Mat 18:15 If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower.
Mat 18:16 But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses.
Mat 18:17 If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.
Whether or not these are statements made by Jesus or placed in his mouth by the writers of Matthew to enhance their authority they are a fundamental means of dealing with disagreements and dissension within any group, the church included. The most reviled possible individual the writer could conceive of was a tax collector. Today the final step in dealing with an obstreperous individual within the church would be excommunication, a step rarely used within the Lutheran context but an extension of the more primitive practice of shunning in which an individual so sentenced would literally disappear from the view of his neighbours in ancient interdependent societies tantamount to a death sentence. I would discount the translations that refer to Gentiles, but this was written for a Jewish audience.
The advice is very apt pointing out that before approaching others about a complaint the complainant should approach the person who has aggrieved him first one on one, then with witnesses, and finally to a higher authority.
The alternate OT Lesson deals with the institution of Jewish Rite of Passover. A seminal event in Jewish faith.
The lesson from Ezekiel deals with his commission from God to call his people Israel to account. Verse 11 makes it clear that Ezekiel's task is to ensure through his prophesy that Israel turn from their wicked ways for it is not God's purpose to punish but to turn sinners to repentance.
The passage from Psalm 119 reads like one from the book of wisdom. Internalizing the Laws of the Lord sets us free and makes us happy. If we learn to live by them we will delight in them and find comfort in them. Compare with Psalm 23:
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Romans summarizes the Law of Moses and Jesus more succinct formula.
Today's Gospel ends with this famous addition:
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.
Each of us is the sum total of everything that has ever happened to us in life, everything we have experienced, learned, and read. Each of us looks at any experience, teaching or doctrine through the prism of our life's experience. It should come as no shock that everyone of us has their own unique point of view. We are products of our upbringing, our cultural heritage, the language we speak, our work experience, our economic position, our status in the community.
What is important is that we love ourselves, that we feel comfortable within our own skins and right with our God as we conceive him/her. Secondly that all we think and do and say is aimed at doing no harm, indeed doing good to our fellow creatures and the world around us.
Given the scope of possibility for disagreement if two or three agree on anything in God's name who can stop it from happening.
The issue then seems to be obedience to the Law, Authority, and Concord. And the answer seems to be that if we live in unity with our neighbour and do right by them we cannot go very wrong.
However in the very next verse comes the BUT from Peter we will confront next week. How many times must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me.
Mat 18:16 But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses.
Mat 18:17 If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.
Whether or not these are statements made by Jesus or placed in his mouth by the writers of Matthew to enhance their authority they are a fundamental means of dealing with disagreements and dissension within any group, the church included. The most reviled possible individual the writer could conceive of was a tax collector. Today the final step in dealing with an obstreperous individual within the church would be excommunication, a step rarely used within the Lutheran context but an extension of the more primitive practice of shunning in which an individual so sentenced would literally disappear from the view of his neighbours in ancient interdependent societies tantamount to a death sentence. I would discount the translations that refer to Gentiles, but this was written for a Jewish audience.
The advice is very apt pointing out that before approaching others about a complaint the complainant should approach the person who has aggrieved him first one on one, then with witnesses, and finally to a higher authority.
The alternate OT Lesson deals with the institution of Jewish Rite of Passover. A seminal event in Jewish faith.
The lesson from Ezekiel deals with his commission from God to call his people Israel to account. Verse 11 makes it clear that Ezekiel's task is to ensure through his prophesy that Israel turn from their wicked ways for it is not God's purpose to punish but to turn sinners to repentance.
The passage from Psalm 119 reads like one from the book of wisdom. Internalizing the Laws of the Lord sets us free and makes us happy. If we learn to live by them we will delight in them and find comfort in them. Compare with Psalm 23:
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Romans summarizes the Law of Moses and Jesus more succinct formula.
Today's Gospel ends with this famous addition:
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.
Each of us is the sum total of everything that has ever happened to us in life, everything we have experienced, learned, and read. Each of us looks at any experience, teaching or doctrine through the prism of our life's experience. It should come as no shock that everyone of us has their own unique point of view. We are products of our upbringing, our cultural heritage, the language we speak, our work experience, our economic position, our status in the community.
What is important is that we love ourselves, that we feel comfortable within our own skins and right with our God as we conceive him/her. Secondly that all we think and do and say is aimed at doing no harm, indeed doing good to our fellow creatures and the world around us.
Given the scope of possibility for disagreement if two or three agree on anything in God's name who can stop it from happening.
The issue then seems to be obedience to the Law, Authority, and Concord. And the answer seems to be that if we live in unity with our neighbour and do right by them we cannot go very wrong.
However in the very next verse comes the BUT from Peter we will confront next week. How many times must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me.
No comments:
Post a Comment