When Is Enough Enough?

Matthew 18:10-20

What in Matthew’s gospel may sound like a lost cause may not be all that final. Jesus is discussing conflict within the church when he says, “If the member refuses to listen to (two or three members), tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). The key terms here are church, Gentile, and tax collector, and they deserve some careful attention.

First of all, we know that Jesus is really talking past the disciples to us because the church is a post-resurrection reality, birthed at Pentecost. How then are we to deal with the likes of Gentiles and tax collectors? Jesus can’t mean that we give up on them entirely. The mission of the church, as given by Jesus later in Matthew’s gospel, is to go and “make disciples of all nations (i.e. Gentiles)” (28:19). And Jesus himself has already expressed his concern for tax collectors in particular by calling a tax collector named Matthew to become a disciple. When Jesus’ choice of dinner companions (“sinners and tax collectors”) was questioned he answered, “I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners” (9:1-9).

When Jesus says that those who refuse to listen to the church should be treated as Gentiles and tax collectors he is not giving up on them, but singling them out for a renewed effort at reconciliation. So I would suggest that Jesus’ words in Matthew 18 are not a warning to those who disagree with the church, but a reminder to the church – as the body of Christ at work in the world – “to call not the righteous, but sinners,” and “to go and make disciples of all nations.” In other words enough is never enough.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts to those who need the good news, and grant us the patience to live you word into reality. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

On Feeling Stupid

James 2:1-13

It’s a short phrase that carries quite a wallop, there at the end of our reading from James: “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b). We should be used to this idea by now. Jesus has made it on a number of occasions. In Matthew 18:21-22 Jesus tells Peter to be prepared to forgive someone seventy-seven times. And in Luke 11:2-4 (as in Matthew 6:9-13) the disciples are taught to pray that their sins or debts may be forgiven as they forgive those who have sinned against them or are indebted to them. James simply amplifies the idea. “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

But this is one of those ideas that seems so counterintuitive to us. “What goes around comes around,” we say. “An eye for an eye,” we quote from the Old Testament, forgetting that Jesus announced a complete reordering of that idea. We believe that judgment equates to justice and are eager to claim our vindication. This is a point on which I stumble quite often. When I feel that I or a loved one have been wronged it takes me quite a while to let go of the hurt and the anger. I want the offenders to know how they have hurt me. I want them to feel the same amount of pain—or more. So I lope along, feeling stupid or inept because I can not exact my vengeance the way I would like to.

How utterly foolish of me! My anger accomplishes nothing except to rob me of the chance to grow in maturity of faith and obedience to God. And how can I expect God’s mercy for me, when I am unwilling to express it to others. Jesus and the author of James each know what they are saying, that they are challenging a common human tendency to “get even.” But they are also offering a better way to live, one in which we live our faith even in the most difficult of times, even in the most challenging of circumstances. Anyone can hold on to anger. But those who have taken the example of Jesus Christ to heart can begin to live with mercy and patience. That’s my prayer for myself today, that I would allow mercy to triumph in my heart and to lead me to a better way of life.

Prayer: Lord, help us to forgive just as you continue to forgive us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.