Matthew 18:21-35

I don’t know if you knew this, but history shows that the Church has been fighting about one thing or another ever since its existence. 

In fact, we could start with Jesus disciples before the Church had officially organized.  Do you remember the incident where the disciples started arguing about who would be the greatest among them?  Jesus settled that one quickly.  He said, “Whoever is last shall be first, and whoever is first shall be last.”  (If I had my guess, that’s when some of the disciples started getting all passive-aggressive to make it look like they were putting themselves last).

Then, one of the first big fights that we know about in the early church is recorded in Acts 15 and Galatians 2 (it’s fascinating to compare these two accounts, by the way).  We read in Acts 15 and Galatians 2 that there was a dispute, culminating at the Jerusalem Temple, about whether Gentile believers who were coming to faith in Christ had to be circumcised.  That’s an easy question for us to answer, but it wasn’t for them.  Many of Jesus’ first followers were Jews, and all you have to do is read Genesis to find out why they had a huge problem letting go of circumcision.  “Whose religion is it?” was the question.

Read Paul’s letters.  His churches were fighting over everything.  How should communion be handled?  Who should we associate with?  What is the role of women?  Who preaches the true gospel?

Not long after the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the divide between traditional Jews and Christ-following Jews was complete, and the distinction between Jews and Christians was solidified.  In the centuries that followed, Christianity went from being a faith and movement of the common man to the faith of the rich and elite, and eventually, the nation-state.  After that happened, they fought about all kinds of things:  the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, the Bible, etc.

Fast-forward to the reformation.  What is the nature of the Church?  What is the role of clergy?  Is the Bible alone sufficient for Christian faith and practice?  Fast-forward to the Great Awakening.  How should the gospel be preached?  Is education an impediment to true spirituality?  Fast-forward to modern day.  Can women be pastors?  Can you dance in church?  Can homosexuals be Christian leaders?  Is the Bible inerrant?

This is just a small number of the things that have gone on.  And all of them have been shrouded in disrespect, labeling, hatefulness, and violence.  All in the name of and in defense of the man who said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

In the Romans passage from today, Paul is addressing one of the many disagreements that had popped up.  If you remember the passage from earlier, the dispute was between those who abstained from eating meat, and those who did not.  They were fighting with each other, and both groups thought that they were doing what was right in God’s eyes.  Now, I need to explain something because, to our modern day ears, this probably sounds like a trivial conflict, but it was not.  Many people assume this was a dispute between Jews and Gentiles but it wasn’t.  Jews weren’t necessarily vegetarians (at least by law; some of them may have been by choice).  You see this church that Paul was writing to was in Rome.  In Rome, there was a smorgasbord of religions and gods.  Meat that was available for purchase from the market had usually been sacrificed to some pagan god.  Now earlier, I mentioned the controversy in Acts 15 over circumcision.  At that council, the Jewish believers decided that Gentile Christians did not have to be circumcised, but one of the things they DID need to do was abstain from food sacrificed to idols.  So, back to the Roman church.  Some of the Gentile believers were saying, “Don’t we have freedom in Christ?  Isn’t God the only God?  Why should we worry about whether food was sacrificed to idols or not?”  The Jewish believers, living in this context, were convinced that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing by abstaining.  But Paul, in this circumstance, has a different word for them.  Look again at what he says:  [[v.2]] Now, Paul is not calling the abstainers “weak.”  He’s using the label that had been given to them so that they know what he’s talking about.  [[vv.3-4]]  ‘Who are you to judge?’ Paul says.  Then Paul goes on to talk about another dispute they were having – are some days more sacred?  [[vv.5-6]].

This is where Paul’s response is very important to pay attention to.  You see, many of us probably read passages like this and think that what we’re being told is, “Don’t sweat the small stuff” or “Don’t fight over trivial things.”  But when these passages were written, these issues were NOT trivial.  And that’s the point.  Paul seems to recognize that both sides seem to have a point.  Both sides hold a portion of the truth.  That’s why he says “everyone should be fully convinced in their own mind” and that all of these people do what they do “to the Lord.”  It’s not trivial.  They’re deep, personal issues.  And Paul says, “You all have deep convictions about what you do.  So you are not to judge.  Let God judge.”  As he says at the end of the passage in [[v.12]].

So Paul says that even on these deep, personal issues, if it’s causing divisions, we should let God judge when people are fully convinced and are devoting what they do to the Lord.  You see, Paul doesn’t say that opinions don’t matter.  Paul wants people to understand and be able to articulate why they believe what they believe and why they do what they do.  As long as you can do that, Paul says, let God judge.  Modern day example?  Since it’s election year (and I have the microphone J), I have a quick comment.  I’m worried…because I run into a lot of people who cannot articulate why they are voting for their chosen candidate.  Instead, all they can do is attack the other guy, or criticize the media, or are making their choice based on one issue.  Take Paul’s advice.  Know why you believe what you believe, and why you do what you do.  And let the Lord judge between us.  If Paul was writing letters today, I’m convinced he would have addressed this.  Because just like the issue of food sacrificed to idols back then, the political scene of today is not trivial, nor are the reasons people vote one way or the other…at least they shouldn’t be.  As Paul told the Romans, all of you have deep convictions about this.  So you must keep the peace, and be respectful, and be tolerant.

Tolerance.  That has become a dirty word in some circles.  I think that some folks hear the word tolerance and they immediately assume that it refers to being lazy or indifferent towards moral issues.  But in fact, tolerance is the easy road.  Tolerance is what Paul told the Romans to practice just to keep the waters cool.  Tolerance means putting up with.  Tolerance means not fighting.

When Jesus taught, on the other hand, he dropped the bombshell.  He articulated the ideal.  At the beginning of that Matthew passage, Peter asked him how many times we’re supposed to forgive.  He thought it was seven.  (Now, Peter could have come up with this a number of different ways.  Seven has a symbolic meaning of completion, or he could be referring to a rabbinical teaching that was popular in those days).  One could suggest that Peter was asking, “How long do I have to tolerate someone who keeps doing me wrong?”  Then Jesus tells a story that has everything to do with our relationships, but nothing to do with tolerance.  [[recap story]].

This is remarkable.  Jesus says to Peter and the others listening, ‘What if God just tolerated you?’  Or, ‘What if God only forgave a certain number of times.’  Jesus’ message was, ‘Forget simply disagreeing on things…let’s talk about when people hurt you.  Your attitude towards your fellow human beings should be the same as God’s attitude toward you.  You all owe God something you can’t pay.  But He has forgiven the debt.  All of you have hurt God and sinned against Him more times than you can count, but He’s willing to throw it all away to maintain a close relationship with you.’

Tolerance allows us to keep our distance.  You don’t have to have a relationship with someone to tolerate them.  But forgiveness…that requires seeking to love and know others in the way God loves and knows us.

 Tolerance allows us to go on thinking that we are better than the other person.  But forgiveness…that requires us to remember that all of us have a debt that we can’t pay, and that we will all stand before the judgment seat.

So much of the world is in turmoil.  So many relationships shattered.  There’s too much tolerance going around.  Will we forgive – will we cancel the debt – just as it has been done for us?