Devotion for Being Apart -
September 6
This summer, I will share new devotions from time to time,
and invite you to browse through devotions that have been posted on this blog.
Matthew 18:15-20
In this day and age, we do not assume the best of each other. We almost look for excuses to blame and condemn one another. We even have a proud term for the absolute cut off we do of others, we call it “canceling” people. We feel almost no obligation to try to work things out – why bother? If someone hurts us, we tell others – sometimes many others – before going to that person. We build our case and get people on our side. Often we never go directly to the person at all, we’d prefer it that way. Because it’s more important to us to be right and uphold ourselves, than it is to stay connected or to uphold one another.
So today’s scripture feels like it comes from another time, a different place. And it does. It comes from a different realm altogether, actually. In the Kingdom of God, we are all human beings, whose dignity and worth is not up for grabs, who cannot be abandoned or dismissed or canceled. We all belong to God. So we human beings belong to each other too, like it or not.
And not only that, but this particular community called the Church—this collection of souls who have died to self and risen to Christ, who are baptized into the life and death of the One who gave his life for us—we belong to each other in a particular way because we acknowledge that we belong not to ourselves but to God, and we declare that we exist not for ourselves but for the world.
As God is minister to us, we are ministers – we exist as a community of care, shaped by love. What sets us apart is only our love and service to this world that God loves. That is who we are, alongside each other.
We are carriers of the love of God, choosing to be defined by Christ. And this is such a powerful calling it’s as though we stand between heaven and earth. We exist in this world as representatives of God, incognito agents of the Kingdom of God right here in our neighborhoods and families, on our streets, in our schools and at work, and for our fellow human beings.
In this identity and role, we speak to God about the suffering and pain here and God listens to us. When we come together and ask God for something, God hears us and acts. When two or three of us are gathered, God is right here with us. When our hearts are in unison, what we say and do in the name of Jesus is as though Jesus himself were here doing and saying those things – and in fact, he is.
So, in this kind of community, it’s important that we make it a priority to stay connected in healthy ways. It matters that we don’t build up resentment, we don’t let division fester, we don’t cut each other off or let pain and anger build. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom; we cannot take the world’s approach to conflict.
In this short life, a shared purpose defines us. Agents of hope, bearers of love, strivers for justice, seekers of joy, we have an assignment here. So it is essential to directly address hurt between us. To be above-board and honest. Not to embarrass each other but to communicate when we’ve hurt one another, and give each other a chance to repent and be forgiven, to keep bringing each other back into the communal mission alongside one another. And not to give up easily either, to keep going at it, seeking reconciliation with each other for our own sake, but also for the sake of the whole world.
Which brings us to this line- if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.
In a Way of Fear way of reading this line we assume this means excommunicate them– some
mid 20th century bible translations actually say that. Cut them off, cut them out and don’t give it another thought - they’re dead to you. Cancel them.
But that is the opposite of what that means.
Who did Jesus hang out with? Who did he come for? He says himself he did not come for the righteous, but for sinners. Sinners and tax collectors were his jam—Matthew himself was a tax-collector. Those on the outside are the ones Jesus showed love and care, for without expecting anything in return.
Belonging to God and others is not front and center for gentiles and tax collectors. Their answer to “What is a good life and how do I live it?” does not factor in obedience to God or obligation to love their neighbor as they love themselves. They don’t see themselves don’t see themselves as servants of God, those who lay down their lives for others. They are bound by this covenant life; they are not defined by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Nevertheless they do belong to God and they belong to us. Just like us, they are in need of love and care, of grace and hope.
If someone among you refuses to be reconciled, refuses to reconnect after multiple attempts to repair the bond, you no longer consider them a coworker for the Kingdom. If someone has caused harm, and refuses to see how they have hurt others and take responsibility for it, Jesus is saying, you no longer assume they have the same goals as you. You do not expect them to participate in the work of staying in it together, or being accountable to the community anymore. You do not expect them to see the world as you do, to seek reconciliation with you, and you no longer attempt to live in the same kind of shared life that you once expected to share.
But you do not cancel them. Instead you see them a beloved of God. The kind of person Jesus prefers to hang out with, the one Jesus came for. Rather than conscious bearers of grace, they’ve become grudging recipients of grace, pursued by God.
Instead of fellow ministers, agents in God’s Kingdom, these are those to whom we are sent. They are the ones we are meant to eat with at table, to listen to, to stand up for, to stand alongside. Jesus is not saying to abandon the one who has done harm and refuses to be reconciled. Jesus is telling us to treat them with care and respect and expect nothing from them. They are now among the ones the Holy Spirit works on for repentance. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work to do. Awakening in them awareness of their belonging to God and all others is God’s responsibility, not ours.
We are talking this year about being faithful now- seeing God’s faithfulness with us today, right here. God is faithful to us now. Always. And as we seek God’s presence and try to live a good life, we ask how we to be faithful right now in this life – with this person in front of us, this moment we are in, this situation we are living in right now, where we are, where God is. Right here.
We are ministers with and for each other, to and for the world, ministers of God’s love and care. What happens between us matters – our relationships and connection matter. We need to do the work to tend and preserve our connection. It's so important because there is power here. Great power. Power far beyond this earth’s limitations and brokenness. The very power of heaven and earth. Power to bind together and ask for things from God. Power to advocate for the needs of the world. We must listen to one another, because God listens to us. We must do the work to stay connected, to stay in it together, because where even two or three of us are gathered, God is right here, among us.
Amen.
CONNECTING RITUAL:
But that is the opposite of what that means.
Who did Jesus hang out with? Who did he come for? He says himself he did not come for the righteous, but for sinners. Sinners and tax collectors were his jam—Matthew himself was a tax-collector. Those on the outside are the ones Jesus showed love and care, for without expecting anything in return.
Belonging to God and others is not front and center for gentiles and tax collectors. Their answer to “What is a good life and how do I live it?” does not factor in obedience to God or obligation to love their neighbor as they love themselves. They don’t see themselves don’t see themselves as servants of God, those who lay down their lives for others. They are bound by this covenant life; they are not defined by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Nevertheless they do belong to God and they belong to us. Just like us, they are in need of love and care, of grace and hope.
If someone among you refuses to be reconciled, refuses to reconnect after multiple attempts to repair the bond, you no longer consider them a coworker for the Kingdom. If someone has caused harm, and refuses to see how they have hurt others and take responsibility for it, Jesus is saying, you no longer assume they have the same goals as you. You do not expect them to participate in the work of staying in it together, or being accountable to the community anymore. You do not expect them to see the world as you do, to seek reconciliation with you, and you no longer attempt to live in the same kind of shared life that you once expected to share.
But you do not cancel them. Instead you see them a beloved of God. The kind of person Jesus prefers to hang out with, the one Jesus came for. Rather than conscious bearers of grace, they’ve become grudging recipients of grace, pursued by God.
Instead of fellow ministers, agents in God’s Kingdom, these are those to whom we are sent. They are the ones we are meant to eat with at table, to listen to, to stand up for, to stand alongside. Jesus is not saying to abandon the one who has done harm and refuses to be reconciled. Jesus is telling us to treat them with care and respect and expect nothing from them. They are now among the ones the Holy Spirit works on for repentance. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work to do. Awakening in them awareness of their belonging to God and all others is God’s responsibility, not ours.
We are talking this year about being faithful now- seeing God’s faithfulness with us today, right here. God is faithful to us now. Always. And as we seek God’s presence and try to live a good life, we ask how we to be faithful right now in this life – with this person in front of us, this moment we are in, this situation we are living in right now, where we are, where God is. Right here.
We are ministers with and for each other, to and for the world, ministers of God’s love and care. What happens between us matters – our relationships and connection matter. We need to do the work to tend and preserve our connection. It's so important because there is power here. Great power. Power far beyond this earth’s limitations and brokenness. The very power of heaven and earth. Power to bind together and ask for things from God. Power to advocate for the needs of the world. We must listen to one another, because God listens to us. We must do the work to stay connected, to stay in it together, because where even two or three of us are gathered, God is right here, among us.
Amen.
CONNECTING RITUAL:
Perhaps tonight before we go to bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we can pray in this way, and so join our souls with each other and the people of the whole earth:
Ground me and root me in your love, God.
Make my belonging to you so palpable,
and my belonging to each other so real,
that I will long do the work to stay connected
with joy and faithfulness. Even when it's hard.
As a member of this community,
Give me the courage to speak up when someone has hurt me.
Give me the courage to repent when I have hurt someone else.
Give us the tenacity to pursue reconciliation,
and the wisdom to know when to stop,
entrusting us all into your hands, as your beloved children.
And may we do all this tending of relationships
because we remember the incomprehensible greatness
of the power of this bond: You hear us. You act when we ask. You call us to ask.
You bring us together to minister to the world.
May we hold your love and healing of all ever before us,
as our purpose and our call.
Even as we remember that none of us can do any of this alone.
I need you. We need each other.
You give us yourself. You give us one another.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
Ground me and root me in your love, God.
Make my belonging to you so palpable,
and my belonging to each other so real,
that I will long do the work to stay connected
with joy and faithfulness. Even when it's hard.
As a member of this community,
Give me the courage to speak up when someone has hurt me.
Give me the courage to repent when I have hurt someone else.
Give us the tenacity to pursue reconciliation,
and the wisdom to know when to stop,
entrusting us all into your hands, as your beloved children.
And may we do all this tending of relationships
because we remember the incomprehensible greatness
of the power of this bond: You hear us. You act when we ask. You call us to ask.
You bring us together to minister to the world.
May we hold your love and healing of all ever before us,
as our purpose and our call.
Even as we remember that none of us can do any of this alone.
I need you. We need each other.
You give us yourself. You give us one another.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
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