Pastor Rich's Sermon outdoors at Boro Park 9-08-02

Greed, no respect for authority, decline of the American family, the removal of prayer from school, decline of values, television, I could go on and on. Just this past Tuesday I was in Home Depot and I overheard two employees talking about this very issue. The one employee said to the other, “Do you know what our problem is, we don’t observe the Sabbath.” You can imagine how my ears perked up. The point I am making is that every one has his or her opinion as to what is wrong with the world. Call it what you want but the truth is our problem is no different than Adam and Eve’s problem, sin.

Sin, at least for me, is less about breaking God’s law and more about breaking off one’s relationship with God and with another human being. What grieves God is not that some Israelites today don’t follow the ordinance of the Passover as laid out in Exodus. What grieves God is that they neglect Him. They neglect to remember how God delivered them from slavery. What grieves God is not that Christians have disagreements. God expects that. What grieves God is that Christians refuse to reconcile with one another.

What God was telling Moses and Aaron to teach the Israelites about observing the Passover and what Jesus was teaching His disciples about how to treat a believer who sins against you is no different than what a school teacher is attempting to do for his or her pupils.

Why would Jesus say,

“If your brother sins against you,
go and show him his fault.”

First of all, Jesus knew that there would be times when your brother or sister would wrong you. Therefore Jesus provides you and me with some specific instructions concerning how we should treat each other.

“If your brother sins against you,
go and show him his fault.”

When was the last time you went to a friend and pointed out their fault?

Chances are you went there with the attitude that you were going to show or to tell him or her a thing or two. I am certain that is not what Jesus had in mind when he said,

“go show him his fault.”

Jesus is not giving us permission for a full frontal attack on every person who hurts us. Jesus is not giving us license to start a destructive gossip campaign. Jesus is teaching us how to reconcile with each other.

Unfortunately we respond to conflict not with reconciliation but with anger, hatred and resentment. The hurt that we are feeling is seeking revenge, not reconciliation. What Jesus is teaching us is that when someone has wronged you, you are to initiate forgiveness. You are not to wait until that person comes groveling for forgiveness.

But what happens if that person doesn’t want to reconcile.

“But if he will not listen,
take one or two others along.”

Why, to gang up on him or her? No, so that they would be a witness to the fact that the person would reconcile with you. Then it became the church’s responsibility. Yes, the church is to be agents of God’s reconciliation. Unfortunately this is a task that we neglect all too often. The church refuses to get in the middle. The church is not called to choose sides. We are called to bring the Word and Will of God to the people involved.

Should this fail, you have only one alternative. Treat him as you would a pagan or tax collector. How do you treat a pagan or tax collector? Do you ridicule them or treat them as lepers? Does this mean you have carte-blanc to treat them as you wish? Absolutely not! Instead we are called to pray for them, to be Christ to them, to love them.

Alan Smith in his thought for the day devotional on the web shared this story on Wednesday. A conductor told his orchestra at the beginning of rehearsal to take out their pencil. They had to make some changes to the score. He said, “The first 2 bars are in 3/4, not 4/4 as written. The 5th bar should be changed to 7/8 time. Bar 7 we are to lower the pitch 1/2. And at bar 13 lower the pitch one whole step. Now let's begin.

The soprano soloist said, “Excuse me. What would you like me to change?

The conductor responded, “Nothing.”

Do you see the point of the story? We have a choice to alter our lives to meet the standard OR alter the standard and expect everyone to meet these new flawed standards.

What should we do with the Word of God about reconciliation? Hold to the standard of it OR attempt to change it?

There can be no choice - the standard cannot be changed. Breaking or changing God’s Word won’t make our sinful behavior acceptable. The truth of God’s Word is as reliable as 1 plus 1 equals 2.

Yet when one person and one person agree to embrace the standard of God’s Word, that equals 3.

“For where two or three come together
in my name, there I am with them.”