Go, Go, Go, Go, Go, Go!
A sermon based on Matthew 18:15-20
Sunday, September 28, 2014 – Pentecost
The score was close. The two teams had been battling for a while. This was flag football at its finest. The Grizzlies were playing well. And this play went just as it was planned. The other team fell for the fake. The receiver was wide open! The pass was complete! And the coach and the fans all shouted, "Go, go, go, go, go, go!" as the receiver tore down the field…
Jesus had just shared with his disciples God's love for lost and straying sinners. He likened it to a shepherd leaving 99 sheep behind to go chase after that one that wandered from the fold. Now, in today's text, which immediately follows that "Parable of the Lost Sheep," he tells his disciples how he wants them to love lost and straying sinners. He tells them that he wants us—for we are his disciples who follow after him too—to go after them in the same way. Like a coach shouting from the sideline, we hear Jesus tell us to "Go, go, go, go, go, go!"
Our text is from Matthew 18:15-20…
15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony 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, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
Tim was doing his job wrong. He didn't know he was doing it wrong, but he was. In fact, what he was doing was dangerous and there was a good chance that he would get fired for doing it that way. But he just didn't know any better. He'd never been trained. His co-worker, Bob, saw what he was doing. He knew it was wrong. He knew he might get fired for it. And he knew it was an easy fix, if only someone would show Tim how to do it the right way. But Bob figured, "It's none of my business. Besides, it would be uncomfortable to confront Tim. Tim wouldn't be happy to hear he was doing it wrong." So Bob said nothing.
How cold. How uncaring. How loveless.
The truth is that you know people who are doing things wrong—not just at work, but things that are sinful; they're wrong before God. And you know that the loss of a job is nothing compared to what's in store for those who sin against God and do not repent. And to say nothing, justifying it by saying to yourself, "It's none of my business. It would be uncomfortable and awkward. The person probably won't like me for confronting them. And besides, that's the job of the pastor. That's the job of the elders." Well…
How cold. How uncaring. How loveless.
So Jesus tells us to go after them, to go again and again, to go, go, go, go go, go!
I. Go #1 – Show Him His Fault
First, he says "go to him!" Go #1: 15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
Note, this isn't just some random stranger, but a brother—that is one who is a fellow brother or sister in Christ, in danger of losing that status by their sin. It's not an enemy, but a friend. It's one you care about, one you love, one that may have hurt you directly, one that might have hurt you badly. But they're not to be treated as an enemy, but with love and compassion.
And if that brother sins, that is, "misses the mark," messes up, and wrongs you and break's God's commands, then go! Go to them! Point out the sin! Do it gently and kindly. Do it privately so you don't embarrass them. You know a cornered animal will fight even harder. So don't corner them. Come along side them, "Dear brother, dear sister, I'm concerned for you. Can we talk?" Confront that person lovingly, just as you would want someone to confront you.
The temptation is to just ignore it, to maybe just report the sin to the pastor or an elder and expect them to take care of it, or to avoid getting involved at all. But if you know about, you're already involved because God tells you to, "Go and show him his fault, just between the two of you."
I get that this isn't fun. It's not my favorite part of being a pastor. And I get that it's not your favorite part of being a Christian. But this is one of those crosses that we talked about last week that you get to take up. And to shirk this cross is not only loveless to the person going astray, but it's loveless to God who tells you to go.
II. Go #2 – Take One or Two Others Along
Now, let's suppose you do actually confront a brother in his sin. You lovingly point out what they're doing and what God wants them to do. If he listens, great! If he repents, comfort him with the Gospel! Then let it drop. Let it die there. "You have won your brother over!" Not to your side, but back to Jesus' side! The matter is done.
But what if he won't listen to you? Well, then he's on his own, right? You tried. You did your best. Now it's on him. Shake the dust off your feet and move on! You have other things to do, right? Wrong. A person's eternal soul is at stake here. Now is not the time to get lazy! So Jesus tells us to "Go!" again!
Go #2: "But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'" "If he will not listen" is literally, "If he doesn't hear you." And it could be translated, "If he doesn't understand you." Maybe he just can't hear it from you personally. You're too close to the matter. Maybe he just doesn't understand the way you're communicating how what he did was wrong. But that doesn't let you off the hook. Go again! This time take others along with you. This is an intervention here! Maybe one of them can help your brother to see what he has done and what the sad consequences are if he will not repent.
And if he listens, great! If he repents, comfort him with the Gospel! Then let it drop. Let it die. "You have won your brother over!" The matter is done.
But if he doesn't listen? Well, now you've really tried hard. You did all you could! Now you can let it go, right? No. Still wrong. Jesus tells us to "Go!" again…
III. Go #3 – Tell It to the Church
If he won't listen to you, and he won't listen to you plus one or two more, then it's time to get more involved. Go! Go! Go! Jesus says.
Go #3: "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church…" "If he refuses to listen," is literally, "If he hears aside," that is, if he listens casually, or carelessly, not giving heed, even if you've gone to him privately, then with one or two more. Tell it to the church. Maybe someone there will be able to talk some sense into this confused sinner.
And if he listens, great! If he repents, comfort him with the Gospel! Then let it drop. Let it die. "You have won your brother over!" The matter is done.
But if he still doesn't listen? Well, then, be done with him! Three strikes and you're out! Never speak to him again, right? Well… not exactly. We are to still go after the lost soul, with tough love. "And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." This is what we call "excommunication." And it is far more serious than getting kicked out of a church. It's declaring that one has removed himself from "the Church" with a capital "C." To, "treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector," Is to treat him as an unbeliever. For that is what he now is. He has declared, by his impenitence, that he wants no forgiveness for this sin. And so, he has no forgiveness for this sin. He is no longer treated as a brother, but as the unbeliever that he is. He is removed from the fellowship of believers and declared to be hell-bound, not in self-righteous condemnation, but in love, praying that this declaration might jar the stubborn, impenitent sinner to recognize the seriousness of sin and the damning results of unbelief.
And by the way, how did Jesus treat the pagan (literally "Gentile") and the tax collector? Well, we know how he treated the Samaritan woman at the well and the Canaanite "dog." We know how he treated Matthew and how he treated Zacchaeus. He sought them like a shepherd who left 99 sheep behind to go after one lost sheep. So, we too keep that lost sinner in our prayers asking the Holy Spirit to break through their stubborn resistance and lead them to repentance that we might comfort them with the Gospel and bring them back into the fold.
IV. Go #4 – With the End in Mind
These first three "Go's" are sometimes called the three steps of church discipline. And I understand that title because Jesus shows a progression of increased pressure, if you will, as we strive to lead a person to repent of their sin. But I think there's maybe a danger in calling these actions "three steps." I think it can lead us to believe that we can just walk through them, 1, 2, 3, checking them off our list and then be done.
But I think better than calling them "steps" might be calling them "guidelines." The goal here is not to make sure we just do our duty to the lost sinner before we declare "Three strikes and you're out!" The goal is not to clean up the church records. The goal is not to relieve us of responsibility to the lost. The goal is to save souls—to win our brother over.
So we should go (Go #4) with that end in mind, always asking, "How can I win my brother over, not to myself, but back to Christ? How can I save this soul from hell?" We should go, go, go, go with an ardent desire to do whatever it takes to rescue that person from an eternity of torment. Go with that end in mind and we'll go with love and care, with patience and prayer, instead of just going through the motions, going through the steps to check them off.
This is our responsibility. This is our task that Jesus has given for each of us to do. This "Ministry of the Keys," as it's been called, has been given to each one of us, whether pastor, elder, or layperson, whether man or woman, whether young or old. Jesus said to his disciples of all ages: "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." And he means for us to go and do this important work!
V. Go #5 – With the Assurance of Sins Forgiven
Now all of this, is what we should be doing. But can anyone here honestly say they've done a great job at this task that Jesus gives to all believers? Have you always been willing to confront a brother or sister in their sin? Or have you sometimes just looked the other way? Have you always been willing to be persistent and keep going again and again to that straying person? Have you always kept the true goal in mind and gone through these guidelines with a sincere prayer that God would save this lost sinner? Me either.
"Dear brother, dear sister, I'm concerned for you. Can we talk?" How cold. How uncaring. How loveless we are. This is your fault. Listen to me. Be won over. Repent of your loveless sin that has failed to go, go, go as Jesus commands.
Are you sorry for the loveless way in which you've treated your brother in failing to lovingly confront him in his sin? Then I have good news for you: Jesus promised, "Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." I already announced it to you earlier in the service, but let me say it again: "God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." I forgive you, not because I have any power to forgive on my own, but because Christ has given us this privilege and responsibility to forgive the sins of the penitent.
So be assured that you are forgiven! You have peace with God. So go! Go #5: Go with assurance that you are forgiven. That's what makes you eager to serve God in thanks. That's what makes you eager to serve others. That's what makes you eager to do the difficult work of going to an erring brother to show him his fault. You are a new creation in Christ, having been forgiven of your sins! And you are eager to share that forgiveness with others.
VI. Go #6 – With God's Promise
And finally, as you do go, you know that you don't go alone. Jesus gave his disciples a comforting promise as he sent them out on this difficult task: "I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
If two agree, and this is the Greek word from which we get the word symphony, God is with us. He's with us as we gather together in worship. He's with us as two or three go to confront an erring brother. He's with us when we gather together to pray for those who have gone astray. This is where we get our power. This is where we get our authority. This is where we get our strength. We go trusting Jesus' promise that he is with us—the same Jesus who was willing to leave 99 sheep behind to come chasing after us when we were lost in our sin.
So go, dear friends! Go, go, go, go, go, go! Go lovingly confront your erring brother. Go with two or three others if he will not listen. Go tell it to the church if he refuses to take heed. Go with the end in mind—that your goal is to save this lost soul from hell. Go with the assurance that you are forgiven for your failure to love others in this way and for every sin. Go with the promise that Jesus is with you as you live to serve him in thanks for the way he lived and died for you. In Jesus' name, dear friends, go, go, go, go, go, go! Amen!
In Him,
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