Daily Bread

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgement." But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool", you will be liable to the fire of Gehenna. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

There are two angles at which we can look at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (or Sermon on the Plain). Firstly, Jesus is describing a bar of love that we can never attain in our own strength — making the point that we need a saviour to help us get over the bar! The second is that it is some of the greatest teaching ever provided to humanity.

This passage from Matthew's gospel is a reminder how God values every human being, and how precious humans are to God. Jesus never wavered from his message, which when culminated was summed up in his new commandment that we should 'love one another'. In other words, in what way are we loving someone if we act in anger towards them, insult them, or belittle them?

We humans hurt each other.

All the time.

Sometimes we do this consciously, and sometimes we are not even aware we are doing it. If we have consciously hurt someone then we must do all we can to be reconciled. We are not responsible for how the other person responds, but, if we are to be Christlike, and act with love, then we must do our best to make amends.

And if we have been hurt and justice is 'on our side', we must never seek to retaliate in kind but do our best to act with love and forgiveness. That does not mean exonerating or forgetting what the other person has done, but it means choosing to do our best to value them as God values them, to recognise their brokenness or fallenness, and to pray for them. We may not be the conduit through which they come to know the love, forgiveness, and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, but... we might be. God may just call us to show the kind of self-sacrificial love that God showed us. Either way, we must try and imagine them fully redeemed, restored, and renewed through Christ, and ask the question, 'What would that look like?'

The way of Jesus — the way of love — is not easy. It means picking up our own cross and following. And yup, sometimes it's gonna sting and hurt, but the reward will be eternally great.

Holy God
Help me to swallow my pride
and recognise your great love.
As I stare at your hands and feet,
see your scars, and remember
what you did for me,
may I be so transformed
that I forgive those who hurt me,
and seek to live your way of love.
Now and forever.