Sunday, September 6, 2020

Sunday Sermon - September, 6

 September 6, 2020
14th Sunday after Pentecost
 
Ezekiel 33:7-11
Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

Please pray with me,

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen. 

I’m glad we are reminded in today’s gospel less that wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, Jesus is there among them. 

I’ve often heard it said, wherever two or three are gathered, there is conflict. 

Am I right? 

Not always….but as soon as there is more than one individual present, there is the opportunity for different ideas, practices, or beliefs that can either open up the door for dialogue, discussion and growth or it can cause arguing, shouting, not listening and in essence shutting the door, if not slamming it on any future conversation. 

So, it is good for us to be reminded, today, and every day, that wherever two or three are gathered…Jesus is among them. 

And while it is all too easy to get caught up in the step by step actions that Jesus talks about today, and turn it into a neat plan for conflict resolution, the gospel lesson goes beyond that. 

It’s important for us to read this lesson in the context of the rest of the chapter of Matthew.  Chapter 18 begins with the disciples asking Jesus…who is the greatest?  To answer the question, Jesus places a child among them…saying that whoever is humble and welcomes this child…welcomes Jesus. 

Then Jesus, with the child still in their midst, talks about putting a stumbling block in front of children…it’s better to tie a millstone around your neck and be cast into the sea…and to cut off the parts of the body that cause you to sin…

And then…(we are almost to today’s passage, I promise) Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and how the shepherd will leave the 99 to go find the one that is lost. 

And now we’ve made it to today’s lesson and Jesus’ guidelines as to how to respond to someone who sins…but we do so in light of the previous verses. 

It’s important for us to know that Jesus has been talking with his disciples about how actions of humility and welcoming the smallest among us is living into the kingdom of God here and now. 

Jesus has been talking with his disciples about how we are called not to get in the way of welcoming the least of those around us into the kingdom. 

I mean, in the center of this conversation on greatness and who is welcome into God’s kingdom is a child.  In Jesus’ day and in our day, children are those among us for whom we are called to care for, love, teach, nurture and welcome. 

And the message of the lost sheep?  Clearly God wants all of God’s children safely in the kingdom.  So much so, that the other 99 are left so that the one that is lost, the one that is hurt or the one who has been abandoned is brought back into the fold, or in this case literally brought back into the flock. 

All of these lessons and the one we hear today are about being in community. 

A friend and colleague of mine, Pastor Carol Kehler talked about this gospel being about the 3 Rs. 

Not reading, wRiting and aRithmatic….although with school starting back up, those could be the 3 Rs that pop into your mind. 

The three Rs Pastor Kehler talked about were:

Relationship

Reconciliation

Restoration

First of all, this lesson is all about relationship. 

In the beginning when God created us, God did so in relationship with God and into relationship with one another. 

We are created to be social beings, some more social than others, but in the overall picture we were created to be together, to live in community. 

God created us and calls us to live in community. 

So how is it that we choose to be in community? 

How do we engage with one another? 

I think when we are together there are some times that we do this really well. 

We are welcoming, we are open, we are ready for diversity and the beauty of God’s diverse kingdom to envelope us and be present in and among us. 

I also think, that when we are together there are some times that we don’t do community as well as we could.  I mean, we are human right? 

And human beings are messy. 

We fall short of one another’s and God’s expectations. 

We hurt each other - knowingly or unknowingly.

We fail to see beyond ourselves…and the ways we can mend and heal relationships…because it’s just plain hard. 

Allow me this brief side bar…

Being a pastor is pretty great. 

And it’s wicked hard. 

We (pastors) are called to a specific community to love and serve a group of folks who are at the same time - faithful and beautiful but also messy and broken.

And so, we, as pastors, come.

We deepen our relationship with God and with others. 

We listen.

We love.

We get connected. 

And then we get hurt. 

And it’s hard. 

I have had friendships that developed in the context of a faith community that are not a part of my life any more. 

Sure, you would think the pastor could and would be humble enough and flexible enough to repair any broken relationship in her life…but I haven’t. 

I struggle to forgive.

I struggle to mend broken relationships because I’m not sure what they will look like, or if they will be healthy for me - or the other person - especially if one of us has been hurt or betrayed. 

It’s hard. 

But life is hard. 

Being church is hard.  Because we are called together into this wild community of beautiful, faithful yet messy and broken individuals….and in this community we learn to listen, to love, to forgive and to move forward together. 

Called together into this community is hard…but also so incredibly life giving, because we are not going through it alone. 

I mentioned 3 Rs at the beginning of the sermon, so I guess I should at least tell you the other two….

The first one was relationship. 

The second one is reconciliation. 

Because of God’s great love for us, Jesus calls us and wants us to be reconciled in this community.  To repair broken relationships.  To talk through and work through the differences among us, so that we may welcome others into or back into this flock. 

Reconciliation – the act of repairing what was broken…so that life in this community, life in this nation, and life in God’s creation can be restored. 

That’s the third R – restoration. 

Just as the shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to bring back the one, God desires all the lost, lonely, forgotten, and forsaken to not just be welcomed back, but to be brought back into the fold. 

That is the ongoing restoration of God’s kingdom…and the Body of Christ. 

The healing and mending of broken relationships, through reconciliation so that the kingdom can be restored. 

Day by day it happens. 

Day by day new cracks and breaks happen.

So, day by day we are called through our relationship with God and one another to reconcile our differences and work towards the restoration of the kingdom here and now. 

Dear ones, I hope you know that as the gospel calls us into relationship, reconciliation and restoration…we know that this is a place where all three of these can and do happen. 

Together, by the grace and love of God, we are community together. 

And for that, we give thanks to God. 

And now may the peace, which surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen. 

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