AN UNACCEPTABLE GIFT

Matthew 5:23-26 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Reading Matthew 23:23-24, we know that the Pharisees thought their "minor" offenses would be appeased by the zealous ceremonial rites, which they observed to the letter. Such worship of God is not acceptable. During the days of the prophet, Amos, the worship of Israel was not acceptable to God. Amos wrote, I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream (Amos 5:21-24). According to Amos, the children of Israel were just going through the motions of worship and yet sin filled their minds. Filled with worldliness, they failed to recognize their sin-filled lives, and saw no need to offer a sacrifice for the atonement of their sins. Failing to do this, their entire worship was repulsive, unacceptable, and rejected by God.

The same situation is described by Jesus in these verses of His "Sermon on the Mount." It is impossible to offer an acceptable worship to God if one's heart is filled with anger and hate for others. This law of God is not unique to the New Testament era. Notice what the inspired Psalmist wrote: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18). Jesus could see into the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees. He knew their religious acts were a mere outward show of piety and were not from the heart. Even though they obeyed some of God's law, He knew that they did not observe all of it. Anger and hate for others was justified through their self-righteous interpretation of God's word. It was this holier-than-thou attitude that Jesus was condemning in this portion of His sermon. This characteristic was sinful, and resulted in God refusing to accept their worship. The sweet smelling savor of their sacrifices, the praise offered in song, and their petitions of prayer, ascended no higher than the ceiling of the synagogue.

The solution to their unacceptable worship was to first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (of worship). Worship, when one is filled with envy and hatred for others, is hypocritical and unacceptable to God, regardless of how piously the outward worship rituals are performed. Outward expressions of worship do not deceive God. Worship from a pure heart is required, and purity cannot exist where envy, hatred, and malice reside. Time may heal some differences among people, but time does not erase unrepentant and unforgiven sins. To the best of one's ability, reconciliation with others is required in order to be reconciled to God, and such reconciliation is necessary for acceptable worship. To hate one's brother is to hate God, and this is not acceptable to our Creator. Love must not give way to hate; love must continue. The apostle, John, establishes this Christians tenet with words that are easily understood. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also (1 John 4:20-21).

Verses 23 and 24, of the lesson text, refer to unreconciled disputes among brethren. Paul tells us that this is against the will of God. But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong; why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded (1 Cor. 6:6-7)? If hatred results in such disputes, they should be settled before the case is taken before the civil authorities. If not, the offending party is at the mercy of the civil judge and may result in various penalties, including imprisonment. To suffer loss at the hand of a brother in Christ is the best resolution of the matter, in the sight of God, ratherthan a court victory awarded by civil authorities. The only acceptable gift is forgiveness.