Reconciliation

"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."  Matthew 5:23,24 ESV

The altar of sacrifice was located just outside the Holy Place at the temple.  By the time of Jesus' ministry, the temple had three courts that one must pass through before entering the area of sacrifice.  These areas were crowded with money-changers, merchants, and other people doing the "business" associated with the temple (and the ones with whom Jesus showed His anger).  For a person to offer a sacrifice, he had to wend his way through the mobs of people.  We've experienced mobs--sporting events, day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, rush-hour traffic.  And, we know how people act--short tempered, hurried, bumping and jostling for a place in line.  By the time a person entered the temple proper to offer his sacrifice, he was probably a little tired, the day nearly spent, and a smelly, noisy animal in tow.  As he offers his animal to the priest, he remembers that his neighbor has something against him.  His neighbor who lives on the other side of town.  His neighbor who is not a believer, and who watches his actions.  Here in Matthew, the worshipper is told to leave the sacrifice and go make things right with whomever has offense against him.  Wow.  Think about the application to our lives.
As we enter worship, whether corporately on Sundays or privately, if we have someone who has offense against us, that is angry because of our actions, we need to leave our worship setting and make things right with him/her.  And that makes sense.  Can we truly offer our sacrifice of worship to God, deepening our relationship with Him when we have resolvable issues in our other relationships.  I can remember having "issues" with a friend a few years ago.  We attended the same church.  As we entered worship one Sunday, I realized that the difficulties in our friendship were preventing me from fully worshipping God.  I had to stop singing, walk over to her and make things right before I could continue.
I do have a question about this though, one that arises from personal experience and a separate occurance in a friend's life.  What if the other person doesn't want to reconcile?  What if they are unwilling to work things out?  Is the responsibility off my shoulders?  Am I able to offer the sacrifice?  Do we treat the situation as water under the bridge and move on?  Do we burn the bridge, hoping to rebuild it at a later date?  Also out of this, I wonder what the relationship between being hurt and being offended is?  How are they related, or are they?
As we go through the week, let us consider the impact of what Jesus is saying here in Matthew.  And, if you have any answers or opinions about the questions raised, let me know.