If Your Brother Sins Against You
Introduction: May you continue to follow the lead of the Master Teacher and imitate His loving concern for all.
A few years ago, the Catholic school chose a theme for the whole year. It was: “What would Jesus do?” It means much more than just avoiding doing wrong. It demands that those who are disciples (“disciplined learners”) must, as St. Paul says, put on “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2: 16). We must “know” Jesus from reading the Gospels and then model our lives on His. He showed compassion, love, mercy, and forgiveness, while at the same time challenging those who needed it, especially those who were in the roles of authority and who were leading people astray. Jesus’ mind was always on what was best for the other person, even if it meant more work for Him. As we go through our daily lives, we must put on the mind of Christ and try to do as Jesus did and still does – we must love one another.
The pendulum of responsibility swings back and forth. At times it seems to be on the side of community responsibility community guilt and group consciousness of GOD’s presence. At other times it swings all the way to the other side, stressing individual accountability and personal relationship with GOD. The readings remind us that our relationship with GOD is a combination of both. The prophet Ezekiel knows that he, as an individual, must do all he can to bring the wayward individual back to GOD. The psalm reminds the whole community to be attentive to the voice of GOD speaking to them. St. Paul says that everyone is responsible for fulfilling the law – the law of love for all. In the Gospel, Jesus presents a process of bringing an errant member of the community back into a holy relationship. It involves personal and communal actions.
Commentary: Why did the church choose this passage, about the prophet warning sinners, to pair with a gospel reading about reconciliation? Partly because every person’s sin or failure affects the whole Church. If I fail in my duty to my brother or sister or spouse or child or other dependent, this harms the holiness of the whole Church. I can’t shrug it off as no concern of mine: ‘I can’t be bothered’, ‘too busy, ‘nothing to do with me, anyway’. Of course, it is all very well for the prophet Ezekiel to point out other people’s faults: that is the job of a prophet, to show others how God sees them. Heaven forbid that I should go around telling people their faults! On the other hand, just occasionally I can learn some home truths about myself when someone flies off the handle; that is the time to listen and learn! Jesus did not denounce sinners: he dined with them. For myself, there are countless people and occasions where a healing word, a healing touch can begin the process of growth over the scar tissue. But it must be healing in love, and unless there is real, overflowing love, keep clear!
The psalm is a familiar one that praises GOD and challenges the faithful to be attentive to the voice of GOD speaking to them. GOD speaks to those who are open to the divine message. The message can come either directly from GOD or indirectly from a prophetic individual, a fellow believer, a group gathered in faith, or from the community. The warning and prayer of the psalm is that when GOD’s Word is heard, it should motivate the listeners to respond to it, both individually and communally.
Commentary: Paul has described the process of salvation, won for us by Christ’s loving obedience to his Father. Now he gives his instructions on how we should live as Christians; he merely slips into the basic command of Judaism: love your neighbour as yourself. Each of these negative commandments he mentions contains a clutch of positive values. If I really love and bond with my spouse, it will never come to adultery. ‘You shall not kill’ also implies the value of furthering life in all the ways we can. ‘You shall not steal’ involves also respect for the property and well-being of others. The only debt I owe to anyone is love. It is easy to kid ourselves that we are practicing love, when in fact it is self-interest and self-justification. It is easy enough to be loving to our friends (most of the time!), but that is not what Paul means. In his earlier letter to the Corinthians, he gave us that searching test for true love, ‘Love is always patient, never jealous, not boastful or conceited, never rude, never seeks its own advantage,’ and so on. I can’t look many of those qualities in the face without some embarrassment.
Commentary: Matthew is a realist. Despite the presence of Christ in the Christian community there are going to be disagreements and misunderstandings in every community and every family. The vital thing is to sort them out and not to let them fester. So here we are given a safe process. Interestingly, it is the same process as is laid down in the Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran; did Matthew take it from them, or was it widespread at the time? One might complain that it is not very Christian of Matthew to abandon the offending brother or sister to be a hated tax collector, even after the failure of attempts at reconciliation. But note that just afterward, this process of attempted reconciliation is supplemented by Jesus’ teaching that we have to forgive not just seven times (the perfect number) but seventy-seven times. That means again and again and again, without limit – even if the attempts at reconciliation have failed.
We also get the reminder that Christ is present always in his community. The same promise is given at the beginning (the name Emmanuel means ‘God with us’) and end of the gospel (‘I am with you to the end of time’). Therefore, the strength of the community both to reconcile grievances and to make further requests of the Father lies in the presence of Christ within it. It is especially striking that the same promise is here given to the Church as had earlier been given to Peter himself. There is the same assumption as within Judaism, that the Lord is present in the assembled community; in Judaism, this is expressed as the presence of the awesome divine presence, the Shekinah; within Christianity, it is normally expressed as the presence of the Spirit of Christ.
Reflection: What's the best way to repair a damaged relationship? Jesus offers his disciples spiritual freedom and power for restoring broken or injured relationships.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: If someone has done you injury, by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD)
"If someone has done you injury and you have suffered, what should be done?
You have heard the answer already in today's scripture: 'If your brother sins against
you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.' If you fail to do so,
you are worse than he is. He has done someone harm, and by doing harm he has stricken
himself with a grievous wound. Will you then completely disregard your brother's
wound? Will you simply watch him stumble and fall down? Will you disregard his predicament?
If so, you are worse in your silence than he in his abuse. Therefore, when anyone
sins against us, let us take great care, but not merely for ourselves. For it is
a glorious thing to forget injuries. Just set aside your own injury, but do not
neglect your brother's wound. Therefore 'go and tell him his fault, between you
and him alone,' intent upon his amendment but sparing his sense of shame. For it
might happen that through defensiveness he will begin to justify his sin, and so
you will have inadvertently nudged him still closer toward the very behavior you
desire to amend. Therefore 'tell him about his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have gained your brother,' because he might have been
lost, had you not spoken with him. " (excerpt from Sermon 82.7)
"Lord Jesus, make me an instrument of your healing love and peace. Give me wisdom and courage to bring your healing love and saving truth to those in need of healing and restoration."
Hating the sin, loving the sinner
“If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die,
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he [the wicked
man] shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death.” —Ezekiel
33:8
“You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tm 1:15). Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we must be very concerned about sin. First, we must remove the plank of sin from our eyes so that we will see clearly to remove the specks of sin from the eyes of our brothers and sisters (Mt 7:5). Then we should correct and warn the person who is sinning (Ez 33:8), “but keep it between the two of” us (Mt 18:15). If privately correcting a person who sins against us is not well received (Mt 18:16), we should bring other Christians into this “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18). Moreover, “anyone who sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, should petition God, and thus life will be given to the sinner” (1 Jn 5:16). “Remember this: the person who brings a sinner back from his way will save his soul from death and cancel a multitude of sins” (Jas 5:20). Finally, we must rejoice with the Lord, the saints, and the angels “over one repentant sinner” (Lk 15:7, 10).
Prayer: Father, use me to lead many to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another. He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” —Rm 13:8. Praise Jesus, risen, glorified, and seated at the right hand of the Father!
The personal action for today: How have I
experienced the loving forgiveness of GOD for my sins? What does it mean to me to
practice the law of love? What is my reaction when someone offends me or acts against
the law of love in a relationship with me? Am I willing to go through a process
to lovingly bring the individual back into a proper relationship with me and others
in the community of faith? How can I better reflect the example of Jesus, the Master
Teacher, in my dealings with others?