Making Things Right

During my formative years attending Sunday School, I liked the Biblical character Zacchaeus (Luke 19). Here was a short, rich publican, a sinner, who had to climb up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus as He passed through his town. I do not know what provoked his curiosity, but I'm sure he didn't realize that his encounter with the Son of God would change his life from that day forward. Isn't that just like Jesus? Any genuine encounter with Him, and a person cannot stay the same.

On this particular day as Zacchaeus perched in the tree, Luke tells us that Jesus, having got to where the tree was, looked up, and said unto him "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully" (vv. 5, 6). What intrigues me is what followed: "Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (V.8). That latter half of that verse speaks to restitution - the act of restoring to a previous state. It is a tragedy of our times that the Church has lost this practice. It is not unusual for brethren to hurt / offend each other, sometimes unknowingly, but the ball and chain tied to our feet and retarding our spiritual progress is our inability to go and make things right with a brother or sister.

It is instructive that Jesus coupled restitution and reconciliation as a crucial part of genuine worship: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matthew 5:22, 23). Maybe somewhere within, Zacchaeus knew that there was no way he could have meaningful fellowship with Christ without first making things right with his fellow men.

There is something in that for all of us. Is there someone you need to make things right with? Sure there may be many reasons why you may not want to do it, but bear in mind that it is your relationship with the Lord that is at stake. May God give us the grace to step out in faith, and reach out to that someone, so we can be free to worship in spirit, and just as importantly, in truth. The Father seeketh such to worship Him (John 4:23).