CLICK HERE for a worship video for September 6
Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 6, 2026
Matthew 18:15-20
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
As you can probably imagine, people love to send me church bulletin bloopers –
you know, those funny examples of a misspelled or poorly chosen word which entirely changes the meaning of the bulletin announcement. Here are some examples:
“Don’t let worry kill you — let the church help.”
“Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.”
“The senior choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.”
“The council retreat will be hell on May 10 and 11th.”
“The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.”
“The Temple Talk from our church treasurer is entitled, ‘I upped my giving. Up yours.’”
As funny as these are, I chose these particular bloopers from a very long compilation because each of them holds a kernel of truth about life in the church. The not-so-funny truth is that there really are times when we sin against each other. There are times when we get sick of each other. There are times when there is hostility between members of the church. There are times, intentionally or not, when we hurt each other.
And the hurt that happens in church can be particularly painful because we rightly believe that church should be a safe place. The hurt that happens in church is similar to the hurt that happens in family life. It hurts more because we have higher expectations in those contexts. It hurts more because these are the people we should be able to trust. It hurts more because we believe these are the places we should experience love and care, not hurt. Like our families, if church isn’t a safe place for us, it seems like nowhere is, and the world can then seem awfully cruel and hopeless.
I know church hurts hit differently because I hear about them all the time. They make a big impact on people. I’ve had people turn down invitations to serve on council because they have PTSD from the last time they were on it decades ago. I’ve heard of how people have bravely stepped forward to volunteer for something, putting themselves out there, making themselves vulnerable, trying something new, and then they are snapped at by someone for not doing it the way they think it should be done. That hurts! I’ve heard of people being hurt because they were overlooked or not included in something, intentionally or not.
The good news in our gospel reading for today is that Jesus knows all of this about his church. Jesus anticipates that church members will sin against each other. Jesus knows that when he calls a bunch of sinners together to live as brothers and sisters that there are going to be problems from time to time. I find great comfort and hope in the simple fact that Jesus already knows this about us! While church should be a safe place, while it should be a place of love and care and not hurt, and often is, Jesus knows that we will not carry out this calling perfectly. Jesus knows this and yet he calls us to live together as his people anyway.
And as he calls us together to be his church, he gives us a template for how to handle the inevitable hurts that happen when sinners are placed in close proximity to one another. “If a member of the church sins against you,” Jesus says, “go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.”
Jesus instructs us to go directly to the person who has sinned against us and deal with it one on one, in private. This isn’t what usually happens, though, is it? Instead, people often go to everyone BUT the person who hurt them to air their grievances. And so instead of the cancer of conflict being contained, localized, encapsulated, treated – it spreads. It metastasizes. For the health of the body, Jesus instructs us to deal with it directly, one on one, while it is still encapsulated. He encourages us to be intentional about seeking reconciliation, catching it early. Jesus instructs us to go to the source in an effort to restore the relationship.
Jesus knows this won’t always work, and so he has a backup plan for us. If reconciliation doesn’t happen, Jesus instructs us to THEN bring two or three others into the situation. This is not to gang up on anyone. Others are brought in to serve as witnesses, as mediators to help sort things out. Again, the goal is to “regain that one,” to restore the relationship.
If that doesn’t work, Jesus says, it should be brought before the entire church. This doesn’t mean standing up in the middle of a service and pointing fingers. It means bringing it to the church authorities for their help. We have an entire chapter in our constitution dealing with church discipline, and our bishop’s office has a standing committee on discipline to deal with things when they get out of control. But even here the goal is always reconciliation. The goal is always to “regain that one” whenever possible.
But what if that doesn’t work? What then? “If the offender refuses to listen even to the church,” Jesus says, “let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” What does this mean? It is highly debated among biblical interpreters. Some suggest it means putting the offender outside of the fellowship, keeping your distance from them – which is how Gentiles and tax collectors were commonly treated by pious Jews in Jesus’ time. They say it means establishing healthy boundaries, as we might say today.
This makes sense to me. There are times when this is necessary. For instance, pastors who engage in abuse or other conduct unbecoming the office of holy ministry need to be removed from their positions. Full stop. In some rare, extreme circumstances, unrepentant church members who are bringing grievous harm to the body need to be removed from congregations. Jesus, then, might be speaking to those situations where the hurt is too deep or the danger is ongoing and it just needs to be stopped.
Others, however, have pointed out that Jesus went to great lengths to bring Gentiles and tax collectors into his community. He continued to offer abundant forgiveness to Gentiles and tax collectors along with every other kind of sinner. In fact, Matthew, the very author of this gospel, was himself a tax collector at one point! Jesus has a proven track record of reconciling both Gentiles and tax collectors, so others argue that what he is saying here is, “If they won’t listen to you, and they won’t listen to the church, leave them to me.”
These two interpretations aren’t mutually exclusive, I don’t think. We can recognize that there are times when toxic people or situations require drawing lines and establishing boundaries, while at the same time we never give up on praying that repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation would happen, trusting that ultimately it is Christ’s job to make it happen, not ours.
These instructions are very helpful. They are so important. Jesus is teaching us to lean into the inevitable conflicts that arise in church. He is teaching us to see every dispute as an opportunity for pursuing reconciliation, an opportunity for building community, an opportunity even for spiritual growth as we put our trust in him.
But Jesus gives us something even better than instructions in our gospel reading for today. He also gives us a promise. “Where two or three are gathered in my name,” Jesus says, “I am there among them.”
Jesus promises to be present amidst the bloopers. Of course we strive to be a warm and caring congregation. I think we’re better than most at this, and I think that because most of the time that’s what I hear from you. However, we come to church not primarily because of the others who are here and how they treat us. We come to church because it is here that Christ Jesus has promised to be. We do not come to church because the church is full of perfect people. It isn’t! We come to church because it is here that we encounter our perfect savior. Even in the midst of all the failings and sins of his people – which he himself anticipated! – Jesus is here, pouring out his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is here in worship, it is here in his church, that Christ is present in Word and Sacrament to reconcile us to God.
“Where two or three are gathered in my name,” Jesus promises, “I am there among them.”
Because Jesus is here, the church can be place of reconciliation. Because Jesus is here, our hurts can be healed. Because Jesus is here, we are here too. That is why we come – because each and every one of us need the reconciliation he gives to us.
Through him, your sin is forgiven. Through him, our sin is forgiven.
As his reconciling grace and mercy are poured into us today, may they begin to overflow out of us as well.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church