Priorities

 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God                                                      Matthew 5:23-24 (New Living Translation)

What does it say about the teaching of Jesus that he is instructing his hearers to reconcile relationships with others before offering sacrifice to God? I am always struck by this instruction of Jesus. As we know, Temple sacrifice was a big deal to the Jewish community. It was a sacred rite whereby they recognized the Lordship of Yahweh over all of their life and possessions. Only the best of the flock was to be sacrificed. Indeed, killing a prized animal in an agricultural world was indeed a large sacrifice.

Yet Jesus told them, essentially, “Look, your sacrifice of an animal to God is of secondary importance to Him than your relationships with one another.” I wonder how that landed with the Priests and Levites? What did devout Jews do with that piece of information?

Well, what do WE do with that information? It tells me that God wants peace and restoration of his beloved creation before we offer up possessions to him. Truly, all that we own is his anyway, but he is telling us to value the creation of our fellow human beings, and our relationship with them, before we try to relate to him with our religious rituals.    

What say you?

Prayer: Lord, you have given us clear priorities about how we should love others. Help us to carry that out, Amen