Matthew 18:15-20
Do you remember the big fad a few years back when people walked around with those plastic bracelets that said WWJD on them, for “What would Jesus do?” I never really liked them, for a several reasons. For one thing, I don’t think people took them very seriously. If they did, they’d have to admit that going to parties with prostitutes, buying more alcohol for drunks, consorting with convicted criminals, and hanging out with the outcasts of society
are all distinct possibilities, something which I doubt most of the pious folks wearing those bracelets would ever do. But more than that, it is the hypothetical nature of the phrase that bothers me: “What would Jesus do . . . if he was in this situation?” I actually like that other bracelet that came out shortly afterwards with the letters JWPNHGHITSITFP on it, for “Jesus would probably not have gotten himself into this situation in the first place.” But
any talk of what Jesus would or would not do is not faithful to the Gospel we just heard, in which Jesus does not say, “When two or three are gathered in my name, I might, possibly, on a good day, be among them.” No, when two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
Jesus is here among us right now. Christ is the Incarnation of God’s Presence in all human life; when even the smallest human community recognizes that, Christ is right there with them. Not just in big events like Sunday worship, but in every gathering: at WAC, in the Food Pantry, at Finance Commission meetings, when a couple of mothers are hanging out with their kids on the playground: always and everywhere, Christ is present. And so the great question is not: What would Jesus do, if he were here? The great question is: What is Jesus doing? — because he is here. And Christ comes among us with all the energy and power of God Almighty. He’s always doing something!
And we know that something is always about love. But love takes concrete forms, and so this Gospel today gives us direct insight into what Jesus is up to. On the face of it, this is a passage about conflict resolution in churches, probably not anybody’s favorite topic. It outlines a pretty arduous process to follow if someone in the church hurts someone else. In my experience, this is widely ignored and the most common approach to this problem in churches is passive aggressive avoidance: letting it go outwardly while seething about
inwardly and talking badly about the offender behind his back. But Jesus tells us we have to do whatever we can to be reconciled to that person, even enlisting the help of a few friends or the whole community, if needed, to do so. Can you imagine doing that every time someone annoys you at church? Actually, I can. I have preached some sermons and had unhappy parishioners set up “come to Jesus” talks with me afterwards. And that’s okay, because the point of those conversations has been to maintain relationship even when there is disagreement or hurt. The goal should always be reconciliation and renewed connection.
But that is not just a church goal: that is what Jesus is doing in community — working to maintain and when necessary restore the bonds of love. Did you notice in this passage that, even though it talks about one person sinning against another, there is no talk of punishment or payback. Because that is not what Jesus does. I need to stop and make this really clear to you. Jesus does not do punishment. That may stagger us, since our society is all about punishing wrongdoers: we have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. “Lock’em up” may be an American mantra, but it is not a Jesus mantra. We as a society want retributive justice, but Jesus, the embodiment of God’s love, wants restorative justice. And there is a world of difference between those two things. What Jesus is always doing, what God is always doing, is working to set thing things right and restore people to wholeness of life in community with others.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus begins his public ministry in a synagogue by taking the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reading these words from chapter 61: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He does not say, “I have come to smite the wicked and to punish the evildoers.” That’s not what he’s about, that’s not what he does. I was on 5th
Street the other day and saw an AHIP truck, you know, from the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program. Painted across the side of it was their simple slogan: “If it’s broke, fix it.” Yes! That is what Jesus does. He fixes things. He heals the sick and binds up the brokenhearted and forgives the sinner and restores the outcast to community. When two or three are gathered together, he is there among them, and he is moving to fix whatever is broken there among them. Because he is Love, and that is what Love does.
He is doing it right now. His Spirit is moving through this gathered community to touch every hurting heart, every damaged person sitting in these pews. He is moving through this parish to relieve the hunger and poverty and spiritual brokenness in the community around us. He is moving through all of us together to embrace immigrants and Muslims and African-Americans and LGBTQ people and, yes, racists and disenfranchised white people and everyone who feels alienated or marginalized and include them in loving, authentic, and life-changing community. When we pray, we are not ultimately asking that God bless what we are doing: we are seeking to change,
so that we can do what God is already blessing. That’s why when two or three
people get it, and pray accordingly, their prayer is already answered: they are
already doing it, or rather Christ is already doing it through them.
So forget about what Jesus would do: we know what he is doing.
Let’s agree on that and pray for that, so that all of us here can be part of
the restoring, healing, reconciling, forgiving, loving work that Jesus wants to
do in us and through us. I’m serious: pray to be a channel of Christ’s love to
fix what is broken around us, and our prayer will be answered immediately.
Christ will make us the answer to that prayer, Christ will make you the answer
to that prayer. And then we will all know that Jesus is here among us.
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