(Matthew 18)

Bringing the sermon home:

A foundational commitment of every healthy church is the commitment to bear one another's burdens by seeking to restore those who wander into sin (Gal 6:1-2; Jas 5:19-20), following the process that Jesus lays out in Matthew 18.

In verses 1–4, Jesus teaches that we must humble ourselves like children who don’t hesitate to openly and happily acknowledge their dependence upon their parents. So too, we are to humbly trust and follow Jesus.

In verses 5–9, Jesus speaks of welcoming all believers into the New Covenant community and the dangers of sin within that covenant community. Humbly, we are to confess and wage war against our own sin. What parts of your life do you need to cut off for the sake of pursuing purity and being set free from your enslavement to sin?

In verses 10–20, Jesus describes the means by which God the Father, our great shepherd, brings back wandering sheep: through the loving, corrective care of other sheep. The practice described here, which has come to be known as “church discipline”, is the Great Shepherd’s crook.

In verses 21–35, Jesus addresses the challenge of forgiving fellow church members when the exercise of discipline leads to repentance. Humbly, we are to forgive those who have sinned against us, recognizing how much greater the debt is that we have been forgiven in Christ.