For the Son of Man Came to Save the Lost
Matthew 18:1-20
Pentecost 15 (Proper 18)
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Matthew 18. Our society teaches us that we are to maintain earthly peace at all times. We are to do what it takes to get along in a superficial way. This is often accomplished by affirming everyone and everything even if it is sinful. The only thing that we should not do is criticize or confront anyone’s opinion or ideology even if such opinions, views and actions go against God’s Word. We are to just get along. We are to coexist. Anyone who does not follow this secular code will be labeled intolerant and a disturber of the peace.
Sadely, the church is often influenced by the ways of the world. Like everyone else we don’t like to make waves or be confrontational. We are mostly fearful of confronting sin, especially when it is a member of our family or a member of our congregation who happens to be sinning. We would much rather ignore it, sweep it under the rug, and perhaps even try to defend the sin. This of course is not what the Lord calls us to do. As a matter of fact the Lord calls us to speak the truth in love even if telling the truth is sometimes uncomfortable. The reason that the Lord calls us to confess the truth is because the stakes are very high. The church deals with what is most important. Sin and the way to be saved from sin and death. We are dealing with eternity.
When we look at our Gospel reading for today, we see that God’s way is to confront sin directly so that He may bless us through Christ. The reason that the Lord confronts us in our sins is to bring about life and salvation. Remember we are dealing with eternity.
During our Lord’s ministry He was never timid in confronting sin. When the Pharisees spoke false doctrine, Jesus confronted them. He wanted to call them to repentance, and He did not want others to be misled by their false teaching. When His own disciples sinned the Lord always confronted them. Last week’s Gospel reading is a perfect example. When Jesus announced to His disciples that He was going to suffer and die and then rise on the third day, Peter tried to stop him. Jesus responded to Peter by saying “Get behind me Satan.” There was a lot at stake. Jesus needed to go to the cross to win our salvation.
In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus uses very powerful words to convey the seriousness of temptation and sin. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” Jesus is not telling us to cut off body parts, but He is showing us the seriousness of sin. He is telling us that sin leads to death and hell. He wants all people to know this.
Throughout the Bible we see God confronting sin. This is seen in our Old Testament reading. God makes Ezekiel His watchman. In the ancient world there were many who lived outside the city. It was the watchmen’s job to stand on the city wall and warn the people if an invading army was coming. Because of the watchman’s warning the people had time to get into the city to be protected by the walls of the city. Ezekiel was a watchman in the sense of calling the people of Israel to repentance. God told Ezekiel that he would be sinning if he did not warn the people. Ezekiel knew that he had to speak the truth even if speaking the truth was difficult. And so Ezekiel called the people to repentance so that they could be saved by God.
Our Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 32. There is an insert about Psalm 32 in your bulletin. It is a famous psalm written by King David. In the psalm David speaks about the blessing of being forgiven by God. David goes on to say that when he kept silent about his sins he suffered greatly but when He confessed his sins, he rejoiced because God forgave him. David was most likely thinking about his sins with Bathsheba when he wrote this psalm. David had an affair with Bathsheba and then tried to cover it up. The Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront David about his sins. David confessed them. He acknowledged that he was a sinner and he received God’s forgiveness. David still suffered consequences in this life because of his sins, but he was forgiven by God, and he was given eternal salvation. David once again walked in the ways of the Lord.
God directly confronts us all in our sins in order bless us through Christ. This becomes clear as we go back to our Gospel reading for today. After Jesus used the strong language about it being better to be crippled or lame then go to hell in order to show us the seriousness of sin, he goes on to say this. “For the Son of Man came to save the lost.” Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd who goes after the one sheep that has gone astray in order to save it. Our Lord seeks the lost in order to save them from sin, death and hell.
It is the Lord who has saved us. He has saved you. He did so though His death and resurrection. The Lord atoned for all of your sins when He suffered and died on the cross. He wiped away your sins with His shed blood. He defeated death for you and rescued you from hell. The Lord knows your name, and He has called you to be His child. He came to you at your Baptism and brought you into the family of God. He now continues to sustain you in your faith by His Word. He confronts you when you sin. He gives you a contrite heart and a repentant spirit. He moves you to turn from your sins and receive His grace. As Christians we confess our sins before God and receive His absolution. We are now redeemed people of God who have been saved from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. We now wait for the Lord’s return to bring us to be with Him for all eternity.
As we wait for the Lord, we are called by Him to speak the truth in love to others. That takes us to the last part of our Gospel reading for today. Jesus tells us that when someone sins against us in our family or congregation we are to go and speak to them in private in order to bring them to repentance. If they listen, we have gained them back. If they don’t listen, our Lord says that we are to take two or three others with us and try again. If that does not work bring it to the church so that the pastor and elders can help. In other words we are to continue to speak the truth in love to bring someone to repentance. Even if the congregation excommunicates someone because of persistent and impenitent sin, it is done in love to bring about repentance. It is done to gain a brother or sister in Christ back to the faith.
The world tells us to cover up sins and even affirm them in order to have earthly peace. That is not the way of God. There is too much at stake. We are dealing with life and salvation. That is why we speak the truth in love to those around us even if it is uncomfortable to do so. God’s way is different than the world. God’s way is to confront sin so that He may bless the world through Christ Jesus. Amen.