7 September 2014 - Lectionary 23, Year A
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
+ INJ +
Grace and peace be with you, from
God our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
It seems like we’ve grown accustomed
to watching conflicts play out, publicly, right in front of us, and it is
easier to complain publicly now than ever before in human history. If a
celebrity has a fall from grace, no matter how big or small, we see it. If a
politician says one wrong word or does one wrong thing, we see it. And not only
do we see these things, we read about them and talk about them.
If you don’t believe me, then just
spend some time online, perusing Yahoo! or any of the news outlets, or when
you’re waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, take a look at the
magazines by the register. All over the front pages are complaints and
observations about who it is that has messed up this week.
As these articles, editorials, and
“news stories” are being put together, I’m not sure that the writers and
editors and news directors are very concerned with preserving the honor of the
people in the stories. I’m not sure that they are very concerned with the
relationships in the lives of these celebrities or politicians, either. In
fact, I’d venture a guess that many of them are more concerned with selling
magazines or newspapers and getting people to look at their websites.
Yet, it is preservation of honor
and concern for relationships that Jesus is addressing in today’s gospel
lesson: “If a brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault
when the two of you are alone. If he or she listens to you, you have regained
that one.” He then goes on to talk about what to try if the person at fault
doesn’t listen – try taking a smaller group along to talk with them, and then,
failing that, involve a bigger group (in this case, the church community).
His concern is for the maintenance of the relationship – if at all possible – and for the preservation of the other person’s honor (even though they have sinned). It might be tempting to haul out all their dirty laundry and wave it around for everyone to see – but when we do, it is so damaging to relationships and reputations.
Luther addresses all of this, too. In this explanation to the 8th
commandment, Luther gives us the theological basis for treating our neighbor
with love and respect – that we “fear and love God” and being mindful of how we
talk about others – or refuse to talk about others - is one piece of our fearing
and loving God.
The 8th commandment by
itself sounds so simple: “You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor” – sounds to me like as long as I don’t lie about someone else, I’m
covered! Except what Luther does is to expand our thinking about this
commandment so that not only are we not
to lie about our neighbors, but we are
to “come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do
in the best possible light.”
Luther got it: what we think about
others deeply affects our relationships with them, and what we say about others
affects their honor. Paul got it too: the commandments, he says, “are summed up
in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”[1]
Now, maybe all of this is well and
good to talk about in regards to church, or in our families, or among our close
friendships. But what would the world look like if followers of Christ
consistently applied themselves to preserving the honor of the other? And if we
did that not because of what we might gain from it, but because we see in the
other one who was created by God and who is loved by God?
We as a society are very quick to see the sin in another person – and some are very quick to point that sin out. And sometimes, we must – for the love of others – call sin what it is. But this takes us back to Jesus’ teaching in our gospel lesson for today – that, even when sin is present and hurtful, there is still a loving way to address sinfulness. When we address sinfulness in ways that preserve honor, it is good for the sinner and it is good for the one who has been sinned against, but it also preserves the honor of the entire community.
This teaching, like Jesus’ other
teachings, shows us the character of the God whom we love and serve. What kind
of God is it who calls us to live in community with one another? It is a God
who lives in community with us. The gospel of Matthew itself is bookended with
this idea of God being with us – from its beginning when Jesus is called
“Immanuel” (meaning “God with us”) to its ending, when Jesus promises his
disciples that he will be with them, to the end of the age.
Here, in the middle of Matthew, we
find yet another promise of God’s dwelling with us – “where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there among them.” And so, our relationships with one
another are not only that – they are not only horizontal relationships. Our
relationships with each other have God in them, as well. All the more reason to
love our neighbors as ourselves, because in so doing, we also are loving God.
Over and over again in Scripture,
we are told to love each other, so much so that it must be important. “Beloved,
let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born
of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is
love... Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another...if
we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.”[2]
In how we think of others, in how
we speak of others, in all we do, may God’s love be perfected in us, for Jesus’
sake. Amen.
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