Matthew 18 15 – 20
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to someone who was telling me how her church was setting up a drop in cafe and how shocked she had been that Christian’s had behaved so badly in the process. There had been arguments about how the coffee shop furniture was going to be set out, there had been conflict about where the cakes were going to be on display. She said it is always the same. Even at the Church fayre people are always arguing about the fact that the book stall has always been at the left side of the hall for the last twenty years. I am sure that her church isn’t unique. Her parting comment was that these people should be ashamed of themselves and this sort of thing shouldn’t happen amongst Christian people. Well I would agree, in an ideal world we should be able to live harmoniously but the truth is that the church is actually full of sinner and inevitably there will be times of conflict, times when we perhaps argue or disagree. It is how we respond to this that sets Christians apart.
Some years ago I used to manage education projects for offenders. Often we would help people who had been released from prison who were out on license having committed very serious crimes. Ex murderers, rapists and sex offenders. I recall one man who was released from prison who had committed a very serious offence and after 15 years he was released into the community. Having completed his sentence and filled with remorse, all he wanted to do was to try and build a life and give something back to make amends for the wrongs of the past. However, given his offence, he was obliged by law to disclose this to potential employers. As a consequence, time after time he was judged and sentenced again and again as most employers didn’t want to know. It was evident, at the time, that forgiveness and reconciliation was not on the agenda. Fortunately after some time the man managed, with our help, to find work and begin working towards a new life. One employer was willing to forget the past and give the man a future. By this act of kindness he was given new hope and new opportunities. The same opportunities afforded to us by the forgiveness of God.
I am sure many of us can be quick to judge and find it difficult to forgive. I am sure many of us will be able to think to a time in our life where there has been conflict in our family or amongst friends. I know people who have fallen out with family members and never reconciled over a life time. Stubbornly refusing to give in, keeping the feud alive for years.
Indeed as I mentioned earlier, people are often disappointed when this happens in church communities. As Christians when conflict arises or we are presented with situations where we find ourselves standing in judgment of others, our response as Christians should be to share the same forgiveness that God gives to us. Not to seek revenge or harbour hurt, because inevitably, that path always leads to pain and suffering. People should be able to identify us as Christians by the response we have to those difficult and challenging situations.
Our Gospel reading today is often referred to by some scholars as a manual for church discipline. It was written at a time when the early church was having to deal with internal conflicts. Matthew is careful to ensure that these rules are communicated in a way which shows the enormous graciousness of God. Jesus describes a process for church discipline and of course rules for the community were common in Jesus day. Here was a community who needed to be reassured by Jesus, that it is given divine authority to take hard decisions where necessary, yet all the while certain of the guiding presence of Jesus in its midst.
Jesus gives us his wisdom. First he suggests that we should nip things in the bud before they escalate. If someone offends you, go to them in private and share your feelings. I suppose our human nature is not to do this and often to let things bubble under the surface rather than deal with them at the source. Going direct to the person prevents it going public and stops things getting out of control and causing embarrassment. Jesus tells us if this doesn’t work we are to bring witnesses who can act as arbitrators, seeking repentance and forgiveness. If this doesn’t work let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Jesus is not suggesting that we give up on them and exclude them – that would not reflect Jesus attitude towards sinners. As we know Jesus was often accused of associating with tax collectors and sinners because he never tired of reaching out to the outcasts and law breakers. He never gave up on any one and Jesus expects us to do the same. The truly Christ-like response to someone who sins against us is forgiveness – and today’s passage and it’s process is one by which the offender needs to recognise that what they’ve done is wrong, which is important too. It’s of course the way God behaves towards us – he is always, always willing to forgive – we need to recognise that there are times when we do wrong and remind ourselves that God never fails to forgive.
A few of you may know that I was brought up a Roman Catholic. I remember clearly at the age of 7 being prepared to make my first confession before my first communion. At the time I remember being quite anxious about having to go into a tiny box room. The room had a grill in the partition and behind the grill sat the priest. I recall getting a little worried about what sins I should tell the priest and whether when I got in there I would freeze with terror. When the day finally arrived I went into the confessional box and blurted out the words I had to say, waiting for the priest to pronounce absolution. On leaving the confessional box I vividly remember having a warm glow inside and thought to myself that if I was to die right at this moment I would be in such a holy state and my soul would be so shiny and clean that I would be transported immediately to heaven without question. The problem was it wasn’t very long after I left the confessional box that another sin was committed and with a black mark upon my soul, I would have to return all over again the following week to have my soul repolished! It became obvious that despite being a Christian I was still capable of separating myself from God by sin but that God’s hand of forgiveness was always there to save me, no matter how many times I asked.
When we look at this passage we see that at the very heart of the church community is God’s presence. An abiding presence of forgiveness and love. That at the very heart of the church is the action of forgiveness and judgment over the lives of people. What we say on earth in Jesus name, is just as true in heaven and central to the church is the ability to speak forgiveness into the lives of all people. I must admit when I read the words “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” I get an image of arriving at the pearly gates being greeted by St Peter with a tick list of my rights and wrongs. But at a more profound level, it charges us with the responsibility for modelling the relationships of the Kingdom here on earth.
Finally we hear Jesus tell us that “ where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” The rule amongst the Jewish people was that that at least ten men had to be present to create an assembly and yet here was Jesus telling us that where two or three gather in his name, things would be different. It is Jesus presences that marks the life of the community of the faithful. For me this is an incredible promise to God’s people. In an age where we see small churches struggling to survive, Jesus reminds us that our strength does not rest in numbers but in his presence. And it is surely because of this promise that we are able to comprehend more fully Christ’s love for his church.
Amen
