Matthew 18:15-20

I wonder what makes the church different from the world. This is especially an important question as the church finds itself drawn into alliances with the political realities of the day. The result so often seems to be that the church takes on the character of the world and not the other way around. If true, it no longer has anything to offer as a witness to the character of God’s kingdom.

I wonder what makes the church different from the world where divide and conquer is the strategy. Harm done to community and nation is secondary to the ultimate goal of winning the power. We have become suspicious and fail to trust each other. We ignore the search for truth if it doesn’t align with political beliefs. Justice is a concept that only sounds nice. What makes the church different from such a world?

In the reading from Matthew, Jesus gave a lesson about the church community. He spoke about forgiveness, reconciliation and community. If another sins against you, go to that person and reconcile. Sounds so simple. Yet, this is hard to do when it would be so much easier to use that sin against them for our own benefit. If your effort to reconcile doesn’t work, then go to the community to witness and to be of help. Jesus set up forgiveness, reconciliation and community as vital for the life of his church.

Jesus also spoke of “binding and setting free…coming together in agreement…his presence when as little as two or three are together in his name.” The use of his “name” is not a tag at the end of a prayer to get what we desire. “Name” is about character or essence. When we gather to live out the character of Jesus, he promised that he will be present. The result will be a community with the ability to set people free as a witness against the anger, division and lies of the world. When the church comes together in the name of Jesus to forgive and reconcile, this is what makes the church community different from the rest of world.

Peace