Matthew 18: 15-20 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 18: 15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. Verse 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. Verse 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Verse 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Verse 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Verse 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Devotion
“It takes two to be Jesus in the world,” is the line Pastor Herb Brokering has used. Bonhoeffer stated, “The Christ in you is stronger than the Christ in me.” Matthew describes the reality that disciples need to be disciplined. We need each other. The fellowship of a congregation is the place where sinners have a chance to die to the desire to go it alone and to be reborn to the life of the communion of saints. Following our Lord is a daily dying to the question that begins this chapter, “How can I be the greatest?” to the daily rising to the question, “How are we called to the faithful following of our Lord?”
Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for sending people to help me be reborn in you. Amen