Sermon Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Matthew 18:15-20

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ who is with us even in the midst of conflict.

Anyone remember how you dealt with conflict in middle school or junior high? You of course couldn't talk to the person directly about it, so you would tell a friend, Tell so and so that I'm not talking to them. They would respond in the same way. Tell so and so that I'm glad they are not talking to me.

In high school it gets worse, we wouldn't even talk through intermediaries. It would be full on silent treatment. At the extreme rumors and stories are spread or started. Lives are destroyed because of this. Every year there are one or two news stories of youth killing themselves because of this kind of treatment.

And when we get older, … its still the same. So often how problems are solved is by name calling and attack. Just look at our politics at the moment.

Jesus says these words to his disciples knowing there would be conflict, they wrote them down knowing that conflict will exist in future generations. We don't usually follow this process though. We find many other ways to get around the problem, we try to figure out how we can make do without that person, or we try to disregard the issue, but it still wells up in that relationship, and it disrupts the whole community.

That is why Jesus is saying this, it's not a method to outcast and push aside those who seem to be different. It is exactly the opposite. It is a way to address conflict that can rip a community apart. Especially important at that time. An early church was a family or a couple of families. In fact the language used in Greek for member of the church is familial language, it could also be translated as Brother or Sister. Conflict is devastating for all of life, so it is important to address it.

When we do address the situation we must be careful, it is not to be with an attitude of I'm better than you. We are all sinners. The hardest part of this whole process may be the initial approach, because when we address that we have been hurt by others, we are made aware that we ourselves have hurt others.

When we approach someone, we need to be aware that this could be a beginning of addressing hurts upon both sides. And this will be hard. Jesus does not give these instructions because it will be easy. Being a community is not an easy task, being a family is difficult, it requires work on every members part.

It is born out of love.

Our reading from Romans tells us that the commandments are summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We address our neighbor, our family member, because we understand that in similar situations we would want to be spoken to, to show them how much they matter to the community, and how much we want them to return.

This whole process is difficult, but we do it and are able to do it because we understand Christ to be with us. The verse “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,” has been taken to mean during worship or other gatherings. But it is said in the midst of conflict, it is right in the middle of the messy business of being community. Not after the disagreement is resolved, but in the process itself.

That is the most important part of this whole passage. It is only with Christ that we have community, it is only with Christ that we have reconciliation, it is only with Christ that there is forgiveness.

One of my favorite movies is “Field of Dreams.”

An Iowa farmer hears a mysterious voice borne on the wind blowing through his corn field, "If you build it, he will come!"

The voice becomes more insistent, until he gives in and builds a baseball diamond, complete with lights for night games and bleachers for spectators.  A host of long-dead ball players come out of the night fog of the corn to play on the ball field, one asking, "Is this heaven?"  To which, the farmer responds, "It's Iowa." 

But the real "He" who was to come is the farmer's long estranged and now dead father.  In a simple game of "catch" on the field they have a chance to talk, see life from the others point of view, and experience forgiveness and a restored relationship.

Christ calls us to go to great lengths to talk to those who we love about our concerns and fears. God calls us to be the community of the Body of Christ.

God calls us into community knowing that being in community is hard. But in the midst of community the Holy Spirit is always at work—in, through, and among us—to gather and regather us again. In community we meet and become Christ's body in ways that are impossible for us as individuals. In Community we are truly able to love the neighbor as ourselves, for in community we are welcomed completely, we are brought in as family.

Let us pray,

God of reconciliation, you never turn from us, even though we always turn from you. Send your spirit into our midst, show us your mercy when we so desperately need it. Help us to welcome those who feel abandoned, assist those who are needy, care for those who grieve. But, mostly simply be with us. In our gatherings and when we are apart.

Amen