Humility & Restoration – Matthew 18:1-7,10,15-20

Normally the passage suggested as the Gospel lesson for today would start at verse 15. But I believe that the background to that part of the Gospel is important and gives it context. Imagine if you will that you again are a child. You are weak in strength, of no real importance to the world and capable of being overlooked or dismissed as a person.  And yet, Jesus says that a little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  A strange place – this Kingdom of Heaven. It is nothing like the world that surrounds us would ever expect us to anticipate or even imagine. It appears to be a place that rewards humility and not bravado. It appears to be a place that rewards weakness and not strength. It appears to be a place that is more concerned for those who are lost than for those who are found. But Jesus confirms that what appears is actually the reality.  It is no accident that the qualities which the world uses to define our eligibility to be recognized and even viewed as great are not what God’s kingdom is about.  Every kingdom that the world has ever known has been built on strength of sword, on being mighty and powerful, able to overcome any adversity in order to secure a place where those who are not as strong and not as mighty can give homage to the self-appointed leaders. But it is not might or wealth or status or a recognized position in this world that are the qualities of those who will be great in the kingdom of heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place where even the weakest, the least among us find acceptance and support.

But there is even more to this need to become a child again and it is about trust – the kind of trust that cannot even imagine that the promises of God might not be real.  Certainly, this is an ideal that Jesus is speaking of here, for we know that the reality for many children is not that idyllic world of trust and hope and promise.  But that is what Jesus asks of us and requires of us as we live our lives in this world. Achieving that level of trust of a child is something that is harder for us to reach as we encounter so much in this world that can mar and even destroy that trust. Each of us comes to recognize how we have lost that trust from our childhood and how that loss has impacted our willingness to believe in and continue to have faith in the promises of God.  The disconnect that is so often experienced even within the company of others who have professed the same faith and hope in God can cause us to question and even turn away from God – struggling to reconcile the message we hear and read with the reality we experience.

Jesus’ cautionary words are intended to provoke us into careful consideration as to how we act with one another and whether or not our words and/or our actions might bring grief to others and damage or even destroy the trust that others have come to have in God.   We know our words and our actions have consequences and so we are reminded that we have a responsibility to act in such a way as to not cause someone to lose trust and hope in God. No one of us will be able to hold this responsibility as fully as Jesus and so we know that there is forgiveness for our weakness but we also need to be keenly aware of what is expected of us.

Now to that part of the passage that starts at verse 15. As Christians, we profess faith in a God of love, a God of mercy, a God who forgives and restores. As a fellowship of believers, we are to remember that Jesus counted true followers as those who actually lived what they professed. Living what we profess also means taking responsibility for one another – not in the sense of controlling others and policing their behaviour but being able to speak with one another out of a sense of genuine love and concern for that person’s life and soul. We are expected to help one another to follow the path and pattern set out for us by Jesus and so we are to make the effort to restore relationships when they are broken.

Here Jesus speaks of the process for restoration, and it almost seems clinical. Paul expresses what lies behind this process when he says in 1 Corinthians 12:26: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.” Paul was also expressing that we are to remember that we have been created body and soul as one entity. And as we have been created, we shall be recreated.  For Paul and for Jesus, there is no way that physical suffering is isolated from mental or spiritual suffering. They are always intimately connected and so Paul can affirm and Jesus can instruct that any break be it caused by physical, mental or spiritual distress affects the community as much as the individual and there can be no sense that restoration has occurred unless there is restoration physically, mentally and spiritually.

Hence we are encouraged to speak with one another when an offence has occurred. We are to attempt to work out our issues with one another and seek for reconciliation.  The goal is to restore the relationship that we have as fellow believers and so come again to live in harmony with one another.  If we are not successful in this attempt, we are to find one or two others who are willing to go with us to speak to the person with whom we have an issue and seek to resolve it with the presence of witnesses.  The hope is that the truth of what happened between the two persons can be found and reconciliation happen. If this is not successful, we are to involve the whole community.  If at that point the person who caused the hurt is unwilling to recognize how they have broken the relationship, the   the relationship is to be severed.

This may seem like something we are reluctant to do in this day but there is value in what Jesus says. Jesus is encouraging dialogue.  He is encouraging us to be cognizant of how breaks in our community cause distress to the whole.  Speaking to one another is not about pointing out faults but rather of seeking to help another believer see where they have gone wrong and enable that person to be reconciled and seek forgiveness and be restored.  But let us not forget that we may be the person who has broken the relationship and caused distress to the community of believers.  We will not always be the one who has been offended or hurt.   And if we recognize this, then it is hoped that when someone has the courage to speak to us that we will have the compassion and mercy to listen and be willing to acknowledge the situation and make amends.

Now a word about the last part of this passage. To be given the power to bind and the power to loosen is not something to be taken lightly. I am sure that Jesus intended it only to be used in cases where someone’s heart and mind are so hard that nothing can penetrate.  And in that case the person may choose to leave the community of their own volition.

When strife and conflict happen in a community of believers or in the other groups they find ourselves a part of, there are never really any winners.  When we cannot find ways to be reconciled to each other, we all suffer.

My prayer is that we will ever choose to have the courage to speak to one another and to seek to resolve issues with one another. So may we release the hurt and find forgiveness and reconciliation. God’s will is that find forgiveness and healing as he draws us to the fulness of life in the Kingdom of God and that we do nothing to prevent others from finding the same.

AMEN