Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

Matthew 18:15-20

I think I became a true Minnesotan two weeks ago.  We camped in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, the BWCA for backwoods-y types.  I’m not going to talk about the bugs, or sleeping on the ground, or even the super moon that was waxing over the mirrored waters of the lakes.

I want to tell you about one of our packs, lovingly, or maybe not so lovingly, named Big Bertha.  It was the heaviest pack that we had to portage.  It was a bit of a weird shape.  Here’s the weirder part.  I kind of liked picking it up and having it slung, usually with two or three helpers, over my shoulders.  I felt strong and sort of “lumberjack-y.” For about ten minutes.

Turns out I liked even more putting it down, literally letting it fall off my shoulders to the ground, often again with a little help to keep my shoulder in its socket.

 It felt good to be free, until several hours of paddling made me look forward to stopping and picking up that thing again. Somehow that rhythm of picking it up and putting it down, sharing the path with others, having a little help, made a way. Portaging felt like church.

Matthew picks up an issue that must have been facing his young church.  It didn’t take too long after Jesus was gone before the church began to experience conflict.  Sometimes people think the church should be free of the conflicts that are often in other organizations.  The disagreements, the petty grudges, the failures, the fighting, the gossiping.  However, it’s not true.  Like we often say in the new member’s class, “Inevitably we will disappoint you.”  Turns out the church if full of human beings.

Matthew suggests that the difference isn’t the presence of conflict but how we deal with it.  These are Matthew’s suggestions in the voice and Spirit of Jesus for his church.  I doubt he realized that his words would get passed on for millennia. Don’t hear this as a literal policy document but an example of how early Christians were grappling with their problems.  For example, I think we’ve all learned that safety and power dynamics have to be considered as we go.  Sometimes it’s not possible to go directly to a person who has abused or wounded you.  Let’s imagine, for the moment, that Matthew isn’t addressing those issues but the general bumps and difficulties of regular, human life.

1. In general, don’t avoid it. Deal with it. Go to the person. Most of us prefer to avoid it and let it pile up in our huge reservoir resentments. Dealing with conflict directly takes a lot of courage and humility.
2. Number two is related to Number 1. Don’t call or text a friend first to say, “Can you believe what they just did?”  Don’t craft a message for social media.  Don’t gossip about it over lunch in the cafeteria.  Matthew says to do it alone.  No triangulating. Be in the same room together.  Look into each other’s eyes.  Maybe imagine that you misunderstood or need more information to understand the situation.  And, if there really was something wrong, it doesn’t help to unnecessarily embarrass or shame the other.
3. Only if the personal, humble, respectful approach doesn’t move things along, then take one or two others. Not a gang of like-minded people. Bring in another set of ears who might hear something that you’ve both missed; someone who can help you talk to each other; maybe someone with special gifts of love and compassion.
4. At each step, Matthew advises against only speaking with like-minded or “friendly” voices. Even at the last stage, bringing in the whole community doesn’t mean gang up as a group on the person.  The whole community in all its diversity; those who don’t know you, those who can be objective or have another viewpoint.  A group that can keep you accountable, even as you describe the wound or listen to a defense.
5. Jesus does seem to know that there are some behaviors that have to eliminated from the community. This is unfortunately true.  Think of physical abuse or violence.  Think of cruel and demeaning speech or continuous derailing of the community’s mission of love and justice.  Sometimes communities have to say no to certain behaviors.
6. And if you get to that point, you can then treat the offender as a gentile and a tax collector, which is exactly who Jesus chooses to have dinner with. Even after expulsion, there’s an assumption that reconnection, forgiveness, and something new is possible.  No one is considered “lost” forever.  Reminds me of the Dalia Llama, who always says, “Be kind whenever possible.  It’s always possible.”

None of these points are one-size-fits-all, but you get the idea.  Mercy, kindness, liberation, forgiveness are the values that move us along the path of life in Christ.  Granted, sometimes, it’s really hard to pick up this work.  Easier sometimes to hit back, or grumble, or just hold a grudge.  But, in the end, the only way we can put it all down is through this way of Jesus.  This is why we need these seasons of faith formation, where we can talk together about what the community of Jesus is like, and how we do it together.  How do Christians in the 21^st century, who are living with devasting conflicts and challenges that divide the world, pick up this work of mercy and love.  If just two or three of us manage to live into this mighty work, then heaven itself notices and follows along.  What we pick up, heaven will pick up. What we let fall along the way, heaven lets fall along the way.

When two people are picking up the task of reconciliation, Jesus is there.  When three people are bearing the weight of compassion, Jesus is holding the weight, too.  The cross that centers us is the sign that God has picked up the baggage of the world.  God holds it with us.  In fact, God often takes in the pain of it all with and for us, so that we can put down our grief and fear, our missteps and our fallen communities.

What I loved most about the portages was that moment when you could see ahead that there was a break in the trees.  There was a little more light. The lake was there.  It was about time to drop the pack.  There was water.

There is always that day when the journey ends, you hand over your pack, everything is taken back by the outfitter, and for an eternity you are free, along with all those who carried heavy burdens, those who offended you, those who forgave you, those who didn’t, the gentiles, and tax collectors, all of God’s beloved, paddling to another shore.