Sermon - Binding and Loosing the Captive

TEXT: Matthew 18:15-20

15 Ἐὰν δὲ ἁμαρτήσῃ [εἰς σὲ] ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ὕπαγε ἔλεγξον αὐτὸν μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ μόνου. ἐάν σου ἀκούσῃ, ἐκέρδησας τὸν ἀδελφόν σου· 16 ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀκούσῃ, παράλαβε μετὰ σοῦ ἔτι ἕνα ἢ δύο, ἵνα ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων ἢ τριῶν σταθῇ πᾶν ῥῆμα· 17 ἐὰν δὲ παρακούσῃ αὐτῶν, εἰπὲ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας παρακούσῃ, ἔστω σοι ὥσπερ ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης.

18 Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν· ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένα ἐν οὐρανῷ. 19 Πάλιν [ἀμὴν] λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν δύο συμφωνήσωσιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περὶ παντὸς πράγματος οὗ ἐὰν αἰτήσωνται, γενήσεται αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. 20 οὗ γάρ εἰσιν δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.[1]

If your brother sins against you, go speak to him, between you and him only. If he hears you, you have won over your brother; if he does not hear, take with you yet one or two, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses might stand by every word; if he does not obey them, speak to the church; If still he will not obey the church, let him be to you like the Gentile or tax collector.

Truly I am saying to you, whatever you bind upon the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose upon the earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I am saying to you, “If two of you agree on the earth about anything, whatever you ask shall be done by my Father who is in the heavens. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.

“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” This is a promise Jesus gives to his Church. This is a promise that has given great comfort when a pastor gets up to preach and not many more than two or three are gathered together in the church building. This is a promise that has given great comfort when only two or three church members gather for prayer. This is a promise that has given great comfort when a church remains small after great efforts by pastor and community to reach the cherished missing. But rarely, it seems, has it given great comfort in the kinds of situations for which it was originally written – times of offense and attempted reconciliation.

When I was a child church was a safe place. My parents and the adults at the church saw to it that their children were safe. It was not until I was grown and away from the church for a while that I became aware of the interpersonal conflicts within that church. Then I found out that some of the adults I looked up to most were the ones who caused most of the problems within the church. They made sure the wrong kind of people didn’t attend the church for long. They made sure that the pastor didn’t do anything without checking with them first. They made sure that they were involved in every important decision and that their decision was the decision of the church. They were the people that were thorns in the flesh of everyone else in the church.

I was greatly saddened by this revelation and it opened my eyes to the fact that the Church is made up of people who sometimes don’t get along with each other. Sometimes these times of conflict arise because of some sort of sinful behavior. Sometimes these times of conflict arise because of personality conflicts. Sometimes these times of conflict arise because of a difference of opinion.

I had a conversation with a couple who attended that church when I was a child but who no longer attended that church. Their comment to me was that they knew they should forgive a certain couple and call them to try to make things right, but couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Now the situation is so complicated that the whole process that Jesus outlines for us loses its effectiveness. The couple who no longer attend the church cannot very well go to the person and then continue the process of taking other people from the church or get the whole church involved. The offending couple is now advanced in age and the husband has Alzheimer’s. I don’t recall any time that the biblical process of reconciliation was promoted in that church, perhaps because there was so much conflict that pastors and other leaders in the church were afraid they could not deal with the resultant situations. Perhaps it was simply that the process of reconciliation was viewed as optional. But Jesus does not leave room for such a convenience.

Within these few verses Jesus gives us six different situations. In three of the situations we are told “if” something happens then “you must” follow a certain procedure. In the other three situations we are told “if” something happens then a certain promise will be fulfilled. The whole process begins with a condition in which one person sins against another. The offended person is commanded to go to the offending person in an attempt to reconcile. And just in case we think there is any other option Jesus tells us that we must keep the situation between the offender and offended only. No discussions about the situation with any other people are permitted here – not even the so-called request for prayer. Surely you know what I’m talking about; the times that a person expresses a concern and spends more time venting about the situation than they do asking for prayer. The attempted reconciliation must be kept between the offended and offender alone. If the offender listens to the offended reconciliation will be the result. But if the offender does not listen to the offended then, and only then, two or three others can be apprised of the situation and the group of three or four people then go to the offender, once again to reconcile the offended with the offender.

This group of three or four is not so that the offended person can more effectively make his or her point and win an argument. Rather this group of three or four is so that the truth of the situation can be established and the possibility of reconciliation made more likely. Just because I am offended by something someone has done does not mean that I can automatically take the holy high road all the way to the bitter end. There is a reason why Matthew 18 not only talks about the offended and offender, but also about children, lost sheep, and forgiveness. Even the discipline process allows the sinner three chances to repent, and those who are involved in it are to view themselves as agents of the Father, who is like a shepherd seeking straying sheep. The goal is reconciliation and return to the flock, not severance of relationship.[2] The reason for the process is not so that we can claim we did the right thing or that we were right and they were wrong. The reason for the process is so that we can be reconciled with the outsider, the offender.

The process demands humility, a forgiving spirit, and a church who has no patience with those who subvert the process of reconciliation. The process is not meant to act as a court of law to discover who is innocent and who is guilty; rather it is meant to be CPR for relationships. Innocence and guilt are beside the point, and if innocence and guilt are not beside the point then we have failed to understand what Jesus is wanting us to accomplish here. Since the reconciliation process is placed within the context of forgiveness we should understand that the relationship with God and people is the most important thing.

Now let’s not be naïve about this. Reconciliation does not mean that all of a sudden our enemy has become our best friend. But there is a test of forgiveness that is unmistakable. If true reconciliation has taken place, our relationship with the offender will be at least as good as it was before the offense took place. And just in case we think that we can make a half-hearted effort at reconciliation or refuse the efforts for reconciliation we also have the promise, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” Jesus will be the final judge as to whether or not we have made every effort to reconcile. Jesus will be there as advocate so that reconciliation may take place. Jesus will be there as encourager helping us do the hard thing so that life will be better for both the offended and the offender. Most of all, Jesus will be there as reminder that the only innocent person in the whole process is Jesus himself. Jesus forgave us while he hung upon a cross intended for the guilty. We were guilty, he was not. But he made every possible attempt at reconciliation even when we were totally oblivious that we had offended him; that is what Jesus expects of us as well. Jesus is the one in charge, not us. Jesus is the one who determines what should and must happen within the Church, not us.

The flippant way in which 18:19 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.[3]

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[1]Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, The Greek New Testament, electronic ed. of the 4th ed. (Federal Republic of Germany: United Bible Societies, 1993, c1979), Matthew 18:18-20.

[2]Philip Wesley Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11, "With the Entire Text of the New Living Translation." (Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005-c2006), 241.

[3]Philip Wesley Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11, "With the Entire Text of the New Living Translation." (Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005-c2006), 241.