Strife-free Zone

Before Church

Sunday, March 3, 2019 Strife-free Zone

Matthew 5:14,15

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Faith is not a private matter, a personal thing we do on our own.  It is not just “Me and Jesus” but Jesus, and us, and a whole mess of other people.  We are saved into the community of faith; when we walk out of our prayer closets, we walk first into church.  And what do we find there?  People like us; flawed by sin and needy for grace.  So it is not surprising that Jesus calls us to make peace with our brothers and sisters before we worship.  Whatever we want to offer on God’s altar this week – our love, our praise, our thanksgiving – we celebrate our reconciliation to God by being reconciled to each other, coming to His sanctuary with open, forgiving hearts.

Proverbs 17 tells us:

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. (vs. 14)

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (vs.9)

What is the hallmark of our church family? Strife? Quarrels? Or love and forgiveness?  Is love visible?  Does it show?

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. . .” Hebrews 12:14,15

The world is full of quarrels and strife.  When people walk into church, it must be a strife-free zone, that place where believers know love and forgiveness of Christ, and pour the same out on our sisters and brothers, so that any seekers who have wandered into our worship are struck and awed by divine love shared among a people of grace, amazing grace.