MATTHEW 18:15-20
LOVE WORKS TO PRESERVE OUR NEIGHBOR.
In the name + of Jesus.
The second table of the Law is summed up, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Even unbelievers would admit that this is a noble sentiment. But how we put that love into practice is where Christians part company with the world. One clear example of that is in our Gospel lesson today.
Jesus begins, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15) The first thing we notice in this sentence is that we are dealing with a brother, that is, with a fellow Christian. Jesus uses a word that is more endearing than “someone.” It is not just “If someone sins against you.” No, it is “If your brother sins.” As fellow Christians, we have a special relationship with one another. We don't always get to know each other as well as we ought. Part of that is because suburban living has us scattered abroad. Another part, however, is that we don't put in the work of getting to know and care for our fellow Christians as we ought. You might know the faces of the members here, but you are embarrassed that you can't put a name to those faces. And if you can't do that, you certainly don't know their struggles, their fears, or their joys.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We ought to recognize that we are not merely bound together by membership of a congregation, we are bound together in Christ for eternal life. We are equally loved by the Lord. Although none of us has an inherent right to the kingdom of God, we all have received a place in it by God's grace. We have all been redeemed by the blood of Jesus who suffered and died to take away our sins. The Holy Spirit has converted our hearts and minds to confess that God's word is good, God's ways are right, and God's people are beloved by him. If God deems you worthy of love and makes you a possessor of his kingdom, then I must treat you with great honor. You are more than a generic “someone,” you are a brother or sister. Love works to preserve our neighbor, and all the more a family member.
The next thing we note is this: Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15) Love works to preserve our brothers and sisters. We can put up with a lot of differences among us. If someone is quirky or has a different sense of humor, style, or political leanings, perhaps it is annoying to you. But that only means you need to demonstrate patience and compassion, not that they need correction. Jesus said, “If your brother sins.” (Matthew 18:15). These are not mistakes or short-comings. These are attitudes and actions which oppose the word of God. To continue in them is to defy God who set the standard of what is right and wrong, good and evil. Even to tolerate them threatens faith. So, if you see your brother or sister in Christ who is persisting in sin or embracing it, love will move you to “go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15) Love works to preserve our neighbor.
What's more, love will also work to preserve our neighbor's reputation. Knowing that someone is persisting in a sin is often cause for gossip. But what good does it do for our brother to talk to others about him? This does not preserve his good name; it destroys it. Therefore, love will work to preserve the reputation of our brothers and sisters. But love cannot stand by silently to watch a fellow Christian embrace his sins and destroy his faith. Love must speak up in love and concern.
This is where Christian love departs from the worldly definition of love. In fact, the world finds this Christian definition of love to be utterly offensive, intolerant, and hateful. The world teaches us to keep our distance, mind our own business, and turn a blind eye. The world sees someone who flaunts disobedience to God's word, and the world cheers them on. “This is how God made you. Don't apologize to anyone for who you are or what you do. You do you!” is the cry. Anyone who would expose such attitudes and actions as sins or would dare to try to correct them—being sure that they actually are sins—is shouted down and becomes a victim of the cancel culture.
Now, if you see an unbeliever who thinks and acts like an unbeliever, you don't need to be surprised. If someone does not know or believe God's word, we should not expect that they would live like they do. But “If your brother sins,” (Matthew 18:15) this grieves us. We know the danger they put themselves in—under God's wrath, cut off from God's grace, and if left unrepentant, destined for hell. This cannot be acceptable to see a brother or sister headed in this direction. Therefore, love works to preserve our neighbor, and all the more a brother or sister in Christ.
“If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Matthew 18:15) This is always our goal and our prayer. If the Lord does not delight in the death of the wicked, neither would we. But we do not always see the results we want. So, “if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:16-18)
Love works to preserve our brother. But perhaps this does not sound like love to you. Perhaps it does not seem loving to join together in exposing the persistent sins of a fellow member. We would rather not hurt someone's feelings than call them to repent. Often friendship trumps faithfulness to God's word. But if we keep our distance, mind our own business, and turn a blind eye, we become silent partners with them in their sin. And if they perish in their sins, they will curse us for watching it and saying nothing to warn them. Perhaps we could excuse ourselves for not confronting a stranger, but if it is your brother, how can you say nothing? Love always seeks the good of our neighbor, and it is never good to have someone embrace their sins and to defy God—not a generic “someone,” and certainly not a brother or sister.
If we follow Jesus' instructions to preserve our brothers and sisters, we ought not be surprised to hear a defensive or a bitter response. It could be that someone is actually ashamed to be caught in his sin, and he might vigorously protest that he is a good person and does not need your concern. He might turn on you and say, “You have your own sins to worry about. Let me alone!” Or there is the ever-popular, “Whatever happened to, 'Do not judge'?” But here is what you must remember: You are not the judge. And you should never claim to be the judge. Jesus' instructions say this: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15) The phrase “tell him his fault” could also be translated “bring it to light” or “point it out to him.” So, how do we bring someone's sin to light? We compare it to God's word. “God says this, but you are doing that.” In this way, God is and remains the judge. It is God's word that we are upholding as the standard of right and wrong, good and evil. But if a brother hears God's word and still defends his sin and commits to continuing in it, then we have a new confession. He is calling God's word a lie. He is calling God a liar. And the Bible warns: “Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4) If one persists in sin and denies that God's word applies to him, he has made his confession. He is sadly no longer a brother in Christ, and we acknowledge it accordingly. This is what Jesus means to “be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:18)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has brought us into the family of God by his grace. We are all sinners, and we all have faults that could be flaunted and rubbed in our faces. But Jesus does not do that. He has not kept his distance; he became one of us. He did not mind his own business; it IS his business to save sinners from wrath and hell. He does not turn a blind eye; his eye is on you and he looks on you in mercy. He has taken up our sins so that they do not condemn us. And he does not treat us as mere acquaintances or a generic “someone.” He tells us that we are children of heavenly Father and that he is our brother.
The love of Christ did the work to bring us peace and to preserve us in God's favor. Jesus suffered the hellish torment of God's wrath when he hung on the cross for us. That is how the Lord deals with our sins. If our sins are taken away, nothing stands against us. Nothing. And now, he continues to address us in his word. He admonishes us so that we do not go back to our sins. He encourages us to strive for what is good and right so that we honor him and benefit our neighbor. He comforts us with the promise that we are his, clothed in his righteousness, and therefore continually pure in the sight of God.
What Jesus has granted to us, we want given to all. Love works to preserve our neighbor. We long to see all people freed from sin, death, and judgment. Only faith in Jesus and his words provides that. And we yearn all the more for Christ's redeemed to remain his saving grace. Only faith in Jesus and his words preserves that—which is why we continue in it, which is why we work to see our brothers and sisters remain in it, and which is why we cling to the words of Jesus. For Jesus alone strengthens and keeps us in the true faith unto life everlasting.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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