Mar 19: Insight Post by Rusty Coram

  -   March 19, 2025

Reconciliation Is Essential for True Worship: Jesus instructs that if we are offering a gift at the altar and remember that someone has something against us, we should first reconcile with them before continuing to worship. This shows the importance of healthy relationships in our spiritual lives.

Wednesday Verse

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 (NLT)

Wednesday Questions

Are there people I need to seek reconciliation with before I can fully engage in my worship of God? How can I take the first step toward peace?

Wednesday Insight Post
by Rusty Coram

When we moved to Northern Virginia to start New Hope, we lived in a townhouse in Kingstowne. We could see the back of another row of townhouses from our back deck. One day, around noon, I saw smoke on my neighbor’s deck. When I investigated, I found that he had emptied the charcoal from his grill the night before and didn’t realize some coals were still burning. They had burned into his deck and the side wall overnight and through the morning. I was able to hose it down, but a fairly large hole had burned through his deck. In our reading this week, Jesus addresses a kind of anger that resembles the coals. He uses a specific word that describes simmering resentment and bitterness against someone that grows. Left unchecked, this kind of anger leads to all kinds of harm and, in some instances, even murder. While murder was an obvious sin, Jesus is raising the standard to include the attitude behind murder. Simmering anger itself is a sin whether it leads to doing outward harm or not.

This was a radical idea both then and now. We live in a time when anger, resentment, hatred, and bitterness are not only common but easily justified. While this may be out of cultural standard, it is NOT for followers of Jesus. We are called to be people who love, forgive, and offer grace and patience. When we disagree with others, we are to stand for the truth, not merely our personal opinion, and do it in a way that honors our Savior. When we read, “But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:22) We need to take this to heart and regularly review our attitudes toward others to prevent the smoldering hate and anger that can easily grow in us. This isn’t simple at all. In fact, it is one of the reasons being closely connected to other Christians is so valuable. My close friends may see in me something that I have missed, like my neighbor and the coals that threatened his house. Hebrews 12:14-15 reminds us of the protective value of being in close community with others: “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. ¹⁵ Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”

Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor

New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org