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Offering our Lives as Worship

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(Matthew 5:23-24)

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

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Were there times when you ignored your friends?
Or were there times when you got angry with your other friends?
Jesus said that it is wrong to do that. Today, I will tell you about it.

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Today, Jesus taught the words of God up on top of a mountain.

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Today, Jesus taught about the sin of murder.
"From long ago you have heard not to murder and you were taught that anyone who murders will be put into judgment."

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Just like now a days, even in Israel before, the sin of murdering someone was a very scary and huge sin. So a person who killed someone would be judged and most of the time, sentenced to death, a very scary punishment, was the punishment for the murderer.

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But Jesus said some new things about this sin of murder. "But I tell you. Anyone who is angry with his brother and anyone who speaks bad words to others will be judged. Especially, anyone who will call his brother, 'fool' will be thrown into the fire of hell."

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Jesus is saying that even getting angry towards others and saying bad words of ignorance and looking down on others is the same as physically murdering someone. Jesus said a very frightening thing.

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God sees the thoughts in our hearts and judges everything. Even the very terrible sin of murder starts from hatred. So Jesus is saying that in the sight of God, who sees our hearts, getting angry to others, saying bad words to others, ignoring and looking down on others and all those bad things starts from the heart of hating others.

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Jesus continued and gave an example to show how serious these sins are.

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In the olden days, people had to offer sacrifices at the altar to have their sins forgiven and to worship God. The people who offered sacrifices wanted God to accept their sacrifice so they offered it with a sincere heart.

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But Jesus said God did not accept the sacrifice of some people even though they offered very good gifts. Who were those people?

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Jesus said that God did not accept the sacrifices of the people who hated others and who spoke bad words against others. Jesus said that God also did not accept the sacrifice of someone who made others feel bad by getting angry to them. Jesus said that God did not accept the sacrifice of those people even though they offered very good gifts.

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If that person wanted God to accept their gift, then that person should leave their gift in front of the altar. Then, they should first go and relieve the heart of the person who have bad feelings towards them and they should be reconciled.

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Then, they could offer a sacrifice to God by the gifts that they brought.
Only then, would God accept the gifts happily and then God would give them His favor.

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It is the same with the worship we are offering today. If God looked at your heart and if your heart is full of hatred and if you hurt other's hearts but have not been reconciled, then God will not give you grace even though you worship very eagerly during the worship service time.

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God is spirit so God knows all the things we do and say to others. If there are friends here who hate others and say bad words to others, I hope you can stop that. And if there are friends here who bully other friends and who ignore and look down on others, I hope you can stop that, too. Right worship starts from our daily lives. I hope you can become faithful friends who don't hate others. I hope you can offer the right worship starting from your daily lives.