Step nine: "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

In these passages of Scripture, we have rather specific advice. Let us look first at the Old Testament, the book of Numbers. The bulk of the Law is given in Exodus and Leviticus, and then again in Deuteronomy.

This morning's passage is a law of restitution, a special case law, supplemental to Leviticus 6:1-7. It deals with restitution in the situation in which there is no kinsman, that is, no living relative. Sometimes, even back then, litigation could go on for decades and the original plaintiff might be dead, along with all of the plaintiff's family. The advice is: give it to the temple. It is just like church trustees today who urge folks to leave it to the church.

There is nothing mentioned here about going to court. This is too for the person who was detected in dishonesty which he tried to conceal, got caught, went to court and was convicted. If the matter went to court, the consequences for the offender were more serious.

For example, Exodus 22:1 says, "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. He shall make restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or an ass or a sheep, he shall pay double."

This passage from Numbers is for one who chooses to avoid court, for the person whose conscience prompted him to make voluntary restitution. In addition to restoring to the person wronged the property plus one fifth of its value, the one seeking to make restitution was to present a ram to the sanctuary.

The reason for the offering to God is because we find time and again in Scripture that to wrong another is not simply to wrong another, it is to wrong God as well. To get things right with another is not simply to get things right with another, it is to get things right with God as well.

Again we find that injuring another is not simply a sin against that person. It is also a sin against God. Restitution must be made to that person, and restitution must be made to God.

The gospel lessons also deal with an issue of law. It sounds like Jesus is also suggesting that we settle out of court. He talks of an adversary who is going to speak against you in a lawsuit. And Jesus warns that if this goes to court you will have to pay to the very last coin.

There is some good advice here. If one accused has the wisdom to ingratiate himself to his accuser on the way to court, he can save himself a lot of legal expenses, and perhaps even some jail time.

Settling this without litigation also gives us the opportunity to take the initiative. The court case is adversarial. You go to court to have someone - be it a judge or jury - decide who is to blame. But Jesus urges us to go to the one from whom we are estranged without having to decide who is right or who is wrong. My neighbor may have something against me that I am quite justified in believing is not my fault. I can still take the initiative to get things right.

This is a message about religion and reconciliation. What if you are in church, and there start to think of the one with whom you are in conflict? It was the custom then to offer various gifts at the temple, from bulls and cows down to doves and offerings of incense, or, where it might be more convenient, an offering of money equivalent in value to these things. Jesus said, "If you are at the altar and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your offering there. First, go be reconciled with your brother or sister, then return to make the offering."

I just wondered what would happen if I refused to take the morning offering until everyone signed a pledge that they had been reconciled with all their adversaries. I believe I could have a lot of payless paydays. Our first priority may be to receive the offering. God's first priority is to remember our wrongs against another and to be reconciled.

If you are like me, your mind wanders a lot, often in church. One of my most embarrassing moments came during a wedding service. The couple had asked me to include the Lord's Prayer at the end of the wedding prayer. I remembered to start the prayer, but my mind wandered to what I was to do next. I forgot where we were in the Lord's Prayer.

This was a huge old church building and the people in the wedding party and the congregation were barely whispering the prayer. So when I knew I was lost, I tried to whisper softer than they did until I thought everyone else was done whispering. Then, in much embarrassment, I went on with the wedding service.

It is not a good idea for the worship leader to do that, but it can be a good thing when the minds of the worshipers begin to wander, depending on where they wander. "Going to the altar remember ..." This should be a time of remembrance. Here is the place to remember both the need to be reconciled and God's great work of reconciliation.

Sometimes we remember things that can lead to litigation. Much more likely, what we remember is a relationship problem. There are a couple of things Jesus tells folks not to include in their conversations. The first is translated "anger," which describes a tone of voice that expresses contempt for another.

The second word is not easily translated. In English it is usually translated "fool." It is not an insult simply to someone's intelligence. This word was an insult to a person's character. If you have destroyed another's name and reputation, you are liable to the fires of Gehenna.

These fires are in the valley of Ben Hinnon. This is southwest of Jerusalem, where the evil King Ahaz introduced to Israel the fire worship of the god Molech, for whom little children were burned as a sacrifice (2 Chronicles 28:3).

Because of its evil reputation, it became the place where the garbage of Jerusalem was thrown, the public incinerator. In the peoples' minds this place became associated with all that was evil and filthy, a place where useless and evil things were destroyed by fire. If we try to destroy another's character, we are liable to ourselves be thrown on the refuse heap.

Most of us are not worried about serving time in jail or burning in the fires of hell. I remember my mother having written in a devotional booklet some reference to us "medium-size sinners." At Paul's conversion he could see very clearly what he was doing wrong. He was helping kill Christians. Most of us do not have sins that are so easy to define. Most of us keep within the letters of the law. It is the sins of the mind that are the falling of most of us.

Do you remember a couple of decades ago when people were arguing against proposed civil rights legislation? One of the arguments against it was, "You cannot legislate attitudes and morality." That is true. There are laws against murder, but not against hatred (unless you take for your rule of life what Jesus said).

Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. Jesus did not come to abolish the laws regarding murder. Rather, he taught that our righteousness must exceed what is required. The Jewish teaching defined sin legalistically as consisting principally in the overt act. Jesus showed that God's law consists principally in the intention of the heart.

Murder begins with hostility or hatred. Such hostility makes us guilty before God, even though we are restrained from the actual act of violence. The evil desire within us is the root of the sin to which it can lead.

It is the attitude of the heart Jesus came to change, not just the outward action. Stop calling or thinking of your adversary as a blockhead. Stop saying things that hurt another's reputation. The change of heart becomes the change of action.

The Old Testament Book of Numbers gives us a guide on how to settle out of court in a way that gets things right both with the one wronged and with God. Jesus talked about the change of heart that exceeds and fulfills the law. Paul writes to the church about the behavior expected of Christians.

What are the qualifications to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ? What is expected of you and me? What behavior on our part is scandalous? Paul wrote this letter to the church folks in Ephesus. He assumed that church folks are equally tempted to lie, lose their temper, steal, and talk dirty. He must have assumed that we are people who can at times be characterized by bitterness, wrath, clamor, slander and malice.

The good news is Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. One part of the good news is that we do not have to pretend we are something we are not. God loves us as we are. The other part of the good news is that with God's help my life can be better.

This is not some religious idealism unconnected to our real world. The gospel is realistic. Anger is a common emotion, and one we can all understand. A capacity for anger is simply something God gave us.

The God of this Bible is a God who gets angry. The prophet Isaiah (54:8) brings us God's Words, saying, "In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you." As persons created in the image of God, we, too, get angry, but unlike God, we often lack the compassion to keep that anger from being destructive.

So Paul advises, "Be angry but do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger." Jesus and Paul seem here to conflict. Jesus said not to be angry. Paul said be angry, but do not sin. But in Greek there are two words for anger. One is thumos, which is described as being like the flame which comes from igniting dried straw. It blazes up, and just as quickly dies down.

The other word is orge', which is described as habitual anger. It is the long-lived anger that we nurse, just like we would nurse a fire we wanted to keep us warm all night. It is the anger we brood over and will not allow to die. This is the anger which refuses to be reconciled. This is the anger which insists on revenge.

Resentment and grudges have a way of becoming permanent if we let them fester. Do not nurse our anger, just in case it tries to go away. Again, Paul gives very practical advice. The day of your anger should be the day of your reconciliation. To be human is to get angry. To be humans created in the image of God is to have compassion and give the anger to God before we sin.

Ours is the gospel of reconciliation. Paul assures us that we are guilty of such things. We do not throw away people who have done wrong. If we threw away everyone here who had ever gotten angry, there would be no congregation, and certainly there would be no preacher.

Neither do we throw away the thief. Rather, we counsel as did Paul, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands ..."

It is the last part of that statement that I find remarkable. There has been a lot of talk about rehabilitating criminals to make them useful members of society. There is a lot of concern about the cost of keeping criminals in jail. We know about the anxiety it causes us when we worry about being victims of crime.

But Paul's concern is about reforming the thief, turning the thief into an honest worker, not to save society money, not to calm our anxieties about having our silver or stereos stolen. Paul's concern in reforming the thief is for this purpose: "... so that he may be able to give to those in need." The thief is transformed from a taker to a giver.

Paul talks about our emotions, our behavior, and our words. "Let no evil come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion." What parent has not given that advice to their child? "Don't say bad words and don't lie. If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything."

But again, listen to the purpose for which Paul says this: that (God's work) may impart grace to those who hear." There is an exemplary behavior expected of Christians, behavior which can make right the things that we and others have made wrong.

We are not just talking here about social graces. Any good book of social behavior will tell you, "Do not show bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice - in public." This is good advice on social propriety. We have not just been given the "what" of good behavior, but the "why." The "why" is the last part of that passage: "... as God in Christ has forgiven you."

It is by God's grace that we have the opportunity to make amends. It is by God's grace that we are allowed to be reconciled. Jesus said, "You have heard it said of old ... but I say to you." Paul says, "Now therefore . . ." This is a new agenda, a new opportunity.

Jesus has been called the hinge of history. He is the point around which all turns. All of history is dated by that change - before Christ and after Christ. And so should a person's life have this kind of change point. That is both what Christ commanded and the amendment of life that Christ makes possible.