Year A - Proper 18, September 10, 2023
Reconciliation in the World
In the name of our loving, liberating and life-giving God. Amen.
Jesus’ words in Matthew seem ahead of his time, with similarities to some of our Pauline writings to the early Christian churches. Yet, these words are in the midst of what is sometimes known as Jesus’ 4th discourse. So Jesus is in the middle of making an appeal to his followers to protect and safeguard the vulnerable, especially children, and to forgive – not seven times, he says – but seventy seven times.
So, in these conversations about forgiveness and protecting the vulnerable, Jesus gives the disciples this structure for addressing sin:
He says if someone sins against you – the onus, in these verses, is on the one who was injured – go and talk to them. If they listen, you have regained that one .
If they don’t listen, take one or two, and finally a community of people with you.
I think one of the most interesting things is Jesus’ next statement: “if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Did you catch that? We all know how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors!
The point of this passage is not to give us a step-by-step manual to reconciliation in the church. And this passage is not about making someone vulnerable to someone who has abused power. Rather this passage is about reconciliation with those with whom you are in relationship. That being said, this passage does tell two important things about God:
God cares about reconciliation and healing.
God cares about the vulnerable. Saying, “bring someone – or the whole community – with you is not about ganging up on the person who has caused harm. It says that the person who has been injured may be vulnerable.
We are called to walk alongside those who are vulnerable, advocate for them when necessary, and seek God’s healing for the injured. And it is in this context that Jesus says one of the church’s favorite sayings: “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
In other words, reconciliation and healing is one of those thin places, if you will, between heaven and earth. When we experience healing in relationships, we experience God’s presence in a new way.
So what does this all look like in the real world? Perhaps we need reconciliation among us! Perhaps there is someone in our community that needs an advocate to walk with them. Or perhaps you have been injured by someone. Talk to them. Trust God to bring healing to that situation.
Or, perhaps reconciliation means being open to God’s healing as we approach 9/11. A fabulous way to do this is to attend this afternoon’s United We Walk event from 3-6 on the Tri-Faith campus.
Let us ask God to build bridges of healing with our Muslim, Jewish and Christian neighbors in Omaha.
There was once a man who sought reconciliation in a way that made a worldwide impact. He sought reconciliation between a powerful and hateful government and their people. Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke out for the freedom of the Black citizens of South Africa in the midst of the Apartheid that lasted from 1948-1994. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the National Party of S. Africa displaced 3.5 million Black Africans from their homes with increasing brutality that left thousands in detention, injured or dead. Desmond Tutu was elected Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Cape Town in 1986, and he used his voice to speak fervently against the racial segregation and social stratification that had caused so much harm.
And throughout the remainder of the Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke out without being hindered by the fear of retaliation.
Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, attended an event in the mid eighties in which he had the opportunity to hear Desmond Tutu preach. And so Michael Curry remembers Desmond Tutu saying something like this, and I quote:
I believe that one day my beloved S. Africa will be free!
I believe that one day she will be free for all of her children!
I believe that one day, my beloved S. Africa will be the land of all the rainbow children of God!
My guess is that this last one is in Michael Curry’s own words. And you know, I believe that Desmond Tutu, and Michael Curry are right!
I believe that God can bring reconciliation among us! I believe that here in Omaha, God can bring reconciliation between our races and cultures, between the Black community and the Hispanic community and the white community.
I believe that God can bring reconciliation between our Muslim and Jewish siblings and the Christian community!
I believe that Omaha can be a welcoming home for all of God’s people, of every gender and sexual orientation. Please God, bring your healing to our city.
And where does reconciliation begin? It begins with you and me. It begins during coffee hour here at Trinity, where we can be reconciled to each other in love. What keeps us from working toward reconciliation?
People leave churches because they say, well, conflict like this shouldn’t happen in a church. Guess what?! Jesus says “Conflict will happen. And he says, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” When we experience reconciliation on earth, it makes an eternal difference! This loosing and binding statement also reminds us that it is not we who cause the healing and the reconciliation, but God.
Perhaps another reason why we don’t work toward reconciliation is because we say, well, it’s not worth dealing with this conflict. It’s easier to ignore it. When we say this, we are saying that the person with whom there is conflict is not worth it. But God has something different to say.
What keeps us from working toward reconciliation in our city?
We sometimes get the sense that we don’t know where to start, and tackling the racism and Christian nationalism and classism in our city is too overwhelming. But God says, work at it. Because, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
All people are God’s beloved children. I believe that one day, our church, our city, even our country will be the land of all the rainbow children of God! And it starts here, with you.
Seek reconciliation in your world today. This week. And it is in this thin place between heaven and earth where we will know God in a new way. Amen.
Mtr. Lisa Aguilar+