Matthew 18:20
Notes
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Misheard song lyrics
Purple Haze' - Jimi Hendrix, 1967
What you thought you heard: “Excuse me while I kiss this guy."
What you actually heard: “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”
'I Can See Clearly Now' - Johnny Nash, 1972
What you thought you heard: “I can see clearly now, Lorraine is gone.”
What you actually heard: “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.”
'Tiny Dancer' - Elton John, 1972
What you thought you heard: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza.”
What you actually heard: “Hold me closer, tiny dancer.”
Waterfalls - TLC
What you thought you heard: “Don’t go Jason Waterfalls”
What you actually heard: “Don’t go chasing waterfalls”
It’s Gonna Be Me - NSYNC
What you thought you heard: “It’s gonna be MAY”
What you actually heard: “It’s gonna be ME”
Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
What you thought you heard: “It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not”
What you actually heard: “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not”
For many of us, we mishear a lyric and it stays with us for ever. Even though I know the right answer, sometimes I jam out in the car and I still say “Don’t go Jason waterfalls.” And we can do this with Bible verses as well. Sometimes we hear a passage used and we just sort of accept that it says that and like a misheard lyric, we end up repeating it ourselves.
That’s why, over this summer and at both campuses, we wanted to look at some verses that are commonly misunderstood. If you have been around church for a bit, you most likely have heard these verses used in some way, but not necessarily in the right way so we wanted to examine what these verses actually say and how it can benefit our lives.
Our verse today is from the book of Matthew it says this:
For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
How many of you have heard this verse (or a version of this verse) before? Yeah, most of us. I can’t tell you how often I hear this verse quoted. I hear pastors and leaders quote it all the time when a church service starts. I hear it used to sell the idea of small groups (which we are launching in the fall and you should all register for). I have also heard it used when attendance at a Christian event is super low, so that people don’t think the event is a flop. I have heard this verse proclaimed hundreds of time. But I have never heard it taught in the context in which it was written. So, let’s read it again, this time in a larger context and see what God actually wants us to know from this passage.
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. “I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
Pray.
This verse is a unique verse in that even outside of it’s biblical context, 80-90% of the time, when people quote it, what they are saying isn’t untrue. In whatever context you take it, it’s true that Jesus is with us when we gather with other believers in his name.
But context is important. It helps us to understand what Matthew’s original intent was in writing this verse or what Jesus’ point of even saying it was. Outside of context, any verse can mean anything we want it to, which can make us feel good, but it can’t lead us closer to God because God is truth and we need to engage with what the truth of a passage says in order to encounter God in it.
So what does this passage actually teach us? First, it teaches us how to address a problem with another believer.
1. How to address a problem with someone - verse 15-17a
1. How to address a problem with someone - verse 15-17a
We’ve all been in conflict with someone at some point in our lives. Sometimes we handle it well, sometimes we don’t. But Jesus gives us instruction here in this passage in order to help us navigate conflict.
He starts by reminding us of the type of sin that this method is supposed to used for. This is for when someone in your Christian community sins against YOU. There is a personal aspect to this - this isn’t about confronting a random person in your church who committed a sin. This is personal and relational - you were hurt by this. And I think Jesus gives us this instruction because when there is hurt festering within a church relationship, a sense of disunity enters the body of Christ and we lose not only our peace, but our effectiveness as the bearers of God’s kingdom come.
So, step one is to go privately to the person, explain what happened, how it makes you feel and how it impacts you. And if they acknowledge it, confess it and take responsibility, then you can forgive them and the issue is settled.
Step two happens if step one doesn’t work. You go back to the person, but this time you bring one or two people who know what’s going on - maybe they have seen the behaviour before in the other person. They are there to help show that the issue needs to be dealt with. Hopefully, with their help, the other person sees what they did, acknowledges it and restoration can happen.
Step three happens only if step two doesn’t work. This time, you are to take it to the church. Now, the church in mind when the passage was written was a collection of small house churches that might have no more than 10 families, because space was very limited. These aren’t large churches with hundreds of people. Even us here at North Park Stratford would be a large church compared to back then.
Interpreting this passage in our context, it might be better to say, “take it to the church leadership.” Again the hope is restoration - that the leaders of the church, who carry some extra authority, may be able to reason with the person, and help them see their error so that they can be restored in relationship.
Throughout every step, the goal is restoration. But this passage teaches us more than just three steps in trying to attain restoration when someone sins. It also teaches us what do do with someone who won’t repent.
2. What to do with someone who is unrepentant - verse 17b
2. What to do with someone who is unrepentant - verse 17b
Church leadership is an amazing thing. They are everyday people, using their gifts and abilities to try to direct a group of people into fulfilling God’s mission in this world. They are fallible, can make wrong decisions and often, they are the ones who bear the brunt of a person’s vitriol when they don’t get their way. It’s a tough job. But God does something amazing in church leaders. He imbues them with spiritual authority, which they are supposed to use to serve the church. Now, to be sure, some elders and some churches have used their authority to abuse others. Most have not. But when it happens it, the fallout is brutal. But God’s intention for the church is that elders have spiritual authority in order to serve the church and this teaching is referring to when Church leaders are in prayerful dependence on God and in alignment with the Bible.
And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Peter calls us to submit ourselves in humility to the authority of our leaders. So what happens when someone won’t listen to the church leadership? Then they, by their own stubbornness and pride, have removed themselves from that fellowship. They have “wandered” away. So what should we do?
Treat them as a pagan or tax-collector - What does this mean? Traditionally, it would mean expulsion and disassociation. The Jews hated both pagans and tax-collectors and refused to have anything to do them. That’s why it’s so audacious of Jesus to go have dinner with Levi and then later with Zaccheus and why the Pharisees judged Jesus for doing it. They were the enemy and they were to be shunned by the community. And for centuries, many churches have applied this to Christians who sin. When a person “sins” they are forced out of the church, sometimes out of their families and everyone is told to cut them out of their lives. And maybe that is what Jesus meant, but it seems opposite to everything he teaches elsewhere.
At the end of the book of Matthew, Jesus tells them to go and make disciples of all nations - that means going to the pagans with the good news of Jesus - and baptizing them - which means to immerse them into the family of God. So it seems weird that here, we are to shun Christians who sin like the Jews shunned pagans and later we are to proclaim God’s love for them.
Also, who wrote this book? Matthew (also called Levi) who was a TAX-COLLECTOR. He was acutely aware of the spiritual damage that being ostracized from your community was like because he lived it.
I wonder if instead of shunning people who sin and who turn away from the church like the Pharisees did, this passage is a challenge to treat Christians who sin against us like Jesus treated tax-collectors and outsiders - Like how Jesus treated Matthew - with love and grace.
This is the teaching behind the story prodigal son. The person described in our passage in Matthew left because of their sin and their unrepentance, just as the younger brother does in the story in Luke. And just like the father, we need to be ready to forgive and welcome them back. Which leads me to the third thing this passages teaches us: it teaches us about the spiritual power of the church to forgive.
3. The Spiritual power of the church - to FORGIVE - vs. 19-20
3. The Spiritual power of the church - to FORGIVE - vs. 19-20
The main thrust of this passage is about restoration. Look at how this is passage is put together: verse 15 starts with “If someone has sinned against you…” and then it outlines the steps you should go through to restore the relationship. Then it says,
“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
And then, right after that, Jesus tells a parable about the radical nature of Christian forgiveness. It’s all connected. When Jesus says, “where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them,” he means when you gather to pray for the restoration of a wayward brother or sister in Christ, I am there. When you pray together that a spirit of forgiveness permeate your church, I am with you because that is the nature of Jesus.
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.
We are called to be a people of radical forgiveness, reflecting the forgiveness we have experienced in Jesus in how we treat others.
“Where two or three are gathered...” is not a mantra that assumes God only shows up if there is more than one person. It’s a testimony to the grace and power of Jesus who is present when people gather to pray for the restoration, the forgiveness, and the salvation of people!
Conclusion
I believe we are never more like Jesus than when we forgive each other. And some of you have been holding on to anger and bitterness for a long time. Today, in this passage, God wants to remind you of two things:
1) That you have been forgiven of everything by him, and that therefore you should forgive others as well. Be generous with your forgiveness.
2) Gather a group of people and start praying for restored relationships, repentant hearts and salvations, knowing that Jesus is with you.