16th Sunday Pentecost
Proper 18
Matthew 18:15-20
"The Office of the Keys!"
15* ¶ "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16* But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
17* 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.
18* Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19* Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20* For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
RSV Matthew 18:15-20
Along with our gospel lesson, I would like to use another text from Matthew’s gospel: Matthew 16:19 : Jesus says: "I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
And also, John 20:23 :"And when Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Our texts this morning are focusing on one particular function of the church, the The Office of the Keys. As Luther says in the small catechism:"What is the Office of the Keys?" It is that authority which Christ gave to his church to forgive the sins of those who repent and to declare to those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven.
As its says in Free to Be, a Handbook to Luther’s Small Catechism, on page 197: "The key to the kingdom is forgiveness--Christ’s barrier-breaking, future-opening gift. Just as a key opens a door that has been locked shut, Christ’s gift of forgiveness breaks down all the barriers the old Adam raises in us, including the old Adam, himself."
Further it says:"As this word is spoken to you, you can be sure God is forgiving you all your sin, that he has and always will. Christ himself is turning the key for you as these words are spoken, breaking down your yesterdays and opening up your tomorrows."
Many question today, why they should go to church? Many ask of what value is the church for my faith life? Did you know that 40% of Christians don’t belong to any church but profess, at the same time, to be Christians and believe in Jesus Christ? If so many professing Christians do not belong to a church, then the question needs to be asked, why join a church? Why go to church? Can’t I be just as good of a Christian at home, saying my own devotions, doing my own good deeds, praying my own prayers, and watching church on TV in the comfort of my own living room? Why go to church?
We go to church because God commanded it in the 3rd commandment.Jesus says He fulfilled the law and if we are in Christ, then we are in the church. Beyond that, He gave to the church this authority of forgiving sins. It says clearly in our texts that the authority of Christ to forgive sins works through the church. Contrary to popular belief, the church does have authority. In the U.S. today, we have so individualize our faith, we have so personalized Christ, that we forget that Christ himself established the church through the disciples and gave it the power of the Office of the Keys and the commission to baptize people in Christ’s name.
For many today, the church is seen like the people in the following story: "There is a story about some people sitting in a boat. One of them begins to bore a hole beneath the section of the ship where he was sitting. His friends ask,"What are you doing there?" He says to them,"Of what concern is it to you? am I not boring a hole in my section of the ship?" They reply, "But the water is coming in and sinking the ship under us!!!"
We have gotten so wrapped up in the "ME" generation in the "ME" lifestyle, that we forget our actions affect those around us. As we decide to forget the church, as we forget to be loyal to the church, as we so individualize our faith, we loose the fellowship, the corporate dimension of the church. The church becomes nothing important to us, because we sense we are somehow above the church.
We forget we have been called together by God through Christ and the Holy Spirit to be in and of the church. We forget that the church has authority in our lives. This group of people called together in the name of Christ is not something people thought of, but God created the church. He created the church and gave to the church some authority in His name. As Lenski says in his commentary on Matthew on pg.704:"This power of the keys belong to the church which, indeed, uses the called ministers to administer discipline, but the power put forth is that of Christ which has been entrusted to no special order of men but to the entire church." He says further:"throughout we see that the church administers the keys and that the apostles and the elders (pastor) as the proper ministrants of the church lead in the work."
Why go to church?? We go to church to receive, to be part of God’s community in which we receive from God that which we cannot find anywhere else. In the church, we find forgiveness of sins. In the church we find the sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In the church, we find God’s complete revelation for us as His people. The church comes together as many people to receive from God. Jesus says:"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also."
We gather in His name so we might receive his full revelation. So, yes you can stay home, but you will be missing something. If you never come to church, you would miss a vital element in your faith life, that is, the authority Christ gave to the church to forgive sins in His name.
Let us make this point crystal clear. The authority to forgive sins belongs to the church in Christ’s name, but the power belongs to Christ, Himself.
This authority has caused much confusion in the church. It has led to a denial of this authority, so that those who want to control God, so manipulate Him, can do so.
As one controls God, a person feels one has no responsibility for actions, beliefs or convictions of faith except to God. This kind of confusion leads one to be very judgmental of another’s faith. In this confusion, God has little life in and of himself, but only life as the believer gives. In this sense, God cannot meddle or reprimand or quicken conscience, because He has no authority only what is given Him. In this confusion, the believer is at the center stage of faith, not God. As this evolves, then one becomes very judgmental, judging everyone else by one’s own idea of faith and life.
A poet said this: Don’t find fault with the man who limps or stumbles along life’s road unless you have worn the shoes he wears or struggled beneath his load. There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt, though hidden away from our view.
If placed on your back, the burden he bears might cause you to stumble too.
God gave this authority to the church, not as a way for us to become judges, but as a way for the church to be reconcilers of people. The church is to be the ground where people are brought together in Christ’s name, brought together with one another and with Christ. The church is not a place where division abounds, but where reconciliations happens. Here in the church, through the authority of the Office of the Keys, people are brought into a freeing relationship with God as they are freed from sin and the door of the kingdom of God is opened. This freeing, this opening, this forgiveness happens here in the church. Here one encounters the power of Christ’s forgiveness so that we might become one with Him and with our neighbor in faith.
"In this power of reconciliation, the church becomes the place where true feelings are present. Here in the church people can be and should feel free to be "real" with their emotions. Here we can be "real" because we are freed by forgiveness to allow ourselves to be open to another in Christ. When people are "real" with each other, then an honest relationship takes place and growth in faith can happen. If here in the church we are phony, pretending with one another,then there will not be a freedom to trust another and the church will be filled with people who stagnate in their faith.
When "forgiveness" denies that there is anger, acts as though it never happened, smiles as though it never hurt, fakes as though it’s all forgotten----don’t offer it. Don’t trust it. Don’t depend on it. It’s not forgiveness. It’s a magical fantasy."1
Another danger in this confusion about the Office of the Keys comes when a person feels they have all the answers of faith. This leads to a very arrogant stance as a Christian. This stance leads one to believe that all the answers to faith lie with them. Their way of belief, their ideas of God are right and the rest of the tradition of the church, the Bible are ignored. Traditions become meaningless and the Bible becomes another instrument in their belief system as they interpret it in the same fashion of their belief system.
When this kind of arrogance is adopted, there is a danger that the person or persons feel they cannot do anything wrong, so they do not need the authority of the church through the Office of the Keys. There is a danger that one feels as if they own the church. There way is right and everyone else is wrong. The corporate dimension of the church is lost. Instead of the church being a group of people, it becomes centered either in a small group or an individual.
But the church isn’t own by anyone, or controlled by any group. The church received its authority and commission from God. The authority to forgive sins and the commission to Baptize.
A pastor says: "I spotted the little girl coming down the sidewalk in from the church building. She had long, stringy hair, and big pretty brown eyes. She looked to be about 5 and I knew that I knew her.
"Hey, mister, do you own that church?"Her words sunk in and gave me a funny feeling.
"No, I don’t own it, but I go to church here."
"I bet you own that car right here, don’t you?"
"Yes, I do."
"I remember you," she explained, "You took me home one day."
"Yes, I remember you, too,"I answered, "it was raining and the wheel had dome off your tricycle." We talked a bit and she drove off as quickly as she had come, but her question stayed with me, "Hey, mister, do you won the church?"
I thought, "Neither you nor I own the church, a pew a class or the preacher. It all belongs to God. We know we don’t own these but sometimes we act like we do. We act like we do when we keep things for ourselves and refuse to co-operate. We act like we do when we make our decisions based on our wills and not upon what Jesus has taught or what is best for the congregation. We act like we do when we keep both church and Gospel for ourselves instead of reaching out to the community.
Sometimes we get mixed up.
"Hey, mister, do you own that church??"
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale September 2, 2002
1Dr. David Augsburger,Family Concern,Wheaton IL 60187
