A Reason to Celebrate: Making Things Right
As the sun set on Tuesday evening this week, Jews all over the world began their celebration of Yom Kippur. For the next 25 hours they would commemorate what to them is the holiest of all their holidays. Yom Kippur is celebrated annually on the 10th of Tishri, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. On what is known as the Gregorian Calendar, it usually falls in September or October.
In Hebrew, Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement.” It derives from the story in the Book of Exodus when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments chiseled on stone tablets. He was excited to bring to the Israelite camp this revelation from Yahweh (name of God, meaning “I AM WHO I AM”), only to find the people had fashioned an idol made of gold. After all God had done to save them, Moses was angry and he knew God would be angry as well. After smashing the tablets in frustration, Moses climbed the mountain once more to intercede for his people and to make atonement. He pleaded with God to forgive the peoples’ sin(s). God in his grace agreed. After forty days, Moses descended the mountain again with a new set of tablets and forgave the sins of the people (Exodus 32-34).
For our Jewish brothers and sisters, Yom Kippur is a very important holiday. It reminds them that God chooses forgiveness and mercy when we choose to turn and change our ways (i.e. repentance). They spend the day in prayer and fasting, asking God to cover their sins (atone) and forgive them for any ways they have wronged him or others. But perhaps equally as important and special is that they seek out those they may have wronged to make things right. And they say, “If I have done anything to wrong you or hurt you, please forgive me.”
It reminds me of how Jesus taught us to pray: “Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us” (Matthew 6:12). It also reminds me of one of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5:23-24 where he says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
In the prayer, Jesus assumes we are forgiving those who have wronged us before we ask God to forgive us for how we have wronged him. In the teaching, Jesus is saying any gift or service we have for God can wait until we have sought reconciliation with someone we think might have something against us. Once that important task is completed, then we can return to worship God with our gift.
You see, there is something about unforgiveness that gets in the way of God being able to forgive us when we’re not willing to forgive others. It also gets in the way of us truly being able to worship and serve God. And from personal experience, it gets in the way of our own happiness, peace, and God’s ability to bless us. Unforgiveness can harden our hearts and hang over us like a dark cloud or a heavy blanket. That is no way to live our lives. It’s not healthy. The only way forward into all that God has for us is forgiveness; making things right and reconciling to the best of our ability.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, seems rather somber, doesn’t it? But our Jewish friends have something important to teach us. Yes, it is a reflective holiday but it is also a day of celebration! At the end of Yom Kippur, the shofar is blown in celebration! It is blown because forgiveness brings freedom. It marks a new day with new opportunities for better relationships and hopes. It’s a victory over Satan who would rather hold us down in bitterness and unforgiveness rather than knowing the great joy of forgiving and being forgiven.
As followers of Jesus, everyday is a day of atonement…a day we can ask for God’s forgiveness but also seek or offer forgiveness to others. What is getting in the way of you being able to freely worship and love God today? Who have you hurt or wronged either intentionally or unintentionally? Who is God asking you to forgive so that you too can celebrate the joy and freedom that comes from being merciful like God is merciful? God doesn’t want you to miss out on the celebration that is just on the other side of making things right!
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).
As the sun set on Tuesday evening this week, Jews all over the world began their celebration of Yom Kippur. For the next 25 hours they would commemorate what to them is the holiest of all their holidays. Yom Kippur is celebrated annually on the 10th of Tishri, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. On what is known as the Gregorian Calendar, it usually falls in September or October.
In Hebrew, Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement.” It derives from the story in the Book of Exodus when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments chiseled on stone tablets. He was excited to bring to the Israelite camp this revelation from Yahweh (name of God, meaning “I AM WHO I AM”), only to find the people had fashioned an idol made of gold. After all God had done to save them, Moses was angry and he knew God would be angry as well. After smashing the tablets in frustration, Moses climbed the mountain once more to intercede for his people and to make atonement. He pleaded with God to forgive the peoples’ sin(s). God in his grace agreed. After forty days, Moses descended the mountain again with a new set of tablets and forgave the sins of the people (Exodus 32-34).
For our Jewish brothers and sisters, Yom Kippur is a very important holiday. It reminds them that God chooses forgiveness and mercy when we choose to turn and change our ways (i.e. repentance). They spend the day in prayer and fasting, asking God to cover their sins (atone) and forgive them for any ways they have wronged him or others. But perhaps equally as important and special is that they seek out those they may have wronged to make things right. And they say, “If I have done anything to wrong you or hurt you, please forgive me.”
It reminds me of how Jesus taught us to pray: “Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us” (Matthew 6:12). It also reminds me of one of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5:23-24 where he says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
In the prayer, Jesus assumes we are forgiving those who have wronged us before we ask God to forgive us for how we have wronged him. In the teaching, Jesus is saying any gift or service we have for God can wait until we have sought reconciliation with someone we think might have something against us. Once that important task is completed, then we can return to worship God with our gift.
You see, there is something about unforgiveness that gets in the way of God being able to forgive us when we’re not willing to forgive others. It also gets in the way of us truly being able to worship and serve God. And from personal experience, it gets in the way of our own happiness, peace, and God’s ability to bless us. Unforgiveness can harden our hearts and hang over us like a dark cloud or a heavy blanket. That is no way to live our lives. It’s not healthy. The only way forward into all that God has for us is forgiveness; making things right and reconciling to the best of our ability.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, seems rather somber, doesn’t it? But our Jewish friends have something important to teach us. Yes, it is a reflective holiday but it is also a day of celebration! At the end of Yom Kippur, the shofar is blown in celebration! It is blown because forgiveness brings freedom. It marks a new day with new opportunities for better relationships and hopes. It’s a victory over Satan who would rather hold us down in bitterness and unforgiveness rather than knowing the great joy of forgiving and being forgiven.
As followers of Jesus, everyday is a day of atonement…a day we can ask for God’s forgiveness but also seek or offer forgiveness to others. What is getting in the way of you being able to freely worship and love God today? Who have you hurt or wronged either intentionally or unintentionally? Who is God asking you to forgive so that you too can celebrate the joy and freedom that comes from being merciful like God is merciful? God doesn’t want you to miss out on the celebration that is just on the other side of making things right!
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).