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13th Sunday after Pentecost, 09/07/2014
Sermon on Matthew 18:15-20, by Brad Everett
The verses from today's gospel are familiar to many-likely because of their reputation as the Scriptural model of "conflict resolution". You know what I mean. A dispute arises between believers and Matthew 18 is trotted out as the process that Christians are to follow in resolving their differences.
But to treat the passage in that fashion is to miss the point and power of Jesus' words here. Our Lord is not talking about disputes, arguments or differences of opinion. He's not addressing situations where people are offended or feelings are hurt, he's talking about sin. That one believer through their thoughts, words or deeds has sinned against not just another believer, but against God. And he is calling the faithful to do everything possible keep one another from sin and its death-dealing wages.
Thus these verses are not about resolving conflicts, reaching suitable compromises and certainly not about making sure that offended parties receive the apology they believe is due them. This passage is about returning brothers and sisters to the love and grave of God.
The purpose of today's gospel becomes clearer if we consider its context. In the first part of chapter 18, (v. 1-9) Jesus talks about the dangers of causing others to sin and he exhorts his followers to do anything and everything necessary to avoid it for their sake, the sake of others, and for the sake of God who loves them.
In v. 10-14 we find the parable of the Lost Sheep, which speaks to the Father's willingness to do whatever necessary so that none might be lost. The passage immediately following today's gospel is Jesus and Peter's talk about forgiveness-the need for us, his followers, to share the forgiveness we have received from God with those around us.
Thus we see that in fact, this passage is not about settling arguments but about the forgiveness and salvation of souls. The problem isn't that someone has been wronged by a brother or sister in Christ, but that they have sinned. That in some fashion, by thought, word or deed, they have turned from God. The fact that you have been wronged is not a cause for offense so much as it is an opportunity to help this brother or sister receive the loving and gracious forgiveness of God by helping them come to repentance.
And that is not so much about them admitting they were wrong, than them turning back to Christ. All the steps Jesus sets out, point to this end-to help the one who has turned away to turn back, to prevent them from rejecting God any further.
Even the last step, to treat the brother or sister in question as a pagan or tax collector is nothing less than a call to show and share with them the love of God that they might experience it, receive it and return to the Lord.
Sin is dangerous. It is a rejection of the love of God. And while we may think there are such things as "little sins" that we can just let slide, there aren't. Because rarely, if ever, does one reject the love of God in one fell swoop. Rather it's a series of small steps, an incremental turning aside from God.
And in today's passage, Jesus calls us to participate in his mission of love and mercy. That someone has sinned against us is an indication that, more importantly, they have sinned against God-they have turned from His divine love to fulfill their own misguided desires. And because you have a ringside seat for this offence you also have the Christ ordained opportunity to help them know and receive God's grace.
To put not too fine a point on this, it isn't about you being right, or vindicated-because honestly, God claimed you in baptism, gave you the Holy Spirit, forgave you and graced you with eternal life, what more could you possible want or need? When we begin to grasp the blessing we have been given and live in this promise, any need to "be right" fades away into insignificance. Today's gospel is about a child of God being rescued for God's love, and that you have been blessed by Christ to have a role in it. "Being right" matters infinitely less that being God's.
Further, this promise extends to us when we sin-a promise that when we have occasion to turn from God in sin, that our brothers and sisters in Christ will do as our Lord commissioned them and will undertake all that is necessary to help us turn back to Christ. That they will do so, not in the interests of making sure we know we were wrong and they were right, but they do so to call us back to the love and mercy of God, so we can live in the new and eternal life promised and provided for us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As it says in the verse preceding today's gospel "...in the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (Mt.18:14). Thus the concluding verses of today's gospel call us to participate in helping God's will to come to pass. That the binding and loosing, would be in accord with God's good, gracious and salvific will. That God's promise to give us whatever two or three of us agree to ask for, or His promise to be with us when we come together, is not about power, influence, wish fulfillment or control.
Rather it is about knowing and experiencing the life-giving love of God in Christ Jesus for ourselves, then making that same love known in our own life and the lives of other believers, that the world might see and know the gracious life and love of God in Christ for themselves.