{"id":547,"date":"2011-09-04T14:41:02","date_gmt":"2011-09-04T18:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=547"},"modified":"2011-09-04T14:42:17","modified_gmt":"2011-09-04T18:42:17","slug":"building-a-better-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/building-a-better-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Better Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
\n<\/a>Ezekiel 33:7-9
\nRomans 13:8-10
\nMatthew 18:15-20
\nSeptember 4, 2011<\/p>\n

Today Jesus gives us some instruction about how to deal with those who have sinned against us.<\/p>\n

Note there is no mention of revenge.\u00a0 There is no mention of punishment (except being treated as a Gentile or tax collector).\u00a0 There is no mention of restitution.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Jesus’ point isn’t\u00a0revenge or punishment.\u00a0 Here, Jesus’ point is\u00a0to help the sinner become a better person.<\/p>\n

So, \u201cthe process\u201d starts with a one-on-one discussion.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because perhaps the person doesn\u2019t realize what they have done or that it was wrong.\u00a0 Maybe it is all a misunderstanding that can be cleared up just between the two people involved.\u00a0 I might add that in this one-on-one discussion we should also be offer to considering our own responsibility in the situation.\u00a0 Did we do something wrong?<\/p>\n

If the person does not listen, we are to gather two or three witnesses (in accord with Deuteronomy 19:15) but we are not just to look for witnesses who will agree with us.\u00a0 This process that Jesus gives us is not about proving we are right.\u00a0 Instead, its purpose is to come to the truth.\u00a0 One-on-one, each side may have their own opinion.\u00a0 The witnesses help establish the facts and the truth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, if the person is still not listening or realizing what they have done, Jesus says to take them to the church.\u00a0 The church is responsible for leading us in knowing God\u2019s will for us as a community.\u00a0 No one individual knows all of God\u2019s plan but together it can come into focus.<\/p>\n

Only if the person does not listen to the church, does the mention of any \u201cpunishment\u201d come up.\u00a0 The person is to be treated as a Gentile or tax collector, meaning expulsion (excommunication) from the community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I hesitate to call this punishment.\u00a0 As described, the point is not \u201cpunishment\u201d (not that being thrown out of church is fun).\u00a0 The point is what is good for the community.\u00a0 If the person sins, it can harm the community.<\/p>\n

Now in the history of Christianity, there have been churches who might seek to cast out anyone who is not perfect.\u00a0 Since no one (except Jesus) is perfect this didn\u2019t last long.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recognizing our own imperfections, we should not rush to cast out the sinners.\u00a0 What\u2019s Jesus getting at?\u00a0 Fraternal correction \u2013 helping each other to sin no more and to carefully avoid the occasions of sin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, while the reading looks to start out by involving a sin between two people, \u201cIf your brother sins against you\u201d many of the early copies of Matthew\u2019s Gospel don\u2019t include the words \u201cagainst you.\u201d\u00a0 So, the idea is that if we see anyone sinning, we would point it out to them.<\/p>\n

Now, this could cause a lot of trouble!\u00a0 It\u2019s probably not going to help to point out every fault you see another person make.\u00a0 Example \u2013 have you tried \u201ccorrecting\u201d every one of your spouse\u2019s faults?\u00a0 How well did that go over?<\/p>\n

Of course, there is the other extreme.\u00a0 If you think your spouse does some things wrong and never point them out to them (keeping it all in yourself) how does that work out?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Does a parent correct every mistake of a child?<\/p>\n

So what faults do we point out?<\/p>\n

Obviously there are big items; the church calls them \u201cmortal sin.\u201d\u00a0 If you see someone murder someone you should speak up (but in that case, I suggest you go to the police and not deal with it yourself).<\/p>\n

Do you see a friend going down a destructive path (slippery slope)?\u00a0 Maybe they started with one drink but it has grown.\u00a0 The alcohol blurs their judgment so they may not even realize their drinking has increased.<\/p>\n

Another way of thinking about it is to ask yourself if you were doing the same thing, would you want someone to help us you realize it?<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we might not want to say something because we know the person is going through tough times.\u00a0 Ask yourself is the tough time causing the sin (then help them with the tough time) or is the sin causing the tough time (then help them to realize it).<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us not to be judgmental.\u00a0 When we point out the sins of others, it should never be in I am a ‘better than you’ attitude.\u00a0 The point is to help each other become better individual Christian disciples and together a better Christian Community in accord with God’s will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20 September 4, 2011 Today Jesus gives us some instruction about how to deal with those who have sinned against us. Note there is no mention of revenge.\u00a0 There is no mention of punishment (except being treated as a Gentile or tax collector).\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Building a Better Community’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-8P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":551,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547\/revisions\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}