One author who has often caused me to stop and think more
often than most has to be Watchman Nee. This morning was no different. He
wrote,
“What does this astonishing statement mean? Jacob, who had
seen God face to face at Peniel, now describes his meeting with Esau as if he
were again seeing the face of God! It may have been mere flattery, an evidence
that Jacob still retained something of his earlier scheming nature. It may also
have been a kind of confession that all his elaborately planned arrangement of
his family and possessions had been a waste of time. In Esau’s welcome he may
have recognized that deliverance had come to him, not through his own clever
artifice but through the overruling of God. But there is one more possible
meaning, and this is a universal spiritual fact. It is that those whom we have
wronged will always represent God to us. When we meet them, it is as though we
are meeting God. It can be in judgment. Thank God if, when this is so, our
hearts are truly humbled before Him. It also can mean mercy and reconciliation.
‘First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.’”
Why did this have such a profound effect on me today? Maybe
because it suddenly hit me how many times over the years I’ve “seen the face God” myself in the faces
of those brothers and sisters I have wronged in one way or another. I’ve never
quite thought of it that way before. Wow!
I think that the “judgment” part that Nee was referring to
is none other than our coming to the realization that, just as God is a God of
love, we fail to be on the same page with God when we don’t respond in like
fashion. It is not a case of God judging me as much as it is a case of me
judging by discerning for myself that I am not walking where deep down inside I
know that I need to be.
I know the truth and importance of Jesus’ words when He
said, “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, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:
23-24; NIV). Though I know it, I also still stumble over that one.
I guess the bottom line for me in Watchman Nee’s little
devotional (and something I’ve often mused over) is that all worship, spiritual
wrestling, gift giving, piety – and whatever other religious activity we may
want to include – ultimately really isn’t worth the paper it’s written on without
first having a right relationship with our fellow man; especially those whose
paths cross ours on a day to day basis.
If there is tension between a brother or sister and myself,
and if I do not make it a priority to correct that problem, then not only is my
worship essentially worthless, but that brother or sister will always be the “face of God” to me until peace and
harmony is restored in the relationship.
“If anyone says, ‘I
love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20; NIV).
How many times have you seen the “face of God” lately? Hmm. Something to think about. Peace.
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