Sermon: By what authority, dear Church?

By what authority, dear Church?

         Today’s Gospel lesson is an ongoing question about authority. The Pharisees want to know where Jesus gets his authority—by what right he teaches and heals and so on… who permits him to be a religious leader?

         Jesus in turn asks about John’s authority, knowing that this will turn the tables on the Pharisees,

         And today,

keeping that question of authority in mind,

but meditating on the famous Christ hymn of Philippians 2

and what it might have to say to the Church in 21^st century America,

with all its anxiety and uncertainties

With this hymn to Christ’s self-empting and humility in mind,

I would like to ask, “By what authority, dear Church?”

By what authority, dear church?

Pray

         Throughout history there have been many wrong places that the Church has found its authority.

         After the era of the persecution of the Church, the Emperor Constantine put his authority behind the faith and made it a official religion of the Roman Empire. Our authority became derived from the whim of the State.

         Which was fine… until the sacking of Rome, which made many question everything, including the authority of the Church and the promises of God.

If the Church’s authority and trustworthiness is defined by the state and the culture of Rome, they figured, and Rome went bust—then clearly the Church had no legitimate influence, or positive value.

        

         Likewise, during the era of the colonization of the Americas, Africa, Australia, and Asia, the Authority of Christianity, was often mixed-in with the authority of the conquistadores and colonists—Christianity was sometimes presented as, “Now that this territory is ours, this religion is yours.”

“Why is the Church pertinent to your life?”

Was often answered “because it’ll make getting along with your occupiers easier.”

                 

         Or think of “The Good Old Days” (and please understand I’m not knocking it)

—When everyone went to Church, because there really wasn’t a whole lot else to do on a Sunday—there were Blue Laws—so no stores were open, no soccer games played.

         All your friends were in Church—going to Church was a downright social thing to do, the place to see and be seen at, the place to catch-up and share.

         America was in a Cold War with Godless Communism, so when you went to Church you weren’t just being a good Christian, you were also being a good American.

         So the Church’s Authority and significance was amplified in the good old days—we allowed it deeply into our lives, because there was no competition from other entities, it filled an agreeable social role, as well as a national one.

        

         And, as you’ll read in the Newsletter, I recently talked with ELCA high-ups and not so high-ups, who are worried about the end of Christendom—the time when Christians got special treatment… the end of the Good Old Days.

         Now days, blue laws have been blown away…

to think about this concretely, Baltimore is a very Catholic city, and the Church held some Authority there… so up until the Baltimore Colts left the City, they were not allowed to start a game before 2pm, because not all the Church folk would be done with services before then (and you couldn’t buy alcohol in the city before then either)… but by the time Baltimore got a new team—the Ravens, there was no way an NFL team would even dream of waiting on folk to get out of Church.

         Now days, there are a myriad of ways to socialize that don’t involve Church

—from Social Media to Social Clubs, the Senior Center to the Buddhist Center.

         Now days America is in a war against Religious Extremists,

so any form of faith that isn’t clearly tame is suspect, instead of a mark of citizenship.

         So we have these high-up Church folk worried about all this—about our loss of authority—that we no longer have special treatment, and therefore ministry is going to change.

         And one of the potential directions to go down is to go to the Mega-Church Corporate model. Figuring perhaps the Church’s authority can come from the Marketplace—

Figure out what people want,

And give it to them

And be justified in your role within society.

         This model assumes the Church can out-compete our secular equivalents.

That congregations should be Mini-malls with a veneer of spirituality

·      Starbucks-like Baristas serving coffee—or even renting space to an actual Starbucks in the back of the congregation,

·      A joint gym membership with Church membership,

·      Bike ramps for the kids if they get bored during the sermon,

·      A church sponsored Fight Club

—I’m not kidding, a Christian Fight Club

—bashing one another’s brains in, in the name of Jesus.

         AND WE CAN’T DERIVE AUTHORITY FROM THIS KIND OF THING!

         If we’re playing against a secular market, we’ll always be trying a little too hard to be something we’re not.

         Our secular competition is always going to win, because we’re playing their game.

         Tony Robins does the inspirational speaker thing, better than your Pastor.

         Menlo-Park Mall does the mall thing, better than the Church.

         Starbucks does Coffee, better than our Kitchen-folk.

         CJBMX does bike tracks, better than the Church.

         Planet Fitness does exercise, better than the Church.

         The South Plainfield Fight Club does fightin’, better than the Church.

        

         And so I ask again, “By what authority, dear Church?”

         Not that of the Marketplace, or Laws-Blue or otherwise, or Nationalism, or Conquest, or Imperial Sanction.

         No.

         The only authority we have, dear Church—dear Sisters and Brothers—

         The only authority we’ve ever had,

is that of our humility exposed.

         Our natural selfishness, ambition, and conceit, combated in the name of Christ.

         Our regard for others, bolstered by the Spirit.

        

         The widows and mourners gathered together in mutual support at Good Grief Group—that’s our authority.

         The individual confessions, and sincere struggles with our human passions—that’s our authority.

         Our Prayers of Intercession—naming aloud in the company of the Saints, that raggedy long, yet incomplete, list—that’s our authority.

         The sincerity with which we are community together—rough edges and all—that’s our authority.

         We beggars pointing another beggar to where they can get some bread—that’s our authority.

         Sinners pointing to the one:

“Who though he was in the form of God,

Did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

But emptied himself,

Taking the form of a slave

Being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

He humbled himself

And became obedient to the point of death

Even death on a cross.”

That’s our authority.

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Church 2034--A Sci-Fi vision for the ELCA

            We land right where we started, St. Stephen, a few minutes before service begins. The first thing we all notice is that the Education Wing has a pitched roof. Praise God!

            The second thing we notice is the new sign on the side of the building, “St. Stephen Lutheran, a SP/P/ED/M-UP Church.”

            “Sped mup?” one of us says aloud.

            To which an usher responds, “Yeah, Sped-‘em-up… South Plainfield, Plainfield, Edison, Metuchen United Parish. Welcome to service, if you turn your Tablet to Wireless J3:16 you can find the order of service… oh… you all don’t have Tablets with you… that’s okay… we have some dead-tree editions somewhere,” and with that he passes you a paper bulletin.

            The service seems fairly normal, at least at first, though the person leading the service isn’t wearing a stole… then when it comes to the sermon a screen falls from the ceiling and Pastor Jim of St. Paul’s Edison reads the Gospel to both his congregation, as well as to St. Stephen. He proceeds to preach about the Good Samaritan and how our recent contact with sentient life from another planet is another opportunity to serve our neighbor in need.

            Then, at collection, everyone but us uses the Simply Giving application on their tablet and electronically sends their tithe in.

            The Deacon leading the service proceeds to preside over communion… I nudge one of the ushers and ask discretely, “He’s not ordained is he?”

            “No,” she whispers, “but that’s okay, the ELCA has allowed Lay Presiders for nearly a decade now… ever since tele-preaching became normal… Sped-‘em-up has 4 Pastors, so two congregation go without an ordained clergyperson each week… the options were tele-preaching or changing service times, and for whatever reason churches prefer a change of technology to a change of service times.”

            A young lady in the pew across from us shushes us.

            We take communion, are blessed, and then comes announcements.

·      Since none of the individual churches can hold us all, there will be an All Sped-‘em-up Advent Service at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. Pastor Hagos of All God’s People Lutheran in Metuchen will preach.

·      Pastor ‘Tina is looking for a representative from St. Stephen for the South Plainfield Interfaith Council (formerly the South Plainfield Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches).

·      Sped-‘em-up’s confirmation students will play their confirmation Massive Online Role-playing Game from 4:30-6pm this afternoon.

·      If you’ve given clearance to Sped-‘em-up, an updated calendar of Parish events can be found on your tablet.

            “What’s All God’s People Lutheran?” one of the time travelers asks the Usher.

            “It’s one of the other churches in our Parish, you should check them out sometime… they meet in the basement of the Metuchen Assembly of God.”

            We make our way to Metuchen just in time for the service. We notice the congregation is mainly African and Asian (this shouldn’t have surprised us, already there are more Lutherans in the Global South than in the Global North). Our mainly European group of time travelers kinda stick-out.

            The usher hands us very well-worn copies of the ELW, along with song inserts in Oromo, Swahili and Hindi. The service is mainly in English, though Pastor Hagos breaks into Oromo on occasion. She preaches a powerful sermon on the Jews being in exile in Babylon and relates it to the feeling of dislocation many in the congregation feel, speaking English as a second language and watching their children Americanize before their eyes. She concludes by letting everyone know God provided in Babylon, and God provides now too.

            We feel quite at home in the service, up until communion time, when everyone but us seems to know the moves to a sort of shuffle/dance thing we all do around the altar during the singing of the Sanctus (which was done in Spanish).

            Pastor Hagos closes the service by giving a Seminarian from the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Campus, the mic. He proceeds to thank the congregation for its generous donation of $30,000 to the Fund for Leadership, which means he will have no student debt once he finished up his three years of seminary.

            “Hey,” you ask the Usher, “If you guys can donate that much money to the Fund for Leadership why don’t you have your own building?”

            He snickers, “That’s why we can do it… not having a building saves us $40,000 a year, we spend the other $10,000 on Sped-‘em-up’s joint evangelism team… this year we decided to send off a big donation to a church in Portland, Center 7, their Pastor, Chris, is doing some pretty amazing stuff.”

            With that, we all hop back into our time machine and use it to whisk us to Portland and Center 7… which is a bar!?! And behind the bar is a 51 year old guy with no hair and a potbelly… “Oh my… that’s Pastor Chris?” one of the time travelers (perhaps present day Pastor Chris?) says in horror.

            “Hi, what can I get you?”

            “I thought this was a Church?”

            “Oh… sort of… Here at Center 7 we’re a decentralized worshipping community centered on the 7 central things of worship: Gathering, Confession and Forgiveness, Baptism, Word, Thanksgiving, Meal, and Sending.

            We have teams that make sure those seven things happen… they don’t necessarily check with me in advance, hence the de-centralized thing… it can be rather chaotic and uncontrollable, but as the two congregations I served before going part-time can tell you, control was never my strong suit. So, on any given day the Gathering Team will be knocking on doors, both physical and electronic, inviting people to events or checking in with people connected to Center 7; the Word Team… God bless them, run 10 Bible Studies, discussion groups, book groups, what have you—maybe more than 10 now… they agreed to split every 6 months and I can’t keep track of them anymore—they also train newer members on how to tell their faith stories; the Sending Team coordinates the food bank and keeps an ear to the ground regarding needs in the community… it’s a good time.”

            “So you’re part-time?”

            “Yeah, when I went to Seminary they kept talking about Pastors having to be Bi-vocational—in other words being a Pastor and some other job at the same time, but pastors wouldn’t do it, I mean who could afford to with student debt as it was…before the Leadership Fund really took off… but once I paid off that debt I kinda felt guilty about being full-time when everyone kept saying moving to a part-time call was the faithful thing. So I did something about it, I quit my second call, moved out to Oregon, bought a bar, and re-named it Center 7. I do the bartender gig and also making sure Church takes place in and around the building.”

            “You’re a worshipping community, but not a Church?”

            “Yeah, the official ELCA term is a Synodically Authorized Worshipping Community—a SAWC—as long as we stay a SAWC we can organize in a much more decentralized way than we could otherwise, this makes us more nimble and empowers lay folk to do more, which is good, because I’m part-time and I have to manage the bar… speaking of which, can I get you a drink?”

Pastor Grace: A Retelling of the book of Jonah

“Pastor Grace”

          Sometimes we know a story so well, we no longer know it. It becomes a parody of itself, a stereotype of its own meaning.

          Think about the book of Jonah we read from today.

           Just saying the word Jonah, half of you are already thinking of Sunday School, or Pinocchio’s whale, or the tried and true phrase, “It’s a big fish, not a whale,” as if that’s the important point to the story.

          And in doing that we miss really big, glaring pieces of this biting funny, weird, prophetic, story that fits better in a George Carlton stand-up routine or a Monty Python Skit than in a Sunday School classroom.

          We miss that Jonah’s name means Dove—as in he’s a really upstanding peaceful guy.

          We miss that he runs to Spain in the West when God tells him to go to Assyria in the East.

          We miss that the Pagans are the only people who praise God without their finger’s crossed.

          We miss that Jonah has experienced the destruction of Israel at the hands of the Assyrians and doesn’t want God’s mercy extended to the enemies of his nation, he wants revenge.

          We miss the strange man covered in fish barf speaking in a foreign tongue, and getting results.

          We miss the ridiculousness of all the Animals in Assyria putting on sack-cloth and pouring ashes upon themselves.

          We miss just how obsessively suicidal Jonah is.

          We miss the bizarre ending with those poor animals bearing Jonah’s wrath.

          We don’t hear the message of Jonah any more.

          We need to hear Jonah with fresh ears in order to hear it at all.

          Prayer

Pastor Grace—a Retelling of Jonah

          Did you hear the one about the Pastor from Lower Manhattan who God called? Her name was Grace.

          God said to Pastor Grace, “Go to Mosul, Iraq, to the extremists there, and I will tell you what to say to them.”…

          And Pastor Grace took the first plane to Beijing, China.

          And as they flew along there was greater and greater turbulence and while everyone was freaking out about impending doom… Grace was spread out across several seats snoring away.

          On that plane were Communists Party leaders, every last one an Atheist… and as the plane went into a tailspin they all began to pray.

          And one of them shook Pastor Grace awake and said, “What do you do? What is your faith? Perhaps you could join us in prayer.”

          And Grace, heavy sleeper that she was, mumbled to the Atheist, “Oh, yeah… I’m a Christian, a Pastor, a Minister of the Church of Christ, I have Christ’s authority”…

          And the Atheist responded, “Why in God’s name aren’t you praying for our safety?”

          And Pastor Grace responded, “If you fling me out of the plane you all will survive.”

          But the Atheists, good folk that they are, talked amongst themselves and responded, “It would be unholy and against God’s law to throw you to your death.”

          But Pastor Grace insisted they throw her out... and as the ground grew closer and closer they finally gave in and threw her out the emergency exit.

          And at that very moment, the plane leveled off saving the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party—Atheists every one… and they rejoiced and praised God every last one of them.

          And Pastor Grace careened down toward the ground… but at the last moment a stork swooped in and picked her up.

          She clung to the stork’s feet and neck, and prayed to God, saying:

 “O’ Lord Jesus, you know how faithful I am, that at all times, whether I’m awake or asleep, I call on you to protect me in all things… that when I’m in trouble you lift me up on eagles wings… that I, and I alone rejoice and praise you, even when the ground rushes at me.”

          Then the LORD spoke to the stork, and it flung Pastor Grace into a manure pile on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq.

          “Get up and go into Mosul, into the very center of the city” the LORD said to Pastor Grace.

          And she walked and walked through the town, and when she neared the center she shouted, without God’s prompting and in English—while still smeared in manure, “Three days from now God will destroy every last one of you!”

          And the people of Mosul, every last one of them, believed God, and repented by fasting, and mourning, and looking downcast day and night... Even the cats and dogs and cows fasted and mourned and wore cute little vests that had embroidered on their sides, “Sorry about that.”

          And news of this reached the head of ISIS in Iraq and the head of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan—they too repented and decreed that every member of their organization, and every person in territory they controlled, were to repent as well.

          When God saw this, how they turned away from evil… God turned away from the evil He was to bring upon them.

          But God’s grace and mercy deeply displeased Pastor Grace and she became angry.

         

          “Lord Jesus, this is why I tried to flee to China, I know you—you with your mercy and grace and generosity… I knew if I showed up doing what you asked me to do you’d be merciful. I’m so angry I want to die.”

          And with that she stomped off and camped out in a hut she made for herself right outside Mosul… waiting to see what happened next, hoping against hope for blood and destruction and death and terror and violence and all kinds of mean nasty things.

          It was very sunny in Iraq, and she didn’t have sunglasses, which made her even grumpier. But then in the middle of the night a spider built a web on the side of her hut, and the next day it kept the sun from Pastor Grace’s eyes, and she rejoiced at that!

          But then, in the night, a wind blew and the web and spider floated off elsewhere.

         

          “Lord Jesus!” she prayed in the morning when the sun came out, “Why have you taken away that web? I’d rather be dead than alive!”

          And God said to Pastor Grace, “Really? You’re freaking out about a spider web? You, who were perfectly okay with the smiting of thousands of people, you who wanted to see blood and destruction and violence and all kinds of mean nasty things, all because these people remind you of the people who knocked down the twin towers, are worried about that a web? Seriously?”

          Without a second thought she responded, “Yes. Yes I am freaking out! I’m angry, angry enough to die!”

          And God responded, “You mourn a web, yet condemn a whole city, a whole country, a whole people—don’t you see how much more substantial all these folk are then a web. You don’t fit your name, you’re not very gracious—you’d even condemn all those mournful little animals to die.”

          Word of God, Word of Life.

Proverbs 31 is an acrostic poem

The "Ode to the Capable Wife" in the Hebrew is an acrostic poem, so here's what it might look like translated as such:

Proverb 31:10-31 as an acrostic

A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Believe me her husband trusts her fully, and he’ll gain much.

Choosing wool and flax, handicraft is her work.

Delightful foods from far away she brings, for she is like a merchant ship.

Early to rise she is, providing food for her family and tasks for her help.

Fields she looks at and buys; with the fruit of her hands she plants vineyards.

Gaining strength and holding great power is what she does.

Her merchandise always turns a profit, and she works at all hours.

I am amazed at her industry when she works with wool

Just look at her generosity! She is always there with open hands to those in need.

Kindly take note, her house is always in good repair and looks quite friendly.

Look at her home made clothing, look how exotic and elegant it is!

Men from all over talk about how virtuous her husband is, she’s behind that too!

No one out sells her when it comes to garments, both at home and abroad!

O’ look how well she dresses, so prepared for all seasons.

Proverbs and wisdom spill from her mouth, she teaches kindness all her days.

Quiet diligence is what they call her home, it is never idle.

Rightly her children praise her, her husband, her whole family.

Saying, “There are many good and successful women, but you, you surpass them all.”

Truly she is a woman of wisdom, who “fears the LORD.”

Unleash her on the world, they’ll praise her everywhere.

Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross

Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross/ where you were slain that fateful day

Keep me near to Calvary/ where God was hung for all to see

Jesus, keep me near the cross/ for it is so foolish and simple

Keep me in its shade/ so I do not chase after my vision of wisdom

Jesus, keep me near the cross/ for it is weak, frail, and feeble

Keep me close/ for I strain and twist away to gain power more and more

Jesus, keep me near the cross/ for upon it is salvation

Keep me close/ O Lamb of God

Jesus keep me near the cross, near you on Calvary.

          May I go up with you to Jerusalem, among the many pilgrims from the countryside. May I stand by your side as you debate and argue about the things we always argue about, life, death, and taxes to Caesar.

          May I understand your street theater, the donkey and branches, the symbolic attack on the Temple, rearranging the money changers.

          May I stay with you even as the powers that be, both Religious and Roman, flex their muscles against you.

          Keep me near you in that lonely garden, as you pray those fervent, frantic, and faithful prayers. May I stay awake with you.

          Keep me with you through betrayal and trial—keep me with you through scourge and thorn—Jesus keep me near the cross.

          Keep me there, next to you, with the criminals and the thieves…

keep me there in this massive tragedy perpetrated by the wise and the powerful, keep me there in the weakness and the foolishness.

Keep me near the cross, for on that cross hangs the Son of God and reveals all else to be idols.

         

          Keep me near the cross—that foolish tree.

          Keep me here, beside the cross, for otherwise I will fly away.

I’ll seek you in the clouds, I’ll find God in sweet nothings connected to nothing meaning nothing.

I’ll create the God I want and not see you here, foolishly upon that tree.

          Keep me near the cross, or I’ll stomp and storm and do everything I can to make you appear,

I’ll seek the advice of specialists,

I’ll be a very religious person, knowing the whole song and dance… and dance right by you, not seeing you there.

I’ll explain you without knowing you, without the cross nearby.

          Keep me near the cross—powerless and unimportant.

          Keep me here, beside the cross, otherwise, without so much as a second thought, I will side with the Roman Empire.

I’ll turn my back and walk away, marching to the beat of success, influence, and fortune.

I’ll ignore or use those little people, I’ll build myself up by knocking others down.

          If I maintain some semblance of religion, it will be the religion of success or conquest, baptizing the brutal powers that brutalized you, Dear Savior.

A religion of if I do this/then God will do that.

Or a religion of violent fanaticism, the religion of the Conquistadores and witch hunters and ISIS.

          Keep me near the cross or I will scoff at the small acts of kindness, the fruits of the Spirit, and the fragile connection that build up your body.

          Keep me near the cross—dear Lord, for I am filled with neither pious wisdom, nor strength.

          Keep me near the cross for beneath my facade is foolishness and weakness.

Sandy, Katrina, 13 years ago on 9/11— The tragedies and terrors of this life are ours, and yet you meet us in them, here on the cross.

          When our pretenses are stripped away, there we are, on the cross

—we criminals and thieves,

we crying out for healing,

we widows,

we orphans,

we tax collectors,

we sinners.

We are in need of you, and you come to us.

          You come to us and bear our pain.

From the cross you bring me healing.

Here your love and mercy found me.

Here I met the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Here I can walk in the shelter of the cross until that time when I pass to the other side of the river and meet my Savior face to face.

Amen and Alleluia

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Sermon: What we do when we hurt one another matters.

          Whenever we read the gospels it is important to remember that there are different points of emphasis in each one—different things the author thinks is important.

          And Matthew is said to be “The Church’s Gospel.” It talks about community and the church more than any other Gospel… and that is not to say everything it says about the Church is positive.

          In fact, it is from Matthew that St. Augustine gets his assessment of the Church—that we’re a Mixed Body. We’re filled with both saints and sinners, and it will be that way until the end of time.

          Christ abides in the church, and so does a fallen humanity.

          And we see this way of looking at the church—hopeful, but clear eyed—front and center in today’s Gospel.

          Matthew assumes that there will be times when members do wrong to one another, because that’s what happens when you are with other people.

That’s maybe even how you know you’re doing community right in a fallen world,

you care enough about one another that you’ll sometimes hurt one another.

          Now, a way to think about this—I’m an only child… my parents always bragged about how good I was as a kid… I wasn’t that good, I just didn’t have any siblings to annoy or be annoyed by.

          Well—if we’re doing it right, living together as a mixed community, there will be broken relationships… we’re just not that good, because in community we aren’t allowed to be that good.

         

          And that’s why WHAT we do with these breaks in relationship is important. What we do when we’ve hurt one another matters.

 Prayer

          As I said, we’re a mixed body—so yes, we sin against one another—but also yes Christ is there in that. How we live together in the brokenness can form us more fully into the image of Christ.

          In medieval Japan when a ruler would break a tea pot or bowl they would send it back to China for repairs… and the vessel would inevitably come back stapled together with ugly metal staples… so eventually the Japanese created their own form of repair—Kintsugi, in which broken vessels were repaired with gold or silver—so the broken place became the most beautiful portion of the piece.

          Likewise, how a Christian community, the Church, reacts when we sin against one another can end up vengeful and ugly.

          Or it can end up repairing the breach and shining forth the light of Christ, re-shaping us for the better.

          Think about parenting. If your daughter calls her brother a name you could allow him to call her a name back,

or you could get her to apologize and say something nice about him as restitution, you could repair the broken relationship.

          And so Jesus’ advice as found in Matthew steers us to the 2^nd way—the golden way, that repairs the breach and brings us toward being Christ in the world.

         Firstly, the initial step is one of discretion—the sin is brought up one-on-one.

Randomly embarrassing your sister or brother in Christ in front of a bunch of people isn’t the point,

but instead the point is getting them to repent, so you can forgive them.

          If that fails, the second step is to get a few people to help you confront them about the sin—and this is important—this 2 or 3 witnesses business is legal language that the Rabbis would understand, the question is, “do they have a case?”

After all, sometimes a trivial thing can be blown out of proportion and it takes a few faithful friends to say, “Hey, they didn’t mean that the way you took it.”

You are not trying to make your brother or sister in Christ walk on eggshells around you because you’re too sensitive,

you’re getting them to repent, so you can forgive them.

          If that too fails, then the whole church gets involved—this is to make sure those two or three you’ve gathered were not lackeys—that you weren’t trying to triangulate this accusation of sin

—you know what triangulation is like right? It’s the worst form of passive aggression—you remain passive while someone else does the aggression, keeping your hands clean.

          Well, if the whole church is involved that kind of deceit becomes much less likely, and that’s good,

because you aren’t trying to sabotage your sibling in the faith,

you are getting them to repent, so you can forgive them!

          Finally, if all else fails, the person who has sinned against you ought to be treated like a tax collector or Gentile

—that is to say, as outside the community, but still welcome—after all Jesus is constantly shamed for welcoming tax collectors and Gentiles into the fold.

This breaking of community, alongside welcoming back to community,

is done so the sinner might repent and receive forgiveness.

          In case you’re not getting the pattern here, the point of Matthew’s advice to the Church, found on Jesus’ lips, is that when someone hurts us we ought to let them know in a way that allows them to repent so we can forgive them.

          I added the last two verses today to make that point explicitly clear.

In Christian community calls to repentance are real,

but so is the constant urge to forgive—even 77 times.

          As I preached about last week, the Power of the Keys,

the binding and loosing of sin in heaven and on earth—as we read in verse 18 today

The Power of the Keys is given to the whole Church by Jesus

—the command to repent and to forgive is really all about speaking the Word of God to terrified sinners, which we all are.

          That’s why the Church, this mixed body we are a part of, this group gather together glistening gold with our breaks and tears, is so amazing.

          It is amazing because being church together means that from among us sinners the Promises of God show up.

The encouragement and the renewal,

The hope and love,

The faith freely given,

The freedom and the peace,

The forgiveness through Christ,

The stillness of the Spirit,

The promise of Grace.

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