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 16th 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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