A Heart for the Wanderer

Intro

We jump back into chapter 18 today. If you remember, chapter 18 is Jesus’s fourth of five teachings in Matthew. Each sermon has focused on Jesus what kingdom life looks like. And while it is a personal decision to follow Jesus, Chapter 18 is about what it looks like to be a part of a Kingdom community that we call the church.

Today, we are going to look at three sections. First, a parable to understand the heart for the Wanderer, second, a 3 step process to be a part of reconciliation for the wanderer, then we will see the authority Jesus gives to the church for reconciliation and judgement of the wanderer.

When I’m talking about a wanderer, I am talking about wandering into sin.

Want to know what disrupts a community? Sin.

In the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus calls those who respond to the invitation to a radically different life. Jesus comes to create a community that reverses the destructive effects of sin on human relationships to sustain community.

Today’s discussion is about what most churches have called “church discipline.” But I believe if we look at this section of Matthew, we see Jesus’s heart not for discipline, but for restoration. We might better label church discipline as wanderer restoration.

We’ve spent some time reflecting on how independence is the enemy of Christianity. Christ has saved us and made us to be part of a people, the Church. God in his grace has given us the church for our spiritual growth and conforming to the image of his son.

Todays focus is not seeing the church as something that invests in us, but rather, what we are a part of to invest in others.

Todays focus is not that you need others, but that others need you.

Independence will hinder you helping others grow in Christ.

Think about a first time mom. Maybe she has a baby that she didn’t plan on. The timing is wrong, not what she wanted. The baby growing inside of her is causing her to loose her independence and autonomy. She now has to watch what she eats, do less of the things she may have once loved to do, change lifestyle. She has to stop pursuing her career and activities. Being pregnant is not convenient. And she has to plan for a significant life change once the baby comes into the world.

But when they baby is born, independence no longer matters to her. She loves that child with all of her being. Her love for the child takes over completely. She is gripped with the fact that the baby needs her. So much so, that she will often neglect taking care of herself in order to care for the baby. And then the husband will step into care for his wife sometimes forcing her to eat, or get out of the house. Her individualism has been tampered by her accountability to her child.

Similarly, this is our motivation. Love for the body of Christ tampers our secular individualism.

When we think of wanderer restoration, we might think of a ditch on either side of the road.

One ditch is judgementalism. Where we look down on others in their sin, or pick on every petty thing they do. This is often what Mike has explained as people with stopwatches and clip boards lording over us. This is not what Matthew 18 is calling us to.

The ditch on the other side of the road is individualism and passivity. They can figure it out themselves. I will just pray for them from a distance and let God work on their life. I don’t want to get involved. This mindset is opposed to what Matthew 18 is calling us toward.

Matthew 18 is calling us to be a part of the covenant community of the church, and radically love other brothers and sisters in Christ. It calls us to seek out those wandering and help them know how Jesus wants us to live. Not in judgement, but in love for their soul and their relationship with Jesus.

MAIN POINT: The will of God is for the Body of Christ to participate in the work of restoration of the wandering believers.

I. The Shared Shepherd Role 10-14

First today, we see the shared shepherd role. We see this in the parable of verses 10-14.

When Jesus wants us to understand community, he shows us his heart in this parable. We cannot understand wanderer restoration without this parable.

Again remember that the little ones are not children, but a larger category of people that humble themselves under the authority of Jesus and his kingdom. We would say this category includes those who trust in Jesus.

Jesus is continuing how we live as a community, and here we see that we do not despise even one of these little ones.

This is how seriously the little ones are cared about by God.

Look at verse 10, we have a strange thing happening of the angels of the little ones seeing the face of God in heaven. If there was ever a passage in scripture about guardian angels, this would be it.

However, I don’t believe that guardian angels is something that is taught in scripture. It is a non-biblical concept that we force into this passage. This passage is not trying to teach us about guardian angels.

If you want to believe in guardian angels, i don’t stop you, but we just don’t have this concept clearly taught in the Bible.

What is the point of these angels?

These angels are less guardian, they are up in heaven, bringing the situation of the little ones before God.

This is a illustrative way to show us that God is completely aware of each little one who is a part of Jesus’s community. And not just God, but all of heaven.

Though we may feel small and insignificant, we can know that all of heaven knows EACH little one.

But what is Jesus’s purpose in bringing this up? If all of heaven cares for these little ones and does not despise them, will we as the church also do this?

And what does it look like to not despise them? Here is the parable to help us understand.

This parable can sometimes be misunderstood. Jesus using this same parable in Luke for a different purpose. This is not a parable to explain eternal security, or who the saved and the lost are. This is a parable of a wandering believer and what it looks like for us not to despise them.

The Parable is not about people who initially come to Jesus, but those who are being kept in Jesus’s community. Because the father cares, we care. The means by which the father cares for the little ones, is his people the church not despising the little ones. We join with all of heaven to care for Jesus’s people.

What does it look like not to despise? Leaving the comfort of the good ones to go after the wayward one. Not being so distracted by the good ones that you miss that one has slipped away.

The 99 good ones are not justification for neglect of the one wonderer.

The point of application for us is that when we see someone wandering away from Christianity, we don’t stay with the 99 and hope for the best. We pursue them with love. Action has to be taken.

To take pursuant action is to share in the heart of God for his people.

Here at our church, in covenant discipleship, you commit to putting yourself under the care of the elders, and other covenant disciples. If you are looking for a new church, we are happy to assist you in finding one near you where the gospel will be proclaimed. But if you walk away from church and Christianity, we will come running after you.

Look at verse 13, the people who do not despise the little one by seeking restoration, rejoice over this one being brought back.

Again, there is not harsh judgementalism, or a turned up nose, but rejoicing. James says this.

James 5:19–20 NET 2nd ed.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

What a cause for rejoicing. Death and sin have been averted through God’s means of care for the wanderer, his people, the church.

Then verse 14, the will of God is not that any one of these little ones should perish.

If this is the will of God, then us who are his people share in his heart for restoration.

We are actively involved in helping others live more Holy after God.

Remember in Chapter 5 when Jesus says “be perfect as my heavenly father is perfect?” A daunting task! But one in which we do together.

Think about the heart of a parent who watches their child wander father and farther from God. Not in judgement or anger. Parents don’t give up on their children, but lovingly hurt with pain for their wayward children.

This is the heart we are to have towards those who seem to wander away from in Jesus.

God is not sending our church people to simply be a number or a statistic or for our self-esteem. He is sending us some to minister to.

If you notice someone is not here, and hasn’t been here in a few weeks, they should never have to think, “hmm, i left and no one cared.”

Maybe someone comes alone, seems insignificant, thus Jesus’s description of “the little ones.” Let us not despise and neglect them.

Thomas and AD had to go back to Oklahoma for a quick trip for medical reasons, and Thomas texted me this week to let me know how overwhelmingly loved he felt because you all reached out to him to check up on him. Thomas is not wandering from the faith, but he has been missing for a few weeks, and you all noticed. Continue to reach out to them and encourage them.

This expresses the heart Jesus wants us to have. Not a clipboard “ah, their attendance sheet is not perfect!” but with a heart of love. We join in the will of God, and all of heaven, not wanting any to perish through falling away as we seek after the wanderer.

II. The Pursuant People of Reconciliation v15-17

Next, we see the pursuant people of Reconciliation. People that pursue because of reconciliation. Just like we have been reconciled to God because of Jesus, we now are ministers of reconciliation to others.

Verses 15-17 describe for us what process Jesus wants his people to use for reconciliation towards the wandering.

This Process has Four steps. Lets start with Go to the wanderer in verse 15.

A. Go to the Wanderer Alone v15

There is a few questions we should ask about verse 15. This verse could be if the wanderer sins, or if wanderer sins against you. Its extremely hard to determine which is the correct translation, if you have more questions, see me after and I can talk you through why.

Regardless, I believe both of these apply. If it is your brother or sister offending you, or sinning against you directly, we can look at chapter 5. What does it look like not to murder in Jesus’s radical new community? Even if your fellow believer has a fault against you, you go to them to resolve it. If someone sins against us, we are commanded to go to them.

Alternatively, If someone sins not against us, the New Testament as a whole is telling us that we are actively meant to be involved. Think of 1 Corinthians 5. Paul is upset with this church because they did not deal with the sin of someone sleeping with their mother-in-law, but allowed it to continue.

Or think of Jesus’s harsh judgements against the seven churches of revelation in chapters 2 and 3. They were not to tolerate sin. If you teach others that it’s okay to keep sinning, or tolerate the sin of others inside of the church, you will receive harsh judgement from Jesus.

We might think, ah, it’s okay, grace can abound. But Christ did not die so that his bride the church would continue to be unholy and in sin.

We are commanded throughout the New Testament to deal seriously with sin because of our love for God and our love for fellow brothers and sisters.

And what is the command to those who are sinned against or observe sin? Go to them. Take the initiative. Don’t stand by watching and waiting. The heart of the father is that none of the little ones should perish, and we take that to heart as we take action.

Again, with the wandering sheep illustration in mind, with the goal of joyful restoration, we don’t “go” in judgement, but with the hope and motivation of restoration.

To get my Master of Divinity, I had to do a research project on wanderer restoration. This is not something that I lightly studied this week as I came to Matthew 18. I have been thinking through this issue for years. For the research project, I had to talk to many pastors listen to how their experiences with Wanderer Restoration, what they learned, what they would advise.

They all mentioned that it is messy, doesn’t always go well. But one of the biggest take aways from the project was this. Most restoration can happen in this first step. Not always. But many issues can be resolved here on the one on one level.

I haven’t only studied this at an academic level, in the Bible, books, commentaries, and from other pastor’s experiences. But my own experiences as well.

To be clear, I am not compelling you to follow Jesus’s instruction in Matthew 18:15 because of my experiences or studies. I’m calling you to follow Matthew 18:15 because it is the Word of God. But certainly person experiences can help guide us and be an encouragement to follow this passage.

What I have seen time and time again, is when others have an issue with me, or I have an issue with others, or direct sin, and we follow the Word of God, God’s Holy Spirit works toward restoration.

And do you want to know what? I stress and fret and worry and loose sleep leading into these talks. Whether I am the one going, or the one being addressed. In times of sin pointed out, hard uncomfortable talks become a time of humility and spiritual growth. Christ unites us over our restoration of sin. If there is an offense, there is greater understanding and unity and peace, even if neither side changes their mind, but both work toward greater understanding of each other.

I had two friends, my two closest friends in the church. I was married, they were not. Both of them had girlfriends. Which I was happy for and celebrated. They both brought their girlfriends to church. But it became obvious that both of them were sleeping with their girlfriends.

One of them, I decided to go to them and bring it up. It was so uncomfortable. But I asked questions. Questions about the gospel. Questions about why Jesus died. What did he do for them. Why did he save them. What does God want from us? What does holiness look like in the life of the believer. Is sleeping with someone who is not a spouse biblically acceptable or is it sin? What is to be expected if a professing believer continues in sin. We chatted. The person was angry. They left the church. Keep in mind, this was my closest friend. We did ministry together. No one in the church reached out to them. No one was willing to address the issue. No one showed him the love our father has, that not one of these little one’s perishes.

That individual is still not in church. The girl he was with is not in church. The kids are not in church.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go well. Wanderer Restoration does not promise results. We are seeking to be faithful still to follow the Lords commands in what he has given us.

Notice the end of verse 15. If he listens to you, you have gained for brother, aka, fellow follower of Jesus. What a result. What a goal and hope to have as we seek to restore wandering followers of Jesus.

If you take anything from this initial step in verse 15, I want you to think of this. There is one word that should stand out to us. Right in the middle of this verse. ALONE.

If someone is wondering, notice what first step is not in the text. Go and tell others about it. Go and gossip to a few people before you bringing up with the wanderer. Go and seek advice and council before talking to them. Go and tell others to pray about it. Nope. Go and talk to them alone.

Why? So many issues are resolved at the individual level. Maybe there is a misunderstanding. Maybe the individual quickly repents, negating the need to involve anyone else.

If you go to other people, even to ask for prayer or seek advice, you have unnecessarily changed other’s view of the wanderer.

So, I instruct you today, to follow verse 15, Go to the wanderer, and go to them alone.

B. Go to the Wanderer with Witnesses v16

Verse 16 is Go to the wanderer with witnesses. This is the next step if the first step doesn’t work.

Jesus knows that people are challenging, sin is challenging, and relationships are hard. So take one or two others.

This is to follow the spirit of the Old Testament Torah Law in Deut 19:15. Accusations cannot come from one individual, but at least the testimony of two is needed.

Why have this step? Why not jump strait to the church? This is for the protection of the accused. If they really have sinned, or offended an individual, it needs to be witnessed by more individuals.

This does not mean the witnesses need to witness the sin of the wanderer, but they are witnesses to the attempts to correct the sinful person, and witnesses of the unrepentance of the sinner.

I said I had two friends. The situation with the other individual was different, though it started the same. In this conversation, we talked through the problem. In a very uncomfortable way. It was not an easy conversation to have. To ask them questions about the holiness that Christ calls us to. Same sort of questions about the gospel, the christian life, what the bible commands, what judgement is upon professing believers who are unrepentant in their sin.

In this situation, another church member cared enough to also address the problem with this wandering follower of Jesus. It was through multiple conversations with this individual, that the Holy Spirit impressed on his heart that he needed to change. To be a good spiritual leader for his girlfriend, he wanted to care about her holiness before God and his own.

But the problem was that both of them were in a difficult place financially, and couldn’t afford separate housing. So me and the other individual who addressed the sin, we worked together to ensure that housing was provided. We cared so much for this couple and their holiness and their commitment to Christ, that some were willing to offer up their own homes while the issue could be resolved. So they lived apart for a season. And now, they are blessed beyond measure. Wonderfully married, wonderful children, a part of a wonderful church, living and homesteading together.

God wants us to care about others in this way.

C. Go to the Church on Behalf of the Wanderer v17a

Then we get to the third step in verse 17, go and tell it to the church. This is a rare pre-crucifixion usage of the word “church.” Jesus has in mind that what he is establishing is the church, a community of people who follow him.

The goal at this point is that the church as a whole would prayerfully seek this person out to restore them.

But if the wanderer still refuses to listen, the matter go to the next step. The final step.

D. View the Wanderer as an unbeliever v17b

In the last part of verse 17, if the wanderer does not want to repent of sin, he should not be seen as a genuine follower of Christ.

To be a part of Christ’s Kingdom, to respond to the invitation, is to submit to what he has called us to, and that is turning from sin. If the wanderer does not want to turn from sin, they are showing they don’t truly want to accept Christ as Lord and Savior and be a part of his kingdom.

So Jesus commands that we view and treat them like an unbelieving sinner.

We might think this is harsh judgement. Or unkindness. But what does Jesus do with tax collectors and sinners? He spends time with them and preaches the gospel to them.

How do we apply this situation? If someone once thought a wanderer is truly an unrepentant sinner, future conversations with this individual must be seen as opportunities for the gospel to be preached for the saving of their soul.

Some churches might send the unrepentant individual away from them. In most cases, this should not be the case. The unrepentant sinner having more opportunities to hear the gospel should be a motivation for us wanting them to be in our services. Though we would limit their participation, especially in communion, as we believe that communion is for repentant believers who are obedient in baptism.

If you want to read more about this, read 1 Corinthians 5 when a specific case is brought up. Paul tells the church to turn the individual over to Satan. They don’t want Jesus, enough to live for Jesus, so they choose Satan.

But the purpose is still restoration even at this step. In turning them over to Satan, the hope and goal is that they would realize that their sinful fleshly desires mean nothing compared to the glory and excellency of Christ.

Even in this form of judgement, the focus is still restoration.

We know that Outside of the church, God will someday deal harshly with unbelievers and judges them. But inside of the church, God has called us to participate in sanctification as a whole body together.

One of my favorite stories is of a church who had an individual who continued to lie about their immigration in order to get and keep employment. While immigration is a complicated issue, image bearers of God want to image God in our truthfulness. God hates lying. The devil is the father of lies. The church worked through this process of wanderer restoration, with a negative result. The individual did not one to listen to the one, then the several, then the church. The church declared that his individual was not a follower of Jesus based on their unrepentant lifestyle of lying. This individual would eventually have to go back to their country of origin.

The church was devastated. They followed the Word of God. But it seemed to not go well. It didn’t sit right. The outcome was very negative.

Years later, they recieved a letter from the individual who was then living in his country of origin. In it, he said that he truly found Christ, repented of sin, and asked for forgiveness from the church. The individual was then a part of a church and following Christ.

You might have the question of what sins would be worthy of this type of public treatment?

We might think of discipline worthy sins in three categories. Visible, unrepentant, and serious.

We cannot be judges of motives. It is hard for us to assess heart issues like pride or selfishness. But the Bible is clear on some outward sins that are visible.

We cannot judge someone if they are being selfish with their cake eating and not giving a larger piece to their spouse. But we could judge someone who left their spouse for another person.

We believe the church should discipline sins clearly defined as sins in scripture. When discussing wander restoration in 1 Corinthians, Paul's explicit sin to discipline is sexual sin, referencing sexual sins from Leviticus 19. Regarding what sins to discipline, he also mentions sexually immoral, greedy, idolaters, drunkards, swindlers, and verbally abusive by professing believers. Other sins mentioned in the New Testament that will be disciplined for are divisiveness (Rom. 16:17; Titus 3:10), incest (1 Cor. 5:1), laziness and refusing to work (2 Thess. 3:6–10), disobeying what Paul writes (2 Thess. 3:14–15), blasphemy (1 Tim. 1:20), and teaching heretical doctrine (2 John 10–11). We live in a society that continues to create new forms of sin; therefore, the church can determine disciplinary sins not on this list that a church vote will confirm.

We believe the church should show loving deference to personal conviction and preference. According to Romans 14, people may feel strongly convicted about an issue of Christian practices in their lives, but they ought not to impose their convictions or preferences upon other members if they are not clearly defined as sins in the Bible. So how many times you read your bible, modest clothing, drinking without being drunk, recreational drugs, smoking, and many other issues are matter of Christian freedom, not blatant sin.

It’s good for us at this point to ask why. Why this process of wanderer restoration.

Reasons for Wanderer Restoration

The Holiness of God Displayed in the Church

The Testimony of Christ’s Church to the World

The Loving Care for People who Profess Christ

Restoration to Save Individuals from Eternal Judgement

Protection of Other Brothers and Sisters in the Church

III. The Accountable Authority of the Redeemed v18-20

Next, we see the accountable authority of the redeemed. We see this in the last three verses of our text.

With those goals in mind, lets look at verse 18. The “you” here is a plural you in the original language, showing that this a task for the whole church.

To capture the sense of the greek perfect passive, we would better understand this not as we change a reality in heaven, but we are making known a reality that already exists in heaven. Jesus has not given his church authority to be gatekeepers, but rather revealers of a heavenly reality.

Consider how Embassies work. If you are traveling abroad, and you loose your passport, or maybe your passport expires, you would need to go to the closest US Embassy. What authority does the US embassy have? They do not have authority to make you a US citizen. They don’t have authority deny you as a citizen. But what they do have authority to do is to declare what is already a reality in America. The reality of your citizenship.

So imagine this for the America being Heaven, and the US embassies being churches. We do not have authority to make someone a follower of Christ or deny them being a follower of Christ. This is the work of God. But the authority that Jesus is giving to the church is to make known what is already a reality in heaven.

We do this in covenant discipleship. Today, we are affirming as a congregation that Tom and Rachel are followers of Jesus to the best of our knowledge, and we intend to walk along side them in their faith.

In the last two verses, we see this bookend of the two gathered together under the authority of Jesus having the authority of the heavenly Father.

Verses 19-20 is frequently taken out of context. It sometimes gets rehearsed when few people show up to a prayer meeting or the attendance of a church gathering is lowered. We might say, yes, of course Jesus is with us at all times. But the context is important, and I think Turner and Bock in the Cornerstone Bible Commentary say it best. Usually, I don’t do long quotes like this, but this is just to pointed and direct.

“The flippant way in which 18:19 [and 20] is often cited to assure small meetings of Christians that God is with them is disturbing because it twists a solemn passage into a cliche. No doubt God is present with any legitimate meeting of his people, whatever its size, and there is no need to mishandle Scripture to prove it. Taking this solemn passage out of context cheapens it and profanes the sacred duty of the church to maintain the harmony of its interpersonal relationships” -Turner and Bock, CBC

Wanderer Restoration is not easy, it is hard. It will cause you to question and doubt. That’s why Jesus adds this last two verses. To be a reminder that in this work of wanderer restoration, he is with us.

This task of not despising the little ones, and going to them to restore them is exactly that task that Jesus has called us to and is the will of our Father in heaven. Jesus is with us in it.

Beyond the Walls

If you are here today, and are not yet following Jesus, I would encourage you that today can be the day that your life is changed. There is a bigger problem than horizontal restoration that needs to happen. Your sin not only affects others in your life, but it has first and foremost affected your relationship with God. Restoration needs to happen vertically before it can happen horizontally.

You can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life. Jesus came to offer it to you. And not in an easy way. He came, lived a perfect life, then bled and died for your sin and mine. He rose from the dead to give us new life. You can repent of sin and trust him to be your Savior and find complete and whole restoration.

Let’s as a congregation, seek the will of God in restoring wandering followers of Jesus.

Let’s pray:

Father, help our church to care about holiness as much as you care about our holiness.

Jesus, help me to love and care for the restoration of your people.

Spirit, give me boldness and love for my brothers and sisters in Christ.