I have to be honest with you—

I found writing this morning’s sermon particularly hard…

and… 

having read what a number of commentators had to say about it…

I came away feeling quite uneasy.

All of the commentaries that I consulted suggested that, in this passage—

which is only found in Matthew’s Gospel—

the author is offering some practical advice regarding conflict resolution…

and how, as a church, we ought to go about it.

And my learned colleagues point out things like:

if you have a problem with someone’s behaviour, go and talk to them about it.

Don’t pretend that it didn’t happen.

And don’t fall into the “peace at all costs” trap…

because conflict can’t be resolved unless we acknowledge it and face it.

Then, they’ll point out that we should do it in private…

and in person…

because conflict can’t be resolved by means of gossip, innuendo, or mud-slinging.

Rather, genuine resolution only comes through respect—

respect for self and respect for the other person.

Then, if you can’t sort it out privately— 

get others to help.

 

And, on the surface, that all sounds very good…

and noble…

and sensible.

 

And yet… 

the more that I thought about it, the more uneasy I became.

Such a “conflict resolution process” assumes that it’s a fairly minor issue between two private people…

like…

if someone told someone else that your floral arrangement in church was horrible.

But what if it’s not minor?

What if it’s a serious matter?

Would we expect a wife to confront her violently aggressive husband in that sort of way?

Or a victim of sexual abuse their perpetrator?

Of course not!

And take it away from the realm of private, personal relationships;

consider it in relation to an organisation…

such as a place of work…

or even a church.

How would that sort of process work if there were major issues of power?

For example, what if it’s bullying behaviour on the part of your boss…

or a person in authority in the church?

In those sorts of scenarios, the fear of serious repercussions is very real…

and should not or cannot be minimised.

A process such as the author of Matthew’s Gospel— 

and most commentators— 

outline…

is not necessarily appropriate or applicable.

 

But there are also problems with the wording of the reading itself.

In the opening line…

some ancient manuscripts read “if another member of the church sins against you”;

whereas other ancient manuscripts omit “against you”.

In other words…

some versions of this read, “if another member of the church sins, go and point out the fault”.

And, to me, that makes much more sense.

We’re not talking, here, about petty squabbles and slights…

or misunderstandings.

The process that the author outlines presupposes that it is a serious matter—

because, ultimately, it comes to a vote of the whole church community…

and it results in the offending person’s expulsion.

That’s pretty drastic—

even draconian—

if it’s not a serious matter that involves, or has implications for, the community as a whole.

As such, it seems to suggest that—

whatever the person has done—

the “sin” has been committed against the church as a whole…

and that it’s the integrity of the church as a whole that’s at stake.

Of course, when the author wants to claim some sort of binding, divine authority… 

for any disciplinary decisions that the church makes…

we need to understand that in terms of the particular culture in which he was writing…

and the social pressures that they were experiencing…

and we should simply ignore that.

And yet…

we should not ignore—

and we cannot ignore—

the broader issues that he raises here.

The life of the whole community is what matters.

Behaviour that undermines it…

jeopardises it…

contravenes its fundamental beliefs or values…

or reflects badly on it as a community of faith…

cannot and should not be tolerated.

It needs to be called out.

Although the author doesn’t make use of Paul’s image of the church as the “Body of Christ”…

it certainly seems to underpin what he says here.

The health of that body as a body is what matters.

 

But, let’s be honest—

we don’t do that, do we?

 

I don’t know of any church that likes dealing with the messy issues of community conflict…

and certainly not with behaviour that’s inappropriate.

Because, too often, we’re caught up with trying to be “nice”… 

rather than being honest.

And we avoid confrontation if at all possible—

we’re scared to name it…

and to call it out.

That was certainly the case with child sexual abuse—

in virtually all of the branches of the church.

For decades…

people in authority…

and sometimes whole faith communities…

turned a blind eye…

pretended that they didn’t know—

or didn’t want to know—

and failed to name it and to call it out.

And it has been a cancer that’s eaten away at the church.

We could add to that…

of course…

the abhorrent practices of so-called “Conversion Therapy” that the churches have inflicted on so many queer folk.

We have failed to name it and to call it out.

We could add, too, the way in which domestic violence has been silently tolerated…

or ignored…

within the life of the church.

So, too, sexual harassment.

Again, we have failed to name it and to call it out.

But it actually goes a lot further than that.

Bullying has been—

and continues to be— 

a major issue in the life of the church.

Sometimes—

and especially in some denominations—

that has been ministers bullying members of their congregations.

But there are plenty of ministers who have also been bullied by members of their congregations—

especially congregational leaders.

And it continues to happen.

And the problem with bullying is that the bully always seems more powerful than they are—

and to have more support than they do—

because they’ve scared the rest of the church community into tacit submission.

Especially because, in so many cases, they’re also the biggest givers to the church.

No one wants to lose their contribution—

financial or otherwise.

No one wants to confront.

No one wants to name or call out.

And, as a church community, we’re supposed to be nice;

and all get along.

 

For all of its faults…

our reading this morning jolts us out of that apathetic illusion.

As the “Body of Christ”…

we are called to reflect the nature and values that Jesus manifested:

love…

peace…

hope…

and inclusion.

And yet, the irony is that we cannot truly experience those things—

or offer them to the world around us—

if we cannot deal honestly with the things that threaten our life together…

as a “community” of faith.

 

And, maybe if we started actually doing that…

we might yet have something to offer our world.