02.19.17 Part 4
Intro
How do we advance to higher ground in our worship? Last week we talked about five ways to enhance our public worship experience. Today I want to add a sixth to that list. It is too often overlooked. It is often not even associated with the worship experience. Yet Jesus said that it is so important, you shouldn’t even proceed with worship if it is not addressed.
I’m talking about our relationships with other people and how that affects our interaction with God in worship. The text is found in Matthew 5:23-25 “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.”1 The picture here is of a person coming to the temple to worship God. As an act of worship he brings his offering to the altar. This is how a follower of Jesus would worship at that time. The temple was still standing. The Law was still in effect. Jesus had not yet made His sacrifice on the cross. So a follower of Jesus would bring His gift to the altar of the temple in worship to the Lord. The significance of Jesus’ teaching here cannot be grasped unless we understand that this person has come to worship God. The Message translation helps us make the personal application. Matt. 5:23-24 "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, 24 abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.”
So one essential for quality worship is to resolve relational issues. The quality of the vertical relationship with God depends on the quality of our horizontal relationships with one another. How can we enhance our public worship experience? Be united in heart and soul with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
First consider with me the power of obeying this command.
I. The Power of unity in our worship.
It’s described in Ps 133.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing — Life forevermore.”
Where brethren dwell together in unity, the anointing flows down from the head all over the body, all the way down to the edge of the priestly garment. It is the anointing that breaks the yoke. If we want God’s anointing on our worship, this unity is essential. We cannot harbor angst and resentment toward other people and enjoy the flow of God’s anointing. We cannot dismiss our offenses toward other people as insignificant and enjoy the anointing of God on our lives. The anointing flows where people’s hearts are in one accord.
“For there the Lord commanded the blessing.” The key to a powerful worship service is God commanding the blessing upon it. When God commands the blessing, no amount of demons can counter it. When God commands the blessing, people get delivered. When God commands the blessing, people get healed. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2Cor. 3:17). What we want during our worship is God commanding the blessing upon us. Amen?
Perhaps the best example of this is in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost. In obedience to the Lord 120 disciples were gathered together in prayer and worship. Acts 2:1 very specifically tells us they were in unity BEFORE the power of God fell on them. “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven….” When the conditions were met, heaven moved, heaven descended upon them, the Holy Spirit came in power. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Prior to that monumental event, they were ALL in one accord. Your attitude of heart matters. My attitude of heart matters. Each individual in the congregation makes a contribution to this. They were ALL in one accord. What a beautiful state to be in as a congregation. Could it be that churches are powerless because this is sorely neglected? I wonder what might happen in our churches if everybody got their relationships right and came together the way the 120 did on the Day of Pentecost.
Turn with me to Matt 18:19-20. This is Jesus speaking to His followers. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
The promise here is awesome. Jesus is promising to meet with His people in a special way if they meet the criteria. They must come together “in My name.” The purpose and focus of their gathering is Jesus. It’s not a display of people’s talents. It’s not a fun social gathering. It is people who come together submitted to Christ and to one another, worshipping the Father in His name, under His authority. The phrase “gathered together” sounds redundant. If they are gathered, aren’t they together? No, people gather for all kinds of reasons; and just because they are in the same room is no guarantee they are together in heart. I like the translation because it emphasizes unity. The authority of Christ’s presence in a meeting comes when the people are truly “gathered together.”
Let me give you verse 19 from the Amplified "Again I tell you, if two on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.” A lot of Christians use this passage very flippantly assuming a mere verbal agreement qualifies. But Jesus is talking about something deeper than that. He is talking about Christians whose hearts are in harmony with their brothers and sisters, not just about the subject of a specific prayer, but in harmony about everything. That doesn’t mean they see everything exactly the same. But it means they are not in discord with their brothers and sisters in Christ. We get our English word “symphony” from the Greek word translated “agree” in this text. There are many different sounds in a symphony. In fact, that is one thing that makes it so beautiful. But every instrument is in harmony with the others.2 In music, discord is the lack of harmony between notes sounding together. The basic meaning of our English word discord is disagreement, strife, conflict, friction, hostility, antagonism, squabbling, bickering, contention, etc. Those things have to be resolved.
If we want Christ’s authoritative presence in our worship, there must be a coming together in one accord—not sameness in which we all think exactly the same on every subject, but a respect and love for one another that exists in tranquil harmony with one another.
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
Can I go a little deeper with this?
Heb. 2:11-12. We’re talking about Jesus being in our midst.
“For both He who sanctifies [Jesus] and those who are being sanctified [us] are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’"
What makes a congregation’s singing wonderful? It’s when Jesus is there in their midst singing with them. He becomes the choir director. He becomes the worship leader. And we simply follow His lead. It’s Jesus presence in a worship service that makes all the difference.
When you come to a worship service think “we” not “me.” It’s a corporate experience that frees us from some of our isolation and individualism. It’s a place we are no longer alone. Worship melts away some of the separation as we join our hearts and our voices in one purpose and one focus. I wonder how much the plague of loneliness3 would be cured if people would simply learn to really enter into the corporate worship. I wonder how much the hyper-individualism in our culture (and thus in the church) hinders the heights of our worship. We are not just individuals coming together in a room. We are part of the body of Christ. Our Sunday meetings are actually a celebration of our unity. Isaac Pennington says that when we come together in corporate worship, it’s like a heap of burning coals being put together. The warmth and vigor of life flows into all. One coal cannot sustain itself long, but a heap of coals can put off a lot of warmth.4
How can you enhance your worship experience? Come a little early. Settle your heart before the Lord; get focused on Him. Look around the room and when you see someone downcast or when the Spirit call your attention to someone, pray for that person. Pray for the worship team. Pray for the guidance of the Spirit during the service.
We have seen the power of obeying our text and coming together in unity. Now let’s talk about:
II. The Priority Jesus places on this.
Come back to our text in Matthew 5:23-25 “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.”
Of all the things you would think God would not want to be disrupted, worship would be at the top of the list. Worship is us communing in our vertical relationship with God. Yet resolving broken relationships is so important, the Lord says when you come to worship and remember someone has an offense against you, STOP what you’re doing, GO get that right, then come back and worship can proceed. As I speak this morning, does anyone come to your mind? Do you remember offending someone? Our church culture puts very little emphasis on getting things right with other people. The assumption is that I can just come to the Lord, ask His forgiveness, and everything is fine. Jesus is clearly saying, that is not adequate. He doesn’t say when you come to the altar and remember that a brother or sister has an offense against you, ask God’s forgiveness and proceed with your worship. No, go get it right with that person. Our churches are weak because we play like these things don’t matter, as long as we sing the songs and listen to the sermon. But Jesus places priority on getting our relations right with our brothers and sisters.
The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:20-21 “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” It’s amazing to me that God puts this kind of emphasis on personal relationships. It’s almost like He folds His arms and says you go get that right if you want to talk with Me. Don’t play like it’s not there. A husband’s prayers are hindered if there is angst between him and his wife. A wife’s prayers are hindered if she is not in right relationship with her husband.5 The “Me and Jesus Can Do It” attitude is contrary to what we’re taught here in Scripture.
The two great commandments are that we love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. The two are irrevocably tied together. Cain tried to bring his offering to God while he had jealousy and anger in his heart toward his brother, Abel. God did not accept his worship. God gave him opportunity to get things right. But the worship was unacceptable as long as his heart-attitude toward Abel was wrong.6
Has anybody, besides me, found all this a bit challenging at times? It’s one thing to love a God who has nothing but our best interest in mind. It’s another thing to love people who are sometimes very selfish and carnal. Of course, that would describe all of us at one time or another. If only we were all fully sanctified and walking in Christ’s love, it would be a lot easier. I came across a little poem that says it well.
To dwell above with saints we love, That will be grace and glory. To live below with saints we know; Now, that’s another story!
So how do we do this?
III. The Practice of this in our daily lives. How do we make practical application of this command in our lives?
We have to begin by taking Jesus’ instruction seriously. Does it bother you when a relationship with another brother or sister in Christ is not right? Does it bother you enough to do all that is in your power to get it right?
In our text Jesus tells the offender to go to the other party and settle the matter. In other passages, He tells the offended party to go to the offender and settle the matter. You can find that in Matthew 18 for example. So ideally, they would meet each other on the way to the other one. If either party is not making his way to the other party, then he is in disobedience to the Lord’s command.
I have always been taken back by what Jesus says about forgiveness in Matt 6:14-15. Jesus has taught the Lord’s Prayer. Then He adds this embellishment, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Isn’t that an amazing statement? A lot of Christians think that if they ask God to forgive them for something, He’s pretty much obligated to do it. But here is a place where God says He won’t forgive. It’s the same order of priority we saw in our Matthew 5 text. Get things right with your brothers and sisters, then come to God in your worship.
What if we have tried and it didn’t work? The Lord may tell you to try again. He may tell you to take steps laid out in Matthew 18 with a mediator helping you. Or you may have done all that you can. One thing you can always do is forgive. There is never anything stopping you from doing that. Forgiveness means you release that person from any debt owed for past behavior.7 It doesn’t mean you trust the person. But it means you do not hold ought in your heart against that person. Forgiveness is something you do regardless of what the other party does.
What if I go to the altar of worship and remember that someone is upset with me? First, I have to be honest about what I did wrong. This is not as easy as it sounds. It will probably involve hearing that person out; not just letting the person get it off his chest, but listening to hear what his perspective is on the matter. If you have wronged the person, humbly admit it and do what you can to make it right. Restitution may need to be paid. You may have to admit to others that what you told them was not right. A simple apology may be enough; but it might not be either.
It is not easy to see where we have wronged another person. Maybe it was never our intent to do them wrong; but you have to also look at the impact they felt by what you did.
Research has shown that people use a different lens for viewing others behavior verses their own. In a conflict, we tend to attribute our good behavior to our own efforts and our bad behavior to external sources. In contrast, we tend to attribute their good behavior to externals and their bad behavior their internal attitudes and choices.8 Let me give a couple of examples. “I was late because traffic was really heavy. He was late because he just doesn’t care. I didn’t clean the dishes because I have a test tomorrow that I must study for. She didn’t clean the dishes because she’s lazy.” We all have a powerful propensity to justify our own behavior. For that reason, we may to get an objective person help us see what we can’t see ourselves. The second step toward reconciliation in Matthew 18:16 is not about getting others to take your side; that exasperates the problem. It’s about getting someone who has the integrity and spiritual maturity to help both parties hear and understand one another. Jesus teaches us to work at maintaining peaceful, healthy relationships.9
But what if I really didn’t do anything wrong. Plenty of people were upset with Jesus, they even killed Him. Lots of people were upset with Paul, so upset they beat him, stoned him, imprisoned him, etc. Just because someone is upset with me does not mean I have wronged that person. Otherwise I would be a slave to their emotions. It’s not my job to keep them happy. It is my job to do them right. That’s why Romans 12 tells us to simply make sure we have done what is right on our side of the matter. We can’t make the other person do right. But we must be very, very sure that we have done our part right in the eyes of God.
Rom 12:18 “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” To obey that verse, I have found that God usually requires me to go the second mile. He usually requires me to humble myself, get my part right regardless of what the other party does, get my heart right, turn the other cheek, and often suffer myself to be defrauded for the sake of peace. Because we are all prone to justify ourselves, we must be very careful that we are being honest and objective about the situation. Being 90% right is not enough. On your side of it, you need to be 100% right regardless of what they do.
Let me give you an example from the Bible. King Saul got so out of touch with God that he came under the influence of an evil spirit, became paranoid, and tried to kill David for no reason. The first thing David did right was to simply and innocently get out of harm’s way. When you’re dealing with a nut, a little distance is a very helpful thing! So David is fleeing from Saul. He could have killed Saul and called it self-defense. It was him or me! But David was a man after God’s own heart. He could have easily killed Saul in 1 Sam. 26. But David did not retaliate. Instead he tried to convince Saul that his intentions toward him were good. Saul made a show of repentance; but it was only a surface, temporary thing.10 Then he was right back trying to kill David. It’s a good study in how to deal with an irrational person. The conflict was one-sided because Saul was crazy. All David could do was put the matter in God’s hands and avoid being abused. There are situations like that. But we must be diligent to live peaceably with everyone as much as it depends on our side of the matter. We must stay free of all resentment, anger, jealousy, animosity, or anything else that would pollute our hearts before God.
Come back with me to our text in Matthew 5:23-24 as we bring this to a conclusion. “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.”
Is there anybody that comes to mind when you read that passage? Is there anyone that you need to go to and resolve a conflict? If you go in pride, you will make matters worse. If you’re defensive, you will make matters worse. You must go in humility with the aim of getting your side of this right, regardless of what the other party does. Your whole worship experience depends upon it! Your vertical relationship with God depends on your horizontal relationships with people. I’ve known people who thought they were super spiritual; but their relationships were one train wreck after another. No, our horizontal relationships are as much a reflection of our spiritual condition as our vertical relationship with God. The two go hand-in-hand.
We going to partake of the Lord’s Table this morning. It is a good setting for examining our relationships before God.11 It’s a good time to decide to address matters that need to be addressed. Ideally, we would do this before the worship service based on our text. But I wanted to share this teaching as a preparation for getting the most out of the experience. We don’t want to rush the process. We want to wait on the Lord and give Him time to speak to us as we partake.
END NOTES:
1 All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
2 This is demonstrated in 2 Chron. 5:13 at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple.
3 Studies are indicating an increasing problem of loneliness in our society and it’s detrimental effect on physical wellbeing. See http://www.newsweek.com/lonely-planet-isolation-increases-us-78647 and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/21/science-loneliness_n_6864066.html.
4 Isaac Pennington as quoted by Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (HarperSanFrancisdo Publishers) p. 172
5 1 Peter 3:7 and surrounding verses; Eph. 5:22-29.
6 Genesis 4:1-16
7 The parable in Matthew 18:23-35 uses financial debt to teach this principle.
8 Sillars and Parry (1982) as explained by William Wilmot and Joyce Hocker, Interpersonal Conflict, 8th ed. (NY: McGraw Hill, 2011) p. 58.
9 Eph. 4:3
10 An abusive person will often talk repentance after the deed has been done. It is wisdom to test that repentance based on subsequent actions before putting oneself back in harm’s way. Forgiveness can be granted with a decision on the spot. However, trust must be built brick-by-brick. People like Saul are unpredictable, operate out of unstable emotions, and often say one thing—but do another. It is wisdom to proceed cautiously.
11 1 Cor. 11:28
