Sir, I'm Sorry

O

ne evening I was walking down the main hallway outside my office.  I needed to make some copies on the second floor and opted to take the elevator instead of the stairs.  There was a woman sitting on a bench outside her classroom, waiting for her professor.  There are always students in the hall so I really wasn’t surprised to see her sitting there.

I continued walking down the hall and when I passed her I stopped dead in my tracks.  It wasn’t something she did that made me stop; it was something she said.  As I came closer to her, she looked up from her book and said, “Sir, I owe you an apology!”   Two things made me come to a screeching halt.  First, the use of the word, “sir” caught my attention.  I rarely hear this form of address anymore but occasionally someone still uses it.

The second thing that made me stop was her desire to apologize to me.  For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what she was referring to.  I checked my pockets and my car keys were still there so she hadn’t taken my car, my wallet was safe in my back pocket, so she hadn’t robbed me, and she had done nothing to harm me physically.  So what was she apologizing for?  That was the mystery.

She continued her explanation.  One evening, her class, which met in the room next to mine, dismissed early.  My door was open and as her class exited their room, they began talking in the hall.  This didn’t really bother me but I closed my door so my students wouldn’t be distracted.  When I closed the door, she obviously felt that she had done something wrong and now she wanted to make amends for her actions.  Although I had completely forgotten the situation and didn’t take it in a negative way, it bothered her and she wanted to make sure all was well between us.  What is more interesting is that until that evening, I had never met this woman.  We were total strangers until that moment.

Jesus addressed this very issue in his Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5-7.  In Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus explains that being at odds with someone makes it impossible for us to worship God correctly.  "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift:” 

There are three distinct areas that Jesus addresses with this short statement.  First, he wants us to understand that if someone has something against us, we are to go and be reconciled to that person.  This seems to be reversed doesn’t it?  Normally, we would say that we need to be reconciled if we hold something against someone, but Jesus says that if someone holds something against us, we need to be reconciled to that person.  We may have done nothing to wrong another but the Lord’s command is to make sure that all is well between us and our fellow man.

Second, we are to take care of this immediately!  Even if we are in prayer and at the altar, we are to leave and go to that person and make things right.  You see, if we know someone has something against us, we cannot focus totally on God until that is made right.  God will not share his time nor his place with anyone else.  So Jesus, instructs us to be reconciled to our brother or sister so that we can come to God with a clear heart and mind and offer our gifts to him without reservation.

Third, once we have made peace with the other person, we are to return and offer our gift to God.  God will not accept our gift if there is a rift between us and another.  He is concerned about our relationships with others and knows that our relationship with Him cannot be what it is meant to be if our relationships with our brothers and sisters do not enjoy a firm footing.  Please notice, that it is incumbent on us to make the first move whether we have wronged another or not!

Mary Ann, the lady who offered me the apology, wanted to set things right between us.  I was aware of no wrongdoing on her part.  However, she was unable to focus on her studies because she felt she had wronged me.  After she explained her situation to me, we spoke for almost thirty minutes.  She was a delightful person and I am so glad we met.  Isn’t it amazing what the words, “I’m sorry” can do?  Is there anyone we need to speak with today?