Learning to Love is the Work
Proper 18A | Matthew 18:15-20
This week we leave Satan and dying Messiahs behind and jump into the middle of a teaching about dealing with sin. A teaching that is so prescriptive it feels like there’s got to be a catch. And there is. Just . . . well, let’s dig into it first.
So, this teaching about how the community is supposed to handle sin. It goes like this. First go to the person. If that doesn’t work, get a few people. If that doesn’t work either, bring it to the whole community. If that doesn’t work, acknowledge that the relationship has changed.
Notice that the teaching switches at this point. He doesn’t say what to do in the end, but speaks in big terms: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Which should sound eerily familiar. Like something Jesus said to Peter a couple of chapters ago.
Christians of all kinds have come to wildly different conclusions about this passage. Which, if we were being honest with ourselves, calls into question just how clear and prescriptive Jesus is actually being here.
For a limited time, you may find the audio here.
