Wherever
Sunday, September 4th, 2005
Pentecost + 16
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 18:15-20
Again with the hard reads.
After a week that has been marked – and marred – by an almost-surreal viewing and experiencing of what the underside of our society is capable of, I was hoping for a chance to stand before you this morning and dwell on one of the nicer aspects of the Gospel. Circumstances and events over the last 6 days have proved that an impossible task. We go with what we have before us, and hope for the promise of redemption in the midst of desperation and sorrow.
The title of today’s message refers to that portion of this passage that I, at least, often quote in prayers. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” I don’t think I’m the only one that does that, but it is always good to be reminded of the context in which a phrase appears before we spend too much time quoting it by itself.
So what is the context of this phrase? It is at the conclusion of a passage where Jesus is explaining how a congregation should deal with someone in it’s midst that is out of … sync … out of step … I don’t exactly like the sense that those two words convey, that we MUST somehow conform to a preset idea of what we are to act, speak, and think like. I am too much of an individualist to do that comfortably. There is no expectation that we be cookie-cutter Christians. In fact, I believe the opposite to be true. God made us as individuals, unique and special in our own way, and there is cause for celebration within that diversity. It is a direct reflection of the richness of God’s grace and creativity. But there IS a unity of purpose that we are to exemplify, a unanimity in agreement about what we are to be about if we are to be considered a single body of believers. So we do need to study what Jesus is saying in order to understand where he was coming from and where he was going.
Jesus’ concern for the individual is evident. He described four options in dealing with a wrongdoer in the Church. None is motivated out of a legalistic sensibility, or in a punishment “mode,” but the main concern is to salvage and strengthen, not to expose, or dispose of someone who has done wrong.
Before getting into the steps described, it bears noting that Jesus expected the one who INITIATES the reconciliation, or the ATTEMPT at reconciliation to be the one who suffered the wrong, not the one who committed it. It goes against the grain of our culture, doesn’t it? To expect the victim, as it were, to bear the responsibility for correcting the wrong? Usually it’s the other way around. The one wronged has little to do but sit and wait for the one in error to (eventually) come and beg forgiveness. But then, this is the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, not the world. The very fact that the one who committed the wrong COMMITTED it leaves them impaired from recognizing the wrong they’ve done. Another way of saying it is that the person is not aware of the wrong they’ve committed for the simple reason that they don’t see that they did anything wrong. It’s an obvious answer to a sometimes vexing question. Why hasn’t he asked forgiveness? Because he simply doesn’t know he needs to.” Going to someone who has wronged you and letting him or her KNOW what wrong has been committed is the quickest and most direct way to get the issue resolved.
If that doesn’t work, the text goes all Baptist on us and says ‘take one or two others along with you’ – in other words, form a committee! If there is some resistance on the part of the one who committed the wrong to recognize the wrong, then bring a couple of people along who saw the same thing you did, and see if the corroboration from people other than yourself brings the realization home to the offender.
If THAT doesn’t work, THEN take the issue to the church, and have the church as a body address it. Frank Stagg, longtime professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Seminary, put it this way: “Concerned discipline is not antithetical (out of character) to the nature of the church, but proper to it. It is to be assumed that the same motive and spirit would govern the church as should govern the individual or committee (in reference to the small group of 2 or 3 coming in the second attempt) in seeking to gain the brother.”
Lastly, if even after the body as a whole has confronted the person and he or she remains … entrenched in denying any wrongdoing, then there comes a point when the church doesn’t so much withdraw from the individual, as it is that the church recognizes that the individual has withdrawn from the congregation, that there is no fellowship left there.
At first read, the comment Jesus makes about treating that person as a gentile or a tax collector seems harsh, and on some level, it is. It reflects the fact that Jesus spoke and lived and moved about in what was primarily a Jewish society. One occupied and governed by gentiles, but one in which the principal cultural ‘poles’ were the gentile and Jewish ones. But think about it. All things considered, it may not seem so harsh if we break it down.
First of all, three steps seeking reconciliation are presupposed. In other words, this is after some pretty exhaustive attempts have been made to reconcile with the person.
Secondly, it’s not so much an exclusion on the part of the church as it is a refusal on the part of the individual to ‘belong’ to the church.
Third, how DID Jesus treat gentiles and tax collectors? With kindness and openness. There was never a closed door when a gentile came to Jesus. Zaccheus comes to mind. The way Jesus treated gentiles and tax collectors more often than not got him in trouble BECAUSE he was kind and open with them.
For the church to recognize that one who refuses to listen is already an outsider does not close the door to his or her reception when he or she is willing to be received as a brother or sister.
Here’s the sequence: each of us is responsible for each other. The whole church is responsible for each member, and each member is responsible to the whole church. We are never more a part of a family than when we voluntarily become accountable to each other in love.
Verse 18 echoes what we heard Jesus tell Peter just a couple of weeks ago, but this time, he’s speaking to the church as a whole, not a single individual, but all of us. The emphasis is on the agreement between what is happening here on earth and what would happen in heaven. It’s a … testimony to that unity of spirit – UNDER the GUIDANCE of the Holy Spirit – that reassures us that if we are truly acting IN the spirit, we’ll ‘get it’. We will understand, we will agree. And God will honor that agreement, God will bless that agreement, that unity of spirit, that one-ness of purpose.
So we get back to the ‘two or more’ phrase. It comes by way of a discussion of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ on earth, and what that entails. The responsibilities are not easy. We are called to be a part of each other’s lives, not in a nosy, snoopy way, but in loving concern for our collective spiritual growth.
This morning we had a commissioning of our Sunday School workers and teachers. Some of you may have gotten out of the habit of coming to Sunday School. If the idea strikes you as childish, then think of it as – or call it – Sunday Morning Bible Study instead. Coming to worship is important, it might even be critical. Not to your salvation, but to your growth as a Christian. But if worship is important, what happens in Sunday Morning Bible Study is even more so. It is where you develop relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ that, however long we make it, the Jerusalem hand of welcome doesn’t give you time to do. Besides, the choir starts singing and we have to get on with the service. Sunday morning Bible Study is where you develop your spiritual muscles and learn to be part of the community. It is where you exercise your brain and engage your heart, where you wrestle with the questions that this style of worship doesn’t always lend itself to allowing. We could try that sometime, but that’s a discussion for another day.
And what about that word, Wherever?
It’s a comprehensive word. There are no exclusions under wherever. Wherever means WHEREVER. If your Sunday Morning Bible study happens on Tuesday nights, more power to you. If it happens on Saturday afternoons, go for it. The thing is to be involved in a small group that readily and eagerly engages with the word of God and draws out of it meaning and relevance for living in today’s world.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means that we can think outside the box. Wherever can be just that. And the promise still holds. We gathered this morning and learned of the Conely family in our community having lost everything in a house fire. Things are already in motion to help them get back on their feet. As a congregation, we voted to send aid – above and beyond the individual contributions collected – to disaster relief efforts in the states affected by hurricane Katrina. Jerusalem may be a small church in numbers, but we are big at heart. When we gather, sometimes it’s not that many MORE than two or three … and the promise still holds. As a part of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, we join with over 1300 other churches across the commonwealth, in the name of Jesus, and the promise still holds.
You, as a Sunday School teacher, may have only one member show up on some Sundays. But remember: the promise still holds.
Let’s pray.
Sunday, September 4th, 2005
Pentecost + 16
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 18:15-20
15 ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
Again with the hard reads.
After a week that has been marked – and marred – by an almost-surreal viewing and experiencing of what the underside of our society is capable of, I was hoping for a chance to stand before you this morning and dwell on one of the nicer aspects of the Gospel. Circumstances and events over the last 6 days have proved that an impossible task. We go with what we have before us, and hope for the promise of redemption in the midst of desperation and sorrow.
The title of today’s message refers to that portion of this passage that I, at least, often quote in prayers. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” I don’t think I’m the only one that does that, but it is always good to be reminded of the context in which a phrase appears before we spend too much time quoting it by itself.
So what is the context of this phrase? It is at the conclusion of a passage where Jesus is explaining how a congregation should deal with someone in it’s midst that is out of … sync … out of step … I don’t exactly like the sense that those two words convey, that we MUST somehow conform to a preset idea of what we are to act, speak, and think like. I am too much of an individualist to do that comfortably. There is no expectation that we be cookie-cutter Christians. In fact, I believe the opposite to be true. God made us as individuals, unique and special in our own way, and there is cause for celebration within that diversity. It is a direct reflection of the richness of God’s grace and creativity. But there IS a unity of purpose that we are to exemplify, a unanimity in agreement about what we are to be about if we are to be considered a single body of believers. So we do need to study what Jesus is saying in order to understand where he was coming from and where he was going.
Jesus’ concern for the individual is evident. He described four options in dealing with a wrongdoer in the Church. None is motivated out of a legalistic sensibility, or in a punishment “mode,” but the main concern is to salvage and strengthen, not to expose, or dispose of someone who has done wrong.
Before getting into the steps described, it bears noting that Jesus expected the one who INITIATES the reconciliation, or the ATTEMPT at reconciliation to be the one who suffered the wrong, not the one who committed it. It goes against the grain of our culture, doesn’t it? To expect the victim, as it were, to bear the responsibility for correcting the wrong? Usually it’s the other way around. The one wronged has little to do but sit and wait for the one in error to (eventually) come and beg forgiveness. But then, this is the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, not the world. The very fact that the one who committed the wrong COMMITTED it leaves them impaired from recognizing the wrong they’ve done. Another way of saying it is that the person is not aware of the wrong they’ve committed for the simple reason that they don’t see that they did anything wrong. It’s an obvious answer to a sometimes vexing question. Why hasn’t he asked forgiveness? Because he simply doesn’t know he needs to.” Going to someone who has wronged you and letting him or her KNOW what wrong has been committed is the quickest and most direct way to get the issue resolved.
If that doesn’t work, the text goes all Baptist on us and says ‘take one or two others along with you’ – in other words, form a committee! If there is some resistance on the part of the one who committed the wrong to recognize the wrong, then bring a couple of people along who saw the same thing you did, and see if the corroboration from people other than yourself brings the realization home to the offender.
If THAT doesn’t work, THEN take the issue to the church, and have the church as a body address it. Frank Stagg, longtime professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Seminary, put it this way: “Concerned discipline is not antithetical (out of character) to the nature of the church, but proper to it. It is to be assumed that the same motive and spirit would govern the church as should govern the individual or committee (in reference to the small group of 2 or 3 coming in the second attempt) in seeking to gain the brother.”
Lastly, if even after the body as a whole has confronted the person and he or she remains … entrenched in denying any wrongdoing, then there comes a point when the church doesn’t so much withdraw from the individual, as it is that the church recognizes that the individual has withdrawn from the congregation, that there is no fellowship left there.
At first read, the comment Jesus makes about treating that person as a gentile or a tax collector seems harsh, and on some level, it is. It reflects the fact that Jesus spoke and lived and moved about in what was primarily a Jewish society. One occupied and governed by gentiles, but one in which the principal cultural ‘poles’ were the gentile and Jewish ones. But think about it. All things considered, it may not seem so harsh if we break it down.
First of all, three steps seeking reconciliation are presupposed. In other words, this is after some pretty exhaustive attempts have been made to reconcile with the person.
Secondly, it’s not so much an exclusion on the part of the church as it is a refusal on the part of the individual to ‘belong’ to the church.
Third, how DID Jesus treat gentiles and tax collectors? With kindness and openness. There was never a closed door when a gentile came to Jesus. Zaccheus comes to mind. The way Jesus treated gentiles and tax collectors more often than not got him in trouble BECAUSE he was kind and open with them.
For the church to recognize that one who refuses to listen is already an outsider does not close the door to his or her reception when he or she is willing to be received as a brother or sister.
Here’s the sequence: each of us is responsible for each other. The whole church is responsible for each member, and each member is responsible to the whole church. We are never more a part of a family than when we voluntarily become accountable to each other in love.
Verse 18 echoes what we heard Jesus tell Peter just a couple of weeks ago, but this time, he’s speaking to the church as a whole, not a single individual, but all of us. The emphasis is on the agreement between what is happening here on earth and what would happen in heaven. It’s a … testimony to that unity of spirit – UNDER the GUIDANCE of the Holy Spirit – that reassures us that if we are truly acting IN the spirit, we’ll ‘get it’. We will understand, we will agree. And God will honor that agreement, God will bless that agreement, that unity of spirit, that one-ness of purpose.
So we get back to the ‘two or more’ phrase. It comes by way of a discussion of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ on earth, and what that entails. The responsibilities are not easy. We are called to be a part of each other’s lives, not in a nosy, snoopy way, but in loving concern for our collective spiritual growth.
This morning we had a commissioning of our Sunday School workers and teachers. Some of you may have gotten out of the habit of coming to Sunday School. If the idea strikes you as childish, then think of it as – or call it – Sunday Morning Bible Study instead. Coming to worship is important, it might even be critical. Not to your salvation, but to your growth as a Christian. But if worship is important, what happens in Sunday Morning Bible Study is even more so. It is where you develop relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ that, however long we make it, the Jerusalem hand of welcome doesn’t give you time to do. Besides, the choir starts singing and we have to get on with the service. Sunday morning Bible Study is where you develop your spiritual muscles and learn to be part of the community. It is where you exercise your brain and engage your heart, where you wrestle with the questions that this style of worship doesn’t always lend itself to allowing. We could try that sometime, but that’s a discussion for another day.
And what about that word, Wherever?
It’s a comprehensive word. There are no exclusions under wherever. Wherever means WHEREVER. If your Sunday Morning Bible study happens on Tuesday nights, more power to you. If it happens on Saturday afternoons, go for it. The thing is to be involved in a small group that readily and eagerly engages with the word of God and draws out of it meaning and relevance for living in today’s world.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means that we can think outside the box. Wherever can be just that. And the promise still holds. We gathered this morning and learned of the Conely family in our community having lost everything in a house fire. Things are already in motion to help them get back on their feet. As a congregation, we voted to send aid – above and beyond the individual contributions collected – to disaster relief efforts in the states affected by hurricane Katrina. Jerusalem may be a small church in numbers, but we are big at heart. When we gather, sometimes it’s not that many MORE than two or three … and the promise still holds. As a part of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, we join with over 1300 other churches across the commonwealth, in the name of Jesus, and the promise still holds.
You, as a Sunday School teacher, may have only one member show up on some Sundays. But remember: the promise still holds.
Let’s pray.
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