Introduction
Outside of the doctrine of Hell, few things give a pastor more reservation in preaching than the topic of church discipline. For many, it can certainly be a top five. My Sunday morning sermon series for quite a while has been in the Gospel of Matthew, and I recently arrived at Matthew 18:15-20. In my flesh, I likely would not have chosen this text when given the full scope of the Bible and theology as options. Yet it is a gift to the pastor and the congregation to preach consecutively through a book of the Bible.
The Method
Coming to this text, I did not simply want to outline the steps that Christ gives us. I desired to preach the text faithfully yet in a way that moved us to delight in the love of Christ for His Bride particularly in Him who instituted this process. In Matthew 18, Christ compares His people to children and sheep. Now, He uses the description of a brother.
The context of this Christ-ordained disciplinary process follows 18:10-14 where Christ tells the parable of a shepherd leaving the ninety nine to seek the one that has gone astray. Among other things, Christ reveals the role He gives the other sheep–the brothers–in seeking out the straying. Sinners can stray for many reasons including stumbling blocks set up by others. By straying, they could sin against another a brother. Thus Christ calls His church to go to their brother to speak with them about their sin.
The goal is clear: To reclaim their brother (Matthew 18:15). If this happens, there is joy. If it doesn’t, they are to take one or two others to establish the case. If that doesn’t bring repentance and reconciliation then he must take it to the church (i.e. the elders). Sadly, if this fails, the disciplined are to be to the church “a Gentile and a tax collector”, as one who is outside the faith, or one who has abandoned the faith. Throughout this whole process, Christ promises to be with His church in this process and to hear our prayers.
There is much here to stir us up to love, to godliness, and repentance. Due to some experiencing unpleasant memories of this text being misused, it was appropriate to pastorally answer some objections that unbelievers might have. But, the goal for the sermon was to not only defend this disciplinary process but to make an evangelistic appeal for people to come to this Christ who loves His Bride more than we can imagine.
The Message
First, Christ is divine. Christians do not profess Christ’s divinity and move on. Christians depend on His divine nature in all things—church discipline not excluded. Notice that the text mentions Christ’s sovereign authority over Heaven and Earth: “Truly, 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.” When His Word is faithfully followed, it brings agreement from Heaven because the ascended Christ rules His church. He is not absent or distant.
Moreover, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Christ is not there merely symbolically nor is He only thinking about us while He is in Heaven. Nor is Christ present partially. He is among them. He is present in this process. This is not only as Judge, but also as Shepherd, to help bring repentance and to care for each sheep in the whole flock. He gives His wisdom and strength not only in corporate worship but also in church discipline. He is the One who comes to govern, guide, and help.
Christ’s divine power is there: He guides us by His mighty hand, working on our hearts, enabling us to speak godly words, for the purpose of winning back our brothers.
Christ’s eternality is there: He was with His Church when He first spoke these words and will be with His Church in all times and places. We depend on Him no less today than they did then. For the unbeliever: What King, ruler, or person could ever offer this power and presence across time for the good of sinners?
Christ’s Kingship is there: He is governing, ruling, judging in His church by the means of grace, its officers, and members involved in the process. Because He is holy, we can know His rulings and directions are holy and pure. This is to be a comfort that we can trust Him to work and pursue His intended end for our blessing.
Because He is glorious, He desires His church to display and declare this. To harbor sin, to harbor scandal is disgraceful to His name and glory. Harboring sin falsely proclaims to the world that the church is a safe place for sin to foster. It can even suggest that our King delights in sin. It is true that the Church is to be a safe haven for sinners but all sinners who come to Christ by grace alone are also those who are progressively sanctified by grace alone. Complacency with sin invites more sin and heresies. Above all it brings disgrace to our King’s glorious name.
Notice also the beauty of Christ in His purity. His desire is for the purity of His church. He does not desire anything contrary to His nature. He, more than any other, knows the vileness of sin. He never looks passively at sin. Rather, He wants us to be a pure body and not tainted with sin. To aid in this, He gives a process to pastor sinners in their pilgrimage to Heaven. He works for the purity of each and all. For the unbeliever: What King, what ruler cares for your body and soul like this? Who would give His life and make it His work to see you purified and sanctified?
Finally, we see Christ’s love expressed in a variety of ways. He not only dies for the forgiveness of our sins but also has no desire for sin to reign over us. Our loving Savior has instituted this process to see that if sin is committed, especially against another brother, it does not harbor and grow but is mortified. If fellowship is harmed, it can be restored in a godly, loving manner. What a gift to the offender and offended that sin is not ignored. If one is an outsider looking in, this is the love that Christ has extended to the world that He would forgive you and not leave you in sin’s chains.
Christ’s love is also sympathetic in church discipline. When sin occurs between brothers, many things are in play: Understanding of facts, someone’s reputation, possible manipulation or abuse of authority. Our Lord knows all this fully for He is omniscient. He has given a process that when properly followed preserves the rights of each person, seeks justice without swift verdicts, and promotes sincere reconciliation and forgiveness without force or unjust fear.
What should the reader consider? Christ our Shepherd desires to be with us in this process. This text urges us to quickly bring our sins to Him so that we might be forgiven and reconciled. It prompts us to confess our sins (1 Jn. 1:8-10) and to trust Him with the process and results. For the unbeliever, it turns eyes to see that the Savior who is calling you to His fold is the all knowing, all powerful, all present, eternal, loving, pure, glorious Shepherd King. Come to Him!
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to encourage the Sessions across our denomination to trust the process we have been given. Stick with the process. Our desire is to serve Christ’s Body in regards to sin and conflict in a way that is faithful to how our Lord has instructed us to conduct discipline. We must never try to circumnavigate Christ’s orders to simply get the matter done with. This isn’t being a faithful shepherd to the flock, or a faithful under-shepherd of Christ. Let us labor so that those in the discipline process might see even a small glimpse of Christ’s glory, care, and power. Through this process, we can find the motivation to follow this historical mark of the church.
