Pentecost Fourteen

Pentecost 14 (Proper 18) – September 6, 2020 | A sermon on Matthew 18:15-20 | by Pastor Evan McClanahan, First Lutheran, Houston |

Exodus 12:1-14, Psalm 149, Romans 13:8-14

Perhaps the hardest thing to do in the Church is tell someone else that they are wrong. Even harder is saying that someone has sinned against you. Not only are you saying that they are in the wrong, but you are making a judgment about their character. Saying such things isn’t easy in the best of circumstances, and it can be downright terrifying in the worst.

And yet, in Matthew 18, Jesus tells us that not only will there be times of sin against one another, that sin will need to be confronted for the sake of reconciliation. Fortunately, he offers us a very simple plan, one that honors confidentiality, discretion, and seeks to avoid unnecessarily public fights. It is not rooted in shaming others, but of reasoning with others, even pleading with others who have truly done wrong. And again, it is all done for the purpose of reconciliation.

And yet, even with the possession of a wonderful procedure with holy motives, we still find it very difficult to have these kinds of conversations. After all, aren’t we taught not to judge? We are definitely taught to be loving and kind, to give the benefit of the doubt, to turn the other cheek. Just listen to what Paul writes in our reading from Romans 13 today: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Who can argue with that? So out of love for one another, we can even routinely look the other way and ignore wrongs. We can even go so far as to make excuses for sin.

We love one another because God first loved us and we forgive someone’s 90 denarii debt because we have been forgiven 10,000 talents. We know how wretched we can be so we, being good Christians, want to extend grace to others. And it just doesn’t feel loving to confront someone for a sin they have committed when we know we also aren’t perfect. Remember, I said we are taught not to judge. In fact, we are taught to judge, but to do so rightly, not hypocritically.

In Matthew 18, Jesus is assuming that the one bringing the charge is doing so rightly, and the case against the sin is rooted in an abiding love for God’s Law. And as Christians, we are to always seek the truth. Perhaps even to the annoyance of others who wish we would just let it go or not be too concerned with the details.

But just because we are sinners, that does not mean that we cannot make right and proper judgements in the face of sin. Indeed to justify a sin is to justify a lie. It is the Devil who is a liar and the father of lies. It is a lie to call something that God hates good and it is a lie to commit an act that God forbids and justify it. That is exactly what has been happening in mainline churches for years now. Clear violations of God’s Law are excused, defended, and justified in the name of “we are all sinners”, “do not judge”, and an unwillingness to say to another, “You are in sin.”

Just this week I was having a conversation about the direction a ministry I’m involved with should go. Some were pushing for a more gentle direction, one that is not confrontational but conversational, one that modeled the grace of Christ. Others said our events should clearly present two different sides and let the audience decide who had the better argument. What is the rationale for each? Well, in the case of first, it is the necessity of demonstrating the love of Christ to the world. In the case of the second, it is the necessity of seeking after truth as followers of Christ. Which value should win?

Well, herein lies the basis for so much conflict in the Church. Both perspectives are right, of course. Love and truth are both preeminent values. John 1:14 is a famous verse that comes to mind: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In Christ himself are both of these virtues. If we overemphasize one, we can lose the other.

Whenever I watch a documentary about cults, I am reminded of what a loving message is often shared with potential converts. Whether it is a Christian cult or not, it is often a message of profound love that is the attracting force. “If you join our group, you can be loved like never before! We aren’t tied down by traditional rules about love. We are a free and open community.” Indeed, everyone from the Rajneeshees to Charles Manson’s group to your run-of-the-mill Jesus Movement cult would employ that method. One technique to recruit new members, for example was to shower a person with “love bombs”, an intense showering of affection and attention by which a hurting or lonely person could be swayed. To this day, love bombing is a manipulative technique that can cause us to do things we would not ordinarily do.

On the other side of the coin is what is commonly called “fundamentalism”. Now, that really is not a dirty word as it was coined in an effort to stave off a wave of false teaching in the Church by nailing down the fundamentals of the faith. But what it means today is a focus on doctrine and truth at the expense of love. Grace and love are taken for granted or even downplayed. It is the truth of God that is all important. If it isn’t already outright legalism, it can become so quickly. Legalism is the belief that the law can save you, and Jesus’ constant fight against Legalism with the scribes and Pharisees might lead you to believe that Jesus preferred grace over truth.

But in fact, Jesus was so harsh on the teachers of the law, not because they were teaching the Law, but because they were teaching lies. They had strayed from the truth. And therefore, they were being unloving. And this is really where we realize that love and truth are not enemies, but are, in Christ, inextricably bound together. There is no separation of love and truth. It is loving to be truthful. And to know the truth – Christ himself – is to know love. Love apart from Christ is a lie. And a lie is a departure from Christ.

So if you seek to follow Jesus Christ, and to know him, and to imitate him, then you are called to seek the truth, wherever it leads. If you do so, you will find love and you will know true love. You will learn to distinguish the true love of God from the false flattery of the world. And if you seek to follow Jesus Christ, and you are certain you know all of the truths he taught but you are not loving, ask another believer to meet with you one day to sort out where your truth does not align with the scriptures. Something must be off because to know truth is seek to be loving.

And that brings us back to our text. It is hard to say to another, “You are in sin.” But out of love for the other person and the truth, that sometimes must be said. But notice how loving Jesus is. You first say it in private, in confidence, with discretion, to allow repentance without public shame. But if haughtiness wins the day, you next bring some witnesses, who not only can act as witnesses in case the moment turns ugly, but so they can also discern that the accuser is truly in the right. If a stubborn refusal continues, then the Church has the right to excommunicate that person. The hope is that the person will repent and return to the fold. But because truth and lies cannot live side-by-side, there are clearly times for fellowship to be broken, even in an institution marked by love, or perhaps especially an institution marked by love.

So which value wins the day: love or truth? In Christ, they cannot be pulled apart. May the Holy Spirit give us the strength and the wisdom to seek both, with both humility in character and confidence in God’s Word. Amen.