Grudge Match

Psalm 132; Matthew 18

Psalm 139 consists of an oath made by David and an oath made by God. There is emphasis on keeping one's word throughout the psalm. Matthew 17 consists of three parables and a lesson regarding what to do if your brother sins against you.

That is merely a superficial description of what is happening in these two passages. I put that at the beginning of the entry to set the stage for my thoughts and for what God has taught me through this study. I see psalm 132 as a prequel to what is happening in Matthew 18. Psalm 132 shows me that when God gives his word he is going to keep it. This is important to know because when it comes time to read Matthew 18 I begin to read it with a different tone knowing that God means what he says. This passage in Matthew is filled with what I would call well-known portions of scripture. There is the parable of the lost sheep, there is the time when the disciples ask Jesus who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven and he tells them to be like a child, the parable of the unmerciful servant rounds out the chapter. These are passages of scripture that most people in the church know the gist of. However there is some very serious and very intense stuff going on here. It starts out with Jesus saying we must be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Then Jesus says in verse 6, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Whoa! What is that? Whatever happened to the tender and loving Jesus that we all picture? He is just getting started too. Later he says to cut off your hand or your foot if it causes you to sin and to gouge out your eye if it is responsible for sin. I could spend weeks working through the serious and drastic words of Jesus in this chapter. However, keeping in mind that we know God keeps his word, I want to focus on the last verse of the chapter. Verse 35 says, "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." This verse comes at the end of the parable of the unmerciful servant. I do not have space to write out the entire parable here but go read Matthew 18:21-35. Basically Jesus says it will not be good at all for me if I do not forgive my brother from my heart.

So what does this mean for me? How does this play into my life? Jesus is saying that I must forgive my brother from my heart. And based on the rest of this chapter I believe that he is giving this instruction with a very serious tone. I am forced to ask what is forgiveness? Jesus is not asking merely for lip service here. It is not enough for me to merely tell someone that I forgive them and then continue to hold a grudge against them. That is not how God has forgiven me. I must forgive them from my heart. That means that any chip on my shoulder, any feelings of anger, any trace of that mental scowl must be wiped away and I must welcome them and acknowledge them with the love of Christ. That is freaking hard! So it is. Jesus is not messing around though. As Christians we have been forgiven of sins against God and are accepted lovingly into the kingdom of Heaven. The least we can do is forgive sins against each other. I am now striving to be conscious of any form of long-standing grudge or unresolved conflict that I will be reminded of. I must with the strength of God forgive those who are involved and do so from my heart.

Dear God,

Sometimes what you ask of us is very difficult and quite honestly is sometimes something we are not even interested in doing. However, I have made a commitment to follow you and to live by your standards. I have told you that I am giving my life to you. So whether I want to do something or not becomes irrelevant because I have given my life to you and it is yours now. So this life will be lived by your will. I will do my best to keep myself on your course. So if you bring across my path someone who I need to forgive I pray that you will give me the wisdom, the strength, and the desire to forgive that person from my heart and to see them as you do. While this will be challenging I am willing to do so because my deepest desire is to live my life for you.

Amen.