Matthew 18:15-20

Pentecost + 12 - Year A

Matthew 18:15-20

If another member of a deeper than casual relationship who could turn you in to the authorities for being a member of a subversive group (and what is a church if not subversive?), should not treat you as they would want to be treated (its all too easy to eternalize and external and call it sin when against you and well-intentioned misunderstanding when you behave the same way) it would be wise to find a way to deal with that before betrayal gets added to the mix.

Of course this presumes that a magic spirit can be organized to resolve conflicts and if it cannot that the course of action left is to dismiss them with prejudice (note how “majority rules” works here). In this case it is understood that both would have a strike against them if they now went to the authorities, so casting out a minority is a recommended way to go.

Question: Does this process work in such conflictual settings as the politics of today’s church that models all too closely public institutions (versus being in tension with said institutions as the earliest church was)?

Question: Does this process ultimately bind or loose what might be meant by a “kingdom of heaven” coming to earth?

Question: Is leaving us as the deciders of binding and loosening, an action of a binding or a loosening by G*D?

Where two are company and three are a crowd and the inherent tensions of both can flare up at any time over any issue, it is comforting to know that whatever this heaven to earth business might be about is already underway. So gather together for an opening - practice being ready for it and jumping before it is fully present.