Why Settle Out of Court?

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Ezekiel 18:21-28 / Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8 / Matthew 5:20-26

Why Settle Out of Court?

Laws aim at protecting rights. Holiness aims higher.

When Jesus says, “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court,” he is not telling us to avoid legal procedures. He is returning to the themes of forgiveness, repentance and reparation. Christians should not need to be forced to be just by a law, we should be fair instinctively.

Jesus’ teaching here is not about getting away cheaply because we fear that the sentence of the court would be harsher than a plea bargain. It’s not about avoiding costly litigation. It’s about doing what is right, not because we are told to, but because we know it’s the right thing to do. 

Jesus is saying when you have not done the right thing in the first instance, do the right thing at the next opportunity, even if you have to create that opportunity. 

In Jesus’ eyes, an initial wrong is compounded by the need to force one of his followers to do what’s right. Doing the right thing should be part and parcel of our modus operandi – preferably sooner, but later if need be. We should be characterized by doing what is right as well as by righting the wrongs we have done. 

·        Steps eight and nine of the Twelve Steps of Recovery read as follows:

o   Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

o Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

·        Pick one or two people you have wronged and consider how you might make amends to them. Decide if it would be helpful to make direct amends in word or deed. Be careful that you will not do more harm than good in making amends.

·        Consider how our society is structured: Who is disadvantaged? Is there a way you can work to right that wrong and correct that injustice?