If Your Brother Sins

Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Basic explanation

some read this and worry - but - not encouraging hypocrisy - abuse

normal forgiveness process

the world - maintain healthy life - boundaries - remove toxic people - codependency

Jesus gives prescrip

simple - if bro sins - rebuke - if repent -forgive - thats it.

this is how to maintain healthy relationships in church - how to maintain a church.

do this? health. don’t? the devil will do his work. “a foothold”

don’t? rhuches fall apart - lose effectiveness (house divided) - can’t move forward when sinned against - and instead a cycle of unforgive will start

don’t do this? - well. we go to hell.

Matt 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you...

so let’s work the pattern in - but what about when...

stop. first. lets get the basic patern

IF YOUR BROTHER SINS AGAINST YOU

fellow christian - local covenental community - violates the law of God - and it affects you.

not “I feel like” - but we can point to the word and say “this is the sin”

but what about matters of conscience? - We all have a conscience - and it’s been developed by our lives.

if saved you’re being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” your conscience is being realigned.

Paul says there are weaker brothers (his words) who’s conscience bothers them about eating certain meats or drinking (his words) - and those folks MUST be received by the church, they are our brothers/sisters

but we don’t let them determine what is sin and what isn’t. at no point are we told to agree with them that a certain action is sinful.

maybe for a season we give them certain leeway, but all the while we are bringing them along and teaching them the word.

THE SAME IS TRUE with those who have a conscience that is still aligned witht he world. (those that have been saved and are still being renewed)

we MUST receive them, we teach them, but they don’t determine what is sinful, of course not.

When we are immature we determine what is right and wrong by the way it makes us feel, we carry all our old worldview with us in that determination...

We are believers. We are people of the book - we determine what is right and wrong - by what God says.

SO - IF YOUR BROTHER SINS - we determine this by the word

AND by talking to them. humbly. with the log out of your eye.

if after that we determine that they’ve sinned against us - violated God’s law in such a way that it affects us - then we...

REBUKE THEM

Here is where we go off the track.

perhaps in a good way or a back.

Here’s the good way.... we could COVER THEIR SIN - provebs - it is a glory to overlook a transgression

but cover doesn’t mean ignore - and let it fester - cover means to truly cover. - you no longer hold it against them.

no retaliation - you do not speak of it - you will pay the price. YOU WILL COVER.

and generally - this is what we have to do to get along.

it is not our job to police one another - and it is not our job to refine our brothers and sisters overnight.

Generally speaking - we strive to cover one another’s sins. especially little things that don’t cost us much to pay for.

BUT - if you sit and make a list and maintain the grievance - you aren’t covering anything. If anything you’re probably afraid to confront and so this is how you carry out your justice, by filling yourself with rage.

this is the bad way to go off track.

the cowards way - and we’ve all dabbled in this at one point or another.

We avoid the rebuke when it is necessary because we’re afraid.

“who am I to judge” “we really should just love them”

a smokescreen to avoid confrontation.

BUT IN REALITY - our brother/sister is destroying themselves… and we don’t love them enough to save them.

OR MAYBE WE REFUSE TO CONFRONT - because we don’t WANT to give them grace. We’d prefer for them to die in their sins. We want to punish them. We want to see them grovel.

I know this sounds harsh, but if we think hard enough I’m sure we all can imagine doing this with someone at some point - maybe recently.

THINK ABOUT JONAH - why didn’t he wnat to confront Ninevah? Because God might forgive them.

OR MAYBE WE THINK - if he were truly repentant he’d come to me first...

the cold shoulder - the cut off - gotta have boundaries

but this is NOT what Jesus did. He was direct, precise, like a scalpel, and confronted sin in those around him when necessary. BECAUSE he loved them.

OR MAYBE - we play the victim card - WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO DO THIS - HAVEN”T I SUFFERED ENOUGH -

there could be a chance that we can’t confront because we’re actually in danger - in those instances you need a mediator - a pastor - that’s fine and good

but you can’t cop out.

OR MAYBE - we go straight to retaliation - we punish them somehow

no. “vengence is mine says the Lord”

this often plays out like this - we hear the retaliation. no confrontation. no rebuke. but we hear the story of someone elses sin.

that hasn’t been covered - it hasn’t been rebuked -

“have you talked to them about this?” “you could cover this for them”

you must redirect the offended brother, if you don’t, the devil will use this to destroy him and put a foothold not just in their life… but in the entire church.

factions will befin to form… and the peeling away will begin.

sound familiar?

DON”T GET DISTRACTED - stay on the path...

rebuke.

BUT - this is humble - this is open minded - there are no logs in your eye - and don’t lace it with your own wrath or vengence.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn - but to seek and to save the lost

when you load your rebuke, the next in the chamber MUST be forgiveness.

AND IF YOU ARE BEING REBUKED - then you too - stay humble.

maybe their being a little high and mighty - cut them some slack. Be gentle with them. They’re trying, trying like a sinner, but still trying.

people are sinners. They will sin against others and YOU. AND YOU WILL SIN AGAINST OTHERS.

the sign of a healthy church is not a church without sin, but a church that deals with sin rightly

according to God’s word.

But what if they still don’t repent???

Get witnesses - let it be confirmed - but don’t poson the well

in a trial the witnesses aren’t allowed to hang with the prosecution - why? - because that’s not just. They’ve been tainted.

BUT WHAT IF THEY STILL DON”T REPENT

they may need to be removed from the church.

this is when (if you haven’t already) you loop in your pastors.

But in the meantime - how do I live when them?

But until then how do i live with them?

Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

But if they do repent,

Matt 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Why do we care about this?

ecause this is how you maintain true friendships.

because this is how you maintain a healthy church

satan would love to drive a wedge and if we don’t do this....

AND A HEALTHY CHURCH IS NOT JUST ABOUT US

it’s about our witness to the world.

THEY SHALL KNOW YOU BY YOUR....

“they sin against one another, they wrong one another, and they keep loving each other? what?”

this is a mechanism of our witness. our unity, and our love.

The world. they can’t do this. They will watch in wonder. They cannot forgive. They cannot cover. But they can rebuke

and wield their rebukes as power.

but that’s not the gospel. we aren’t here for vengence.

the world is. we’re here for restoration and forgiveness and grace.

and rebuke is the mighty tool in our belt for the work.

So maybe you feel the weight here.

I have good news - Christ rebukes your… here and today in this moment.

and we can hear his words.... and receive the rebuke - and repent.

in joy - as his people - and work forward together. Amen.