Christian Community

Sermon Proper 19A

Matthew 18:21-35

Rev. Jeff Springer

The Christian Community or the Communion of Saints or the Church is a forgiving community.  Over this summer we have been reading the texts from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus teaches his twelve disciples about His kingdom the kingdom of the heavens. Included in His kingdom is the church.

We learned that the church is built on the confession that the man Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Without this truth the rest of what I am going to say this morning would be utterly useless. If Jesus of Nazareth is not God then we are still left in our sins and we face condemnation before God.

We also have learned the message or the proclamation of the church,  that Jesus would go up to Jerusalem where he would be put to death on a cross, entombed and on the third day rise from the dead.  This is the Gospel message the good news. Jesus bears the wrath of God for sin pays the death penalty and defeats death reverses the curse for all mankind by coming back to life a complete, whole and perfect human while still in essence God.

Last Sunday we heard who is included in this kingdom and how the church is to care for its greatest which is also the least in the eyes of the world. Jesus shows us that children with their utterly dependent faith are not only included in the Kingdom of Heaven but Jesus considers them the greatest. “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and  become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Mt 18:2-4)

Jesus threatens with utter condemnation those who would cause these “little ones who believe in him” to fall into temptation, to lose their trust in Jesus. He threatens with woes those who would block the children’s baptismal entrance into the kingdom, who deny them access to Jesus because they view them as incapable of comprehending or making a decision.  Jesus says, “So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Mt 18:14

But Jesus, when offense is caused within the church gives his twelve apostles the way in which offending members may be confronted and restored by going to the offending party first one on one privately. If this does not cause repentance then the offended party returns to the offender with two or three witnesses so that the facts may be established. And finally if this does not convince the offender of the offence then it is brought before the church, all with the hope that the offender may repent and receive forgiveness from the offended and reconciliation may occur.

This is the point where today’s text picks up the onus switches from the offender to the offended.  Very appropriately St. Peter asks the question, how many times should I forgive my brother?  It is a valid question.   Perhaps you have been offended many times by this person. This person just can’t seem to get it together. How many chances do you give them for forgiveness?  Is it three strikes and you are out? Peter does at least four better, he asks if seven times would be sufficient, that seems more than generous.     

Imagine if your neighbor lets his dog run loose. And whenever the dog gets out it immediately comes to your yard and defecates in it. For those of you not familiar with the term the neighbor’s dog goes poo in your yard. You walk over and you confront your neighbor asking him kindly to keep his dog on his property. He says he is sorry it will not happen again. Next week it happens again. You go again to your neighbor and ask him to keep his dog off your yard. The neighbor again says I am sorry I will try to do better with the dog.  Next week it happens again. You go to your neighbor and he explains that there is breach in his fence where he keeps his dog and he is working toward getting it fixed. Next week it happens again… You get the picture.

How long do you think it would be until you simply decide to call the dog catcher. Three strikes seems reasonable seven strikes seems more than generous. Seven is even a good church number meaning completeness, but this is still putting limits on forgiveness.  Jesus casts away the limits.  Yes, Jesus says seventy times seven which is four hundred and ninety times. But the truth is you probably start losing count after seven. Jesus number implies fully, complete and unending forgiveness.

But make no mistake, we are not talking about cheap grace here. Grace is not a license for offenders to ignore God’s will and it is certainly not a license for the offended to spew hatred on the one that does not repent. You notice in my example that the offending neighbor is contrite and is asking for forgiveness. And even if he did not repent, ask for forgiveness, it would not give the offender a license to shoot his dog or severely and unreasonably retaliate in some other way. Why?

Jesus answers Peter and the twelve with a story that illustrates what is behind this forgiveness. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.” So far not that unusual, we may think of it today as the bank calling in a loan, wanting immediate payment.  “When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. “ Now we hit something unusual.  A talent was a 25kg weight of currency perhaps silver.  With the average wage being a denarii per day the servant would have to work 600,000 days, perhaps more to pay back his king. This was impossible. So the King orders that the servant and his family be sold into slavery to recover his losses. This is not severe. It is justice.

But seeking mercy, the servant goes face down before the King. Even in his humble posture, the indebted servant boasts that he can do the impossible, that he can repay the debt, all of it. This is unreasonable. He will not be able to do it. He is trying to pay back something that cannot be paid.  It’s like a sinful being saying to God give me a few more years of life to do some good works and I will justify myself.  You will never in a million years be able to justify yourself by works before God.

Amazingly the King has mercy on the servant and releases him from the debt. It’s gone.  Clean slate.  He does not ask him to even pay part of it. Unbelievable, this is far better than bankruptcy.  His debts are paid.  His reputation is maintained. His credit is clear and he and his family can live in peace.  

This is the grace of God which has been poured out into the world in the death and resurrection of Jesus, where the Lord set aside the legal demands of his design of creation as well as the legal demands of the covenant given to the Israelites. He set it all aside nailing it to the cross into the flesh of Christ.

What does the servant do with his new found freedom? Does he rejoice? Does he have joy? No, what happens next is tragic. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. (Mt 18:28-30)

The sad thing here is that the second servant could repay the debt.  It is very reasonable to assume that the servant could pay such a relatively small amount in a reasonable period of time. This is not the debt of a sinner to an angry God. This is the debt a sinner to another sinner, completely able to be reconciled. The servant pleaded. He was willing to pay it. But the original sinner willed, desired and wanted to give no mercy.  He was looking for more than justice. He was looking for some kind of pay back or revenge and threw him into prison.

The comparison is striking, in the first case absolute total mercy that is undeserved is given and in the second an overabundance of wrath undeserved and vengeful unreasonable anger is given.

What happens next is that the on looking servants see what has happened. They see the treatment of the forgiven servant and how he used his gift not to forgive but for wrath and judgment against the one indebted to him. The result for the forgiven sinner is that now he is condemned. The King hears from the witnessing servants what he had done to his fellow servant. He summons the servant and says to him, “‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers (tormentors) , until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Mt 18:32-35)

Interesting one of the twelve who will betray the Son of Man later will suffer the same tragic fate.  The Lutheran understanding of single predestination makes sense it’s not that these men are not saved will never have faith but there is the warning that that one can take the Christianity they have been given take the total forgiveness of their debt which they received in Christ and turn their back on it by hating their neighbor without just cause given the context.

All the more so for these who are then pastors in the church to take these keys for binding and loosing which have been given to the church for the sake of the church and having been given them not use them just because of a personal grudge or because they assume they get to decide now when repentance has an end.

This is not in the context of forgiving those who do not want forgiveness. This is the context where both men knew they were wrong and are saying please forgive me. This is the purpose of the keys that Jesus has given to the church.  It’s the purpose of the office of the ministry to be there to publically proclaim absolution to and upon all sinners who confess their sins.

And so rightly so it is a condemnation especially to a pastor who would not exercise these keys but instead presume to judge for himself whether or not a heart is repentant. All the more so does it overflow into the life of all Christians who being forgiven all things by Christ would not reconcile with their neighbor with their brother over any trifling issue.

 

Jesus calls on us to forgive from the heart. Forgiving from heart is the act to repeal wrath, not a will to have gushy warm feelings and love. Not that you emotively want to forgive, but because as a sinner you are not always going to feel like it. But rather that you act as if you make it from the heart a reality. That the world would see that what you have done is forgiveness. What you have done is to absolve, that your neighbor your brother would actually feel and see from you not what they deserve but far less than that.

The desire of mercy will grow in the Christian the more you are receiving forgiveness in Word and Sacrament  so there will be times when you will be glad to forgive where you are released yourself from the burden of judgment by the ability to absolve.

But don’t get caught up in this I have got to perfectly forgive my neighbor thing. Are you trying to justify yourself before God based on how good you are at forgiving? That is not the purpose of this parable. The parable flows from the proclamation that you are forgiven in Christ. His cross is sufficient for you.

Therefore even though you don’t feel like forgiving remember what your brother your needs, he needs your forgiveness. He needs Christ’s forgiveness.  He needs you to point him to the place. Where he can receive forgiveness with you both sinners kneeling at the table being fed here, take eat, take drink, I forgive you.

Interesting Jesus changes to the topic of divorce next, a place where there is generally no forgiveness. Remember the greatest one is the weak one that must be forgiven. Remember you are the servant indebted to the King. You have been forgiven a debt you could not pay.  Christ did the impossible for you. You are debt free and free to forgive your neighbor. Father, forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Caring for the Kingdom's Greatest

Sermon Proper 18A

Matthew 18:1-20

Rev. Jeff Springer

Over the last few weeks we have heard how Jesus establishes his church on the confession that he is the Son of the Living God. We have heard the churches message of Christ and him crucified and raised and how that righteous act is received in baptism. Today we hear how this baptized yet still sinful community lives with one another.

The discussion begins with the disciples coming to Jesus to ask him who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  The disciples still have delusions of earthly grandeur. They are jockeying for position as they believe Jesus is about to restore Israel to its former King Solomon like glory.  They envision the empowerment of mighty men serving Jesus as Israel becomes the cultural and political center of the world.

What a surprise when Jesus calls a little child to himself and explains that in his Kingdom, the kingdom of Grace,  it is the little child that is the greatest.  What a reversal of fortune for the disciples.  Jesus earlier seems to be favoring Peter when he is called out to receive the keys of the kingdom which is later given to all the church. Peter is also prominent when used to catch the fish to pay the temple tax, a story we skipped over in the lectionary.   Therefore this text cannot used to upset order in the church to make a claim that children should be clergy or lead public worship even if they have a greater status.

Most Protestant theologians not surprisingly see the child that Jesus uses as simply a symbol of greatness in humble and dependent faith. They separate the virtue from the child.  They look at the virtue as being some abstract quality to attain. Still others misinterpret the virtue to be simple faith as in a faith that is ignorant or lacks knowledge.  The more ignorant you are about the faith the more genuine.  This does not square with what St. Paul says about immature Christians still on milk not ready for the meat.  Jesus expects us to grow in the faith. But as we grow in the faith we begin to understand how utterly sinful we are and how dependent we are on Christ’s forgiveness. As a child clings to his mother, we humbled by our sins cling to Christ.

 Jesus makes it very clear that little children are included in the community of baptized believers that they do have faith and their un-adulterated trust is superior to that of believers tainted by their experiences or competing man centered philosophies and thoughts.  Superior faith is demonstrated in the most unlikely places, it does not come from the Pharisees and Scribes, those men who have spent their lives studying the scriptures, but from the Canaanite women and now a little child who believes in Jesus. Just as Jesus commended the faith of the Canaanite woman, he now commends the faith of this believing child to the disciples as an example of humble and dependent faith.

The pagan ancient world, much like some today had little regard for the “little ones.” Non-Jewish children were considered non-persons by their parents. Their lives depended on the will of their fathers. Thus it is not surprising that the ancients practiced abortion and set unwanted infants outside to die of exposure.  Jews and Christians did not follow these practices. From the inception of Israel as a nation, children were considered members of the community and participated in religious rites, most notable circumcision for male infants and the Passover for both boys and girls. In contrast Israel’s neighbors sacrificed their children to Baal.[1]

It was not until the radical reformation of the 16^th century led by Ulrich Zwingli and later John Calvin that the church began to question the status of children in God’s Kingdom.  The children in these churches were denied baptism as infants because human choice had come to replace grace alone. Baptism for these reformers was no longer a gift but an act of obedience. How can we expect an infant to make a commitment to be obedient to the faith?  They reasoned, so these churches waited until the child could make a decision for themselves.  Sadly this view is the most popular view in American Evangelicalism.

Were these churches not putting these “little ones” in eternal danger?  John Calvin concocted the idea that if a child was born into a Christian community that they are presumed innocent and if they die prematurely they will be ushered into heaven.  I call this John Calvin’s immaculate conception, a sinless conception, a sinless birth, a sinless child. This is an outright denial of original sin. The doctrine of original sin and the doctrine that we cooperate in our salvation are mutually exclusive. Psalm 51 states that we are conceived in sin.   The reason we baptize infants is because they are included in Jesus promise to receive the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. Babies are included in all nations. Jesus does not exclude babies he welcomes them. Jesus himself was a child thereby sanctifying, making holy all stages of human development. He went to the cross for infants too.  We baptize infants because the promise is for them and it is necessary for their salvation. They need it.

Having reestablished that children are included in the Kingdom of Heaven, the community of the faithful, Jesus delivers a sobering warning to his future teachers.  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but  whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

If there is a capital sin it would be to offend or prevent one of these little ones, one of these dependent ones, from receiving God’s forgiveness or a teaching or action that destroys their faith.  The serious nature of this offense may require the Christian community as a warning to expel or excommunicate the offender in hopes that they will repent and be restored. This seems to be the meaning of Jesus when he suggests removing offending body parts.  It is better to enter heaven with fewer members in the congregation then none at all.

There are things worse than being excommunicated from a church.  The same angels that will work to separate the chaff from the wheat who play prominently in the destruction and reconstitution of the new heavens and new earth are before the Father in heaven on behalf of these little believers.  It will not go well for false teachers in the afterlife who scandalize, who cause these little believers and those humbled by the law to fall from faith.

Still as heinous an offense as this is there is still opportunity to restore this offender.  The church as it carries on Christ’s ministry continues his ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation.  The steps given in Mathew 18 are commonly found in a congregation constitution under church discipline including this congregation’s constitution.  Jesus teaches that if one is sinned against they are to go to the brother alone and if he listens then he has gained a brother.  However, if he does not listen then take two or three others with you to confront the offending brother. 

At this point offence is still kept relatively private.  If the offender is still not convinced of his sin then Jesus says to take it before the congregation. If he does not listen to the congregation then the offender may be excommunicated with the hope that such a serious charge will cause them to repent. As soon as the offender repents then the congregation must be ready to restore this member to fellowship.  This is the ideal. Sadly, this hardly ever happens.   Instead people will talk about the offence, breaking the eighth commandment and eventually the offender will exclude himself from the congregation and our Lord’s gifts or they will be received by the neighboring congregation.

The problem is that the spiritual and eternal consequence remains. No reconciliation has occurred and the problem is ignored instead of resolved.  The offender remains unjustified or self justified. Jesus says, “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  Forgiveness is being loosed. Un-forgiveness is being bound.  The will of the Father is that we forgive and restore. We seek the offender out and we also find the offended and restore their faith.   It is not the will of the Father that anyone of these little ones should perish.

As we abide in God’s Word our Lord abides with us. We cannot accuse someone of a sin based upon the culture’s moral standards. There is still some overlap, some vestiges of a Judeo-Christian influence but this is rapidly evaporating.  Our standard for determining and discerning sin is found in God’s Word and its proper interpretation as found in our Lutheran confessions. This is also the standard for discerning what is true and what is false teaching.  Many times the offense is based on the standard of the culture, or the subject’s heart and not of scripture.  A person must examine themselves using the outside standard of God’s word before making a charge. For those who abide in God’s Word there is the promise that God will hear and answer our petitions.

When Jesus was falsely accused he remained silent. He did not lash out. He did not return the punches and physical blows that He received.  He trusted that His Father in Heaven would deliver Him.  Forgiveness is about trust. It is trusting that our Heavenly Father is just, that He keeps His Word, that He is merciful.  The church, his bride reflects this trust as it deals with one another in fellowship in our life together as a congregation and that fellowship is maintained at the Altar.

On the cross we received Jesus perfection so that before God we possess the image of Jesus. This is also the image of a sacrificing royal priesthood that we also possess before our neighbor.  A caring Christian community always has Christ at the center.  For His sake you are forgiven. You are restored for Christ’s sake. Amen. 

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[1] Scaer, Rev. David Discourses in Matthew (CPH St. Louis, MO 2004) p. 326