Pentecost+15/Proper 18A (Matthew 18:15-20)

Note: My reflection on today’s gospel lesson may sound more like a rule this time. It can be quite dry and uninteresting. I ponder on how a church community can keep itself spiritually healthy and accountable and resolve its issues among members. 

The key context of today’s gospel lesson can be found in the very first sentence of Jesus’ saying: “If another member of the church sins…” The key phrase of this key context is “member of the church.” My reason for defining those as the key context and key phrase is that this teaching is only applied to and expected of Jesus’ followers. Please recall the followers are to take up their cross and follow Jesus. These followers are the members of the church. (Perhaps there’s one practical implication from Jesus’ saying where he says, “...go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” This is a great tip for relationship troubles. No triangulation. No dragging a third person into a tension between two. Deal with each other directly without involving others.)

To be a member of Christ’s body is to be on the way to Jesus. To follow him is to follow where he’s headed. Where does he arrive then? As he takes up his own cross, he undergoes the crucifixion and realizes the resurrection. This resurrection is the final destination of Jesus’ way. Everyone is welcome to this path but not all do. It takes great effort to place oneself in God’s presence and constantly comprehend one’s sources of suffering, stresses, issues, and problems that are in the way of true joy and happiness. This is what taking up one’s cross looks like in our time. This is what the crucifixion looks like. This spiritual, mental, and physical process of the crucifixion leads one to transformation, transfiguration, and transcendence of the resurrection. 

This process or journey to the way of Jesus, however, does not magically change our personalities. We may be able to be more aware of our shortcomings and unskillful actions as we face the sources of suffering and practice God’s inner presence in us. Eventually, we will become much more skillful and wiser in becoming a better version of ourselves. For those on the way of Jesus, a close-minded attitude is in and of itself unwise and unskillful. It lacks openness to oneself and others that one can err and be wrong about many things. The cause of close-mindedness or stubbornness is perfection which is a type of delusion. Jesus doesn’t call us to be an idealogue but a follower. A deeper cause of this delusion is due to the lack of candidly and faithfully placing oneself in God’s presence, being naked before God. 

As much as there’s great freedom one experiences in God’s presence, a similar sense of freedom arises when one accepts the very fact that “I can be wrong.” It opens a gate of grace and growth. Quite surprisingly, today’s gospel lesson is like a litmus test to check if one is still on the path when there's tension between followers in the church. It’s not about whether members are perfectly behaving. If that’s the case, then they are followers of the rules to be perfect. Rather, this acceptance of imperfection exposes how one can trust others’ judgment and how much one can be vulnerable. Jesus means what he says, “...where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” He doesn’t say, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there’s a conflict.” 

If no resolution is to come out between two followers, Jesus instructs they are to be considered a Gentile or a tax collector. Does this mean they are kicked out of their community? Excommunication? Not really. But they’re starting from the beginning to get back on track. Do over. Begin again with experiencing and practicing the presence of God in themselves as well as comprehending their unskillful actions and root causes. As long as they do over, they are back on. They are once again interconnected to the body of Christ through their reconnection with God’s presence in them and hopefully renewed interaction with their fellow followers.