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class=MsoNormal>Come Lord Jesus, be with us in the time of reflection on your word, guide us to have ears to hear, andhearts alert to your prompting – In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – Amen
We have this Sunday some very memorable passages from the gospel of Matthew
Each one can be consider on its own – each one has been told again and again for it’s clear
instruction on a specific topic
The first might be known by some of you as our Lord’s instruction on how to deal with conflict
It is known by some as the Matthew 18 principal of conflict
/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.
16But 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.
17If 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.(Matthew
18:15-17)/
The second memorable passage might be thought of as Jesus’ instruction on “letting go”
On releasing and letting go of the pressures of life
/18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose/
/on earth will be loosed in heaven.
(Matthew 18:18)/
Thirdly, we are instructed about the power of coming to God in prayer
/19Again, 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.
(Matthew 18:19)/
And finally we have our Lord’s simplest and most straightforward definition of Church…
Which contains in it the promise of the real presence of our Lord
/20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
(Matthew 18:20)/
Six verses – four powerful, clear and memorable instructions
Taken by themselves, as they are often done, we have topics worthy of a great deal of
discussion – the church has over history used any of these four directives on a vast
multitude of situations
Consider the first – our Lord’s instruction on how to deal with conflict
There have been numerous times, in my short time here at Farringdon, where I have discussed
this principal and it has helped to guide through matters
I have also witnessed first hand when this simple principal has not been used and great
damage to the body of Christ, the Church, has occurred
When someone has perceived that they have been sinned against and instead of
following this step by step formula towards reconciliation
Instead of first bringing the matter one on one personally or secondly
calling upon elders, or witnesses to directly deal with the matter
Individuals have started right away at gossip
Dealing with the perceived injustice by talking behind someone back and belittling them or
casting aspersions on their character
And the Lord’s work towards reconciliation is never attainable
Never attained because the simple step by step process is never applied
I am certain that God’s heart is pained by this failure
I am convinced that God wants reconciliation more than just about anything else
Community in spirit is one of the chief goals of Jesus’ earthly teaching
Over and over we read that Jesus went about the land teaching about the
kingdom of Heaven – and that kingdom is best witnessed when the people share
together in the Love of God
We pray our most common prayer – The Lord’s prayer by stating:
/Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven/
And later this morning we will be sharing in the rehearsal
of the heavenly banquet – we will be celebrating the
communion… with God and with each other
So why does reconciliation not happen?
Why is conflict and gossip so prevalent in Church, the one place where it should not happen?
Why when the teaching on conflict is so clear – just three verses, directly from the
mouth of Jesus the Christ
We have conflict, because it is hard work – it is the work of maturity in faith
It is difficult to come to a person – one on one – and say “you have wronged me”
It is difficult, if stage one doesn’t work, to follow it up and bring in others – to say
“brother~/sister in Christ, you have done wrong or said wrongly about our brother in
Christ”
And I can honestly say, that I have only a couple times in my entire life in the
Church ever heard it reaching step three – whereby the Church is made aware of
the injustice
It is hard work and it is mature work and the other way out is so easy
Of all the things Jesus told us to do, this might be one of the most difficult.
Confronting someone who has hurt us is not an easy thing to do.
It is much easier to talk to others about what the person did or avoid the person and the issue altogether.
Some people even think that, to move on from the hurt, is the equivalent of
condoning the hurtful action.
Yet rarely do these sorts of actions lead to healing, forgiveness and peace.
That is why Jesus gives us these clear instructions regarding how to handle some of life's trickiest
situations.
He knows dealing with sin is the only way for it not to control us.
He knows that being honest about sin is the only way to promote and experience the kind
of life God intends for us.
Following Jesus' instructions is not necessarily easy, but doing so does lead to life, healing and peace.
Yet that happens not enough… opportunities of healing and peace are too often missed
Grumbling to whoever will hear or whoever is sympathetic to one’s cause is... so easy to do
And might I suggest… that we all do this…
Kelly can attest that as clergy spouse – she is on the front line on many of my
conflict resolution situations
Strive as I might to keep work at work and the home a safe haven – at the
end of the day sharing with Kelly some of the trials of my day, just happens
But that is not God’s heart for the situations that arise
God’s heart is clearly laid out – Jesus gave us three straight-forward steps towards reconciliation
And I know, first hand, as most of you do – when you take step one, maturely and with the love of God and neighbour in mind
Rarely does it get to step two
When you go to someone with a loving heart and address the injustice between each of you – Love usually prevails
Rarely is someone’s heart hardened to the gesture of reconciliation through love
That is part of the good news of our Lord’s strategy
One of the follies of the Church is to use this three step process as a means of getting rid of someone
It is my belief that was never the intention of our Lord
Our Lord’s strategy, when lived out, is all about rebuilding the grace within a community…
You might be thinking to yourself – how do I know that – how do I claim to know the heart of God on this matter
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