13th
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 in
your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
I’m glad the
last line in our gospel lesson ends on a positive note, because the rest of it
today seems to cut to the quick. And
maybe it cuts to the quick because it hits us right where it matters….in the
heart. Jesus calls the disciples out on
conflict within community. Two great
things that always seem to go together.
For wherever
two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, he is there among him.
I’ve heard
it said, for wherever two or three are gathered, there is conflict, so it’s a
good thing Jesus is there, too!
As the local
pastors met for text study Wednesday morning, it was lifted up that the revised
standard version of this passage is more accurate. Let me read part of that to you and listen
for the differences.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell
him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained
your brother. But if
he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may
be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you
as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
This
translation lifts up the importance of the relationship that Jesus is pointing
out. It’s not just church member having
an issue with another church member, it is the closeness of brothers….it’s the
closeness of sisters….it’s the closeness of being members of the body of
Christ. It’s not just Jesus addressing
the conflicts that arise (or will arise) within the context of a congregation,
or as we may hear it within the context of our congregation here. It is Jesus addressing the issue of conflict
between brothers and sisters within the context of community.
In a day and
age where we have the capability to be more connected to one another than ever,
it seems that community is something we still long for.
I know that
for many people, maybe not all, but for many the ability to connect with
someone or many people is within the palm of your hand, when your smart phone
is there. You can see what all your
friends are up to on facebook, you can text someone any time of the day and you
can skype or facetime to video chat face-to-face.
But you get
the idea, right? That within our grasp
it is so easy to connect with others.
Yet, this is different than the community that exists when we meet face
to face.
In the world
of texting and Facebook, if you don’t like something, you can ignore it. You can even block certain posts if you don’t
agree with them. You can even “unfriend”
someone without having to tell him or her why.
In these
online or electronic connections, it’s easy to walk away. It’s easy to leave a problem. It’s super easy to avoid conflict.
Yet, within
the realities of race-to-face relationships that we find within the context of
a community that gathers together week after week, it’s not so easy to avoid
the conflict. Because here’s the
truth….we are all sinful beings. The
church is made up of a bunch of sinners.
The
challenge for us, this day, is to live within the context of community. We say we all want community, but we usually
can’t comprehend how difficult it is to come by.
Or more
accurately, authentic community is hard to come by. It’s work, right? But it’s well worth it. (D. Lose)
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer wrote about community in his book, Life Together. He writes,
“It is easily forgotten that the community of Christians is a gift of grace
from the kingdom of God, a gift that can be taken from us any day – that the
time still separating us from the most profound loneliness may be brief indeed.”
(p. 30)
This
community here….is a gift of the grace of God.
It’s nothing we created. It’s
nothing we control. Those gathered in
this place have been called together by God and are held together in God’s
grace, which is an amazing and wonderful gift.
Because the
truth of it is, we won’t all get along.
Try as we might, we are sinful beings….we will stumble, we will cause
others to stumble. As we try to do God’s
work, our words and actions will get in the way and will upset some and cause
others to wonder how and if God’s work is being done.
So in the
midst of listening for God’s call for our lives and the life and mission of
this congregation, when we see others pushed away...Jesus commands us to go and
get them. While the words in our text
talk about pointing out the fault in the other, maybe it’s important to
remember that when you point someone out, there are three fingers pointing back
at you. It’s more than just pointing out
the issue of one particular person, it’s loving that person enough – BECAUSE of
how much God loves us – to call them back into community again.
It’s not
about placing blame, or hurting others.
It’s all about knowing that this place is a community that gathers in
God’s grace and that all are welcome in this place.
The good
news for us this day, comes to us from our passage from Ezekiel, “As I live,
says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the
wicked turn from their ways and live”
It’s all
about God’s desire for us to be gathered in community (together) to share God’s
love and grace for others. And THROUGH
that love and grace we are able to humble ourselves, to admit our wrongs, to
extend apology and to be offered forgiveness and grace all because of God.
Bonhoeffer
writes, “The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more
everything else between us will recede, and the more clearly and purely will
Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is alive between
us.” (p. 34)
And that’s
it really….the blessings and challenge of living in community. That when we are more genuine with one
another and our relationships with God an one another deepen, we are able to
see more clearly the call that Jesus has for us and for this community.
It is what we
desire most deeply…but it calls us to open our hearts and our minds. To share things that trouble us, to share
questions and struggles that we have in our lives and our faith, knowing that
others that surround us are in the same boat, and only by the grace of God are
we gathered, forgiven, loved and sent back into the world to share how we live
and act as a community.
Rev. Nadia
Bolz-Weber shares something like this in every new member class at House for
all Sinners and Saints Lutheran Church in Denver, CO. Look around you, someone within this group
will say something or do something that offends you or hurts you, it may even be
your pastor who does it….but what makes this place different than the world, is
our ability to love and forgive and work through our differences and our
conflict because of the love and grace of God in this place.
May we
remember this day, and all days, that in the midst of conflict and unrest, it
is God’s grace that calls us together, it is God who forgives, enabling us to
forgive – and may we model humility, love and grace within these walls and
beyond.
And now may
the peace, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen.
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