"I ain't people!"...and other thoughts on Matthew 18:15-20

In the movie musical 'Singing in the Rain' the character of Lina Lamont, a silent screen star trying desperately to hold on to stardom with the advent of the talkies says, "People? I ain't people. I am a - shimmering glowing star in the cinema firmament!"

When you get right down to it, most of us think like Lina. We are not people. 'People' are the problem. 'Those people'. And that is the really difficult thing about community. It is made up of people! And people - not you and me, of course, but most people - can be difficult, challenging, selfish and unreliable. Hence the need for reconciliation, repentance and forgiveness. Lest we are tempted to use this text as a basis for judging others we dare not forget the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:

Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you,for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others. Why, then, do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log in your own eye? How dare you say to your brother, Please, let me take that speck out of your eye, when you have a log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

The guidelines that Jesus' describes in Matthew 18 apply to us as well. If someone comes to confront us with an offense we need to be open to hear what they have to say and be prepared to repent, too.

One of the most reassuring aspects of this text is found in verse 20 where Jesus says:

'For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.'

Notice that he doesn't specify those who come together in agreement or even peaceful harmony. Just those who come together in his name. When I confront a brother or sister in Christ in love I do so in the name of Christ. When I am confronted by another I receive them and their words in the name of Christ. So even in our times of disharmony, Christ is present.

Finally, it intrigues me that Jesus says that anyone who will not listen to the call for repentance should be treated as though he were a pagan or a tax collector. Makes me wonder how Matthew, a former tax collector, felt when he heard those words. If I remember correctly, didn't Jesus seek out the tax collectors, like Matthew and Zacchaeus. And as for pagans, I seem to recall Jesus talking about coming for the sick and for those who did not know God. So if I am to treat these people as pagans and tax collectors, well, it seems to me that I should redouble my love for them and show them all the more grace in word, attitude and action.