Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
“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.”
Overview
“Jesus says, “if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven”. Which would be great if we ever agreed on anything.
Today’s gospel, Matthew 18:15-20, does not seem like a great advertisement for the church community: a bunch of people pointing out each other’s faults and snitching on one another. But it is at least honest about one thing, being in community is hard work. The church is full of troublesome people and sometimes the troublesome people are us. Yet community is also where we thrive, where we find support and guidance, where we learn and grow.
Today’s reading is sandwiched between the story of the shepherd who abandons the 99 to go in search of the one that is lost and Jesus telling Peter that he should forgive his brother not seven times but 70 times 7. So we should hear today’s passage knowing that love, forgiveness and the restoration of relationship is the church’s priority.
Seen from this perspective we can understand that calling someone out can be an act of great love and great courage. It is why we value so highly those friends who dare to tell us the truth and give us their honest opinions. They only risk doing so because they love us.
It is also a comfort to know that from the earliest of times the community made mistakes, fell out and disagreed with each other. This is completely normal, none of us are perfect.
Fortunately we are not called to be perfect. Above all else we are called we are called to build real and loving relationships with God, with one another and with the world God loves. When we love one another enough to engage in the hard work of getting on with each other, there is Christ in the midst of us.
GOSPEL
Matthew 18:15-20
If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. 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. If that person 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. 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. 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. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them
