There are two sermons on this page...

Trinity 15/Proper 18 : Matthew 18.15-20

15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.  18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

2008 Sermon...

Extraordinary week in football with two premiership managers resigning because they had no control over their players being transferred.  Better communication might have helped. Especially for Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan whose chairman Mike Ashley had reportedly refused to come home from partying in the U.S.A. to talk to him.

Jesus recognised the importance of communication in sorting out problems within the church family.  Very practical teaching, shouldn't lose sight of this.

He envisages a situation where one a believer thinks that their brother or sister has sinned against them.  Talking about fellow members of God's family. Brothers, and sisters.

Difficulties are bound to occur in families but, hopefully, there is the care, love and commitment to one another to accept each other and to want the best for one another, even if this might be costly.  

Jesus outlines the way in which this situation should be dealt with.  The overriding concern here is to "win your brother over", verse 15.

Why is it a good idea to speak to the person we feel has sinned against us?

In some situations there may have been a misunderstanding rather than a sin, and this could be discovered without undue embarrassment to either party and without a breakdown in the relationship of the two believers.  If this was the case and we were the accused, how would we feel if the other person did not come to us to clear things up first?

In another situation the one who has committed the sin may be unaware of what they have done or even have been unaware that it was contrary to God's will.  The solution then would be a sharing of what has been done and, perhaps a study of the Scriptures to reveal God's will.

Even when there is an 'obvious' sin, the one who has been sinned against should approach the other in humility, aware that everyone falls short of God's perfect will.

If the sinner acknowledges their sin, and says they are sorry then the one who has been sinned against should forgive them.  After today's reading Jesus said that believers should keep on forgiving, and told the parable of the unmerciful servant to illustrate this, verses 21-35, next week's reading.

The attitude should always be one of humility.  Earlier in the Chapter in verse 4, Jesus says that we should approach God in humility like children.

If the one who is accused of sinning is unrepentant the matter is to be discussed before one or two witnesses.  If this doesn't resolve things it should be referred to the whole church.  Again, the object is to bring the sinner to repentance and a restored relationship with a brother or sister in Christ and to God.

If this fails the sinner is to be cut off from the church family to show how serious what they had done was and to lead them to repent.  The decision that is made by the church family is backed up by God the Father and God the Son, through the presence of God the Holy Spirit.

Christians who meet together, even if they are only two, can know the presence and power of Jesus to guide them through prayer, through the Bible, and through the Holy Spirit in their thoughts and decision making so that this may be in agreement with the will of God.  Whilst this may apply to anything, the context here is exercising discipline within the church.

'In my name' refers to the need for the discussions to be centred on the person and teaching of Jesus and also refers to the authority that Jesus gives his followers to act in agreement with his will.

This may sound severe, and in some ways it is.  But we must remember that we live in a very individualistic age where people do not like to think that they are accountable to anyone but themselves.  Perhaps the only places this may be recognised are at work and in the family.

But, we are part of God's family, a community.  We have a responsibility to and for one another.  Leviticus 19: 17 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in his guilt.  

If we feel we have been wronged and it is serious we should go to the one we feel has wronged us and talk.  Not ignore them, hold a grudge against them, or talk about it to others.  This is the way of the world.  

Comus, a Duke of Florence, had a saying that indicated the limitations of his understanding: "You shall read that we are commanded to forgive our enemies, but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends."

As Jesus disciples we are called to love one another.  To help one another in the journey of faith.  And to forgive one another unconditionally and unceasingly.  This will not be easy but we can be motivated by His Spirit and remember have been given so much, and forgiven so much.

Someone once said, "We base our forgiveness on what God has done for us, not on what another person has done to us."

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There was a church where the preacher and the minister of music were not getting along. As time went by this began to spill over into the worship. The first week the preacher preached on commitment and how we all should dedicate ourselves to the service of God. The music director lead the song "I Shall Not Be Moved".

The second week the preacher preached on tithing and how we all should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The director lead the song "Jesus Paid It All".

The third week the preacher preached on gossiping and how we should all watch our tongues. The music director led the song "I Love to Tell the Story".

With all this going on, the preacher became disgusted over the situation and the following Sunday told the congregation that he was considering resigning. The musician led the song "Oh Why Not Tonight?".

The preacher decided to resign. The next week he informed the church that it was Jesus who led him there and it was Jesus that was taking him away. The music leader led the song "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". Copyright 1999 Gibson Productions

Conflict can often be found in churches. Unfortunately, it is rarely as amusing or as polite as this anecdote. Often the ways that Christians address their differences owe more to the way of the world rather than the way of their Lord.

These responses may include:

- Ignoring someone.

- Holding a grudge erecting a wall of hostility and suspicion between Christians.

- Retreating. Having nothing to do with the other believer, perhaps hiding behind a barricade of self-righteous anger, hurt, and wounded pride.

- A public defamation of the other person in a way that elevates the position of the one who is speaking, often without giving the other party a chance to put his or her side. Regrettably many problems between Christians follow this path and there is often no going back because the public nature of the situation would mean that at least one party would have to admit their own sin publicly, rather than things being amicably resolved in private. This public disagreement is no witness in a hostile world. It is also in direct disobedience to Jesus instruction to his disciples. John 13:34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Earlier in Matthew 18, Jesus had taught his disciples that they should approach God like children, with openness and humility. He warned that a terrible fate awaits those who cause Christians to sin. He illustrated the importance to God of believers who have strayed by comparing them to a sheep which was found by the shepherd who had left the rest of the flock to find the lone wanderer.

The context for today's reading, therefore, is the importance of coming to God in humility, and the goal of preventing a Christian from continuing to sin. Jesus outlines how a Christian who sins is to be dealt with by individual believers and the church. The goal of this is to gently restore the one who has sinned, not to humiliate them or build up the one who was sinned against. We need to have this goal firmly in our minds as we examine this passage. We also need to realise that there is an implicit understanding that Christians are responsible to and for one another. This is evident throughout this passage.

15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

The term 'brother' refers to a fellow believer rather than a literal blood brother or even a male Christian. The roots of this teaching are found in the OT. Leviticus 19: 17 Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.

Approaching things in this way allows the one who thinks he has been sinned against to share this with a fellow believer, seek an explanation of his/her conduct, and gently correct him/her if this is appropriate. In some situations there may have been a misunderstanding rather than a sin, and this could be discovered without undue embarrassment to either party and without a breakdown in the relationship of the two believers. In another situation the one who has committed the sin may be unaware of what they have done or even have been unaware that it was contrary to God's will. The solution then would be a sharing of what has been done and, perhaps a study of the Scriptures to reveal God's will.

Even when there is an 'obvious' sin, the one who has been sinned against should approach the other in humility, aware that everyone falls short of God's perfect will.

This approach can be seen in Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, 6 :1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Carry each other's burdens refers to the sharing of the sin in a gentle but firm way. for each one should carry his own load refers to the responsibility that everyone has for their own actions. In this case this action may be repentance or a refusal to accept the situation.

If someone has sinned and the one who has been sinned against gently shows them their wrongdoing the way is then open for an apology to be given, any restitution made and forgiveness to be granted.

Verse 15b: If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

This is referring to reconciling the sinful believer back into fellowship with God, with the one who has been sinned against and even the church . That is the aim of the exercise. However, Jesus shows his knowledge of the human condition by providing a contingency plan for those who will not be convicted of their sin and repent. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'

There may be a number of reasons for taking one or two people as witnesses; The witnesses may have seen the alleged offence and give an objective view of what happened. Again, the foundation for Jesus teaching is to be found in the Old Testament; Deut 19: 15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

It may also be that the witnesses would be known and trusted by both parties and be seen to give an unbiased opinion. The witnesses could also be present to give an account of the proceedings to the church, if things moved onto the next level. Their very presence may provoke both parties to realise the seriousness of what happened.

However, the alleged 'sinner' may still be unrepentant. This could be because he/she is still convinced of their innocence, or because of pride, spiritual blindness or any number of reasons. Where there has been no progress Jesus said, 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Two weeks ago we looked at Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said that he would build the church on Peter, the rock. We discovered that the Greek word 'ekklesia' is translated church and doesn't refer to a building but a gathering of people who have been called out from the world to worship and to live for Jesus. So when Jesus was referring to 'church' here he meant the local Christian congregation. Perhaps this may mean representatives of the church rather than the whole congregation when we read verses 19 and 20. Either way, the object of the exercise is to lead the sinful believer back into the ways of God and restore him/her to a right relationship with their fellow believers and with God.

The word translated 'pagan' literally means a 'foreigner' and means someone who is apart, separated from God and his people. This was also the situation with tax collectors. All governments, except Monte Carlo I believe, tax their subjects, and Rome was no exception. There was a tax on the produce of the land, there was a tax on imports and exports, and there was a tax on each person. The men who did this work were not government officials but businessmen who bought the rights to collect in specific areas. They paid the amounts which the government had set as appropriate for each place, then recouped their outlay and made as much extra profit as they could. Not surprisingly, people hated them and their agents. They worked for the occupying power, and they lined their own pockets in the process. To the religious leaders the fact that they worked with non-Jews (Gentiles) made these men `unclean' and they were regarded as outcasts. They could not serve as witnesses or as judges and were expelled from the synagogue. In the eyes of the Jewish community their disgrace extended to their families.

So the believer who had failed to respond in penitence and faith to the whole church would be treated as an outsider. One who is no longer a brother or sister in Christ. This does not mean that he/she should be treated rudely, or without compassion. Indeed, as Christians we want to show love to those who do not know Christ to lead them into his kingdom and his church, and the aim is still to bring the unrepentant believer back into fellowship with God and his people.

This verse establishes one basis for excommunication. In the Church of England rules provision is made to exclude from Holy Communion one who has 'malicious and open contention with his neighbours, or other grave and open sin without repentance ...'

The object is to preserve peace and purity in the church.

18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Similar words were given to Peter ( 16:19 ) to show the delegated authority he had to pronounce forgiveness or guilt in the name of Jesus. A similar authority is given to all the apostles here in relation to church discipline. However, such discipline should be administered carefully and prayerfully

19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

This seems to be said in contrast to Jewish teaching that a number less than ten is not a congregation. Whereas Christians who meet together, even if they are only two, can know the presence and power of Jesus to guide them through prayer and the Holy Spirit in their thoughts and decision making so that this may be in agreement with the will of God. Whilst this may apply to anything the context here is exercising discipline within the church. Therefore, to quote this verse at a prayer meeting to remind believers of the presence of Jesus is misguided

'In my name' refers to the need for the discussions to be centred on the person and teaching of Jesus and also refers to the authority that Jesus gives his followers to act in agreement with his will.

'there am I with them' reminds us that Jesus is everywhere, omnipresent, and that he is, therefore, God. This underlines the importance of this teaching about how we should handle problems within the church. These words are not merely the words of a 'good man' or a 'fine teacher' but the words of the living God who alone is to be worshipped, adored, served and obeyed.

That Jesus is accessible to all believers should encourage us that we are not alone, we are joined to Him and millions of believers world-wide by His Spirit. This, too, brings a responsibility to our brothers and sisters throughout the world. This ought to be in our minds following the United Nations Conference in Johannesburg this week. The motivation for many of the decisions made at this conference was that the exploitation of the developing nations cannot be economically sustained, not that it is unjust and contrary to God's will to abuse other people in this way. The motivation for reducing pollution is that it will spoil the earth for future generations, not that we have a duty to God to care for it. So the motivations were, often, at heart, selfish. As Christians we are called to be unselfish, putting our wills and our relationships under the Lordship of Christ. The alternatives are harmful to us and to our Lord's name.

An issue of National Geographic included a photograph of the fossil remains of two sabre-toothed tigers locked in combat. To quote the article: "One had bitten deep into the leg bone of the other, a thrust that trapped both in a common fate. The cause of death of the two cats is as clear as the causes of the extinction of their species are obvious."

When Christians fight each other, everybody loses. As Paul put it, Galatians 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.