Medicine for the Wounded Soul: Matthew 5:21-26 - Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (NRSV)

“Reconciliation” by Garrett Coakley on Flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0

One of my most memorable characters from childhood did not have a TV show, movie, or book. He didn’t sell anything, and you couldn’t get your picture taken with him at the mall. He wasn’t even nice. He was mean.

He was Mr. Yuk—a creation of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, designed to alert children to dangerous substances around the house.

Many poisonous substances around the house look, smell, and even taste like food—and a hungry child may not know the difference. I remember my mom having entire pages of these stickers—and she walked us around the house as she applied them to the household cleaners, gas cans, and spray bottles.

Some question the effectiveness of Mr. Yuk, but he worked for me and my sister. It makes me wonder if Ronald McDonald were colored dull green, we wouldn’t have eaten Happy Meals…

But Mr. Yuk had another trick up his sleeve: the number for the Poison Control Center was printed right on the sticker. And that’s important—because when the human body has ingested or inhaled poison, you must act quickly. Otherwise, the poison will be deadly.

Did you know your soul can be poisoned as well? The terrible things others do to you; the terrible things that happen to you; and the terrible things you do—can have a poisonous effect on your soul. Your every thought is held captive; nothing else matters. All that you have is anger, bitterness, and hate—towards people, towards the world, towards God, towards life, towards yourself. More than a feeling; it’s a beastly passion that you want nothing more than to unleash on something or someone. Has somebody hurt you? Hit then back, ten times harder. Has life given you lemons? Make people know what it’s like to live in your shoes. Let them taste the misery you choke down every day.

What if YOU are the one who’s messed up and failed? You’re the one that people despise and ridicule? You’re the one getting ignored, trampled on, and discarded? What if you’re suffering the unfortunate condition of being YOU? What if you hate that person looking back at you in the mirror, and wish they’d never been born?

But there are plenty of times when there’s no villain to hate, except for maybe God. Who can you blame for cancer? Who can you hate for an earthquake?

The reason people hold onto anger is that is a defense mechanism to protect yourself from further harm. But it’s an even more potent offense mechanism. But anger, whether it is defensive or offensive, is poison. You can’t throw a fireball at someone else without being burned in the process.

Anger, if left unchecked, will be your answer to everything that doesn’t go your way. Anger will be your answer to everyone who does you wrong, and perhaps even those who do you right. Soon, you’ll believe that everyone’s against you—and that you’re all alone.

Anger is the most potent force in today’s politics. Lock those Democrats up! Give those Republicans a taste of their bad medicine. Make America yours again.

Jesus suffered the very worst that human hate could muster—and he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Picture that: Jesus reconciling himself to the sinners responsible for his death, even as they laughed at him. Ultimately, their evil didn’t have the last word.

Forgiveness is the gift of God that removes the deadly poison of anger from your soul. It doesn’t change that you’ve been wounded—but forgiveness renders the poison powerless. The evil visited upon you is stopped dead in its tracks. The wound is no longer keeping you from living; now you are living in spite of the wound—and God’s love, flowing in you and through you, is making you whole once again. Boldly and courageously, you are claiming a new life that cannot be hindered by the harm you’ve suffered. Your wounds make you a healer of others—just as Christ’s wounds give us salvation.

Anger, when challenged through God’s love, can be a force of tremendous good! God does amazing things through people who see greed and injustice, get angry, and say, “we’re not going to take it anymore…”

So how do you forgive?

The first thing to remember about forgiveness is that it is a process. And it’s not a painless process. You can be wounded in a second—but forgiveness can take a lifetime. And it can be impossible to forget. Which is why you need help; God’s help.

The beginning of forgiveness is prayer. “Lord, forgive them.” Tell God what you’re feeling and spare no detail. Next in the process is surrender—giving up what the world says is your right to hate and hurt your offender in kind. You’re taking the power of your anger to inflict pain and pouring it out on the ground. The next step is putting on vulnerability—because when you’re living in love, you’re putting yourself at risk of being hurt. You are not in control of the outcome. The most loving words you’ll ever speak are “I forgive you.”

And I need to be clear about something here—forgiveness doesn’t demand repeatedly drinking another’s poison. Oppressive people love to demand forgiveness from their victims. Being a forgiving person does not mean that you take others’ abuse and like it.

Finally, forgiveness demands that you no longer dwell in the pain. In Christ, you rise and shine. The saving power of Christ’s love is yours to claim. Forgiveness is freedom. It is deliverance. It is a new beginning. It is the best medicine for a wounded soul.

Rise, shine, forgive—and be healed.