Sunday Worship
If you're unable to be with us in person, you will find the Gospel reading, a reflection and prayers below.
Our first hymn this morning is "Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20 The Brother Who Sins Against You
Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, 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 the member 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.”
Reflection
If I were to sum up today’s gospel passage in one word, it would be ‘restoration’. Of course love and forgiveness have a lot to do with this, and how we treat one another with compassion and grace.
But it’s not always easy, because when you have been wronged or feel hurt by the actions of others, it often feels that the last thing you want to do is, turn the cheek. This can be even harder when you have been let down by a close friend or even a relative.
So how do we go about this healing process. Always, a good place to begin is with prayer. Invite Jesus to come into our hearts before we just jump in. Let His divine presence help us to assess and approach how we are going to go about it. Talk with Him and reflect on what has happened. You may want to think about whether the other person is all to blame. Perhaps some of it is partly our own fault.
Maybe, in reflecting, think about the times when we have fallen short of God’s expectations, (yes we all do fall short at times!). When we do, we appeal to God for his grace and mercy to forgive us.
Jesus is saying, when we believe we have been wronged, we should start by talking in private in a loving way, rather than looking to shame the person in public. If we are doing this in a genuine way, we must also be willing to listen. It could be that there has been some misunderstanding along the way, or our willingness to judge has been marred by our own pride or ignorance. Maybe we have judged too harshly – what if a young person stole a tin of beans from you, not because they are greedy but because their children have not been fed for days. How much easier would it be to forgive when we know the whole picture?
If that fails, then we should involve a small number of others. Again, we need to be open to listen to their views as well. There is purpose in involving others, as they may well see things we are choosing to overlook, not least because we have been hurt and don’t always see things as dispassionately as we might.
If then, we are still unable to resolve matters then it may be that we have to involve others. What is the point you may ask? Because in coming together to discuss matters of discipline we can also invite God into the our midst. We can call on his grace and mercy to show us how to treat the offender. That may sound a bit like passing the buck, but it is ultimately up to God who will eventually judge us all.
We also need to bear in mind, that even if a person is guilty and punished in some way, that does not mean we can’t find it in our hearts to forgive. Restoration is, after all, about healing and repairing a broken relationship, and that is better for all involved. What then you may ask, should we do if a person repeatedly offends? Well that’s a question for next week. Paul
