthew 5 we are                     seeing the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. The                 people were familiar with the law and its rules but here we                       see Jesus intimately revealing more about the character of                 God and the power of grace when it's active in our lives.   The World often views the Gospel of Grace as watered                   down, but in contrary it’s the good news, it is the Gospel.                       The righteousness of Grace is higher than the               righteousness of the law. It is not about the rules but                     instead it is about our relationship with Jesus.    In Jesus’ time you weren’t legally allowed to be angry with                     your brother without cause. If you were caught you would                   be taken to counsel. He begins to show the correlation                   between murder (an outward display) and lasting anger               (an inward display).    

 ABC’s of Anger   A ­ Activating event or person B ­ Beliefs about the event or person 

C ­ Consequences  All of us have to deal with anger but not all anger is bad.                           The effects of anger on our blood pressure can actually be                     healthy. The Bible says “be angry and sin not.” It is what                       anger ultimately leads to that is harmful.  Ben Franklin once said, “whatever begins in anger, ends                 in shame.”   Both throughout the Bible and in life we see that anger is                       more commonly connected to relationships and people             than to an event. Jesus emphasizes the importance of                 controlling this. The law says “don’t commit murder,” and                 often times we think we are doing good because we                   haven't physically killed anyone. However, Jesus says,             “don’t even be angry with your brother.” With anger it’s                   easy to forget the other parties involved and their belief of                     the situation. It can bring an issue from an event to a                       person. We allow anger to turn into sin through what it                     produces in the relationship.   Gossip can become another avenue that unresolved can               lead to. Pastor Kent put it best when he said, “we should                       never look on contempt with anyone whom Christ died                 for.” The law says “don’t commit murder,” but we are                   

murdering the relationships in our life with our words and                   even our own souls due to unresolved/lasting anger.   When we worship Jesus we need to be cognisant that we                     can only be reconciled back because of his grace. It is                     impossible to have relationship with God if we are not                   committed to the broken relationships in our life.               Reconciliation is higher than worship to Jesus. The first                 step is to make it right with the person we’re angry with.   In Matthew 5,Jesus says,”don’t even worship me until you                 make it right with your brother.” Jesus, is emphasizing the                   importance of close relationships. He isn’t saying to               reconcile with the entire world, but specifically those close                 to you who are in relationship with you.   Jesus was preaching this sermon in Galilee (which was a                   good 70 miles from the temple. This shows the emphasis                   Jesus was putting on the importance of reconciliation with                 others before we came to worship God. Being reconciled                 to God means we must be reconciled to one another in                     love.   Jesus was basically saying ”God ahead and walk 70 plus                   miles on foot to reconcile with your brother and then come                     back to sacrifice an offering to God.” This would actually                   

mean walking 140 miles! Have you ever felt like you were                     struggling during worship? Could it be that there is                 reconciliation with someone in your life that needs to take                   place? Examine your heart and let God speak.   The cross is intentionally designed to represent the               horizontal relationships we have with each other and the                 vertical relationship we have between God and us.   We have all been given the ministry of reconciliation. We                   forgive because we have been forgiven. We can’t be                 responsible for all aspects of reconciliation with others, but                 we must be responsible for pursuing reconciliation and               peace with one another. "Blessed are the peacemakers,               for they shall be called "sons of God."   Conclusion: We as the church have to lead the way. It’s not a sin to be                             angry but it’s a sin to let the anger take root and remain.                         It's the eyes of grace, this is murder. We are called to a                         higher standard when it comes to our inward thoughts not                   just our outwards actions. Let's be thankful for Jesus                 Christ who reconciled us back to our Father and gave us                     the supernatural grace to live modeled after Him. "With                 God ALL things are possible!"