FORBEARANCE
And as
they sat at table in the house, behold many tax collectors and sinners came and
sat down with Jesus and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does
your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
Matthew 9:10
"Why
does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they ask. Peter looks at John, John looks at Thomas,
they shrug their shoulders. Before these
men started hanging around with Jesus, they would not have been caught dead
eating with tax collectors and sinners.
Eating with tax collectors is all new to them, they don’t know what to
say. So Jesus comes to the rescue:
"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. Go and learn what
this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."
"Go learn
what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6, a passage that the Pharisees knew well.
The Pharisees, being extremely religious, could not understand how Jesus, if he
is a man of God, could be so lax as to fellowship with sinners. Jesus’ approach was disturbing to them. There was an openness, an ease with people
that made the Pharisees uncomfortable.
They had been taught all their lives to stay away from "worldly
people." If you were to attend a
synagogue controlled by the Pharisees (and the Pharisees then controlled most
synagogues the way the "Pharisees" today control most churches) you
would find the atmosphere of a closed corporation. “You
don't come up to our standards, so what are you doing here?” On the other hand, if you went into a
gathering where Jesus was teaching, you would find an open atmosphere. People feel at home; they’re glad to see you;
they call you by name. Scribes and
Pharisees are mixed in with tax collectors and sinners---even a few
priests. The difference between those
Pharisee-dominated synagogues and those gatherings where Jesus was teaching,
was this: The synagogues were pervaded
by an atmosphere of judgment, In Jesus’ gatherings, the atmosphere was forbearance. People were forbearing, patient…. toward each
other, toward the newcomer, toward the sinner who came stumbling in from
the world, looking for help.
Forbearance: the generous overlooking of insult or injury.
Let's face it: most of our churches today resemble the Pharisee-dominated
synagogue much more than those gatherings where Jesus was present. "Tax collectors and sinners" don’t
feel too comfortable in our churches either.
In fact, lots of people who attend our churches feel uncomfortable. Watch them as they approach the door. They stiffen, then they put on a spiritual
smile. ‘Check me off God, I’m going in
there to suffer for an hour…. Oh hello, Mrs. Smith (you
old gossip. I heard what you said about
me behind my back.) Hi, brother Bill;
Good to see ya!
(I wonder how much he lost at the Casino this week.) (Uh-0h, look who’s here today! Charlie came to repent. He’s been on a drunk
all week; now he’s coming to church so his wife will let him back in the
house.) Hi Charlie, how are
you?"….
Where’s the forbearance?
The enemy of
forbearance is self-righteousness.
When I’m full of my own righteousness, other people’s sins look very
sinful indeed.
When I’m full of my own righteousness, I'm short of patience with the
self-righteousness I see in others. And I set out on a crusade “I’m going to
bring them people to repentance”, at the same time, strangely unaware of how
blind I am to my own desperate need to repent. “I rise up early; I sit up late; I eat the
bread of sorrows. I regard my life as
one big, unappreciated sacrifice, while almost single-handedly, I hold the body
of Christ together with my zeal for the "true way. I have a private line
to heaven, and I know what needs to be done.
I know who the troublemakers are”
…..Then one day, in his mercy, the Living God stops me in my tracks. “Call off the crusade”, he says. “Come over here and sit down. Hold still, and
learn what this means:
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
Your zeal will accomplish nothing until you repent of your own, your
own, lack of mercy."
And as they sat at table in the house, behold many tax
collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to
his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are
well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy,
and not sacrifice.'
When the Spirit of the risen Jesus is truly welcomed into our midst, he
transforms us from a Pharisee-dominated synagogue into a joyful celebration,
like the one in Matthew's house. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
The most meaningful offering that we can present to God, the clearest way
we can show our gratitude to him, is by first showing forbearance toward each
other.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
We’re so grateful for the forgiveness, the healing, the new life which
has come to us, that we can't help but be generous with each other.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will
say, rejoice.
Let all men know your forbearance.
Philippians 4:4
Once upon a time there was a fellowship where they really knew how to
rejoice in the Lord. Their worship was
awesome. People would travel for miles
to attend their meetings, where a thousand people would be lifting their hearts
in praise to God.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say,
rejoice.
The Holy Spirit was moving. People
would come broken and sick; they would walk away restored in body and mind.
Two things characterized that wonderful fellowship:
Joy in the
Lord.
Forbearance
toward each other.
Soon people were coming from other parts of the world to study this
community with such glorious worship, such a depth of commitment to the Lord
and to each other. As time passed, a
subtle change began to take place in that fellowship. The spirit of forbearance which marked their
corporate life in those early days, began to give way to the spirit of those
Pharisee’s synagogues. The openness, the
welcome, the friendship with one another, the mercy toward sinners, began to
harden into a strange stiffness beneath their rigid smiles. Everybody was looking at everyone else.
Everybody was on edge. Finally there was an open split. Hard words, hard feelings began to fly
between brothers and sisters. And, of
course, their worship lost its power.
At last a handful of believers in that dying fellowship (with the
Spirit's help) discovered the missing ingredient: It was forbearance, "the
generous overlooking of insult or injury."
They began to see how futile it is to try to praise God, when our
attitude toward each other is hard and judgmental. They began to repent. “Lord, you have commanded us to forgive as we
have been forgiven. By your Spirit you
command us now to show forbearance toward all.
We confess that we have failed you in this, and we repent. We cry out to you for mercy and forgiveness,
and for your help, as we try, once again, to open our hearts toward one
another.” Healing happened in that
fellowship. And their praises of God
once again have an authentic ring.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say,
rejoice.
I believe that the Spirit of the Lord wants to make his Body on earth
like that joyful dinner party in Matthew’s house.
He wants our private lives to be ruled by a spirit of forbearance.
He wants mercy, not sacrifice.
Mercy.
Kindness. Forbearance
All the things we do in the name of the Lord will accomplish almost
nothing, they won’t accomplish much, they won’t last long, they won’t amount to
anything… unless they are done in a spirit of forbearance;
Forbearance, first of all, to the people who are
close to us, the people we live with, work with. How often we take them for granted! We judge them. We walk around for days with an attitude
toward them. Let's ease up; let's give them a break. Let's show them some of
that mercy the Lord has shown us.
Forbearance for brothers and sisters in the
Body---all of them, no exceptions, the new ones, the old ones, the happy ones,
the sad ones.
Mercy.
Kindness. Forbearance
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
Forbearance for the people who intrude on our
lives. The ones who annoy us, bug us.
Forbearance toward the inconsiderate ones. Of
course you don’t have to dance every time they whistle but you don’t have to
walk around with an attitude.
Mercy.
Kindness. Forbearance
Mercy toward the people we are convinced who have wronged us badly.
"Pray for those who despitefully use you and
persecute you."
Pray for them. Pray blessings on them.
And not just, “Dear Lord, show them how wrong they are”. But “Dear Lord,
pour out your grace on them! Shower them with good things, Shower them with
blessings!”
When we take the forgiveness, the abundant mercy that comes to us from
our Lord and turn it into forbearance toward each other---and toward all
people.
Then the aroma of Christ will fill his house.
Then the joy of the Lord will rule our individual lives…
Rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice.
Let all men know your forbearance.
Lord
God, we just ask that your Spirit searching our hearts would help us define
exactly the step you'd have us take. Deliver us from being caught up in the
changes we see needed in the other man or other woman's life. And enable us to
yield to you as you speak to us. And we pray, Father, that you would shower us
even this day with such a measure, such an abundant flow of your mercy, that we
will almost be incapable of holding it back. And by that bursting forth of your
grace and love that we may learn day after day, year after year to walk in the
forbearance, which is Jesus himself. We ask it in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Message and above prayer: Richard
Bieber from Messiah Church’s 1991 Harvest Dinner
Featured Art: Berna Lopez
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Prayer: Lord how we desperately
need to be ruled by a spirit of forbearance. Give us hearts of mercy,
kindness, forbearance. Forgive us for and rescue us from our own
self-righteousness. Help us to look to you our forbearing God and offer
forbearance to those around us as a sacrifice of love to you for having such
mercy on us.. And yes Lord, shower us with such a flow of your abundant mercy
that we are incapable of holding it back and it easily, willingly, naturally,
lovingly pours out in blessings on any we need to forbear. Amen. Maranatha Mirror |
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