The following homily was shared during our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service on Sunday, September 10, 2023.

Jesus said to his disciples:

"If your brother sins against you,

go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.

If he does not listen,

take one or two others along with you,

so that 'every fact may be established

on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.

If he refuses to listen even to the church,

then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

Amen, I say to you,

whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Again, amen, I say to you,

if two of you agree on earth

about anything for which they are to pray,

it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:15-20)

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

That’s a lot of power, but I wonder if we use it enough. When I read this what I hear is that the way we let things be here on earth is the way things will be for us in heaven. Whatever we permit here on earth will be permitted in heaven. This includes the big things like war, famine, poverty, disease, death. For sure these are tragedies that we need to pay attention to and bind up however we can, but it also seems like they are largely out of our control, at least as individuals. Jesus himself tells us that we will always have the poor with us, and it took the literal intervention of God himself sacrificing His only Son to conquer death. So I think it would be more prudent to instead look toward the smaller, more everyday sins that we can bind. Lying is really easy to do, both to others, as well as ourselves. Anger, strife, derision, jealousy, worry, fear, hatred: these are things that also warrant some binding, and maybe more of our attention; inhabiting any of these is likely to have a direct impact on our souls, as well as other people.

The Bible is very concerned with how we treat each other on a personal level. When it comes to the issues of the world and how to be good Christians in it, Jesus sometimes is more than a little vague and cryptic in His teachings. But in this passage we have today, He gives very clear and direct guidance. If someone sins against you, follow these exact steps. No parables or confusing analogies, no drinking blood and eating flesh. Just do this. I think the reason Jesus gives us such explicit direction for encountering each other's sinfulness is (1) because He knew that we would be incredibly creative in the ways we screw it up and (2) because it has a strong bearing on not only our own salvation but the growth of our Christian communities. If we are no longer the kind of communities that can graciously give and receive correction, then likely we will cease to be recognizably unique compared to the rest of the world. If we no longer call each other out in sin or spur each other on to good works, then we risk becoming flaccid and impotent, growing into complacent hypocrites.

In Ezekiel 33, God tells us that if we fail to dissuade someone that has been warned from their wicked ways, then we are responsible for their eternal damnation. I’m sure there is plenty of nuance here as there usually is when interpreting Old Testament teachings through the lens of the New, but I don’t think we have too much room to take this less seriously now compared to then. As such, we need to be bold and take every appropriate opportunity to challenge and correct each other and likewise to gracefully be challenged and corrected. This has always been a hard thing. No one likes confrontation generally. No one likes having to say, “Hey this thing you do all the time is really annoying. Can you please not?” But how else will the person know? So we have to do what we have to do, and we’ll have those hard and awkward conversations as needed, muddling through as best we can.

And yet, there was still a better way. It is important that we practice binding sin in ourselves and others, but in the midst of doing so we must also pay attention to what we loose in that same moment. For instance, it simply will not do to meet sin with hatred. For in the binding of the sin, whatever it was, we have then loosed hatred into the world and in Heaven. Likewise if the sin is met with anger or impatience. To meet sin instead with a correction filled with joy and grace and patience and understanding is a much better way, but perhaps no less difficult. Nor do I have any straightforward instruction on how to do this. I do, however, have a sneaking suspicion that the answer lies in taking a posture of hospitality. The reason I think this might be the case is because of my great aunt. She is the kind of person who will without reserve tell you about all the things that are wrong with your life and inform you that you need to fix them. Not easy stuff to hear, especially from someone who may or may not have the whole story. Yet she remains beloved by all and thought well of wherever she goes. The reason for this, I think, is because even in the midst of offering what might be very harsh correction, she is simultaneously ushering you into her home, supplying you with copious amounts of somehow ever ready food, making sure you have a place to stay and offering up a spot in her home if not. In short, I think the reason she can get away with being so critical at times is because she so readily welcomes you in such a way that makes it almost unbearably obvious how much she cares for you, and not just because you are you, but simply because you are another human being. And as such she finds you worthy of a level of care that we often neglect to show even to those who are closest to us.

So, in the face of all this that I have said I want to call us, once again, into the practice of being Christians. Let’s not stay quiet when we see something that ought to be bound. Let’s not balk, either, when it is something within our own selves that needs to be bound. As we are welcomed by Christ to this table, let us practice such an abundant willingness to welcome each other that even in the midst of admonition we cannot help but know our love for one another. Amen.

Binding and Loosing: Akin Bailey

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