Matthew 19:1-12 Ask For Living Water!

Matthew 19:1-12  When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.  Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.  Some Pharisees came to him to test him.  They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”  Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.  But it was not this way from the beginning.  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”  The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”  Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.  For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  The one who can accept this should accept it.”

We see in the above verses the Pharisees, those best versed in the Old Testament, asked Jesus a question.  Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?  The Pharisees well understood their society’s division on this issue of marriage.  Some found no good reason for divorce, while others saw acceptable reasons such as infidelity in the marriage.  Still other people looked only for happiness as paramount in any marriage; therefore, any condition dividing two people could be grounds for divorce.  Such broad areas could offer many reasons for people to divorce.  Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to divide his followers over Jesus’ perception of divorce, for He had a large following, large crowds followed him.  Jealous of Jesus’ popularity, they wanted to bring him down in the eyes of the people.  But Jesus does not swallow their bait; instead, He tells them how God considers marriage.  Of course, Jesus is of the same opinion.  “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  He puts down these scholars of the scripture with this statement, for Jesus knows they have read these scriptures many times and even memorized them.  By referring to God, he deflects his answer to God’s decision about marriage.  The Creator made male and female for a one-on-one relationship to live as one flesh.   So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.  The implication in this pronouncement of oneness connotes not only companionship, but a joining together to create new life as God created new life.  Procreation is a primary purpose for the oneness in marriage.  Adam knew his wife and she bore Cain.  Of course, sex is meant to be enjoyable so that men and women would desire to be joined together as one.  But in our age, and in past ages, sex for the sake of sex alone is often considered the only reason two should come together.  We loosely place the term LOVE on even a one night venture, rather than a lasting commitment between two people.  Such use of a precious word makes love a sloppy word with little meaning.  Marriage in man’s eyes, even the chosen Israelites, became distorted.  Viewing marriage as the path to self-indigence and self-fulfillment leads men to forsake procreation and any thought of lasting commitment.  When Paul in some of his letters enumerates man’s sinfulness, he lists numerous sexual indulgences: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, orgies, licentiousness, fornication, adultery, and the like.  Jesus goes to the heart of this defilement of marriage by saying the hardness of the heart is the reason for broken commitments in a marriage.  Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.  But it was not this way from the beginning.  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.  Even the chosen, the Israelites, had to be given freedom to break the covenant of marriage easily.  In a patriarchal society, men were given the privilege to break this established God-given covenant with any excuse at all.  This reveals clearly why the prophets of old castigated the Israelites as fornicators and adulterers.  For they were not only willing to freely give up on their marriages to their wives, they were just as freely willing to give up on God and follow other gods.  As the breaking of a marriage between two people, this willingness to break covenant broke the heart of God.

Jesus takes this relationship of man and woman back to the beginning of time: it was not this way from the beginning.  The covenant between man and God was broken by Adam and Eve in the Garden.  From that time on mankind is in constant flux, breaking covenant with God and with each other.  Marriage is considered a sacred covenant, established by God and supported by his laws.  But as Peter said, which one of us has been able to follow God’s law, implying that none of us have been able to do that.  Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke (the law) that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?  (Acts 15:10)  Even the most sacred covenant between God and man or between man and man or woman and woman or man and woman is opened to be broken.  Humans are covenant breakers, sinners.  The disciples realized immediately what Jesus is saying about marriage.  If man is so incapable of doing what is right, by keeping a marital covenant, is it not better to not get married.  The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”  If we do not marry, then we will not bring the wrath of God on us.  They understood fully why Jesus referred back to God’s intention for the sacredness of oneness in the marriage covenant.  Willfully breaking covenant with God or each other is a serious decision.  Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.  For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  The one who can accept this should accept it.”  Jesus said that these words that He was speaking are for those who are willing to accept a covenant as binding.  Eunuchs are not held to his words, neither were those who considered marriage as not an option for themselves.  Some will even dedicate their lives in celibacy for the kingdom of God.  But for those who are considering marriage, these words of his were to be a warning to them.  Covenants with God or with man are serious, written down in heaven.  Sexual promiscuity and licentiousness will not be tolerated as an excuse for breaking covenant with your spouse.  Eunuchs, because of their physical condition, are not held to this obligation, but men and women who are physically able to have sex should consider fidelity as foundational to any relationship within the context of marriage.  If you are open to marriage, accept this condition of fidelity as being central to your relationship.  The one who can accept this should accept it.

In our present world, sexuality and self-gratification are everywhere—fidelity often flouted in what we see in the media and on electronic devices.  We are encouraged to have new experiences, maybe those that are not acceptable by the society at large, such as pornography.  In our advertisements, we see almost everything sold through the lens of sexuality. We are encouraged to live life to its fulness because we only go around once.  But this virus of self in every area, especially in sexuality, is a covenant breaker in every sense of the word.  We will break covenant with others quickly if we live lives of self-indulgence.  We will not be servants or slaves to anyone, for we have only one life to live.  Do not ask us to step aside in our lives and prefer others before ourselves.  But serving God and others is what brings strength to any relationship or community.  Covenants are meant to be kept.  God’s plan for humans was for them to connect with each other in oneness.  Marriage is the ultimate example of oneness.  Sexual impurity or self-gratification are the opposite of oneness, of cohesiveness.  Paul talks to the Thessalonians about impure relationships that scatter rather than gather together in oneness.  It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.  The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.  For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.  (2 Thessalonians 4:1-7)  God is calling us to be together in the body of Christ.  We are all one IN CHRIST as his body.  Covenants are part of our commitment to each other.  Marriage is a good example of the relationship we have with Christ.  The Pharisees wanted to catch Jesus in saying something that would divide his followers.  But Jesus just points back to the beginning when the loving Father made human beings.  He made them to be happy, to occupy the earth and to multiply.  But happiness has been redefined: our will, not yours God.  But Jesus said, it was not this way from the beginning.  God has made man and woman to be happy with each other and to be satisfied in that relationship of one with each other and oneness with God.  All of this is not to say that if you are a divorced person, there is no hope for you in God’s kingdom.  If you read the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4, you will see that even though she had been married four times and the man she was with was not her husband, Jesus reached out to her and said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:1)  We can come to Jesus at any time, and his grace is sufficient for us.  

Matthew 18:23-34 Give As You Receive!

Matthew 18:23-34  Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.  “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.  ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’  The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.  “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.  He grabbed him and began to choke him.  ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.  “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’  “But he refused.  Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.  “Then the master called the servant in.  ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’  In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

This story deals with a master who is lord over a servant.  This is the relationship that people have with God, the Creator.  Jesus points out the master has given this servant a large fortune: ten thousand bags of gold.  Because this is an unfathomable amount of money, the servant was in deep trouble with his master when he asks for repayment.  But because the servant understands his predicament of not being able to pay back this huge debt quickly or maybe not at all, he begs the master to be patient with him, for he was willing to pay back the amount of money that he owed.  He pleads with the master and asks for time to get rid of this liability.  The master forgives this nondescript servant, not special in any way other than he owes an unusually large debt to the master, revealing the master’s kindness to the servant.  In reality, the large sum owed to the master could never be paid back by the debtor, for in today’s terms, the servant owed millions of dollars to him.  However, the debt was due to be paid back and the master wanted his money; he expected the servant to pay him back for his generosity to the servant.  This story of Jesus implies how generous God has been to his created, to those who are his own.  He has given people life and everything in this world, including their progeny and close relationships.  The master in this story was demanding the servant’s wife and children to be sold, for he considered them as his property.  People have received way more than they can ever repay to God.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  (Genesis 1:28)  But the Master intends to collect on his goodness to his created beings.  We see the master in Jesus’ story demanding reciprocation, payment for his generosity to the servant.  For the day of judgment has arrived, and everything will be stripped from this man’s life except for his own existence.  He will be placed in jail where there will be no possibility of paying the master back.  But rather than carrying out this righteous judgment, the master responds to the servant’s desperate plea and forgives the servant of the huge debt he owed.  But the servant’s heart has not assimilated this same grace and mercy into his consciousness.  He is evil, worldly, and intends to treat others for his own benefit.  But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.  He grabbed him and began to choke him.  ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.  His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’  But he refused.  Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  His heart is hard, not respecting the goodness of the master to him; instead, he is living with a stoney heart, cold to the nature of the master, or in the spiritual sense, of God.  His day of reckoning and the mercy he received did not change the way he would treat another person in need of the mercy he received. 

In this story, we see Jesus furthering the concept of forgiving someone seventy times seventy.  He is telling the disciples that they owe God everything that they have in life; they owe the very breath in their lungs, every word that is formulated in their minds. They owe God every possession they own or every relationship that they have ever developed in this world.  The earth and everything in it is God’s.  As we read in Psalms and again in the New Testament: For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.  (1 Corinthians 10:26)  Ten bags of gold are meagerly in comparison to what every person owes to God.  People’s existence depends on God’s goodness to them.  When people understand God’s grace, the reality that mercy has fallen on them unreservedly, they should respond with thankfulness to God by giving grace and mercy to others who might owe them a debt of some kind.  In today’s focus, we see the servant responding to others with a wickedness in his heart that has not been eradicated by the grace of the master towards him.  Instead, his heart is ingrained with evil, the natural pursuits of all men who possess Adam’s DNA.  He is seeking retribution from one who owes him money.  He wants his pound of flesh, not considering that his master could have restrained him in jail as long as he lived.  He is a lawbreaker, possessing a heart of evil, not of God’s love.  Jesus calls him an evil servant, knowing his heart is far from goodness and grace.  Paul categorizes these people as being Gentiles or not the chosen who have God’s laws in their minds.  So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)  The heart of the unregenerate is full of greed and impurity, not fully understanding what they have received from God.  They are impertinent to God’s authority, taking their existence for granted.  But Jesus is telling his disciples there will be a time to pay up.  God will demand payment of every person someday, and if they are not living lives of grace and mercy, of forgiveness; seventy times seventy, they will receive their just reward: Sheol, a place of eternal containment and grief.  

As Christians we are instructed to Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  (Ephesians 4:32)  We are instructed to imitate God’s nature.  Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  (Ephesians 5:1-2)  In the story Jesus presents to us, the master loved his servant.  He had given him much, and he heard the servant’s desperate plea for mercy.  His heart was moved with compassion, so he gave his forgiveness readily: cancelled the WHOLE debt.  This is what God has done for us through Jesus Christ the Lord.  Jesus’ willingness to cancel our debt to God was pleasing to God because it represented his heart of love.  Jesus completed the work that God had in his mind from the beginning of time.  When the servant in Jesus’ story experienced the master’s grace, he should have gone out with that example etched on his heart and forgiven his debtors, but he failed to do that, for his heart was evil.  This story is presented to us today as an eye opener.  If we are not willing to forgive others seven times seventy, if we hold onto our anger and bitterness, God will take our attitude as an affront to his goodness to us.  We all have something that we have done to others or that others have done to us that is not easily erased from our minds.  But Jesus is implying that our very existence in eternity is dependent on forgiveness.  If we are unwilling to attempt to forgive others, to display God’s goodness to the world, how can we expect his goodness to be meted out to us.  If we exact the last payment of a debt owed to us, then why do we expect God not to demand that same payment to him.  But we know God knows our foibles and our weaknesses.  He also knows the terror of life’s realities for so many humans.  He knows how people take advantage of others and how hard it is to give grace in those situations.  In Afghanistan today, mothers and fathers sell their little girls to others so that their families might survive.  Poor people around the world are selling their internal organs for a few dollars to have enough money to live.  The world is an unjust, dangerous place.  But God is just, He knows those situations, and He alone will repay.  But in our lives, Christian friends, we must open our lives to mercy and grace and give forgiveness even though the world does not deserve it.  Let God be the judge of all unrighteousness, for we were not called to judge but to bring the love of Jesus to a broken world.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  (John 10:10 KJV)  

Matthew 18:18-22 If You Agree On Anything!

Matthew 18:18-22  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?  Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

In the above verses, we see Jesus emphasizing the importance of when two or three people agree on something.  When their decision is a matter of following the law, God will become involved and verify the decision.  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  The Old Testament shows how powerful a consensus of individuals can be when deciding someone’s fate.  If a crime has been witnessed or confirmed by two or three individuals, the offender is considered guilty.  This is part of the laws and regulations that Moses gave the people of Israel.  One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed.  A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.  (Deuteronomy 19:15)  Because of Moses’ powerful hand in delivering the Jews from Pharaoh’s hands and the many miracles they had seen in the wilderness, they were ready to accept Moses’ teachings as from God.  And part of that teaching included what two or three people can do to another person if they are in agreement about a situation of wrongdoing.  Even death can be the sentence if two or three agree, for example, that one or more people have been worshipping the heavenly bodies rather than God the Creator.  On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. (Deuteronomy 17:6)  All of these actions are considered part of God’s plan to control human behavior, to bring justice to a community that follows him.  When Jesus points out how people in the community of the church should behave towards someone who has done wrong to another or committed a crime, He says that two or three people much be involved in the accusation.  If the accused refuses to be corrected in his or her wrongdoing, then the community must treat the individual as a pagan or a tax collector.  They are excised from the community.  Jesus goes on to say, Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  In other words, as with the Old Testament laws and regulations given by God to Moses, God will back up decisions that have been derived from a consensus within a community of believers who are functioning under Jesus’ name: his authority.  Jesus goes on and says, AGAIN, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.  In the context of his previous teaching in this chapter, if believers under the authority and direction of Jesus confirm that someone is out of order, doing unlawful acts or sins within a community, either against others or the community itself, they should be dealt with harshly: treat him or her as a sinner.  This teaching also confirms what Jesus said about those who abuse little ones.  If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  (Matthew 18:6)  As with the Old Testament, outward, bold sin needs to be dealt with in the church.  But sin also is an inward condition, not easily detected; but God’s grace through Jesus Christ can take care of both situations under the name of the Redeemer.

Peter, hearing this teaching, knowing the law can be harsh against sinners, and also recognizing his own sins, asked a question about sins committed against him.  Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?  This question reveals Peter’s knowledge that Jesus is a man of grace and mercy.  Peter heard Jesus’ words about justice within a community and how discipline and harsh consequences should be dealt out to the sinner.  If these words are to be followed strictly, where is grace, mercy, and forgiveness?  Should he garner witnesses to support him in his accusations against someone who has sinned against him?  Is this the solution for sin within the community?  If he could get two or three witnesses to support his accusation against a foe, could he not find justice then?  Would the slate be cleared if he could find rectification?  But Peter knew Jesus was not a person of violence or retribution.  He knew his teaching included turning the other cheek to a sinner.  So Peter interjects with a question to Jesus within the concept of grace and mercy.  How many times should I forgive my brother or sister who seeks to do me damage?  How many times should I turn the other cheek to someone who intends to hurt me?  Up to seven times?  Jesus the Lord responds as only He could respond, for He will turn his other cheek to the damage mankind intends for him, to kill him.  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.  The perfect, complete, finished number 7, multiplied infinitely seventy-seven times.  This reveals God’s grace and mercy towards humankind, a wayward, corrupt, violent people.  This is God’s covenant with Noah after the flood.  The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.  And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.  (Genesis 8:21)  Grace will be given to mankind to change his nature through the blood of Jesus.  Peter heard Jesus’ words of forgiveness, but within those words, Peter also knew that on this earth he would not receive the justice he deserved; neither would people who were hurt by Peter receive their justice.  Rectification would not belong to man, but to God; and we know at the judgement seat, all unrepentant sin will receive perfect justice from the hands of the PERFECT ONE.  To have order, we must have laws.  We must have witnesses to crimes, people who are willing to confess that people have sinned against them or others.  Crime has to be dealt with or crime will increase as yeast increases within a loaf of bread.  But we no longer follow the law of the Old Testament: Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.  (Deuteronomy 19:21)  We have courts, laws, and judges to mete out justice.  Sometimes the system works and sometimes it strays, but the intention is to have justice for all, no matter what their status or circumstances.  No longer can two or three determine justice within a community.  We have institutions and conventions for doing that, but the grace of God overrides all that we consider justice.  God’s grace forgives to the uttermost.  

Where two or three gather together under the authority of Jesus Christ, they have great power in the spiritual domain as well as here on earth.  We are priests before the heavenly Father.  Our words are honored, and Jesus the Lord intervenes before the Father on our behalf.  Today’s scriptures assure us of this reality.  And we know that this power crosses over to claiming answers to prayers for needs in our lives.  As priests of the Lord, we can believe for miracles as well as justice for wrongdoers.  The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever.”  Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.  Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  (Hebrew 7:21-25)  We are presently alive in Christ.  He is presently presenting our needs before the Father.  He is our eternal priest, who seeks the Father’s will in our lives.  Therefore as members of the household of God, we have great power.  We are people of God, and the Father knows us by our names.  We fall under the righteous cloak of Jesus.  We are presented to the Father through his name.  Consequently, in his name we can ask for anything, but all falls under the will of the Father.  In the above verses, we can control a lot that goes on in this world.  We can have two or three witnesses defend us in any case, and maybe we will find justice by doing that.  But in reality, justice is very fickle, does not alway give us what we deserve, but Jesus and the Father God will give us complete justice some day.  But in the meantime, we are to give people the grace and mercy that Jesus gives to the world.  He loves his enemies—He died for them.  As in Noah’s time, people remain corrupt, violent, far from God’s image.  Jesus knew them as they really are, possessing a hatred towards the ONE WHO CREATED THEM.  They have wanted their own way in the past and continuing to this day, they want their own way.  Today we have computers, telephones that allow us to take a deep dive into our self-gratification.  We are gods unto ourselves, figuring out what we want to see or do.  No one else can get involved with our intentions or needs: the computer will give us all that we seek.  But Peter asked, how many times should I forgive these people who seek their own benefit, who offend me for their own reasons.  Seventy-seven times, Jesus replies.  Dear friends, you are powerful, for you have the ear of the Father, but can you forgive as Jesus has asked you to do?  Can you prefer others before yourself?  Or, do you want your own will, seeking the words of the world, living lives of anger or even bitterness.  Jesus has a better way than the justice we can find in this world.  He said, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  (John 14:6)  Come to him for wisdom and with your needs—He is your answer today and always!  

  

Matthew 18:15-17 No Masks!

Matthew 18:15-17  If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.  If they listen to you, you have won them over.  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that “every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."  If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

We see these words of Jesus chronicled in the Bible after his comments about abusing little ones.  Jesus tells us that if we detect sinful actions in another person’s life, we should confront that person about his or her sins.  We should go to our brothers or sisters and point out their fault.  These kinds of faults are obvious sins, not just a difference of views or opinions between two parties.  These faults probably land in the broad categories of evil listed in Galatians 5: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (19-21)  Of course, Paul ends this list with, and the like, revealing many more areas where a person can be invested in evil.  Jesus tells us that when we recognize such wrongful behavior in an individual, we should seek to correct it by going to the wayward person and pointing out the importance of changing his or her ways.  This is to be done one-to-one, face-to-face; no others need to know about the sin in this person’s life.  But if the individual fails to heed to the correcting advice, then others must be told.  If they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that “every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." This permits others to know about the sin of the person and allows them to evaluate the nature of the sin and whether it is real or just the perception of the accuser.  Is the sin egregious enough to demand the perpetrator to change his or her ways.  If the accused will not correct the behavior when confronted by the group, then the people must bring the situation to the whole church.  If the person still refuses to listen to the recommendation of the body of believers, knowing he or she is bringing a reproach on the church, then the individual must be treated as an abject sinner: pagan or a tax collector. All of this activity to correct one individual is to save that soul from perdition, to salvage his or her soul for the kingdom of God.  My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.  (James 5:19-20)  In the beginning of this action, the sinner is a brother or sister of the accuser and of the community of believers, but at the end of the action, the individual is considered a pagan without the understanding of how to please the Lord.  Jesus gives a serious account of the awfulness of manifested sin within a community of believers.  Jesus is saying that for the church to be above reproach, people with unrepented evil actions in their lives should not be assimilated into the community of believers.  They must be excised from the church.

Paul faced this condition within the Corinthian church.  The community of believers was allowing a situation of incest in the church.  This condition was well-known by believers in their fellowship.  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud!  Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)  Paul is upset with the Corinthian church for being proud of their magnanimity.  Rather than being angry about such a sin in their midst, they were benevolent towards the violators, accepting this aberrant behavior that even the secular world would not accept.  This behavior of the couple was known to all, inside and outside of the church.  Because of that knowledge about the couple in the larger community, they were bringing a reproach on the Corinthian church.  The Corinthians were supposedly exercising their freedom in the Lord, that all activity is open to them if they are believers who claim their salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ’s righteousness.  They knew of the teaching about freedom IN CHRIST.  I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.  “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.  No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.  (1 Corinthians 10:23-24)  This couple was not seeking the good of the community of believers but the tantalizing of their own flesh.  They knew they were sinning against God, but they chose their fleshly indulgence over God’s way of living.  They were a thorn in the side of the church, bringing pain to the church, not goodness and wholesomeness.  Paul is not only concerned about the reputation of the church in Corinth, he is also concerned about the souls of these two people who are living in incest.  In talking about the man, Paul tells the church to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.  (1 Corinthian 5:5)  Otherwise, discipline him by removing him from the body of believers so his soul will find repentance and be saved.  The Corinthian church did exactly that, and Paul is thankful that the man came back into the fold.   The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient.  Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.  I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.  (2 Corinthians 2:6-8)  This sin of immorality was excised from the church; the purity of the church was upheld by the action of the community of believers.  Outright fleshly indulgence must be addressed by believers, for such sin can contaminate the whole body.  Paul tells the Corinthians not to boast about leaven in their community, rather to judge sin for what it is.  For such leaven can permeate the foundation of their community and cause chaos and destruction.  Your boasting is not good.  Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.  (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)  We are righteous; therefore, we should act righteously in everything we do is Paul’s recommendation to the church of Corinth.  

In today’s focus, Jesus points out the danger of manifested sin within any community of believers, but He is not pointing out a difference of opinion about attitudes and actions within the church.  Paul addresses this kind of freedom that all people possess in the body of Christ.  Believers can have different opinions on how they should act and live, opinions that are not evil, just differing ideas that come from their own lifestyles and desires.  In Romans 10 he addresses what people sometimes think is spiritual or not spiritual, right or wrong, good or evil.  He uses food and special days as his platform for discussing the freedom that people have in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Opinions reflect a lot about people and their background, but they should not be classified as separators from the grace of God and from the community of believers.  Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.  One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.  The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. … One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike.  Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.  Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.   (Romans 14:1-3:5,6)  Sadly, we find this phenomenon of separating people into good and bad categories on mere opinions prevalent in today’s church.  Churches are caught in the midst of this storm.  People criticize others for lifestyle choices that have nothing to do with evil or sin.  People leave churches where they are loved by brothers and sisters in Christ and accepted in the body because of opinions about whether to wear a mask or not, or whether one should be vaccinated or not.  People have the audacity to judge others for such lifestyle decisions.  We should be able to accommodate other people’s ideas about what is good and evil in these areas.  If you think others are weak and you are strong with the correct opinion about life, good; but that does not give you the privilege to tear up the body of Christ, leaving holes in its fabric.  We are to accept people as fellow brothers and sisters even though we might think they are weak in faith.  A stubborn will is not going to garner God’s favor.  We are to be meek, kind and gentle.  We are to be open to correction, but willing to submit the best we can for the good of the community.  For it is not for us to say whether we should accept others with different views about lifestyle—it is God’s privilege to judge his own servants.  We do not forsake the field where God has planted us when there is a problem.  It is our job by faith to help solve the situation in Christ’s love.  Titus reminds us as Peter and Paul also reminded us to be servants to others for the good of the Christian community.  Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.  (Titus 3:1-2)  Servants are not people with their own rights and privileges outside of serving others.  People should know us by our love.  They should know us by how we accept others readily who might disagree with us.  They should know us by our righteousness.  When people sin within the community, living lives of impurity and gross sinfulness, they should be confronted; but when people are living lives for God the best they can, we should accept them whether weak in the flesh or strong in the flesh.  This is our brotherly duty, respecting and following our Lord Jesus Christ by reflecting him to the world and in the church where He has called us to serve.        

Matthew 18:6-14 Bless Little Ones!

Matthew 18:6-14  “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble!  Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!  If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.  And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.  “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.  For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.   “What do you think?  If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.  

Jesus gives a dire warning to anyone who abuses little ones, causing them to lose their natural inclination to love God.  This kind of improper behavior is an anathema to a loving God who keeps close tabs on his little ones.  I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.  Sin against a helpless, innocent young person can take many forms of exploitation: sexual, physical, emotional, psychological, neglect, and the like. These are heinous crimes, usually outside of societal mores, but sadly sometimes a part of acceptable standards within a community or the world’s view of little ones.  Common examples of such behaviors include harsh parental or educational disciplines or negative ways children are allowed to treat one another such as bullying or mistreatment of weaker children without any sanctions from the adults who should supervise their activities.  How often people overlook wrongful deeds with, “Children are resilient, they forget the little things from childhood,” or “Parents have a right to raise their children as they see fit,” or “Kids will be kids.”  Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! These kind of sins of exploitation can cause permanent damage to people throughout their lives, causing them to stumble when thinking of God as a loving father, for they have dealt with adults who are the opposite of loving, caring, and protective.  They have experienced the abuse of adults, the uncaring nature of those who should love them, care for them, and protect them from harm.  Sexual sins against little ones are particularly evil for the young are being used to gratify the lust of the adult.  To exploit people, especially children, is the devil’s intention for all of God’s creation.  He desires to damage God’s image in them, to destroy people by alienating them from a loving Father God.  Experiencing sexual sins when very young can cause permanent damage to a person in his or her relationship with a loving God and in relationships with others.  Unfortunately, abusers go on to abuse.  If allowed to go on unchecked, the bully on the playground goes on to bigger crimes and more evil.  God does not take lightly the eternal damage done to little ones because of experiencing horrendous abuse.  Woe to a sinful world because of the things that cause people to stumble!  Such things are part of the experiences of many people, for the world is under the auspices of flesh and the evil one, but God has an accounting of it.  So Jesus says, it is better for you to go into eternity without an eye, a hand, or a foot than allow yourself to harm a little one.  For God’s account is complete and accurate.  Hellfire is ready for all those who have done such deeds without repenting to God, seeking his forgiveness and the forgiveness of the one abused.  God is generous in his grace, but sin must be covered with the blood of Christ, and that only happens through repentance and faith in the complete works of Jesus Christ.  For this to happen, we must recognize sin for what it is.  Paul tells us we are all the same, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23) 

While sexual improprieties with young people are extremely serious, there are other intemperate, improper behaviors of adults towards children that can produce the same kind of alienation in little ones and a lack of trust in God.  Physical abuse originating from angry out-of-control adults can cause a young person not to trust adults.  Parents especially can violate the nature of God when they allow their emotions to harm their children physically and mentally.   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5:4-5)  Intemperate, uncontrolled behavior can permanently damage a person’s view of a loving Father.  To them, authority means control through forced obedience, resulting in little grace or mercy in view of a heavenly Father.  Some people say they do not like to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day because it brings back sad memories from their childhood, and they find it hard to buy a card for their parents that they can give with sincere feeling.  Force does not produce a loving and obedient child as the Old Testament reveals so clearly.  The “we shall do it” as the children of Israel said so often to God under the threat of discipline never changed the Israelites’ hearts.  They rebelled so completely that God finally drove them out of the land of Canaan, for they had become worse than the heathen people around them.  Sometimes we see this today in children of Christian families.  They recede so completely into the nature of the world and into its sins that they are worse than the children who knew no God in their homes.  But what does Paul talk about when dealing with the Thessalonians.  He views himself as a father of a family.  For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.  (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12)  Paul who yielded his own comforts in the world, who sold himself as a sacrifice to God, and was poured out like a drink offering for others, tells adults to treat their children as a good father, displaying the fruit of the Spirit in their interactions with their children.  Encourage children rather than castigate, comfort rather than blame, urge toward good behavior rather than isolating them for mistakes, all of this to allow children to follow a loving and caring Father God.  As a parent you want children who choose to do right when no one is watching, not just when they fear punishment.  The law has never been able to change the human heart, but the Holy Spirit can lead us to a loving heavenly Father.  

Abuse of all sorts will hinder little ones in their relationships with God.  Jesus warns of the consequences of impacting young people’s lives to the point they abandon a loving God, like a sheep who has wandered away from the fold.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.  A young person might wander away from the household of Christians because of unloving treatment by adults, even by those they trusted.  Their lives were shattered by such aberrant activity, but God is faithful and just to not only repay for the injustices they experienced, but also in reclaiming his own.  If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  The Father God knows who has wandered away.  He knows the broken hearts they possess.  He knows they are now feeding off the straw and hay of the evil one, and they are not satisfied.  He does not just know, He seeks after them with the love only the Father could display for their broken lives.  He does not come to them with a heart of anger for their waywardness.  Adults, authorities and the world have mistreated them, used them and then abandoned them.  They are alone, broken in spirit, in a barren landscape, with a hopelessness of not knowing God.  But the Father God knows all of this for the angels have revealed to him every step the little ones have taken in this world.  He knows they are far from the fold.  He seeks them out and his heart is glad when He finds them.  The wayward sheep are brought back to the fold, the household of God.  One time a church friend asked our son, Jeff, about our family.  He wanted to know if Jeff thought one of our children could fall away from the faith and turn from God.  Jeff answered with words to the effect that he thought that could happen because he knew that the Bible says to beware if you think you stand because you might fall.  But then he said what was important.  “One of my family could fall away, but I know how we would love them back if they did.”  He was so right.  Dear friends, abuse, pain, hurt, and rejection have tried to destroy people, but God is an amazing healer, a reconciler, a loving Father.  Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)  He goes on to say that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  So today, lay down your heavy burden of pain and sorrow from any past hurts and accept the rest of the Lord.  He is our Rest—our hiding place.  Come today and do not wait.  He is calling you.  Come to me, He says.  Let him take over and you will find all you need!